Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Census
Mains level: Census importance, challenges and implications of postponing
Context
- India aspires to be a $10 trillion economy by 2035. To achieve this, conducting population Census, due in 2021 but postponed indefinitely because of Covid, is necessary. Such data is essential for planning at the village or block level to usher in economic and social development, ensure better governance, and increase the transparency of public schemes and programmes.
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What is a census?
- It is nothing but a process of collecting, compiling, analysing, evaluating, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population.
- It covers demographic, social and economic data and is provided as of a particular date.
What is the purpose?
- To collect the information for planning and formulation policies for Central and the State Governments.
- The census tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation.
- It helps the government decide how to distribute funds and assistance to states and localities.
- The census data is widely used by National and International Agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more.
Why conducting a Census has become a prerequisite for economic development?
- Lack of complete civil registration system: Since many states (and districts) lack a complete civil registration system with a full count of birth and death data, demographers face enormous challenges in providing population counts at the district level. In several instances, estimates tend to be far off the mark, especially for newly formed districts and states.
- Changing pattern of migration: migration data collected in the Census has great implications for economic activities and social harmony. As India progresses economically, the pattern of migration has been changing in unprecedented ways. The migration pattern in India in the present decade is very different from what the data in Census 2001 and 2011 suggest. Hence, in the absence of updated data, it is difficult to draw conclusions about migration in India.
- Other surveys does not provide comprehensive data: The Census counts everyone across regions, classes, creeds, religions, languages, castes, marital status, differently-abled populations, occupation patterns etc. Most national-level surveys such as NFHS and NSSO do not have representative data at the population subgroup level, unlike the former. The existence of numerous faiths and languages as well as the expansion or extinction of such communities will be known only via population Census.
In the absence of it how demographers collect data?
- Estimates using past census information: In the absence of updated data, demographers estimate the annual population count at the district level using past Census information for the intercensal or postcensal period. Say, to estimate the population of a district in India in the year 2015, they use the district-level population growth rate between the 2001 and 2011 Census.
- Such estimates are fair for maximum of 10 years: Such demographic exercises give reasonably fair estimates when the year of population estimation is within the range of a maximum of 10 years. Beyond this period, estimations can be erroneous, particularly at the district level due to dynamic patterns of population components, among them fertility, mortality and migration.
- Assumptions based model in faster demographic transition: Many districts of India are experiencing a faster demographic transition with varying fertility and mortality rates. So, using the growth rate of 2001-2011 for the period after 2021 becomes more of an assumption-based model than a model that reflects empirical reality. Covid-19 further makes the situation complex as it impacts the fertility and mortality situation in the country.
- India’s population has since increased three-fold to 1.21 billion in 2011.
- Experts believe the economic status of the dominant OBC castes have improved in the past 80 years and certain castes have not benefited as much.
- So, the new caste census is required to measure the economic and social well-being of all castes.
History and a Way ahead
- India has a long history of conducting Census without interruption from 1881 with the rare exception of Assam in 1981 and Jammu Kashmir in 1991 due to socio-political unrest and secessionist movements.
- Conducting it regular at the national and sub-national levels has been a matter of pride for India.
- It has to be continued until India achieves a fool-proof civil registration system and a dynamic National Population Register.
Conclusion
- Conducting the population Census is a mammoth task, of course. Full involvement of the government system is necessary to organise it. But the it is necessary since it forms the basis of all the plans and programmes that the government wants to implement. Postponing the it has immediate and long-term negative consequences for India. The government and other stakeholders should take urgent steps to conduct the Census as early as possible.
Mains question
Q. What is census? Why conducting a Census has become a prerequisite for economic development and also discuss the impact of delayed census.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IPR policy
Mains level: Intellectual property rights , reforms and concerns
Context
- In May 2016, the then Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (now known as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) under the Ministry of Commerce released the 32-page National IPR Policy. The overall purpose of this document was to spell out the government’s comprehensive vision for the IPR ecosystem in the country towards shaping a more innovative and creative Bharat.
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What is a Patent?
- A patent is an exclusive set of rights granted for an invention, which may be a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
- IPR refers to the legal rights that protect an individual’s or company’s creations and inventions (such as inventions, literature, music, and symbols) from being used or copied by others without permission.
- IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create.
- By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.
Three important objectives of National IPR policy document
- Strong and effective IPR laws: Under the head Legal and Legislative Framework, the goal was to have strong and effective IPR laws, which balance the interests of right owners with larger public interest.
- Modernise and strengthen IPR administration: Under Administration and Management, the objective was to modernise and strengthen service-oriented IPR administration; and
- Strengthening adjudicatory mechanism: Under Enforcement and Adjudication, the focus was to strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.
Changes in IPR ecosystem so far
- Structural and legislative changes: Over the last six years, the IPR ecosystem in this country has witnessed both structural and legislative changes.
- Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB): IPAB was dissolved in April 2021 as part of tribunal reforms, and its jurisdiction was re-transferred to high courts.
- Dedicated IP Division: This was followed by the establishment of dedicated IP benches the IP Division by the Delhi High Court, arguably the country’s leading court on the IPR front, for speedier disposal of IPR disputes.
- IP friendly environment: Such measures, one presumes, are intended to convey to investors and innovators that Bharat is an IP-savvy and even IP-friendly jurisdiction without compromising on national interest and public health commitments.
- For instance: This is evident from the very same National IPR Policy which, among other things, expressly recognises the contribution of the Indian pharmaceutical sector in enabling access to affordable medicines globally and its transformation to being the pharmacy of the world.
What are the concerns?
- Patent-friendliness, rather patentee-friendliness: It appears that the patent establishment of the country has drawn a very different message it has gone on an overdrive to prove its patent-friendliness, rather patentee-friendliness, in the pharmaceutical sector at the expense of public health and national interest respectively.
- Evergreening of patents on critical drugs: Evergreening patents on drugs which relate to treatment of diabetes, cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other serious conditions continue to be granted to pharmaceutical innovator companies by the Indian Patent Office.
- Enforcements at the expense of statutory rights: Worse, they are regularly enforced through courts at the expense of the statutory rights of generic manufacturers and to the detriment of patients.
- Unavailability of affordable drugs: The delayed entry of generic versions of off-patent drugs affects adversely the availability of affordable medicines to patients in a lower middle-income country such as Bharat where most middle-class families and below are only a hospital-visit away from dipping into their hard-earned savings.
Way ahead
- It must be understood that IP legislations such as the Patents Act do not exist for the sole benefit of IP right owners.
- Patent bargain is in which the society is expected to benefit from dynamic innovation-based competition between market players.
- Clearly, there are four stakeholders under the Patents Act the society, government, patentees and their competitors.
- Each of these stakeholders has rights under the statute which makes all of them right owners.
- To interpret, apply and enforce the Act to the exclusive benefit of patentees, and that too evergreening patentees, is to abridge and reduce to a naught the legitimate rights of other stakeholders, leading to sub-optimal and worse, anti-competitive market outcomes.
Conclusion
- It is one thing to operate under the understandable belief that Bharat needs to add layers to its IPR ecosystem to attract investment. However, it is entirely another to equate IPR-sensitivity with a pro-patentee position at the expense of public health obligations and long-term national interest. Make in India must be reconciled with Atmanirbhar Bharat, and in the event of conflict between the two, the latter must prevail for Bharat to retain its position as the pharmacy of the world.
Mains question
Q. What is Intellectual property rights? Discuss the changes taken place in India’s IPR ecosystem so far and highlight the concerns.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Methane Pollution
Mains level: Not Much
Bill Gates has invested in a climate technology start-up that aims to curtail the methane emissions of cow burps.
What is the news?
- The startup Rumin8 is developing a variety of dietary supplements to feed to cows in a bid to reduce the amount of methane they emit into the atmosphere.
- The supplement includes red seaweed, which is believed to drastically cut methane output in cows.
What is Methane?
- Methane is a greenhouse gas, which is also a component of natural gas.
- There are various sources of methane including human and natural sources.
- The anthropogenic sources are responsible for 60 per cent of global methane emissions.
- It includes landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, wastewater treatment, and certain industrial processes.
- The oil and gas sectors are among the largest contributors to human sources of methane.
- These emissions come primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, decomposition in landfills and the agriculture sector.
How do cows and other animals produce methane?
- Ruminant animals such as cows, sheep, goats, and buffaloes release this methane mainly through burping.
- They have a special type of digestive system that allows them to break down and digest food that non-ruminant species would be unable to digest.
- Stomachs of ruminant animals have four compartments, one of which, the rumen, helps them to store partially digested food and let it ferment.
- This partially digested and fermented food is regurgitated by the animals who chew through it again and finish the digestive process.
- However, as grass and other vegetation ferments in the rumen, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
How much do these ruminants contribute to emissions?
- Given the very large numbers of cattle and sheep on farms in dairy-producing countries, these emissions add up to a significant volume.
- It is estimated that the ruminant digestive system is responsible for 27 per cent of all methane emissions from human activity.
Why is methane such a big problem?
- Methane is one of the main drivers of climate change, responsible for 30 per cent of the warming since preindustrial times, second only to carbon dioxide.
- Over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide, according to a report by the UNEP.
- It’s also the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the Earth’s surface.
- According to a 2022 report, exposure to ground-level ozone could be contributing to 1 million premature deaths every year.
- Several studies have shown that in recent years, the amount of methane in the atmosphere has dramatically shot up.
Mitigating methane emissions
- Scientists have been working on to make these animals more sustainable and less gassy.
- A 2021 study, published in the journal PLUS ONE, found that adding seaweed to cow feed can reduce methane formation in their guts by more than 80 per cent.
- Apart from this, researchers are also trying to find gene-modifying techniques to curtail methane emissions in these animals.
- Last year, scientists in New Zealand announced they had started the world’s first genetic programme to address the challenge of climate change by breeding sheep that emit lower amounts of methane.
Global collaboration against methane pollution
Ans. Global Methane Initiative (GMI)
- GMI is a voluntary Government and an informal international partnership having members from 45 countries including the United States and Canada.
- India last year co-chaired along with Canada the GMI leadership meet held virtually.
- The forum has been created to achieve global reduction in anthropogenic methane emission through partnership among developed and developing countries having economies in transition.
- The forum was created in 2004 and India is one of the members since its inception and has taken up Vice-Chairmanship for the first time in the Steering Leadership along with USA.
Back2Basics: CO2 Equivalents
- Each greenhouse gas (GHG) has a different global warming potential (GWP) and persists for a different length of time in the atmosphere.
- The three main greenhouse gases (along with water vapour) and their 100-year global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide are:
1 x – carbon dioxide (CO2)
25 x – methane (CH4) – I.e. Releasing 1 kg of CH4into the atmosphere is about equivalent to releasing 25 kg of CO2
298 x – nitrous oxide (N2O)
- Water vapour is not considered to be a cause of man-made global warming because it does not persist in the atmosphere for more than a few days.
- There are other greenhouse gases which have far greater global warming potential (GWP) but are much less prevalent. These are sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
- There are a wide variety of uses for SF6, HFCs, and PFCs but they have been most commonly used as refrigerants and for fire suppression.
- Many of these compounds also have a depleting effect on ozone in the upper atmosphere.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Domestic breeds of Goat
Mains level: Therpautic use of goat milk
India’s domestic goats have attracted the attention of biotechnology companies wishing to produce therapeutic proteins in bulk.
Domestication of Goats
- The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a familiar presence in the rural landscape of India and in many developing countries.
- The goat has played an important economic role in human communities from the time it was domesticated about 10,000 years ago.
- It has even been argued that the domestication of goats was an important step in mankind’s shift from a hunting-gathering lifestyle to agricultural settlements.
Various breeds found in India
- The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that the world has 830 million goats belonging to about 1,000 breeds.
- India has 150 million from over 20 prominent breeds including-
- Marwari: Rajasthan has the most number of goats — the Marwari goat found here is hardy and well-adapted to the climate of deserts.
- Osmanabadi: Another hardy breed, found in the dry regions of Maharashtra, Telangana and North Karnataka is the Osmanabadi.
- Malabari: Also called Tellicherry of North Kerala, it is a prolific breed with low-fat meat, and shares these traits with the beetal goat of Punjab.
- Black Bengal goat: The east Indian Black Bengal goat is a vital contributor to the livelihoods of the rural poor of Bangladesh. It contributes over 20 million square feet of skin and hides to the world’s demands for leather goods, from fire-fighters gloves to fashionable handbags.
- Jamunapari: These goats from Uttar Pradesh were favoured as they yield 300 kg of milk during eight months of lactation. Once in England, the Jamunapari was bred with local breeds to produce the Anglo-Nubian, a champion producer of high-fat milk.
Why are goats significant for farmers?
- Goats have a quick generation time of about two years.
- General benefits of goat milk out-powers the high-fat buffalo milk.
- As many farmers lack the space or funds to rear cattle, the goat is rightly called “the poor man’s cow”.
- There are no specific fodder requirements for goat. It can feed even on the neem leaves.
Significance in therapeutics: Antithrombin production
- Goats have attracted the attention of biotechnology companies wishing to produce therapeutic proteins in bulk.
- The first success came with ATryn, the trade name for a goat-produced antithrombin III molecule.
- Antithrombin keeps the blood free from clots, and its deficiency (usually inherited) can lead to serious complications such as pulmonary embolisms.
- Affected individuals need antithrombin injections twice a week, usually purified from donated blood.
- Recently, the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, which has been approved by the FDA as an anti-cancer drug against certain lung cancers, has also been produced in cloned goat lines.
Why is it a significant development?
- Transgenic goats carrying a copy of the human antithrombin gene have cells in their mammary glands that release this protein into milk.
- It has been claimed that one goat could produce antithrombin equivalent to what was obtained from 90,000 units of human blood.
- Large quantities can be made this way (10 grams per litre of milk).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Two nation theory
Mains level: Pakistan's prospected economic default and collapse
In this article, we take you to the history of Pakistan (which is on the brink of its demise) and the facts behind its naming.
Jinnah and Pakistan
- Muhammad Ali Jinnah is remembered as the founder of Pakistan, its “Qaid e Azam”, or the “Great Leader.”
- He led a movement that transformed a weak idea of a sovereign Islamic state in British India’s north western provinces into reality.
- But he was not the first to come up with the idea of Pakistan, nor was he its original champion.
Rehmat Ali: Coining the term ‘Pakistan’
- Choudhary Rehmat Ali can be credited with coining the “term” Pakistan, styling himself as the “Founder of the Pakistan National Movement”.
- On January 28, 1933, he released a pamphlet titled “Now or Never: Are we to live or perish forever”.
- In it he made a vehement “appeal on behalf of the thirty million Muslims of PAKISTAN, who live in the five Northern Units of India… for the recognition of their national status.
- He highlighted the distinctiveness with the other inhabitants of India citing religious, social and historical grounds.
- According to many historians, this can be seen as the genesis of the very idea of Pakistan; an idea which would become mainstream by the 1940s.
Ali’s appeal
- Rehmat Ali’s appeal was as much a critique of Nationalism wave.
- He distributed pro-Pakistan pamphlets in the Third Round Table Conference (1932).
- Fearing that the Muslim minority will be subsumed by the Hindu population under the proposed constitution, he advocated for a separate, sovereign entity.
- For him, British India was not the home of one single nation but rather the designation of a State created by the British for the first time in history.
His idea of Pakistan
- This nation that Rehmat Ali called his own was Pakistan, including “five Northern Provinces of India” – Punjab (P), North- West Frontier Province or the Afghan Province (A), Kashmir (K), Sindh(S) and Balochistan (tan).
- He would call its Pakistan.
- He argued that this region, with its “distinct marks of nationality,” would be “reduced to a minority of one in ten,” in a united Indian federation.
Exposition of the “Two Nation Theory”
- Rehmat Ali was not a politician. In 1947, Ali’s dream became a reality.
- Nor did he stay in the subcontinent for much of the 1930s and 1940s when the struggle for Pakistan was taking shape.
- His contribution to Pakistan are solely limited to his writings and ideas.
- Unlike Iqbal, more popularly known as the philosopher behind Pakistan’s creation, Ali’s work remained restricted to a far smaller audience.
- But it was important, arguably essential, for Pakistan’s creation.
- In his work, we see the most radical exposition of the “Two Nation Theory”, later made famous by Jinnah and the Muslim League.
How Jinnah overtook Rehmat Ali?
- Things began to change from 1937 onwards, after Jinnah fell out with the Congress.
- With the leader’s rhetoric turning increasingly separationist, Rahmat Ali’s articulation of Pakistan found its way into mainstream discourse.
- In 1940, at the Muslim League’s Lahore session, the famous Lahore Resolution was passed.
- It advocated that the geographical contiguous units in the Muslim-majority areas in India’s “North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, be grouped to constitute Independent States.
- While this resolution did not mention “Pakistan,” Jinnah’s ideas echoed Rahmat Ali’s.
- Somewhere between 1940 and 1943, the term “Pakistan” started being used by Jinnah and other Muslim League leaders in their speeches and correspondence.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Mahatma Gandhi undertook fast unto death in 1932, mainly because:
(a) Round Table Conference failed to satisfy Indian political aspirations
(b) Congress and Muslim League had differences of opinion
(c) Ramsay Macdonald announced the Communal Award
(d) None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mughal Garden/ Amrit Udyan
Mains level: Charbagh gardening style
The Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens — popularly known as the Mughal Gardens was renamed as Amrit Udyan.
The Amrit Udyan
- Edwin Lutyens had finalized the designs of the Mughal Gardens in 1917, but it was only during the year 1928-1929 that planting was done.
- It is spread across 15 acres and it incorporates both Mughal and English landscaping styles.
- The main garden has two channels intersecting at right angles dividing the garden into a grid of squares- a Charbagh (a four-cornered garden)- a typical characteristic of Mughal landscaping.
- There are six lotus-shaped fountains at the crossings of these channels rising to a height of 12 feet.
- The gardens house nearly 2500 varieties of Dahlias and 120 varieties of roses.
Why was it earlier named as Mughal Gardens?
- The garden is designed in Persian style of landscaping or what we call as ‘‘Mughal Gardens”.
- In fact, Edward Lutyens who designed the Viceroy’s House, what we call today as Rashtrapati Bhavan had deliberately used Mughal architectural details as part of the British appeasement plan.
- We see Chajja (dripstone), the Chattri (domed kiosk), the Jali (pierced screen) and many other Indian architectural features liberally used there.
- Mughal canals, terraces and flowering shrubs are beautifully blended with European flowerbeds, lawns and private hedges.
Back2Basics: Mughal Gardening in India- The Charbagh Style
- The Mughals were known to appreciate gardens. In Babur Nama, Babur says that his favourite kind of garden is the Persian charbagh style (literally, four quadrants garden).
- The charbagh structure was intended to create a representation of an earthly utopia – ‘jannat’ – in which humans co-exist in perfect harmony with all elements of nature.
- Defined by its rectilinear layouts, divided in four equal sections, these gardens can be found across lands previously ruled by the Mughals.
- From the gardens surrounding Humanyun’s Tomb in Delhi to the Nishat Bagh in Srinagar, all are built in this style – giving them the moniker of Mughal Gardens.
- A defining feature of these gardens is the use of waterways, often to demarcate the various quadrants of the garden.
- Fountains were often built, symbolising the “cycle of life.”
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Munroe Island
Mains level: Not Much
A study conducted by the National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) has revealed anthropogenic interventions as the main reason for the sinking of Munroe Thuruthu Kerala’s, Kerala’s Sinking Island.
Note: This Island has nothing to do with Thomas Monroe, the erstwhile Governor of Madras Presidency (1820-27).
Munroe Thuruthu
- Munroe Thuruthu is an inland island group located at the confluence of Ashtamudi Lake and the Kallada River, in Kollam district of Kerala.
- The place is named in honour of Resident Colonel John Munro of the former Princely State of Travancore.
- It is a group of eight small islets comprising a total area of about 13.4 km2.
- This island is also known as “Sinking Island of Kerala”.
How was this island inhabited?
- In 1795 the British established their supremacy in South India and the princely state of Travancore came under their governance.
- From 1800 onwards, a Resident was appointed by East India Company as administrative head of Travancore.
- The first Resident was Colonel Colin Macaulay, followed by Colonel John Munro.
- During his tenure Munro oversaw the land reclamation efforts in the delta where Kallada River joins Ashtamudi Lake and the reclaimed island was named after him as Munroe Island.
Why in news?
- The islanders are facing steady land subsidence, tidal flooding and lower agricultural productivity, all of which have triggered a mass exodus from the region.
- According to the study, almost 39% of the land area of the Munroe Thuruthu has been lost with Peringalam and Cheriyakadavu islands recording a land depletion of around 12% and 47% respectively.
- The study finds that anthropogenic activities have considerably affected the isostatic conditions and land neutrality of Munroe Thuruthu.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jatar Deul
Mains level: NA
Jatar Deul- an ancient terracotta temple in West Bengal’s Sundarbans, which has survived the ravages of time for a millennia, is now facing erosion threat due to increase in air salinity.
Jatar Deul
- Jatar Deul also called tower temple (rekha-deul), is located in the numerous rivers criss-crossed by stone-free alluvial and bush landscape of the southern Sundarbans settlements in West Bengal.
- The temple has a curvilinear tower similar to temple architecture of the Nagara order of Odisha temples.
- However, this type of brick temple we can see at Nebia Khera, Uttar Pradesh.
- There is neither a cult nor any other sculptural or inscriptional evidence available also the consecration of the temple is unclear.
- Some believe it was originally for a Buddhist structure; others see it as a building in honor of the Lord Shiva), whose colorful image, is visible at the interior of the Cella (garbhagriha).
How old is it?
- The ASI website states that Jatar Deul is traditionally connected to an inscription, no longer traceable, by one Raja Jayantachandra, purported to have been issued in 975 AD.
- The discovery of Jatar Deul dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when land surveyors stumbled upon a towering brick structure in the midst of the Sundarban.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indus river system, Indus Water Treaty
Mains level: Indus Water Treaty
India announced that it wants to modify the 62-year-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.
Why India issued notice to Pakistan?
- Unsolicited disputes over Indian hydel projects: India cited Pakistan’s intransigence in resolving disputes over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, both in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Dragging arbitration: India protested Pakistan’s “unilateral” decision to approach a court of arbitration at The Hague.
- A foul cry: Pakistan’s move to push the World Bank for a Court of Arbitration ran counter to the pre-existing channel of dispute resolution through a “neutral expert” appointed by the World Bank.
- Renegotiating IWT: The decision to issue notice to Pakistan is a major step and could lead to the unravelling and renegotiation of the water sharing treaty.
Why is Pakistan objecting?
- Pakistan had first raised objections to India’s construction of the 330 MW Kishenganga hydroelectric project on the Jhelum river back in 2006.
- It then objected to plans to construct the 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project on the Chenab river as well.
- Both India and Pakistan differred on whether the technical details of the hydel projects conformed with the treaty, given that the Jhelum and Chenab were part of the “western tributaries”.
What is Indus Water Treaty (IWT)?
- The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank signed in Karachi in 1960.
- According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three “eastern” rivers of India — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India
- The control over the water flowing in three “western” rivers of India — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum was given to Pakistan.
Basis of the treaty
- Equitable water-sharing: Back in time, partitioning the Indus rivers system was inevitable after the Partition of India in 1947.
- Empathizing the Partition: The sharing formula devised after prolonged negotiations sliced the Indus system into two halves.
Why is India rethinking on this treaty?
- Mostly favours Pakistan: Equitable it may have seemed, but the fact remained that India conceded 80.52 percent of the aggregate water flows in the Indus system to Pakistan.
- Unnecessarily generous: It also gave Rs 83 crore in pounds sterling to Pakistan to help build replacement canals from the western rivers. Such generosity is unusual of an upper riparian.
- Reclaiming riparian rights: India conceded its upper riparian position on the western rivers for the complete rights on the eastern rivers. Water was critical for India’s development plans.
What were the rights accorded to India?
- Limited irrigation: The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use.
- Unrestricted commercial use: It gave powers for unrestricted use for power generation, domestic industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.
- Hydel projects: It lays down precise regulations to build any water or hydel projects.
- Addressing Pak’s concerns: The pact also gives the right to Pakistan to raise objections to designs of Indian hydroelectric projects on the western rivers.
Significance of the treaty
- Testimonial to peaceful coexistence: It is a treaty that is often cited as an example of the possibilities of peaceful coexistence that exist despite the troubled relationship.
- Survived many hostilities: It has survived 3 crucial wars.
- Most successful bilateral treaty: It is internationally regarded as an example of successful conflict resolution between two countries otherwise locked in a hostile relationship.
Why has the treaty survived?
- India’s generosity: It is for India’s generosity on Pakistan for sharing waters of its own rivers.
- Free flow of waters: India has refrained from weaponizing waters. Pakistan cannot survive without this treaty.
- Huge dependence Pak economy: About 80% of Pakistan’s agriculture depends on Indus and the riparian rivers waters.
- Humanitarian grounds: Floods and droughts will starve ordinary Pakistanis while their politicians would still live in luxury.
- India’s credibility: Backtracking on the treaty could affect India’s stand as global reliable partner who disrespects bilateral agreements.
Why should India rethink?
- Blow of terroristan: PM Modi’s words hold relevance that “Blood and waters cannot flow together”.
- A tit for tat: If India wants, it can either flood or drought-starve Pakistan by not obligating to this treaty.
Way forward
- The role of India, as a responsible upper riparian abiding by the provisions of the treaty, has been remarkable.
- However, India needs to rethink or re-negotiate this treaty.
- Just like water affects ordinary Pakistanis, so does terrorism affects Indians.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Immune Imprinting
Mains level: NA
A slew of recent studies has shown that a phenomenon in our bodies, called immune imprinting, might be making new boosters vaccines far less effective than expected for coronavirus infection.
What is Immune Imprinting?
- Immune imprinting is a tendency of the body to repeat its immune response based on the first variant it encountered.
- Our body does this through infection or vaccination — when it comes across a newer or slightly different variant of the same pathogen.
- The phenomenon was first observed in 1947, when scientists noted that “people who had previously had flu, and were then vaccinated against the current circulating strain, produced antibodies against the first strain.
- At the time, it was termed the ‘original antigenic sin’ but today, it’s commonly known as imprinting.
How imprinting works for immune system?
- Imprinting acts as a database for the immune system, helping it put up a better response to repeat infections.
- After our body is exposed to a virus for the first time, it produces memory B cells that circulate in the bloodstream and quickly produce antibodies whenever the same strain of the virus infects again.
- The problem occurs when a similar, not identical, variant of the virus is encountered by the body.
- In such cases, the immune system, rather than generating new B cells, activates memory B cells.
- This in turn produce antibodies that bind to features found in both the old and new strains, known as cross-reactive antibodies.
Are the booster doses completely useless?
- These cross-reactive antibodies do offer some protection against the new strain,.
- However they are not as effective as the ones produced by the B cells when the body first came across the original virus.
How to circumvent immune imprinting?
- Currently, several ongoing studies are trying to find a way to deal with imprinting.
- Some scientists have said nasal vaccines might be better at preventing infections than injected ones.
- They believe the mucous membranes would create stronger protection, despite carrying some imprint of past exposure.
- Researchers are also trying to find if spacing out coronavirus vaccine shots on an annual basis, could help with the problem of imprinting.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ramchatrimanas, Tulsidas
Mains level: Bhakti Movement
Tulsidas has come into controversy due to some of its verses (Chaupai) mentioned in the Ramcharitmanas.
Who was Tulsidas?
- Tulsidas, a Brahmin whose original name was Ram Bola Dubey, is believed to have been born in Rajapur by the Yamuna in today’s Banda district.
- He composed the Ramcharitmanas on the bank of the Ganga in Varanasi — he is said to have begun writing on Ram Navami day in 1574, and completed the poem over the next few years.
- Tulsidas lived in the time of Emperor Akbar, and some believe that he was in touch with Abdurrahim Khan-e-Khanan, the son of Akbar’s commander Bairam Khan.
The Ramcharitmanas
- The poem was written in the 16th century in the Awadhi dialect that is mainly spoken in the areas that are today’s Lucknow, Prayagraj, and Ayodhya districts.
- It was written in the Avdhi dialect. The sacred chant ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ is a part of it.
- It is divided into seven chapters (Kand) that tell the story of Lord Ram from birth to his becoming King of Ayodhya.
Why is Ramcharitmanas so famous?
- The Ramcharitmanas is based on the Ramayana, sage Valmiki’s great epic.
- It is the holiest book of the Indo-Gangetic region, and among the world’s most read holy books — by one estimate, Geeta Press (Gorakhpur) has sold almost 7 crore copies.
- Across the Hindi heartland, a reference to “Ramayan” often actually means Ramcharitmanas.
- Tulsidas made the story of Lord Ram popular among the masses because he wrote in the regional dialect that most people understood.
Tulisdas and political controversies
- While in the Ramcharitmanas, Lord Ram is maryada purushottam, the epitome of righteousness, his conduct has been criticised by leaders of anti-Brahmin movements like E V Ramasamy Periyar.
- One of the 22 pledges that Dr B R Ambedkar administered to his followers while embracing Buddhism in October 1956 was: “I shall have no faith in Rama and Krishna, who are believed to be incarnation of God, nor shall I worship them.”
- Non-upper caste assertion in politics has sometimes been manifested in criticism of the Ramcharitmanas.
- Critics have used these parts of the poem to accuse Tulsidas of being against the non-upper castes and women, and a flagbearer of the idea of Brahminical superiority.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Particulars of Republic day parade
Mains level: Women in combat, advantages and challenges
Context
- Watching women lead many of the contingents in the 74th Republic Day parade in New Delhi was encouraging. Their presence was heartening and something for future generations of girls to emulate. While much was made about the induction of women fighter pilots, we need to see how many more have been inducted since then.
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- Nari shakti dominated the parade: Nari Shakti dominated the 74th Republic Day parade as women officers led the marching contingents of the armed forces, CRPF, Akash missile system and Army’s Daredevil team
- first ever women armed police battalion: In a first, the marching contingent of the CRPF, which has the distinction of raising the first-ever women-armed police battalion in the world, had all women personnel this time.
- BSF women on the borders: Also, for the first time, BSF women soldiers in colorful uniforms who have been deployed along the desert border with Pakistan joined the parade as part of the camel contingent.
Light on whether induction of women is mere tokenism?
- Opening up of opportunities for women: Among the best developments of recent times is the opening of opportunities for girls and young women in Sainik schools and the National Defence Academy.
- As more women on the field, less logistical issues: Once they don the uniform and there are many more women on the field, then the logistical issues will become less relevant.
- Promotion for the rank of colonel: The recent news about women being considered in the promotion board for the rank of colonel and subsequently, to command units is tremendously empowering.
- Military remains an excellent example: The military is an excellent place for women to work in and it is the military’s responsibility to not break that faith.
Women in commands: Significance
- Leadership opportunity: Despite working at the grassroots level as junior officers, women officers hitherto did not get an opportunity to prove their leadership skills as they were not eligible to command a unit.
- Gender parity: Most importantly, it grants women officer’s parity with their male counterparts.
- Higher ranks: Earlier promotions were staff appointments which are more administrative in nature and not purely command appointments in which an officer commands troops on ground.
- Benefits after permanent commission: With a longer career in the Army, women officers will be considered for promotions, including to the rank of Colonel and beyond.
How are women still discriminated?
- Women are still not eligible in core combat arms such as Infantry, Mechanised Infantry and Armoured Corps.
- Indian Army is not open to women fighting wars at the borders as foot soldiers.
- Much of this resistance stems from past instances of male soldiers being taken as prisoners of war and tortured by the enemy.
- However, the Army has recently decided to open the Corps of Artillery, a combat support arm, to women.
What more needs to be done?
- Promoting gender equality at the Parade: It is a great idea to have women’s contingents, with the theme of Nari Shakti, at the parade. However, we must refrain from describing this as an opportunity that has been given to them.
- Challenges in achieving gender equality in frontline forces: The slow and steady induction of women in ranks below the officer level in a paramilitary force like the Assam Rifles is a far cry from enabling women to be part of the frontline force, as part of the Kumaon Regiment, for example. The regiment’s war cry may be Kalika mata ki jai, but it stops there.
Way ahead
- The military, just like any other institution, is but a reflection of society and, like the other institutions, it is also subject to reform and change for the advancement of society as a whole.
- We must push for this alongside cheering for Captain Shikha Sharma, the first woman in the Daredevil squad, who so effortlessly displayed her skills at the parade.
Conclusion
- Republic Day parade did well to celebrate Nari Shakti. But the day after R-Day, much more needs to be done on inclusion of women in the force.
Mains question
Q. Nari shakti said to be dominated the India’s 74th republic day parade. In this context highlight the Significance Women in commands and discuss the challenges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Constitution
Mains level: Constitutional morality and features of Indian constitution a
Context
- This Republic Day, as India marks the completion of 74 years of its constitutional functioning, the moral and ethical spirit of the Constitution that has phenomenally shaped the trajectory of constitutional democracy, needs to be delved into. To adequately comprehend the promise and practice of the Indian Constitution, it is crucial to unpack its underlying moral or ethical tenets that have shaped or has been shaping the discourse of constitutionalism in India.
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- Constitution for governance: Constitutions are primarily seen as the legal edifice that prescribes the fundamental principles and rules crucial for governing a nation.
- Legal guiding document: The Indian Constitution, as the revered guiding document, for governing the post-colonial independent nation, consists of the prescription, pronouncements, and provisions that gave shape to India’s legal-political system of governance.
- Contains ethical values: Beyond the legal directives and provisions, the document reflects a set of normative ethical values which the Indian Constitution makers perceived as integral for laying the foundation of the Indian Republic.
- Basic premise of Constitutional morality: Such constitutional predilection towards a set of ‘substantive moral entailments’ that goes beyond the legal-doctrinal reading of the Constitution entails the basic premise of constitutional morality.
What is mean by Constitutional morality?
- Constitutional morality refers to the set of moral principles and values that are reflected in the Indian Constitution and considered important for the proper functioning of Indian society.
- This includes not only legal rules but also broader ethical guidelines for how the country should be governed.
Contextualizing constitutional morality
- Constitutional Morality to Understand Democracy in India: The premise of constitutional morality needs to be extrapolated to better understand the larger ethical dynamics that have consolidated the form and substance of democracy in India.
- Two dimensions of representative democracy: The practise of representative democracy is constituted by two dimensions procedural democracy as well as substantive democracy. The former encapsulates the practise of electoral democracy while the latter also includes the larger substantive or qualitative impact of electoral democracy on the lives of the people.
- The resilience of constitutional democracy in India: Despite the apprehensions raised at the time of independence as India was dubbed as an ‘improbable democracy’, constitutional democracy in India undoubtedly remains stable and durable, manifesting its unflinching resilience in the last seven decades.
- The ethical drivers of India’s vibrant democratic continuity: The success of India’s vibrant democratic continuity, in spite of the humongous challenges of multi-dimensional diversity, geographical, and demographic expanse and other socio-economic hindrances can be attributed to the moral and ethical drivers of the Indian Constitution that needed to be deciphered further.
Ethical motivation and democracy
- The Democratic Ethic of the Indian Republic: The book, Politics and Ethics of Indian Constitution, notes that the Constitution at its very inception identified itself to belong to the ‘people’ underlining the democratic ethic of the Indian Republic. The Constitution’s genuinely egalitarian project got manifested in the granting of the universal adult franchise to all sections of people in India.
- Right to vote: India, by virtue of its constitutional inclination towards inclusivity, commenced universal political enfranchisement immediately after the independence while the right to vote has been granted to women in stable western democracies much later after their independence.
- The autonomous election commission and free and fair elections: The constitutionally designated Election Commission in India functions as an autonomous body and has remained successful in conducting largely free and fair elections. Voter turnout has remarkably increased since then specially women to be mentioned. Also, the instances of major electoral violence have also declined with time.
- Political participation and equal opportunity: In tandem with the principle of inclusiveness based on the idea of equal political opportunity that the Indian constitution espoused, India witnessed a gradual increase in the political participation and representation of the hitherto marginalised and weaker sections of people.
- Strengthening democratic credentials through fundamental rights: The fundamental rights rolled out by the Constitution have acted as an extremely helpful instrument for strengthening India’s democratic credentials by making the ‘modern citizen’ aware of their political, legal and civic rights based on the inalienable principle of individual liberty.
- Welfare state by Directive Principles of State Policy: The Indian Constitution includes important but non-enforceable provisions for welfare in the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP). These provisions have helped to expand welfare and development programs in electoral politics, and have given many people access to basic necessities for a decent life, in line with the democratic ideal of a better life for all.
Conclusion
- The values of freedom, fraternity, equality and social justice in the Indian Constitution have enabled inclusive participation and given citizens the power to demand welfare and development. Thus, the inextricably embedded values of India’s constitutional morality have played a pivotal role in strengthening the ethical vision of democracy, despite challenges, further enhancing India’s democratic resilience.
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by mean constitutional morality? Despite of challenges India’s constitution showed remarkable democratic resilience. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: C+1 strategy
Mains level: C+1 strategy and India's adavtages
Context
- In January 2023, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country with a population count of approximately 1.417 billion as against China’s 1.412 billion, as estimated by the World Population Review (WPR). This creates both opportunities and challenges for India.
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The global turmoil and China as enablers of the Indian growth story
- There are three factors that have enabled the Indian growth story.
- Overdependence on specific economies: If the pandemic had had one crucial lesson for the global economy, it must be reducing the overdependence on China-specific Global Value Chains (GVCs). As is evident from the pandemic, the subsequent Ukraine-Russia war or the recent disastrous COVID-19 surge in China the overdependence on specific economies is bound to have cascading effects on the world economy because of the macroeconomic shocks they produce.
- Glocalised models of economic partnerships: Countries now strive to strike the right balance between globalisation and localisation, through bilateral and multilateral platforms characterised by leveraging sub-regional comparative advantages. To a large extent, these emerging forms of glocalised models are also based on controlling Beijing’s political and economic prowess in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, where India plays an active role.
- Use of technology: There is no doubt that the pandemic has provided an uptick in the use of technology ranging from the provision of social security payments at the grassroots to government-level conferences.
China plus one (C+1) strategy
- The US-China trade war and the pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions emanating from China have indeed paved the way for many western corporates to consider a China Plus One (C+1) strategy.
- The strategy would entail diversifying investments from China to other countries, to mitigate the economic and geopolitical risks associated with the former.
- While many also hail Vietnam as another economy to be in the race of attracting investments fleeing China, India could be the potential frontrunner in the C+1 game.
- India’s economic advancement: India has a demographic advantage over China, with a larger percentage of its population under 30. This young population is expected to drive consumption, savings, and investments, leading to India’s goal of a multi-trillion dollar economy.
- Low cost of labour is an advantage: India has a low cost of labor and other forms of capital, making production costs lower and increasing competitiveness in international markets. India’s labor cost is also half that of Vietnam, making it a strong player in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
- India’s heavy infrastructure investment: A heavy investment in physical infrastructure through the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is expected to reduce costs in manufacturing sectors and cut transportation time and costs by 20%. This is in contrast to China, where multiple companies handle different parts of the transportation process, increasing costs
- India’s conducive business environment: Recent policy interventions in India such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, tax reforms, liberalization of FDI policies, setting up of land pools and organizing business summits have helped attract investments to the domestic economy. These efforts, driven by the Make in India initiative, have also been supported by efforts to promote competitive federalism and reduce transaction costs of doing business.
- India’s digital advantage: India’s high internet penetration at 43% allows for digital skilling initiatives to bring returns across various economic sectors, particularly services. A combination of home-grown technologies and greater access to Google and Facebook, which are banned in China, gives Indian youth a digital edge.
- As English is the second language provides ease of communication: the prevalence of the English language skill set in the young Indian populace undoubtedly puts India ahead of China. As English is the second official language in the Indian states, it provides business executives with ease of communication in conducting business with North American and European clients.
- Well balanced economic partnerships: India’s economic partnerships are characterized by utilizing sub-regional comparative advantages and controlling Beijing’s political and economic power in the Indo-Pacific. India’s decision to not join the RCEP in 2020 to protect its domestic market and curb trade deficits sends a strong signal of its disassociation with Beijing in trade partnerships. The CEPA signed with the UAE in 2022 is expected to increase two-way trade to $100 billion in five years by opening access for Indian exporters to Arab and African markets.
- Dynamic Indian diplomacy: India has strengthened its economy through diplomatic partnerships and trade agreements, such as the QUAD, I2U2, and agreements with Australia, Canada, the European Union, and African countries. These partnerships have provided Indian businesses with greater access to finance, technology, and new markets. As India assumes the presidency of the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization this year, it is well-positioned to navigate changing globalisation trends and be a strong voice for the Global South.
- Most important is the large domestic market: India’s large domestic market with a population of 1.3 billion and increasing incomes at 6.9 percent per annum offers a competitive alternative to China’s massive domestic market. With a population base of 98 million, Vietnam’s market is much smaller in comparison.
Conclusion
- Indian economy that has risen from the ashes like a phoenix after a year of negative growth caused by the pandemic-led lockdown. India’s 74th Republic Day, therefore, should not merely mark a remembrance of the past or a celebration of adoption of the world’s largest and most comprehensive constitution, but should also be a celebration of the dazzling future of a roaring economy that will show light to a dreary world.
Mains question
Q. What is China plus one (C+1) strategy? Discuss why it is said that India will surge ahead in C+1?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-Saudi Arabia bilateral trade and relationship
Context
- Saudi Arabia and India ties have undergone a significant transformation in recent years. The camaraderie between the two nations is rooted in our cultural and civilisational ties. The Kingdom and India share mutual respect and appreciation which opens doors for our collaboration and partnership. These ties have been cemented by diplomatic visits made by leaders from both countries.
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Recent visits by the leaders of India and Saudi Arabia
- Visit by Prince: The visit of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister then, to New Delhi in February 2019
- PM Modis visit to Saudi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Riyadh in October of the same year are two watershed moments in our journey of strategic ties.
Outcome of such visits
- Number of MoU’s for multiple sectors: During these visits, both nations concluded a number of MoUs for multiple sectors including energy, civil aviation, security, defence production, regulation of medical products, strategic petroleum reserves, small and medium scale industries, and the training of diplomats in our respective academies.
- Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) and working group: These two high-level visits anchored the historic formation of Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) at the leadership level. The SPC also saw the formation of working groups in multiple sectors significant to both nations.
- Comprehensive review of agreements and new opportunities: Since 2019, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India have taken a comprehensive review of the agreements and have explored opportunities to work together.
- Trade extended to other sectors apart from energy: While our ties stem from energy security, over the years they have percolated into many other sectors, including pharma, IT and telecommunications. The Kingdom alone accounts for 18 per cent of India’s crude oil import.
- India is the second largest trading partner: Saudi Arabia is also the fourth largest trading partner of India while India is the second largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia with our bilateral trade close to $43 billion.
- Conducive business environment in the Kingdom: A number of leading Indian companies have also set up a base in Saudi Arabia, signifying the conducive business environment in the Kingdom.
- Joint ventures signifies trust and strong relationship: There are close to 750 Indian companies registered as joint ventures or 100 per cent owned companies based in Saudi Arabia, further indicating the strong relationship and trust between the nations.
- Huge investment via Public Investment fund: Since the formation of our SPC, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) has made investments of about $2.8 billion in digital and retail sectors of India. Similarly, Indian investments in Saudi Arabia have also reached $2 billion which are distributed amongst different sectors.
- Shared vision of the two: Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and its 13 vision realisation programmes are closely aligned with India’s flagship initiatives of Make in India, Start-up India, Smart Cities, Clean India, and Digital India. Both economies have seen robust growth in the last decade.
- Close cooperation in important fields: Both nations have now been working closely together in important fields to achieve mutual and strategic objectives. This was in part achieved by allocating funds to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI), The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (GAVI), and other international and regional health organisations and programmes.
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
- Economic and social reforms: Under the aegis of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to transform its economy and society. Saudi Arabia is undergoing path-breaking economic and social reforms. The Kingdom has been working towards fostering its growing investment sector that will stimulate the economy.
- Cultural investment: The Kingdom, as part of Vision 2030, has also been investing in its culture with events such as the Red Sea Film Festival, which is dedicated to celebrating excellence in cinema and fostering the resurgent creative energy of Saudi and Arab filmmakers.
- Investment for sustainable infrastructure: The launch of the Events Investment Fund (EIF) by HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aims to develop a sustainable infrastructure for the culture, tourism, entertainment, and sports sectors across the Kingdom. The fund seeks to develop world-class sustainable infrastructure including indoor arenas, art galleries, theatres, conference centres, horse-racing tracks, auto racing tracks, and other facilities across the Kingdom.
Way ahead
- The opportunities presented under Vision 2030 can be leveraged by India to invest in the Kingdom.
- With India assuming the G20 presidency, it paves the way for the perfect opportunity to sustain meaningful dialogue around accelerated and inclusive growth while achieving Sustainable Development Goals as the global economy navigates through the post-Covid era.
Conclusion
- Amidst current global circumstances, India continues to successfully manoeuvre itself towards greater economic progress, built on strong foundations of sustainability and a thriving local community a feat and vision that it shares with its close partner Saudi Arabia. As India celebrates its 74th Republic Day with a vision of progress and prosperity, strengthening collaboration between India and Saudi Arabia will drive both economies and promote peace and stability in the region and the world.
Mains question
Q Discuss the key developments in the strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and India. Highlight the growing bilateral trade.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NAM
Mains level: Read the attached story
India and Egypt reiterated their support for the Non-Aligned Movement.
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
- NAM is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
- After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
- Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the NAM was established in 1961 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, and Yugoslavia.
- It was an initiative of then PM Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, Indonesian President Sukarno, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
- The countries of the NAM represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and contain 55% of the world population.
Reasons behind NAM creation
- Balancing the US and USSR: Non-alignment, a policy fashioned for the Cold War, aimed to retain the autonomy of policy (not equidistance) between two politico-military blocs i.e. the US and the Soviet Union.
- Platform beyond UN: The NAM provided a platform for newly independent developing nations to join together to protect this autonomy.
Relevance TODAY
- Changing with emerging scenarios: Since the end of the Cold War, the NAM has been forced to redefine itself and reinvent its purpose in the current world system.
- Focus towards development: It has focused on developing multilateral ties and connections as well as unity among the developing nations of the world, especially those within the Global South.
Fading significance of the NAM
- Loosing relevance: The policy of non-alignment lost its relevance after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of unipolar world order under the leadership of the US since 1991.
- De-colonization was largely complete by then, the apartheid regime in South Africa was being dismantled and the campaign for universal nuclear disarmament was going nowhere.
- Freed from the shackles of the Cold War, the NAM countries were able to diversify their network of relationships across the erstwhile east-west divide.
India and the NAM
- Important role played by India: India played an important role in the multilateral movements of colonies and newly independent countries that wanted into the NAM.
- India as a leader: Country´s place in national diplomacy, its significant size and its economic miracle turned India into one of the leaders of the NAM and upholder of the Third World solidarity.
- The principle of ‘acting and making its own choices’ also reflected India’s goal to remain independent in foreign policy choices, although posing dilemmas and challenges between national interests on international arena and poverty alleviation.
- Preserving the state’s security required alternative measures: Namely, the economic situation with the aim to raise the population’s living standards challenged the country’s defense capacity and vice versa.
- Fewer choices: Wars with China and Pakistan had led India to an economically difficult situation and brought along food crisis in the mid-1960s, which made the country dependent on US food.
What dictates India’s alignment now?
- National security: China’s rise and assertiveness as a regional and global power and the simultaneous rise of middle powers in the region mean that this balancing act is increasing in both complexity and importance, simultaneously.
- Global decision-making: Another distinctive feature of India’s foreign policy has been the aim to adjust international institutions consistent with changes in international system.
- Prosperity and influence: India’s 21st century’s strategic partnerships aims for India becoming the voice of global South.
- Multi-polarism: Another means to execute India’s foreign policy strategy of autonomy has been forming extensive partnerships with other emerging powers.
Why NAM still matters?
- Global perception of India: India’s image abroad has suffered as a result of allegations that creep into our secular polity and a need arises to actively network and break out of isolation.
- For the Impulsive US: For India complete dependence on the U.S. to counter China would be an error.
- Ukrainian invasion has revitalized Cold War: Critics of NAM who term it as an outcome of the Cold War must also acknowledge that a new Cold War is beginning to unfold, this time between the US and China.
- NAM provides a much bigger platform:NAM becomes relevant to mobilize international public opinion against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), nuclear proliferation, ecological imbalance, safeguarding interests of developing countries in WTO etc.
- NAM as a tool for autonomy:NAM’s total strength comprises 120 developing countries and most of them are members of the UN General Assembly. Thus, NAM members act as an important group in support of India’s candidature as a permanent member in UNSC.
- NAM for multilateralism:Though globalization is facing an existential crisis, it is not possible to return to isolation. In the world of complex interdependence, countries are linked to each other one way or another.
- NAM as a source for soft power:India can use its historic ties to bring together the NAM countries. India’s strength lies in soft power rather than hard power.
Way forward
- Strategic autonomy: India is showing signs of pursuing strategic autonomy separately from non-alignment.
- Bilateralism: Indo-US ties are complementary, and a formal alliance will only help realize the full potential of these relations.
- Non-alliance: India interacts with other states in expectations to change the international system, but without expectations to ‘ally or oppose.’
- Deep engagement: India needs deeper engagement with its friends and partners if it is to develop leverage in its dealings with its adversaries and competitors.
Conclusion
- A wide and diverse range of strategic partners, including the U.S. as a major partner is the only viable diplomatic way forward in the current emerging multipolar world order.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Living Will
Mains level: Passive Euthanasia in India
A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice K M Joseph agreed to significantly ease the procedure for passive euthanasia in the country by altering the existing guidelines for ‘living wills’.
What is Living Will?
- A living will is a legal document detailing the type and level of medical care one wants to receive if they are unable to make decisions or communicate their wishes when care is needed.
- A living will addresses many life-threatening treatments and procedures, such as resuscitation, ventilation, and dialysis.
- A person can appoint a healthcare proxy to make decisions regarding care when they are unable to do so.
- A living trust is a legal document that addresses how the assets of the incapacitated person should be managed.
- People can enlist the services of an estate planner or an attorney to help draft or review a living will.
Living Will in India
- It was first laid down in its 2018 judgment in Common Cause vs. Union of India & Anr, which allowed passive euthanasia.
- It was in response to the Aruna Shanbaug Case where protagonists were arguing in favor of mercy killing to Aruna.
- The guidelines pertained to questions such as who would execute the living will, and the process by which approval could be granted by the medical board.
- It declared that an adult human being having mental capacity to take an informed decision has right to refuse medical treatment including withdrawal from life-saving devices.
What is Euthanasia?
- Euthanasia refers to the practice of an individual deliberately ending their life, oftentimes to get relief from an incurable condition, or intolerable pain and suffering.
- Euthanasia, which can be administered only by a physician, can be either ‘active’ or ‘passive’.
- Active euthanasia involves an active intervention to end a person’s life with substances or external force, such as administering a lethal injection.
- Passive euthanasia refers to withdrawing life support or treatment that is essential to keep a terminally ill person alive.
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What is the legal history of this matter?
- Passive euthanasia was legalized in India by the Supreme Court in 2018, contingent upon the person having a ‘living will’.
- It must be a written document that specifies what actions should be taken if the person is unable to make their own medical decisions in the future.
- In case a person does not have a living will, members of their family can make a plea before the High Court to seek permission for passive euthanasia.
What did the SC rule in 2018?
- The Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia while recognising the living wills of terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state.
- It was required to be signed by an executor (the individual seeking euthanasia) in the presence of two attesting witnesses and to be further countersigned by a Judicial Magistrate of First Class (JMFC).
- The court issued guidelines regulating this procedure until Parliament passed legislation on this.
- However, this has not happened, and the absence of a law on this subject has rendered the 2018 judgment the last conclusive set of directions on euthanasia.
What was the situation before 2018?
- P Rathinam vs Union Of India, 1994: In a case challenging the constitutional validity of Section 309 of the IPC — which mandates up to one year in prison for attempt to suicide the Supreme Court deemed the section to be a “cruel and irrational provision”.
- Gian Kaur vs The State Of Punjab, 1996: Two years later, a five-judge Bench of the court overturned the decision in P Rathinam, saying that the right to life under Article 21 did not include the right to die, and only legislation could permit euthanasia.
- Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug vs Union Of India & Ors, 2011: SC allowed passive euthanasia for Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who had been sexually assaulted in Mumbai in 1973, and had been in a vegetative state since then. The court made a distinction between ‘active’ and ‘passive’, and allowed the latter in “certain situations”.
Key observations by Law Commission
- Earlier, in 2006, the Law Commission of India in its 196th Report’ had said that a doctor who obeys the instructions of a competent patient to withhold or withdraw medical treatment does not commit a breach of professional duty and the omission to treat will not be an offence.
- It had also recognised the patient’s decision to not receive medical treatment, and said it did not constitute an attempt to commit suicide under Section 309 IPC.
- Again, in 2008, the Law Commission’s ‘241st Report On Passive Euthanasia: A Relook’ proposed legislation on ‘passive euthanasia’, and also prepared a draft Bill.
What was the old cumbersome process?
- The treating physician was required to constitute a board comprising three expert medical practitioners from specific but varied fields of medicine, with at least 20 years of experience.
- They would decide whether to carry out the living will or not.
- If the medical board granted permission, the will had to be forwarded to the District Collector for his approval.
- The Collector was to then form another medical board of three expert doctors, including the Chief District Medical Officer.
- Only if this second board agreed with the hospital board’s findings would the decision be forwarded to the JMFC, who would then visit the patient and examine whether to accord approval.
- This cumbersome process will now become easier.
Recent changes after the SC’s order this week
- Medical board: Instead of the hospital and Collector forming the two medical boards, both boards will now be formed by the hospital.
- 5 year experienced doctor: The requirement of 20 years of experience for the doctors has been relaxed to five years.
- Magistrate approval not required: The requirement for the Magistrate’s approval has been replaced by an intimation to the Magistrate.
- No witness required: The 2018 guidelines required two witnesses and a signature by the Magistrate; now a notary or gazetted officer can sign the living will in the presence of two witnesses instead of the Magistrate’s countersign.
- HC for appeal: In case the medical boards set up by the hospital refuses permission, it will now be open to the kin to approach the High Court which will form a fresh medical team.
Different countries, different laws
- NETHERLANDS, LUXEMBOURG, BELGIUM allow both euthanasia and assisted suicide for anyone who faces “unbearable suffering” that has no chance of improvement.
- SWITZERLAND bans euthanasia but allows assisted dying in the presence of a doctor or physician.
- CANADA had announced that euthanasia and assisted dying would be allowed for mentally ill patients by March 2023; however, the decision has been widely criticised, and the move may be delayed.
- UNITED STATES has different laws in different states. Euthanasia is allowed in some states like Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
- UNITED KINGDOM considers it illegal and equivalent to manslaughter.
Justification for Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide
- It provides a way to relieve extreme pain.
- Euthanasia can save life of many other people by donation of vital organs.
Conclusion
- India officially recognizes that- “every single citizen is entitled to and reserves the right to die with dignity.”
- Hon’ble Supreme Courts’ recent updated guidelines are a major move in this direction.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Earth's interior
Mains level: Read the attached story
Earth’s inner core, a hot iron ball the size of Pluto, has stopped spinning faster than the planet’s surface and might now be rotating slower than it, research suggested.
A quick recap of Earth’s Interior
Structure of earth’s interior is fundamentally divided into three layers – crust, mantle and core.
[A] Crust
- It is the outermost solid part of the earth, normally about 8-40 kms thick.
- It is brittle in nature.
- Nearly 1% of the earth’s volume and 0.5% of earth’s mass are made of the crust.
- The thickness of the crust under the oceanic and continental areas are different. Oceanic crust is thinner (about 5kms) as compared to the continental crust (about 30kms).
- Major constituent elements of crust are Silica (Si) and Aluminium (Al) and thus, it is often termed as SIAL(Sometimes SIAL is used to refer Lithosphere, which is the region comprising the crust and uppermost solid mantle, also).
- The mean density of the materials in the crust is 3g/cm3.
- The discontinuity between the hydrosphere and crustis termed as the Conrad Discontinuity.
[B] Mantle
- The portion of the interior beyond the crust is called as the mantle.
- The discontinuity between the crust and mantleis called as the Mohorovich Discontinuity or Moho discontinuity.
- The mantle is about 2900kms in thickness.
- Nearly 84% of the earth’s volume and 67% of the earth’s mass is occupied by the mantle.
- The major constituent elements of the mantle are Silicon and Magnesium and hence it is also termed as SIMA.
- The density of the layer is higher than the crust and varies from 3.3 – 5.4g/cm3.
- The uppermost solid part of the mantle and the entire crust constitute the Lithosphere.
- The asthenosphere (in between 80-200km) is a highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile, deforming region of the upper mantle which lies just below the lithosphere.
- The asthenosphere is the main source of magma and it is the layer over which the lithospheric plates/ continental plates move (plate tectonics).
- The discontinuity between the upper mantle and the lower mantleis known as Repetti Discontinuity.
- The portion of the mantle which is just below the lithosphere and asthenosphere, but above the core is called as Mesosphere.
[C] Core
- It is the innermost layer surrounding the earth’s centre.
- The core is separated from the mantle by Guttenberg’s Discontinuity.
- It is composed mainly of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) and hence it is also called as NIFE.
- It constitutes nearly 15% of earth’s volume and 32.5% of earth’s mass.
- It is the densest layer of the earth with its density ranges between 9.5-14.5g/cm3.
- It spins independently because it floats in the liquid metal outer core. One cycle of the swing is about seven decades approximately.
- It consists of two sub-layers: the inner core and the outer core.
- The inner core is in solid state and the outer core is in the liquid state (or semi-liquid).
- The discontinuity between the upper core and the lower core is called as Lehmann Discontinuity.
- Barysphere is sometimes used to refer the core of the earth or sometimes the whole interior.
What should one understand about the interior of the earth?
- It is not possible to know about the earth’s interior by direct observations because of the huge size and the changing nature of its interior composition.
- It is an almost impossible distance for the humans to reach till the centre of the earth (The earth’s radius is 6,370 km).
- The rapid increase in temperature below the earth’s surface is mainly responsible for setting a limit to direct observations inside the earth.
Sources of Information about the interior of the earth
Direct Sources:
- Rocks from mining area
- Volcanic eruptions
Indirect Sources
- By analyzing the rate of change of temperature and pressurefrom the surface towards the interior.
- Meteors, as they belong to the same type of materials earth is made of.
- Gravitation, which is greater near poles and less at the equator.
- Gravity anomaly, which is the change in gravity value according to the mass of material, gives us information about the materials in the earth’s interior.
- Magnetic sources.
- Seismic Waves: the shadow zones of body waves (Primary and secondary waves) give us information about the state of materials in the interior.
What is the new study about?
- Exactly how the inner core rotates has been a matter of debate between scientists— and the latest research is expected to prove controversial.
- A new research has analyzed seismic waves from repeating earthquakes over the last six decades.
- It shows that- the inner core started rotating slightly faster than the rest of the planet in the early 1970s, the study said.
- But it had been slowing down before coming in sync with Earth’s rotation around 2009.
What made the core spin slower?
- So far there is little to indicate that what the inner core does has many effects on surface dwellers.
- The researchers said this rotation timeline roughly lines up with changes in what is called the “length of day”— small variations in the exact time it takes Earth to rotate on its axis.
- But the researchers said they believed there were physical links between all of Earth’s layers, from the inner core to the surface.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Aditya L1 mission
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July this year.
What is Aditya-L1 Mission?
- ISRO categorizes Aditya L1 as a 400 kg-class satellite that will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in XL configuration.
- It will observe the Sun from a close distance, and try to obtain information about its atmosphere and magnetic field.
- The space-based observatory will have seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.
L1: Behind the name
- L1 refers to Lagrangian/Lagrange Point 1, one of five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system.
- Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system (like the Sun and the Earth) produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
- The L1 point is about 1.5 million km from Earth, or about one-hundredth of the way to the Sun.
Major payloads
- In total Aditya-L1 has seven payloads, of which the primary payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), designed and fabricated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.
- The satellite carries additional six payloads-
- SUIT, the solar ultraviolet imaging telescope
- ASPEX (Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment),
- PAPA (Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya),
- SoLEXS (Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer),
- HEL1OS (High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray spectrometer) and
- Magnetometer — with enhanced science scope and objectives possible by extensive remote and in-situ observation of the sun.
Why is studying the Sun important?
(1) To understand space weather
- To learn about and track Earth-directed storms, and to predict their impact, continuous solar observations are needed.
- Every storm that emerges from the Sun and heads towards Earth passes through L1, and a satellite placed in the halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.
(2) Observing corona
- The VELC payload will be able to observe the corona continuously and the data provided by it is expected to answer many outstanding problems in the field of solar astronomy.
- No other solar coronagraph in space has the ability to image the solar corona as close to the solar disk as VELC can.
- It can image it as close as 1.05 times the solar radius.
- It can also do imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry at the same time, and can take observations at a very high resolution (level of detail) and many times a second.
Why are solar missions challenging?
- Distance: What makes a solar mission challenging is the distance of the Sun from Earth (about 149 million km on average, compared to the only 3.84 lakh km to the Moon).
- Heat: More importantly the super-hot temperatures and radiations in the solar atmosphere make it difficult to study.
Major missions to Sun till now
- NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has already gone far closer — but it will be looking away from the Sun.
- The earlier Helios 2 solar probe, a joint venture between NASA and space agency of erstwhile West Germany, went within 43 million km of the Sun’s surface in 1976.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Account settlement, T+1
Mains level: Not Much
After China, India will become the second country in the world to start the ‘trade-plus-one’ (T+1) settlement cycle in top-listed securities today.
What’s the T+1 settlement plan?
- The T+1 settlement cycle means that trade-related settlements must be done within a day, or 24 hours, of the completion of a transaction.
- For example, under T+1, if a customer bought shares on Wednesday, they would be credited to the customer’s demat account on Thursday.
- This is different from T+2, where they will be settled on Friday.
- As many as 256 large-cap and top mid-cap stocks, including Nifty and Sensex stocks, will come under the T+1 settlement from Friday.
What was the earlier settlement system?
- Until 2001, stock markets had a weekly settlement system.
- The markets then moved to a rolling settlement system of T+3, and then to T+2 in 2003.
- In 2020, Sebi deferred the plan to halve the trade settlement cycle to one day (T+1) following opposition from foreign investors.
What are the benefits of T+1?
- T+1 system brings operational efficiency, faster fund remittances, share delivery, and ease for stock market participants.
- In the T+1 format, if an investor sells a share, she will get the money within a day, and the buyer will get the shares in her demat account also within a day.
- The shorter trade settlement cycle augurs well for the Indian equity markets from a liquidity perspective.
- This will also help investors in reducing the overall capital requirements with the margins getting released on T+1 day, and in getting the funds in the bank account within 24 hours of the sale of shares.
- The shift will boost operational efficiency as the rolling of funds and stocks will be faster.
Issues with T+1 system
- T+1 is being implemented despite opposition from foreign investors.
- The United States, United Kingdom and Eurozone markets are yet to move to the T+1 system.
Why are foreign investors opposed?
- Foreign investors have some operational issues as they operate from different geographies.
- Among the issues raised by them were time zone differences, information flow processes, and foreign exchange problems.
- Foreign investors said they would also find it difficult to hedge their net India exposure in dollar terms at the end of the day under the T+1 system.
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