Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Target 30x30
Mains level: Target 30x30, CBD and conservation challenges
Context
- At the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), member countries adopted the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF) that includes four goals and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030.
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What is target 30×30 among 23 targets?
- Conservation through ecological representative: Among the 23 targets, Target 3, colloquially known as “30×30,” requires that “at least 30 percent of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative.
- Area-based conservation measures: Such area should be well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.
- Protected area: Place-based conservation has usually taken the form of Protected Areas wherein human occupation or at least the exploitation of resources is limited. The definition provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its categorisation guidelines for protected areas has been widely accepted across regional and global frameworks.
- Different level of protection: There are several kinds of protected areas that vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organisations involved.
- Currently only 17% is protected: Currently, about 17 percent of terrestrial and 8 percent of marine areas are within documented protected and conserved areas.
- Less than desirable quality: The quality of these areas has fallen far short of the commitments; less than 8 percent of land is both protected and connected. In the face of such a lacuna, the 30×30 target represents a significant commitment.
What are the challenges towards conservation of biodiversity areas?
- Improving the quality: One of the main challenges will be to improve the quality of both existing and new areas, as biodiversity continues to decline, even within many Protected Areas. Protected and conserved areas will need to be better connected to each other for movement of species, and for ecological processes to function.
- Large countries have to take big steps: Demographically large, high population density countries, and the very high density small and city-states are unlikely be able to bring significant additional terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas under Protected Area management.
- Addressing animal and human settlement: Moreover, species range shifts due to the effects of impacts of climate change will have to be taken into account. Challenges faced by Protected Areas that are experiencing coastal squeeze due to rising sea level on one side, and hard human settlements on the other will also have to be addressed.
- Investment for management: All of these measures will require significant investments for effective management and community involvement, particularly those areas that harbour megafauna. The track record of the Global North, thus far, has been poor in meeting its commitments on financial support for climate and biodiversity initiatives.
What should be the way forward?
- Better connectivity: Innovative area-based conservation measures will have to be considered for better connectivity for movement of species megafauna in particular between protected and conserved areas. Areas adjoining and or connecting Protected Areas that are not formally managed for conservation will have to be considered for protection; agricultural lands.
- Conservation development mechanism: Akin to the Clean Development Mechanism under the climate convention, UNFCCC, a carbon offset scheme allowing countries to fund greenhouse gas emissions-reducing projects in other countries and claim the saved emissions as part of their own efforts to meet international emissions targets.
- Mobile protected areas: Innovative management will be required for Protected Areas that are experiencing coastal squeeze due to rising sea level on one side, and hard human settlements on the other. In high altitude and coastal areas, Protected Areas will have to be conceived as mobile rather than static, confined to a set of geographical coordinates. Mangrove and alpine ecosystems
Conclusion
- Only declaring the certain area as protected area will not improve the quality of protected area and it is mere a lip service to conservation efforts. Investment backed by effective, result oriented and time bound action plan for place-based conservation should be the path ahead.
Mains Question
Q. What is 30×30 target under CBD? What are the challenges in area-based conservation and suggest the way forward?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India- china strained relations
Context
- India-China relations have been under enormous strain in recent years. The Indian foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, on many occasions has stated that India-China relations are going through an extremely difficult phase. For the two to return to normalcy in the relationship, he added that it will depend on three mutuals: mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest.
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Chinese foreign minister statement
- Statement by Wang Yi: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that China is ready to work with India in improving bilateral ties.
- Statement said China will work with India for steady China-India growth: Speaking at a symposium on the international situation and China’s foreign relations in 2022, Wang reportedly said that both countries “have maintained communication through the diplomatic and military-to-military channels, and both countries are committed to upholding stability in the border areas. We stand ready to work with India in the direction toward steady and sound growth of China-India relations.
- Statement against the backdrop of Tawang clash: The Chinese foreign minister’s statement comes against the backdrop of the December 9 clash near Tawang in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, where soldiers on both sides sustained minor injuries.
- No sign of taking a back step: Even though the two sides managed to bring the Tawang situation under control, the reality is that the number of forces on deployment on either side of the border after the Galwan clash two years back shows no sign of being pulled back, a stark reminder of the far-from-normal state of relations between India and China.
- Despite of commander level talks, no fruitful negotiation on disengagement: Despite 17 rounds of military talks at the army commander level, the two sides have not been able to resolve their differences and accomplish a complete disengagement of their military forces.
- Statement by India: Following the 17th session of military talks last week, the Indian Ministry of Defense issued a statement that blandly stated that both sides will maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector and that they agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.
Is there any positive change in Chinese strategic thinking?
- Chinese foreign policy is just the same: It is unclear if Wang’s comment on India-China relations reflects any fundamental change in China’s foreign policy. Clearly, there has been no general softening of China’s attitude.
- Speech was a part of diplomacy: The minister’s statement on India was part of a long speech taking stock of China’s diplomacy and foreign relations in 2022.
- Particular focus on United states: In the statement, there was a particular focus on the troubled nature of its ties with the United States, calling out Washington’s erroneous China policy. Wang went on to say that it was U.S. stubbornness in seeing China as its peer competitor and Washington’s “blatant blockade, suppression and provocation against China” that has put the relationship in “serious difficulties.
- Concerned about Taiwan: The minister noted Taiwan is a red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. He also made note of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan to which the minister said that China has taken firm and resolute measures, which have strongly deterred anti-China elements in the United States and the Taiwan independence forces.
- Indirect reference to QUAD: The Quad, which comprises the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, also found an indirect mention in Wang’s speech. He stated that China is opposed to “bloc confrontation and zero-sum competition.
- Aggressive with each of India’s security partner: Each of India’s new security partners among the Quad countries has been subjected to China’s aggressive behavior in military, political and economic terms, which has brought a new depth of strategic purpose to the Quad.
Way ahead
- India’s relationship with China has been teetering from bad to worse over the last 32 months since the standoff in Ladakh began, and it seems unlikely to improve unless Beijing’s calculus vis a vis India and the region undergoes a drastic change.
- On the current status of the ties Indian foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, remarked that “the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship.”
- While Delhi’s G20 leadership may bring opportunities for engagement with Beijing, what is required first is a clear vision and a grand strategy to deal with the China challenge, instead of reacting to each crisis as it emerges
Conclusion
- Inconsistencies, both in China’s words and also between words and actions, will likely reduce the willingness of other countries, including India, to take seriously China’s statements about wanting a reset of ties.
Mains question
Q. India-China relations, though occasionally showing signs of peace and cooperation, have often been afflicted by tension and mistrust. China is inconsistent in words and actions. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India- Saudi Arabia relations
Context
- The presidency, which India has recently assumed for the period between 1 December 2022 and 30 November 2023, will likely open more avenues for cooperation on multiple fronts with countries like Saudi Arabia, a key Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country, also a member state of G20.
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- Fourth largest trading partner: Since the last few years, India-Saudi Arabia relations have become comprehensive and robust, with the kingdom not only becoming New Delhi’s fourth largest trading partner but also an important collaborator in the joint combat against all forms of terrorism, money laundering, and terror financing.
- 18% of India’s energy Imports: It is noteworthy that the bilateral trade in the fiscal year 2021-2022 stood at US$42.8 billion, and the kingdom alone accounts for 18 percent of India’s energy import, which reflects the significance of the country from the standpoint of New Delhi’s energy and economic security calculus.
- Collaboration on defence corridor: Simultaneously, military-security and defence cooperation have also gained momentum, which has been triggered by a certain commonality of security threats and challenges, and the interests of the respective governments to collaborate in the defence industrial sector (within the ambit of their military modernisation programmes).
- Non-oil areas of cooperation: The ties between the two countries, now, are not only concentrated on the oil-energy trade alone (as it has been the pattern) but both sides have started to explore the possibilities of working together on domains such as renewable energy, climate change, healthcare, food security, education, technology, etc.
Partnership in Green and clean energy
- Collaboration with Indian companies: In November 2020, Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, called on foreign investors to “invest on their own” or to collaborate with Indian companies in the country’s green energy sector.
- Reducing dependency on hydrocarbon: Similarly, Saudi Arabia, striving to reduce its dependency on a hydrocarbon-based economy, is investing in the same sector.
- Saudi Vision 2030 programme: In line with its Saudi Vision 2030 programme, it launched (in 2021) the Saudi Green Initiative which works on “increasing Saudi Arabia’s reliance on clean energy, offsetting emissions, and protecting the environment.
- Ambitious targets by both country: Riyadh, ushering in a new era of energy diplomacy, is building partnerships with countries that have similar ambitions. This, to a great extent, has facilitated the need to expand cooperation with India in the renewable energy sphere. While the Indian government works towards generating 450 Gigawatt about 60 percent of electricity using renewable and clean sources, Saudi Arabia also aims at about 50 per cent, both to be achieved by the year 2030.
India-Saudi Arabia cooperation in health sector and during Covid19
- Cooperation with west Asia region: India has stepped up its healthcare-related engagements with the wider West Asian region, and, particularly in matters related to the production of vaccines, joint medical researches, exchange of best-fit practices, and so on.
- Healthcare professionals to Saudi Arabia: During the peak of the aforementioned pandemic, the Indian government assisted its Saudi counterpart in their fight against this outbreak, mainly by dispatching hundreds of Indian healthcare professionals.
- Vaccine acceptancy: Saudi Arabia was also one of the few countries that recognised “Serum Institute of India’s Covishield as an approved COVID-19 vaccine” for any travellers who wanted to enter the kingdom.
- MoU on health and medical products: Now, what could act as a catalyst in elevating the interactions from the existing level is the Indo-Saudi Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on health and medical products regulations that were signed during the 2019 visit of Modi to Riyadh.
Cooperation in Food Security
- Investment by Saudi and UAE: It could be noted that, in 2019, to act as a safeguard from any food insecurity, UAE and Saudi Arabia GCC states decided to invest in India’s organic and food processing industries.
- Win-win situation in food cooperation: With India’s expertise in the field of crop production and overall agricultural activities, and also being a net exporter of agricultural commodities (especially rice), strengthening of partnerships could prove to be highly beneficial for the populace of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and other GCC countries that continue to depend on external sources for their food security, mostly owing to the lack of fertile soil.
Conclusion
- While India-Saudi Arabia ties are expected to grow further, there also exists a potential for collaboration beyond this bilateral engagement. This is precisely because, in the emerging international order, there is also a growing call for a collective response to the multidimensional crises the world is facing today.
Mains Question
Q. Briefly describe the India-Saudi Arabia relationship? How both countries are collaborating on clean energy and food security?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EVM
Mains level: Voting facilities for migrant workers
The Election Commission of India said that it has developed a prototype for a Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) which would enable remote voting by migrant voters.
Electronic Voting Machine (EVM)
- Electronic voting is the standard means of conducting elections using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in India.
- The system was developed and tested by the state-owned Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics in the 1990s.
- They were introduced in Indian elections between 1998 and 2001, in a phased manner.
What are Remote EVMs?
- Remote Electronic Voting Machines (RVM) can handle multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
- The idea is to implement voter portability as a pilot project in the upcoming Assembly elections in nine states in 2023.
- This means that if the pilot is successful then in the 2024 general elections voter portability can be fully implemented.
Need for RVMs
- Ensuring participative elections: The inability to vote due to internal migration is one of the prominent reasons to be addressed to improve voter turnout and ensure participative elections.
- Migration-based disenfranchisement: There were multifarious reasons for a voter not opting to register in a new place of residence, thus missing out on exercising the right to vote.
- Increasing voter turnout: The voter turnout in General Elections 2019 was 67.4% and the ECI is concerned about the issue of over 30 crore electors not exercising their franchise and also differential voter turnout in various States/UT.
Significance of the move
- Panacea to migration-led deprivation: Out-migration due to the need to work, marriage, and education, is predominant among the rural population in overall domestic migration.
- Increasing voter turnout: Approximately 85% of the internal migration is within the States.
- Multiple booth targeting: This modified form of EVM can handle up to 72 multiple constituencies from a single remote polling booth.
Challenges for RVMs
Many political parties have already flagged the inherent issues such as-
- Defining domestic migrants
- Implementation of Model Code of Conduct
- Ensuring secrecy of voting
- Facility of polling agents for identification of voters
- Process and method of remote voting and
- Counting of votes
Technical issues
- Amendment to legacy laws: Among the laws and rules which would need an amendment to implement remote voting is The Representation of People’s Act of 1950 and 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 and The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
- Vagueness over Migration: The definition of migrant voter would also need to be reworked with respect to retaining registration at the original place in the context of the legal construct of “ordinary residence” and “temporary absence”.
- Territorial constituency concept: The territorial constituency concept of remote voting and defining remoteness itself that is an outside constituency, outside the district or outside state will need to be dealt with.
- Administrative challenges: These include enumerating remote voters-self declaration, ensuring secrecy of voting at remote locations, provision of polling agents at remote voting booths, and ensuring identification of voters to avoid impersonation.
- Acceptance issues: Acceptance of EVMs has been a contested issues. This has somehow eased after the introduction of the voters-verifiable paper-audit trial (VVPAT).
Way forward
- The initiative, if implemented, can lead to a social transformation for the migrants and connect with their roots as many times they are reluctant to get themselves enrolled at their place of work.
- Frequently changing residences, not enough social and emotional connect with the issues of an area of migration will no longer remain obstacles.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RTI
Mains level: Issues in RTI implementation
The State Information Commission of Tamil Nadu has been the worst performing as far as responsiveness under the RTI Act is concerned, furnishing only 14% of the information sought for 2021-22.
State’s responses to RTI
- Maharashtra was second-worst, sharing 23% of the information asked for.
- Only 10 ICs provided full information in response to the RTI applications filed as part of this assessment.
- These included Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and northeastern States of Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
- Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh returned around 40% of the appeals or complaints received by them.
What is the Right to Information (RTI)?
- RTI is an act of the parliament that sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens’ right to information.
- It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002.
- Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within 30.
- In case of a matter involving a petitioner’s life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.
- The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally.
What led to the introduction of RTI in India?
There has been a variety of internal and external pressures on governments to adopt RTI.
- Corruption and scandals: The crisis was brought into force due to a lack of transparency in the working of the government.
- Modernization and the Information Society: The expansion of the Internet into everyday life has increased the demand for more information by the public, businesses and civil society groups.
- International pressure: The World Bank, the IMF and others have pressed countries to adopt laws to reduce corruption and to make financial systems more accountable.
- Wider recognition of Public Interest: Public interest is a nebulous concept, not defined in any freedom of information laws, understandably so, as it is a very subjective concept.
Governing of the RTI
The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies:
- Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
- State Information Commissions (SIC)– State Public Information Officers or SPIOs head over all the state department and ministries. The SPIO office is directly under the corresponding State Governor.
State and CIC are independent bodies and CIC has no jurisdiction over the SIC.
Constitutional backing of the RTI
- The Indian constitution has an impressive array of basic and inalienable rights termed as fundamental rights contained in part-III.
- These include the right to equal protection of the laws and the right to equality before the law, the right to freedom of speech and expression also the right to life and personal liberty.
- Since RTI, is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied FR.
- These are backed by the right to constitutional remedies that is, the right to approach the supreme court and high court under Article 32 and 226 respectively in case of infringement of any of FRs.
- The state is not only under an obligation to respect the FRs of the citizens but also equally under an obligation to ensure conditions under which the right can be exercised.
- The objective of the right to information act is to protect these constitutional rights.
Benefits of RTI
- Greater accessibility of information: A person can seek information from any public authority in the form of copies, floppy disks, sample material etc under RTI.
- Efficient governance: RTI Act helps us in knowing the efficiency of the government functioning.RTI has become a reality consistent with the objectives of having a stable, honest, transparent and efficient government.
- Citizen’s participation: Information under RTI can be sought easily by requesting the public officer and assistant public officer in any public authority.
- Government obligation: Obtaining information from any public authority is obligatory for them.
- Maintenance of public record: Under RTI Act, it is the duty of public authorities to maintain records for easy access and to publish within 120 days the name of the particular officers who should give the information and in regard to the framing of the rules, regulations etc.
- Empowerment of Citizens: Every citizen has been empowered to be informed about anything that affects their life directly or indirectly.
Limitations to the RTI
- Not an absolute right: The RTI and Right to Privacy are not absolute rights, both the rights, one of which falls under Article 19(l)(a) and the other under Article 21 can obviously be regulated, restricted and curtailed in the larger public interest.
- Subjected to restrictions: The RTI, being integral part of the right to freedom of speech, is subject to restrictions that can be imposed upon that right under Article 19 (2).
- Limitations under the rules: Rule 4 of RTI Act puts word limit (No. of words needed in different language is different to express the same idea) as 250 words. Word Limit, The Hidden power of Information Officer, is the cause of rejection of an application.
- Only information already available on record is accessible: The RTI Act provides access only to that information that existent and is available in records of the public authorities.
- Certain information may constitute contempt of court: Any information, the disclosure of which is expressly barred by any Court of law or tribunal or, which may constitute contempt of Court under the Contempt of Court Act, 1971, cannot be released.
- Information causes a breach of privilege: The Constitution of India provides some privileges to the Parliament and the State Legislature, so it is clear that such information cannot be issued by the public authority.
- Information relating to Intellectual Property and trade secrets: Any information, including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property cannot be disclosed.
Way Forward
- Speedy disposal: The increasing backlog of cases is exacerbated by the fact that most Commissions are functioning at reduced capacity.
- Prioritization of cases: There should be a prioritization of cases dealing with information related to life and liberty.
- Digitalization: Governments should put in place a mechanism for online filing of RTI applications and bring all authorities under one platform.
- Reducing technicalities: The technicalities of filing an RTI application should be more simplified. The literacy rate of rural India is quite low and thus they find it quite difficult to comply with the procedural.
- Protecting whistleblowers: There is an urgent need to protect the whistle blowers who are targeted or attacked so easily.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Challenges to Indian pharma sector
The Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) are investigating Noida-based firm after the deaths of 18 children in Uzbekistan by drinking health syrup contaminated with Diethylene Glycol (DEG).
India’s response to these deaths
- It is certainly the responsibility of the importing country to test medicines before releasing them in their market.
- After being informed about the incident, India’s apex regulatory body, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) opened investigations and lifted control samples.
Issue: India’s credibility at stake
- India is one of the leading exporters of medicines.
- PM Modi recently stressed that Indian drugs had earned the world’s trust and that India could be called the ‘pharmacy to the world’.
- However, such negative reports on the quality and safety of our medicines will be a massive blow to the country’s image as a source of cheap generic drugs to the world.
Issues highlighted by the incident
- Smuggling of cheap drugs: Inquiry reveals that these were imported from an Indian manufacturer, not under public tender but privately.
- Ignorance by authorities: The drug which is banned for domestic consumption has got exported and led to fatalities. This is a huge blissful mistake by Indian Authorities.
- Lack of inspection: There are not enough drug inspectors in the country to conduct as many inspections as is ideally required in such as vast set-up.
- Inadequacies in quality-check: Despite huge production units, there are not an adequate number of laboratories to test the samples in time if all the samples that should be lifted for testing are picked up.
- Blot on credibility: The matter, if not properly handled, can damage the perception that Indian medicines are trustworthy for many countries and the global South.
Possible factors behind this tragedy
- There are rackets of counterfeit Indian medicines turning up in many countries.
- Some of these were coming from unregistered producers in India, who would produce medicine depending on what cost was paid to them without concern for quality.
- In some cases, competitors from other countries were known to make counterfeit medicines with Indian markings and dump them in markets where Indian pharmaceuticals were well regarded.
Way forward
- The pharmaceutical trade is vital and must be protected from predatory practices and violations of regulatory norms.
- Regulatory mechanism on both sides should be strengthened.
- Importers should be given lists of recognised Indian manufacturers.
- Training should be provided to drug controllers to curtail the menace of counterfeit and poor-quality medicine entering from India.
Back2Basics: Diethylene Glycol (DEG)
- A/c to WHO, Diethylene Glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol is toxic to humans when consumed and can prove fatal.
- It can cause kidney and neurological toxicity and has been associated with several cases of mass poisoning when consumed via drugs.
- The chemical tastes sweet and is water-insoluble.
- The toxic effects of the chemical include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ahilyabai Holkar
Mains level: Read the attached story
There has been a proposal from the district administration to rename the Western Maharashtra city of Ahmednagar as ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Nagar’, after the 18th century Malwa queen, Ahilyabai Holkar.
History of Ahmednagar
- Ahmednagar lies in the Western region of Maharashtra.
- It has been a part of some prominent kingdoms, starting from 240 B.C. when the vicinity is mentioned in the reference to the Mauryan Emperor Ashok.
- The Rashtrakuta Dynasty, the Western Chalukyas, and then the Delhi Sultanate ruled over the region in the Medieval period.
- In the last case, the rule was not direct, and a revolt by Afghan soldier Alladin Hasan Gangu led to the establishment of the Bahmani kingdom in the Deccan.
- After some time, Ahmednagar (then known as Nizamshahi) became one of the five independent kingdoms to emerge from that empire.
How did the city of Ahmednagar first get its name?
- In 1486, Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah became the Bahmani Sultanate’s Prime Minister.
- He fought back an attempt by the king to dislodge him from power, and defeated the army of the Bahamani kingdom near Ahmednagar in May 1490.
- Finally, in 1494 he laid the foundation of a city close to where he defeated the army, on the left bank of Sina river, and named it after himself: Ahmednagar.
Who was Ahilyabai Holkar?
- Born in Chondi village of Ahmednagar to the village head Mankoji Shinde, on May 31, 1725, Ahilyabai was one of the few women rulers of Medieval India.
- While the education of girls and women was rare at that time, Mankoji insisted on it for his daughter.
- When she was eight years old, Malhar Rao Holkar, the army commander to Peshwa Bajirao, is believed to have spotted her at a temple service in Chondi.
- Impressed by her devotion and character, he decided to get his son, Khande Rao, married to her.
- Ahilyabai took control of Malwa after her husband’s death in the Battle of Kumbher against the king of Bharatpur in 1754.
Her Administration
- She brought about two important changes in the administration, both divergences from the traditions of her era.
- She vested the military power in Tukoji Holkar, a confidante of her father-in-law though not related.
- She separated the state’s revenue from the personal use of the ruling family. Her personal expenses were met from inherited wealth and the land holdings she had.
Role in demolished temple re-construction
- From Gangotri to Rameshwaram, and from Dwarka to Gaya, she spent money on rebuilding temples destroyed under the Mughal rule.
- The most significant one, however, is the current Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.
- Destroyed by the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb to build the Gyaanvapi mosque, the temple was restored in its current form by Ahilyabai in the year 1780, 111 years after its destruction.
- The Somnath temple, witness to the regular destruction by a host of aggressors over the centuries, was restored in 1783 by all the Maratha confederates, with a significant contributions from Ahilyabai.
- With temples and rest areas in Kedarnath, Srisailam, Omkareshwar and Ujjain, Ahilyabai contributed to the improvement of facilities at other holy sites hosting Jyotirlingas too.
Conclusion
- Ahilyabai died in the year 1795 at the age of 70.
- Her legacy is not documented in a structured way in history textbooks or popular references either.
- Part of the problem is the general absence of any non-Mughal, non-British narratives in contemporary Indian history books.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vibrant Village Programme
Mains level: Not Much
Union Home Minister said that borders can be permanently secured only when border villages are populated by patriotic citizens who are concerned for the country, asking the border-guarding forces to use the Vibrant Village Programme (VVP) for the same.
Vibrant Village Programme
- The program aims to improve infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China.
- Infrastructure will be improved in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Under the programme, residential and tourist centres will be constructed.
- It will also provide for improvement in road connectivity and development of decentralized renewable energy sources.
- Apart from that, direct access of Doordarshan and education related channels will be provided. Support will be provided for livelihood.
Key focus areas
- It focuses on livelihood generation, road connectivity, housing, rural infrastructure, renewable energy, television and broadband connections.
- This objective will be met by strengthening infrastructure across villages located near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Need for such scheme
- The programme is a counter to China’s model villages but the name has been carefully chosen so as to not cause any consternation in the neighbouring country.
- China has established new villages along the LAC in the past few years, particularly across the Arunachal Pradesh border.
- While China has been settling new residents in border areas, villages on the Indian side of the frontier have seen unprecedented out-migration.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Edtech startups, problems of funding and its significance for the economy
Context
- The Indian government is emphasizing and celebrating its tech startups as an important component of its economic development policy. Prime Minister Modi recently pointed out that the number of Indian ‘unicorns’ technology startup companies with a valuation of US$ 1 billion or more has doubled since 2021. Some sectors within these startups, such as climate tech, do demonstrate strong promise.
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Funding a major problem
- Though India has emerged as the third largest ecosystem for startups, funding is becoming a growing problem, with the number of unicorns dropping by half in 2022.
- One of the sectors that appear to be not doing very well is the Indian online tech startups.
- Good performance during the pandemic: These Indian tech startups did very well during the two-year-long pandemic. With the dramatic increase in work-from-home (WFH) office interactions, online consulting for various services but especially heathcare, online classes at schools and colleges and other educational centres, and other online services and platforms proliferate.
- Indian techs became popular for online services: Overnight, technological solutions and electronic communications using virtual platforms, digital payments system, video consultations and edtech all became popular.
- As people returning to normal lives Indian techs looks weak: But with the pandemic now relatively under control and people returning to normal lives, the future of Indian startups that provided online services is beginning to look bleak.
- Negative assumptions: Going by recent media reports, the future of such tech startup companies is not so bright. Funds are drying up and not all startups are going to survive.
- Global uncertainties adding up to the existing problems: Further, issues like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a spike in global inflation rates, and fears of a possible recession have also brought down the prospects for many startups in general.
Impact of shortage in funding to tech startups
- Complete shutdown of many startups: Shortage of capital that is critical for the startups to sustain has led to cost-cutting measures with layoffs, mergers and consolidation and even complete shutdowns of some of them.
- Shut down as it unable to find market fit product: According to Inc42, a tech media platform, eight startups shut shop in 2022. These include Matrix Partners-backed SaaS startup, Protonn, which closed its operations in January 2022 since it was unable to find the right product-market fit.
- For instance, the funding case of Protonn: Protonn was a Bengaluru and San Francisco-based startup, focused on providing its platform to professionals such as lawyers, graphic designers and nutritionists to launch their businesses online, create videos, conduct live sessions, generate payment links, and track their business’s financial performance. The company had raised US$9 million in seed funding. The company, founded by former Flipkart executives, Anil Goteti and Mausam Bhatt, returned US $ 9 million to its investors.
Problem faced by edtch startups in a post pandemic world
- A case of edtech startup Uday: Uday ended its operations in April this year. The Gurgaon-based startup had difficulties finding ways to stay in business in the post-pandemic world. The startup co-founder, Soumya Yadav stated that the company was witnessing the post-pandemic world for the first time, as the kids went back to school, we faced roadblocks in growing the original model of online, live learning. We evaluated multiple different strategies and adjacent pivots however none of them were promising enough.
- Financial crunch and laying off the employees by well-established edtechs: Edtech startups such as Vedantu and Unacademy are also facing severe financial crunch, leading to hundreds of layoffs or shutting down certain verticals.
- Vedantu for instance: Earlier in the year, Vedantu laid off around 620 employees. Unacademy, earlier in the year, shut down its medical test preparation vertical, USMLE.
- Unacademy laying off its verticle: As of November, Unacademy has done three rounds of layoffs, starting with 600-800 employees from its sales and marketing team.
- Byjus: Byju’sa rival of Unacademy has also felt the pinch and is reported to have laid off close to 2,500 employees.
- SuperLearn: Another startup in the education sector, a Bengaluru-based SuperLearn, shut its operations in June because of “a dearth of funds and diminishing investor confidence.”
Other positive side of the startups
- Biotech and healthcare startups did well: While the edtech is possibly the worst hit, startups in the biotech and healthcare sector and e-commerce and fintech may not be as badly affected in the coming year.
- Healthcare startups not only survived but also benefitted: Several startups gained from the inadequacy of the Indian healthcare system and thus phenomena like online pharmacy, healthcare-at-home services, and fitness and wellness companies have sprung up and they are likely to stay.
- Funds received by healthcare startups will be helpful: Healthcare startups reportedly received funds of around US$2.2 billionn across 131 deals. They also appear to have found an appealing business model that might help them pull on with reasonable success in the coming years.
Way ahead
- Nevertheless, there is a likelihood that after seeing a boom and a significant spike in the demand in these sectors in the last two years, there may be some balancing in the next two years.
- Another possible way that startups will deal with the financial crunch, lack of adequate response is to consolidate the several different edtech and e-commerce platforms and so, one could expect a few merger and acquisition to come through in the coming years.
- Enterprisetech sector saw some of this playing out already. Startups, at least within a few exclusive sectors, have gained fair amount of prominence and appears that they are here to stay despite the possibility of a rough couple of years until issues around funds and market are evened out.
Conclusion
- It is evident that not only the economic crisis caused closures, but growing businesses in post-pandemic conditions was proving to be a challenge. Overall, Indian tech startups therefore suggest a mixed picture. Strong government support is positive but business model and market competition issues need to be addressed.
Mains question
Q. Indian edtech startups are witnessing financial crunch however, healthcare start-ups are benefitting in a post pandemic world. Therefore, Indian tech startups suggest a mixed picture. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India’s First Waste-to-Hydrogen Project
Mains level: Hydrogen Energy
Context
- India assumed the Presidency of the Group of 20 this December. The world’s third largest emitter is moving beyond a transition strategy based squarely on solar development by branching out into emerging fields such as hydrogen.
Present Energy status and future Predictions
- Only country to keep promise: India is one of the few countries that has kept to its Paris Agreement (21st Conference of Parties or COP21 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) commitments, with an exponential increase in renewable energy capacity.
- Energy through renewables: It is anticipated that by 2050, 80-85 per cent of India’s overall power capacity will come from renewables by achieving the nationally determined contributions commitments.
- Reducing the fossil fuel: India had committed to increasing the share of non-fossil fuels to 40 per cent of the total electricity generation capacity by 2030.
Potential of hydrogen energy
- 6 million tonnes hydrogen: India consumes about six million tonnes of hydrogen annually to produce ammonia and methanol in industrial sectors, including fertilisers and refineries.
- Rising demand of hydrogen: This could increase to 28 million tonnes by 2050, principally due to the rising demand from the industry.
- Search for technology to generate: Ever since the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) shared that it is time for green hydrogen, private players have been looking for new technologies to generate it.
- Electrolyser is inefficient: With the challenges of electrolyser capacity for generating green hydrogen globally, finding alternatives to foster green hydrogen in the country is essential.
- Incentives from central government: The central government, the prime facilitator of such projects, has been coming up with new initiatives, policies and schemes to unleash the potential of green hydrogen generation and boost its demand.
- Rational utilization of resources: The long-term low-emission development strategy of the country submitted to UNFCCC at COP27 focused on the rational utilisation of national resources for energy security in a just, smooth and sustainable manner.
Idea proposed by Pune Municipal Commission
- Partnership with private player: PMC has partnered with business management consultant The Green Billions (TGBL) to manage its waste and generate it into useable green hydrogen. TGBL’s special purpose vehicle or subsidiary, Variate Pune Waste to Energy Private Ltd, will be undertaking the work.
- Waste management: The new facility for generating hydrogen from waste will solve major problems of Inefficient waste management and carbon emissions. Waste management is one of the prime issues in the country, which is blamed for generating pollution in the surroundings.
- Reducing carbon emissions: Pune, the second largest city in Maharashtra, hosts many industries, including steel, fertilisers and pharmaceutical industries. The emissions in the city increased by 12 per cent to 1.64-tonne carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2Eq) per capita in 2017 from 1.46 tonne tCO2Eq per capita in 2012.
How Hydrogen will be generated?
- Hydrogen generation for 30 years: Variate Pune Waste to Energy Private Ltd will be managing and utilising the municipal waste of 350 tonnes per day (TPD) for generating hydrogen for 30 years. This waste will comprise biodegradable, non-biodegradable and domestic hazardous waste.
- Plasma gasification technology: The Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) from the waste would later be utilised to generate hydrogen using plasma gasification technology. The technology has been developed while closely working with the Bhabha Atomic Research Institute (BARC) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
- 9MT Tonnes of H2: It is estimated that 150TPD RDF and 9MT tonnes of H2 would be generated out of 350 TPD waste.
- Decarbonising the city: The hydrogen generated at the facility will be utilised locally to help the city lower its emissions. As the Centre is focusing on industrial decarbonisation and facing the challenges of just transition, the project can prove to be a game-changer in helping industries reduce carbon emissions.
Conclusion
- In India, where the hydrogen industry is nascent, it is imperative to keep the cost of hydrogen competitive to expand its usage in various sectors. TGBL will work on the same by making hydrogen affordable and easier to switch in the just-transition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Cyber space, cyber sovereignty and its implications
Context
- A state’s desire to control ‘cyberspace’ within its borders is achieved by exercising what is called ‘cyber sovereignty’. While some countries such as the United States (US) support the free flow of information, others like China, by default, restrict the flow for its citizens, leading to the fragmentation of the internet.
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- A cyber threat or cyber security threat is defined as a malicious act intended to steal or damage data or disrupt the digital wellbeing and stability of an enterprise.
- Cyber threats include a wide range of attacks ranging from data breaches, computer viruses, denial of service, and numerous other attack vectors.
What is cyberspace?
- Defined by Cyber security expert Daniel Kuehl: cyberspace is a global domain within the information system whose distinctive and unique character is framed by the use of electronics and the electromagnetic spectrum to create, store, modify, exchange, and exploit information via independent and interconnected networks using information-communication technologies.
- Traditionally three layers of cyberspace: Traditionally, cyberspace was understood only in three layers: the physical/hardware, neural/software, and data.
- Forth layer of social interaction and sovereignty: Alexander Klimburg, in his book The Darkening Web, introduced a fourth layer that deals with the social interaction among the three layers: “If cyberspace can be said to have a soul or mind, this is where it is. Establishing control over all the layers is necessary to build sovereignty in cyberspace.
What is Cyber sovereignty?
- Term coined by Bruce Schneir: One of the leading voices in internet governance, Bruce Schneier, has coined the term as the attempt of governments to take control over sections of the internet within their borders.
- It is about Internet governance: The term cyber sovereignty stems from internet governance and usually means the ability to create and implement rules in cyberspace through state governance.
- Cyber sovereignty does not necessarily mean governance by state: Cyber sovereignty does not necessarily have to mean governance by a state. It first and foremost refers to the ability to create and implement rules in cyberspace. Alternatively, one could say it refers to the authority to speak the law, i.e., having juris-diction, in cyberspace.
- Technology that drives policy decisions: In contrast to other technologies whose development is driven by policy, here it is technology which drives policy decisions. These characteristics make cyberspace governance complex and lead to confrontations among states and other stakeholders.
Whether states should be held accountable for cyber-attacks emanating from their territory?
- Sovereignty as defined by ICJ: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) defines sovereignty as that which confers rights upon states and imposes obligations on them. This implies that states must control their cyber infrastructure and prevent it from being knowingly or unknowingly used to harm other states and non-state actors.
- Who comes under the cyber sovereignty ambit: The state, or the citizens of the state, if involved in attacking other states or non-state actors’ cyber facilities, also come under the ambit of cyber sovereignty.
Implications of Cyber sovereignty
- Cyber sovereignty restricts the free flow of information: The internet was created to promote the free flow of information, but cyber sovereignty works the other way around. Restricting the flow of information can also put global businesses at risk due to the lack of interoperability it leads to.
- It may lead to data imperialism: Control over the data could lead to new forms of colonialism and imperialism, commonly referred to as ‘data colonisation’ and ‘data imperialism’ in the digital era. States and private players can overreach their powers and violate human rights through cyberspace surveillance, controlling information flow, and enforcing internet shutdowns.
- Implications from the fragmentation of the internet to violation of human rights: The implications are broad, impinging on citizens’ rights such as privacy, freedom of expression, access to information, press freedom, freedom of belief, non-discrimination and equality, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, due process and personal security.
- For instance: Access to geolocation data can give insights into people who participated in a protest. Further, based on a user’s online behaviour, it is possible to determine a person’s sexual orientation, political affiliation and religious beliefs.
Example to understand the Implication of cyber sovereignty
- In 2009, seeking justice for their co-workers whom the Han Chinese killed in a doll factory, Uighurs, a Muslim minority community in China, organised a protest using Facebook and Uighur-language blogs.
- Following this incident, Facebook and Twitter were blocked across the country, and the internet was shut down for ten months in the region.
- Following the incident, the Chinese government, with the help of the private sector, developed AI-enabled applications like the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (Ijop) to monitor the daily activities of Uighur Muslims. This app obtains information like skin colour, facial features, properties owned, payments, and personal relationships, and reports if there are any suspicious activities. An investigation is initiated if the systems flag any person. Data is gathered 24/7 to carry out mass surveillance.
Value addition notes: Consider these for Essays
- Unlike other spaces such as land, sea, air, and outer space, cyberspace was created by humans; therefore, complete control can be established over it.
- Countries have tried to frame policies and rules to regulate cyberspace by building the necessary infrastructure.
- This can be seen as either a defensive mechanism that states use to protect their own critical infrastructure or a framework adopted to exploit other states’ resources.
- It has led to a security dilemma and added fuel to the fire of great-power politics.
- Realising its importance, states have started to see cyberspace as equivalent to physical territory, and are building virtual walls to protect their ‘cyber territory’ with the help of various technologies.
Conclusion
- It is often said that information is wealth, competition has developed between states, and between state and non-state actors, to control and access this wealth. The dichotomy of states trying to protect the data generated in their territory by introducing data protection laws but, simultaneously, wanting to exploit other states’ data is adding to the complexity.
Mains question
Q. Technological advancements have made cyberspace an integral part of human lives. In this context, what do you understand by Cyber sovereignty. Discuss the implications of cyber sovereignty.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Indian handloom, Impact of colonial policies and the future of energy efficient cotton production
Context
- When we look back at Indian handlooms, what is certain is that the craft world has changed, not in the slow-paced gradual way of changes in the past, but much faster than before. India can be a world leader in the sustainable production of cotton textiles.
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- Supplier from the ancient times: The weavers of India have supplied the markets of the world with cotton cloth since at least the first century of the Common Era.
- Fine varieties of cotton were the source of wealth: In pre-industrial times, the many varieties of Indian cotton cloth bafta, mulmul, mashru, jamdani, moree, percale, nainsukh, chintz, etc were the source of India’s fabled wealth.
- Spun by hand: Until colonial times, the yarn for handloom weaving in India had been spun by hand.
- Invention of spinning machines: With the invention of spinning machinery in Britain and the import of machine-spun cotton yarn, this occupation vanished.
Impact of colonial policies on Indian handlooms
- Economic policies dictated by British: Since India was a British colony, the British dictated its economic policies.
- Raw material exported while machine made fabric imported: Machine-woven cotton fabrics began to be imported, while raw cotton was shipped out to supply British industry.
- Variety of cotton from India was not suitable for machinery, so they forced uniformity: Though Indian varieties of cotton produced the finest fabrics the world has yet seen, the famous Dhaka muslins, they were unsuited to the newly invented textile machinery, while American cotton varieties that have a longer, stronger staple, were more suited to machine processing. The machines needed a uniform kind of cotton, so the hundreds of varieties of Indian cotton which had been bred over centuries now had to become uniform. Diversity, until then valued, became a handicap.
- By 1947 uniform production established and variety lost: By 1947, mass production was well established, and India’s own spinning and weaving mills took over the role of Lancashire. American cotton varieties and their hybrids gradually replaced native ones, so now, native varieties grow only in a few pockets
What did this mean for Indian cotton farmers?
- New practices changed the nature of production from sustainable to commercial: Cotton in India is grown largely by small farmers, and the new practices have changed the nature of farm practices from sustainable, family-based agriculture to intensive commercial farming with severe and tragic consequences.
- Seeds from companies were expensive: Seeds come from large multinationals, rather than the farmer’s own stock, and are expensive.
- Desi varieties of seeds were rainfed lost rapidly: While the desi varieties were rain-fed, the American varieties need irrigation, which increases humidity. Humidity encourages pests and fungi.
- Cost of cultivation increased with use of fertilizers: A cocktail of chemicals fertiliser, pesticide and fungicide is used which adds to the cost of cultivation, but does not guarantee a good harvest.
- Debt increased farmers misery: The farmer runs up huge debts hoping for a good crop, but India’s weather is variable, groundwater is fast depleting. If the crop fails, the risks are entirely the farmer’s. The distress of the cotton farmer has even led to suicides. The introduction of genetically-modified seeds has led to more severe problems.
Relationship between energy shift and the cotton production
- Renewable energy in 21st century: Just as energy from fossil fuels ushered in the era of mass production in the 19th century, it will be clean, renewable energy that will take the small-scale environmental Indian industries to the top of the heap in the 21st century.
- Emphasis for low energy manufacturing: As fossil fuels deplete, earlier notions of efficiency will change, and low-energy manufacturing processes will gain value.
- Handwoven fabrics will gain importance again: At the same time, markets are becoming saturated with look-alike products from factory-style mass production, and there are more customers for the individualised products dispersed production can offer. Small-batch handwoven fabrics will become desirable in the changing markets.
Interesting: Malkha a sustainable fabric
- Malkha is pure cotton cloth made directly from raw cotton in the village close to cotton fields and combines traditional Indian principles of cloth making with modern small-scale technology.
- Malkha is energy efficient, avoids baling and unbaling of cotton by heavy machinery and unnecessary transport.
- It provides an alternative to the mass production of cotton yarn.
- Malkha has also added natural dyeing of yarn to make its fabrics even more sustainable.
Conclusion
- The world is looking for green industries. Over the next 25 years, as independent India turns 100, handloom weaving located close to cotton fields can make it a world leader in sustainable production.
Mains question
Q. The weavers of India have supplied the markets of the world with cotton cloth since at least the first century of the Common Era. In this context Discuss the impact of British policies on Indian handloom.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Decriminalization of certain offences
Last week, the Union Government tabled the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2022, (Bill) in the Parliament with the objective of “decriminalising” 183 offences across 42 legislations and enhancing the ease of living and doing business in India.
Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022,
- It sought to amend 42 Acts to reduce the compliance burden on individuals and businesses and ensure ease of doing business.
- Some Acts that are amended by the Bill include: the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Key provisions of the Bill
(1) Replacing imprisonment with money penalty:
Under the Bill, several offences with an imprisonment term in certain Acts have been decriminalised by imposing only a monetary penalty under the –
- Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937, counterfeiting grade designation marks is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to five thousand rupees. The Bill replaces this with a penalty of eight lakh rupees.
- Information Technology Act, 2000, disclosing personal information in breach of a lawful contract is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years, or a fine of up to five lakh rupees, or both. The Bill replaces this with a penalty of up to 25 lakh rupees.
- Patents Act, 1970, a person selling a falsely represented article as patented in India is subject to a fine of up to one lakh rupees. The Bill replaces the fine with a penalty, which may be up to ten lakh rupees. In case of a continuing claim, there shall be an additional penalty of one thousand rupees per day.
(2) Revision of fines and penalties:
- The Bill increases the fines and penalties for various offences in the specified Acts.
- Further, these fines and penalties will be increased by 10% of the minimum amount every three years.
- It is a welcome move and can be viewed as an attempt to reverse the trend of overcriminalisation. However, there is much that needs to be done in order to institutionalise efforts aimed at decriminalisation.
Why was this legislation brought up?
- Rise in criminal cases: An unprincipled growth of criminal law has long been a cause of concern for scholars of law.
- Political motives: The act of criminalisation often becomes a medium for governments to put across a strong image as opposed to punishing wrongful conduct.
- Over-criminalization: Governments offer little in the way of justifications to support such decisions. This phenomenon has been termed “overcriminalisation” by scholars.
- Increased burden on Judiciary: As per the National Judicial Data Grid, of the 4.3 crore pending cases, nearly 3.2 crore cases are in relation to criminal proceedings.
- Overcrowding of prisons: Similarly, the rise in the prison population is also proof of this. As per the NCRB’s Prison Statistics of 2021, a total of 5.54 lakh prisoners were confined in prisons against a capacity of 4.25 lakh.
Scope of the Bill
- Hefty fines cannot create deterrence: The Jan Vishwas Bill either omits penal provisions or replaces them with fines in legislation. These are primarily offences which are regulatory in nature.
- Quasi-decriminalisation: By and large, an examination of the provisions of the Bill reveals that stress has been on the replacement of imprisonment clauses with fines. This can hardly be termed as ‘decriminalisation’.
Achieving decriminalisation in real sense
There is much that is required for the efforts aimed at decriminalisation to fructify in any meaningful way.
(1) Stigma of fines to create deterrence
- In his seminal piece titled – ‘Is the Criminal Law a Lost Cause?’ Mr. Andrew Ashworth’s creates a distinction between regulatory offences and penal offences and exemplifies the same through the functional distinction between a tax and a fine.
- While the purpose of a tax is primarily regulatory in nature, a fine carries with it an element of censure and stigma.
(2) De-linking petty economic offences with over-criminalization
- Secondly, the Observer Research Foundation’s report titled Jailed for Doing Business found that there are more than 26,134 imprisonment clauses in a total of 843 economic legislations, rules and regulations which seek to regulate businesses and economic activities in India.
- In this light, the number of offences deregulated under the Bill seems to be a mere drop in India’s regulatory framework.
(3) Regulatory offences to be considered for ‘decriminalisation’
- This need to be prioritised not only from the point of view of the ease of doing business, but also from the points of view of the ills that plague our criminal justice system itself.
- Debates are ongoing about the decriminalisation of several penal offences such as sedition, offences under NDPS Act & UAPA Acts, triple talaq and anti-conversion laws etc.
- There is an urgent need to assess these offences on a principled basis.
Conclusion
- The intent of the Bill is merely to ensure that imprisonment is replaced with fines for as many offences as possible.
- The extent to which it succeeds in ‘decriminalising’ offences, however, is questionable.
- If these faults are to be rectified, it is pertinent that a more comprehensive exercise is undertaken and that the government prioritises the needs and requirements of the criminal justice system.
- Still this legislation is a welcome move in all senses.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Social Stock Exchange
Mains level: Read the attached story
The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE India) received an in-principle approval from the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to set-up Social Stock Exchange (SSE) as a separate segment.
What is Social Stock Exchange (SSE)?
- SSE is a novel idea in India, and a stock exchange of this kind is intended to benefit the private and non-profit sectors by directing more capital to them.
- During her Budget speech for the fiscal year 2019–20, Finance Minister first proposed the concept of SSE.
- The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 was then invoked by the government, which subsequently published a gazette notification announcing a new security as “zero coupon zero principal”.
- The SSE will function as a distinct division of the current stock exchanges under the new regulations.
Who can list on SSE?
- The SSE will be a distinct division of the current stock exchanges under the new regulations.
- Not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) and for-profit social enterprises with social intent and impact as their primary goal will be eligible to participate in the SSE.
- Additionally, such an intent should be shown by its emphasis on social goals that are appropriate for under-served or less privileged populations or areas.
- The social enterprises will have to engage in a social activity out of 16 broad activities listed by the regulator.
The eligible activities include-
- Eradicating hunger poverty, malnutrition and inequality
- Promoting healthcare, supporting education, employability and livelihoods
- Gender equality empowerment of women and LGBTQIA communities
- Supporting incubators of social enterprise
Who are not eligible?
- Corporate foundations, political or religious organisations or activities, professional or trade associations, infrastructure companies, and housing companies, with the exception of affordable housing, will not be eligible to be identified as social enterprises.
- According to SEBI’s framework, minimum issue size of ₹1 crore and a minimum application size for subscription of ₹2 lakh are currently required for SSE.
Minimum requirements for sustenance
- NPO needs to be registered as a charitable trust and should be registered for at least three years, must have spent at least ₹50 lakh annually in the past financial year.
- They should have received a funding of at least ₹10 lakh in the past financial year.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: City Finance Ranking
Mains level: Not Much
The Centre launched City Finance Rankings 2022 and City Beauty Competition aimed at incentivising urban local bodies for improving cities’ public infrastructure and strengthening them on basis of key financial parameters.
What is City Finance Rankings?
- It aims to evaluate, recognise, and reward urban local bodies on the basis of their strength across key financial parameters.
- City Finance Rankings aim to motivate city and state officials and decision makers, to implement municipal finance reforms.
- The participating urban local bodies will be evaluated on 15 indicators across three key municipal finance assessment parameters like resource mobilisation, expenditure performance, and fiscal governance.
- The cities will be ranked at the national level on the basis of their scores under any one of the following four population categories:
- Above 40 lakh
- Between 10-40 lakh
- 1 lakh to 10 lakh and
- Less than one lakh
- The top three cities in each population category will be recognised and rewarded at the national level as well as within each state and state cluster
About City Beauty Competition
- Wards and public places of cities would be judged against the five broad pillars (i) accessibility (ii) amenities (iii) activities (iv) aesthetics and (v) ecology.
- It would felicitate most beautiful wards and beautiful public places at the city level.
- It aims to encourage and recognise the transformational efforts made by cities and wards in India to create beautiful, innovative and inclusive public spaces
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
Mains level: Modernization of railways
The Ministry of Railways, as part of its station redevelopment drive, has formulated Amrit Bharat Station Scheme to modernize over 1,000 small stations over the coming years.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
- Under this, stations will be equipped with facilities inspired by the mega-upgradation of marquee stations such as New Delhi and Ahmedabad, albeit at a lower cost.
- Key features of these proposed stations include provisions for roof top plazas, longer platforms, ballast-less tracks, and 5G connectivity.
- The scheme will subsume all previous redevelopment projects where work is yet to begin.
Implementation strategy
- The model envisages low-cost redevelopment of stations which can be executed timely.
- Zonal railways have been given the responsibility of selecting stations, which will then be approved by a committee of senior railway officials.
- Plans and consequent budgets will only be approved on the basis of factors such as footfall and inputs from stakeholders.
Facilities Planned under this Scheme
- Provision for Roof Plaza to be created in future
- Free Wi-Fi, space for 5G mobile towers
- Smooth access by widening of roads, removal of unwanted structures, properly designed signages, dedicated pedestrian pathways, well-planned parking areas, improved lighting etc.
- High level platforms (760-840 mm) at all stations with a length of 600 metres
- Special amenities for the disabled
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached story
Mains level: NA
2023 is set to be another busy year. Here are five of the most exciting missions to watch out for.
(1) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
- In April, the European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), in what will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter.
- Juice is due to reach the planet in July 2031 after performing an incredible flight path through the Solar System.
- The mission will enter into orbit around Jupiter and perform numerous flybys of its large icy moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
- After four years of moon flybys, Juice will then enter into orbit around Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System — becoming the first spacecraft ever to reach orbit around the moon of another planet.
- The icy moons of Jupiter are interesting as they are all believed to host oceans of liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces.
- Europa, in particular, is regarded as one of the most likely abodes in the Solar System for extra-terrestrial life.
(2) SpaceX Starship
- Starship will be the largest spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth to destinations in space (the International Space Station is larger, but it was assembled in space).
- It will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever to fly, capable of lifting 100 tonnes of cargo to low Earth orbit.
- Starship is the collective name for a two-component system consisting of the Starship spacecraft (which carries the crew and cargo) and the Super Heavy rocket.
- The rocket component will lift Starship to some 65km altitude before separating and returning to Earth in a controlled landing.
- The upper Starship component will then use its own engines to push itself the rest of the way to orbit.
(3) dearMoon Project
- The long-awaited dearMoon project, which will take members of the public on a six-day trip around the Moon and back, is due for launch on Starship and was originally planned for 2023.
- It will be the first true deep space tourism launch.
- This mission will mark a big change in the way we think about space, as previously only astronauts picked using incredibly stringent criteria have been able to go into deep space.
- The success or failure of the dearMoon mission could affect whether deep space tourism becomes the next big thing, or it is relegated back to being a pipe-dream.
(4) OSIRIS-REx returning Earth
- The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security — Regolith Explorer, mercifully more commonly known as OSIRIS-REx, is a NASA mission to near-Earth asteroid Bennu.
- A key goal of this robotic mission was to acquire samples of Bennu and return them to Earth for analysis.
- OSIRIS-REx is now fast returning to Earth with up to a kilogram of precious asteroid samples stored aboard.
- If all goes well, the capsule will detach from the spacecraft, enter the Earth’s atmosphere and parachute to a soft landing in the deserts of Utah.
- Asteroid sample return has only been achieved once before, by the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa 2 mission in 2020.
- Bennu is an approximately diamond-shaped world just half a kilometre in size, but has many interesting characteristics.
- Some of the minerals detected within it have been altered by water, implying that Bennu’s ancient parent body possessed liquid water.
- It also has an abundance of precious metals, including gold and platinum.
- It is however classed as a potentially hazardous object with a (very) small possibility of Earth impact in the next century.
(5) India’s private space launch
- Skyroot Aerospace, which successfully launched its Vikram-S rocket in November 2022, is soon to become the first private Indian company to launch a satellite.
- The rocket itself reached 90km in altitude, a distance that would need to be improved upon to get a constellation of satellites into orbit.
- Skyroot’s first satellite launch is planned for 2023, with a goal of undercutting the cost of private space launch rivals by producing its 3D-printed rockets in a matter of days.
- If successful, this could also provide a route for cheaper launches of scientific missions, enabling a faster rate of research.
Conclusion
- With many bold advances and launches due in 2023, we are entering a new phase akin to the “Golden era” of space launches in the 1960s and ’70s.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's manufacturing sector and role of IAS officers
Context
- The Make in India and Ease of Doing Business policies were framed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi correctly believed that the problems of poverty and unemployment could only be solved by the rapid growth of the manufacturing sector. Despite these efforts, manufacturing has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. Investments in the sector remain inadequate.
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- Development strategies and failures: The development of strategies and plans for implementation and their execution is done by individuals. Repeated failures in this area point to the necessity of identifying the root causes for why existing personnel charged with policy execution have been failing.
- Reasons could be: The reasons could be inadequate knowledge and skills, lack of motivation, environmental constraints or weak supervision and monitoring.
- Vision by political leaderships, implementation by IAS officers: While the political leadership lays down the vision, the responsibilities for translating these into ground realities are that of IAS officers.
IAS officers in manufacturing
- IAS officers ensures adequate skills and training: Most of the senior posts in the secretariats and districts are held by officers from the IAS. They are responsible for ensuring that subordinate civil servants are adequately trained and skilled, motivated and guided to deliver good outcomes.
- Frame rules for implementation: They create the framework of rules that constitute the environment for implementation. Therefore, if policies are to be more effectively implemented, IAS officers need to be better equipped.
How should be the role of IAS officers in manufacturing?
- Officers should have adequate knowledge: Achieving global levels of cost and quality competitiveness in the sector requires that officers working in areas relevant to policy-making in the central and state governments understand how laws, regulations and procedures impact the competitiveness of industry.
- They must know the ways of cost-efficient manufacturing: They should specifically be aware of the various ways in which these add to or reduce the costs of manufacturing.
- They should ensure the demand and investment strategy: They need to appreciate the importance of demand creation for enabling industry to achieve economies of scale and how the stability of policies is required for companies to make long-term investments.
What needs to be done?
- Need to understand the resources, demand and growth: The importance of profits and the generation of internal resources for growth has to be understood.
- Joint efforts and trust are required: This is only possible if the concerned civil servants in the ministries have good domain knowledge of the manufacturing sector and appreciate that government and entrepreneurs have to work jointly and trust each other.
Can IAS officers do this work? What are the challenges?
- Gap in policies and implementation: While policies are largely made in Delhi, much of the implementation is done in states.
- More trust on public sector while a distrust on private sector: Effective implementation has become complex because of our past history of only trusting the public sector and distrusting the private sector.
- Even laws and procedures are based on suspicion: Many of the laws and procedures were based on the suspicion of private-sector industrialists.
- Legacy of distrust on civil servants: Equally, the system of checks and balances, inherited from the British, is based on a distrust of civil servants and leads to implementers preferring procedures and correct paperwork over producing results.
- Civil servants are not private sector friendly in general: Civil servants are generally not private sector friendly when dealing with issues that have financial implications. This results in long delays, higher costs and loss of competitiveness.
How to equip IAS officers to become more effective in dealing with the manufacturing sector?
- Bringing in the best global practices: We need to reform our system of human resource development and bring it in line with the best global practices.
- Dedicated wing to be created: A wing be created in the Department of Personnel & Training, and its counterparts in the states. This should be manned by professionals in human resource development whose function would be to select officers on the basis of aptitude from the IAS and other services, and train them to frame and implement policies relating to manufacturing and industrial development.
- Experience must be considered: The selection of officers could be made after they have completed around 10 years of service. Thereafter, selected officers would need to be trained and given postings that would enable them to gain more knowledge and experience. This could include secondment to selected private companies so that the officers could get actual working experience. They would then be better able to understand the finer points of competing in the marketplace.
- Periodic Capability evaluation should be made: Officers so trained should not be moved to other unrelated areas of work. Periodic evaluations could be made, again by professionals, to identify those capable of moving to the highest levels for making policies and strategies.
The Maruti case study
- A system that exists in Japan, and was implemented in Maruti, was to de-link salary scales from job responsibilities.
- The most suitable person for a job is selected and his pay did not change upon assuming higher responsibilities, though his designation changed.
Conclusion
- IAS officers can deliver results if they are motivated, trained and allowed to work in the area of their expertise. The recruitment system for the higher civil services ensures high-quality entrants. However, that does not automatically mean good results when posted in jobs that require specialized knowledge and experience. They need to be properly equipped to work in the manufacturing sector.
Mains Question
Q. Despite of the efforts to boost manufacturing sector, it has till now not shown any significant increase in its growth. In this context discuss the role of IAS officers and suggest what can be done to improve their role in manufacturing sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: What is Chatbot and ChatGPT?
Mains level: Chatbot and ChatGPT, applications, advantages and limitations
Context
- Many of us are familiar with the concept of what a “chatbot” is and what it is supposed to do. But this year, OpenAI’s ChatGPT turned a simple experience into something entirely different. ChatGPT is being seen as a path-breaking example of an AI chatbot and what the technology could achieve when applied at scale.
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Background
- ChatGPT by OpenAI: Artificial Intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI on recently announced ChatGPT, a prototype dialogue-based AI chatbot capable of understanding natural language and responding in natural language.
- Will be able to implement in softwares soon: So far, OpenAI has only opened up the bot for evaluation and beta testing but API access is expected to follow next year. With API access, developers will be able to implement ChatGPT into their own software.
- Remarkable abilities: But even under its beta testing phase, ChatGPT’s abilities are already quite remarkable. Aside from amusing responses like the pumpkin one above, people are already finding real-world applications and use cases for the bot.
- A chatbot (coined from the term “chat robot”) is a computer program that simulates human conversation either by voice or text communication, and is designed to help solve a problem.
- Organizations use chatbots to engage with customers alongside the classic customer service channels like phone, email, and social media.
What is ChatGPT?
- Simple definition: ChatGPT is a chatbot built on a large-scale transformer-based language model that is trained on a diverse dataset of text and is capable of generating human-like responses to prompts.
- A human like language model: It is based on GPT-3.5, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text.
- It is more engaging with details: However, while the older GPT-3 model only took text prompts and tried to continue on that with its own generated text, ChatGPT is more engaging. It’s much better at generating detailed text and can even come up with poems.
- Keeps the memory of the conversations: Another unique characteristic is memory. The bot can remember earlier comments in a conversation and recount them to the user.
- Human- like resemblance: A conversation with ChatGPT is like talking to a computer, a smart one, which appears to have some semblance of human-like intelligence.
The Question arises: will AI replace all of our daily writing?
- ChatGPT is not entirely accurate: It is not entirely accurate, something even OpenAI has admitted. It is also evident that some of the essays written by ChatGPT lack the depth that a real human expert might showcase when writing on the same subject.
- ChatGPT lacks depth like human mind: It doesn’t quite have the nuance that a human would often be able to provide. For example, when asked ChatGPT how one should cope with a cancer diagnosis. The responses were kind but generic. The type of responses you would find in any general self-help guide.
- It lacks same experiences as humans: AI has a long way to go. After all, it doesn’t have the same experiences as a human.
- ChatGPT doent excel in code: ChatGPT is writing basic code. As several reports have shown, ChatGPT doesn’t quite excel at this yet. But a future where basic code is written using AI doesn’t seem so incredible right now.
Limitations of ChatGPT
- ChatGPT is still prone to Misinformation: Despite of abilities of the bot there are some limitations. ChatGPT is still prone to misinformation and biases, which is something that plagued previous versions of GPT as well. The model can give incorrect answers to, say, algebraic problems.
- ChatGPT can write incorrect answers: OpenAI understands some flaws and has noted them down on its announcement blog that “ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers.
Conclusion
- OpenAI’s ChatGPT turned that simple experience into something entirely different. ChatGPT is a path-breaking example of an AI chatbot and what the technology could achieve when applied at scale. Limitations aside, ChatGPT still makes for a fun little bot to interact with. However, there are some challenges that needs to be addressed before it becomes a unavoidable part of human life.
Manis question
Q. What is ChatGPT? Discuss why it is seen as pathbreaking example of an AI chatbot and the limitations?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IBC
Mains level: Reforms in the IBC
The government is proposing to make changes to India’s six-year-old Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
What is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)?
- The IBC, 2016 is the bankruptcy law of India that seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.
- It is a one-stop solution for resolving insolvencies which previously was a long process that did not offer an economically viable arrangement.
- The code aims to protect the interests of small investors and make the process of doing business less cumbersome.
Key features
Insolvency Resolution: The Code outlines separate insolvency resolution processes for individuals, companies, and partnership firms. The process may be initiated by either the debtor or the creditors. A maximum time limit, for completion of the insolvency resolution process, has been set for corporates and individuals.
- For companies, the process will have to be completed in 180 days, which may be extended by 90 days, if a majority of the creditors agree.
- For startups (other than partnership firms), small companies, and other companies (with assets less than Rs. 1 crore), the resolution process would be completed within 90 days of initiation of request which may be extended by 45 days.
Insolvency regulator: The Code establishes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, to oversee the insolvency proceedings in the country and regulate the entities registered under it. The Board will have 10 members, including representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Law, and the RBI.
Insolvency professionals: The insolvency process will be managed by licensed professionals. These professionals will also control the assets of the debtor during the insolvency process.
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Adjudicator: The Code proposes two separate tribunals to oversee the process of insolvency resolution, for individuals and companies:
- National Company Law Tribunal: for Companies and Limited Liability Partnership firms; and
- Debt Recovery Tribunal: for individuals and partnerships
What are the changes being proposed?
- Easier settlements: The process is being proposed to be divided into two phases—phase I will focus on finding potential buyers and handing over the management to the acquirer. Phase II would address the distribution of proceeds among creditors and settle inter-creditor disputes. This would make an effort to revive the units with better management, wherever possible.
- Preventing delays: Average days taken to resolve a case has risen to 679 days in H1FY23 from 230 days in FY18. The changes presently under consideration seek to address inter-creditor disputes, which have been identified as the leading cause of delays.
Why is the IBC seen as a game-changer?
- The IBC has proved to be a deterrent for many unscrupulous borrowers and imparted tools to banks to be reasonably confident about recovering NPAs.
- Fear of losing control of the firm nudges debtors to settle their dues.
- Till September 2022, 23,417 applications for initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), with an underlying default amount of ₹7.31 trillion, were resolved before admission.
- Indirectly, the code provides an exit route by winding up commercially unviable units.
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