Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGS
Mains level: Right to work
The average days of employment provided per household under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are at a five-year low, this financial year.
What is the news?
- As on January 20, the average days of employment provided per household is 42 days while it was 50 days in 2021-22, 52 days in 2020-21, 48 days in 2019-20 and 51 days in 2018-19.
Why such unprecedented drop in employments?
The program has been plagued by systemic problems that is disincentivising participation.
- Choking of funds: This has led to suppression of work demand and delays in wage payments.
- App for attendance: The introduction of unnecessary technical complexities like an app for attendance at worksites has caused more hardships for workers who will be more dissuaded going forward.
- States dismal policies: With less than two-months for the financial year to close, there are at least nine States and union territories which have utilised less than 70% of projected person days.
- Budgetary cuts: With low utilisation, financial outlay for the underperforming States is expected to further shrink in the upcoming financial year.
What is MGNREGS?
- The MGNREGS is a scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
- This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
- The act was first proposed in 1991 by V. Narasimha Rao.
What is so unique about it?
- MGNREGS is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
- The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
- Any Indian citizen above the age of 18 years who resides in rural India can apply for the NREGA scheme. The applicant should have volunteered to do unskilled work.
- Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
- Thus, employment under MGNREGS is a legal entitlement.
Why is MGNREGS under fire these days?
- Not enough work: Bihar despite its levels of poverty, does not generate enough work to make a concrete difference, and on the other end of spectrum we have Kerala which is economically better but has been utilising it for asset creation.
- No asset creation: There is a lack of tangible asset creation. The committee will study if the composition of work taken up presently under the scheme should be changed.
Issues in implementation
- Insufficient budgetary allocations: Increase in the nominal budget but actual budget (after adjusting inflation) decreased over the years.
- Approved Labour Budget Constraints: The Centre through the arbitrary “Approved Labour Budget” has reduced the number of days of work and put a cap on funds through the National Electronic Fund Management System
- Not so attractive wages rate: Currently, MGNREGS wage rates of 17 states are less than the corresponding state minimum wages.
- Delay in wage payments: Under the MGNREGS, a worker is entitled to get his or her due wages within a fortnight of completion of work, failing which the worker is entitled to the compensation.
- No-work situations are rising: None of the states was able to provide full 100 days employment as mentioned in the scheme.
- Data manipulations by authorities: A recent study has found that data manipulation in the MGNREGS is leading to gross violations in its implementation.
- Non-purposive spending and corruptions: Many works sanctioned under MGNREGS often seem to be non-purposive. Quite often, they are politically motivated hotspots to create rampant corruption.
- Centralization weakening local governance: A real-time MIS-based implementation and a centralised payment system has further left the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions with literally no role in implementation.
Conclusion
- Large scale social security programmes like MGNREGS are subjected to undergo several stumbling blocks in the times of ongoing pandemic.
- Government and NGOs must study the impact of MGNREGS in rural areas so as to ensure that this massive anti-poverty scheme is not getting diluted from its actual path.
- We must view MGNREGS as an opportunity and explicitly include it in a broad-based strategy to tackle any socie-economic crisis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various mudras of Buddha
Mains level: Ancient Buddhist Architecture
Recent excavations at Bharatpur in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district have revealed the presence of a Buddhist monastery.
Bharatpur Buddhist Monastery Complex
- The Kolkata Circle of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) started excavating the site in the second week of January and a structural complex of a monastery has now been partially exposed.
- The site was initially excavated almost fifty years ago between 1972 and 1975 when archeologists from ASI found a Buddhist stupa at the site.
Uniqueness of this site
- This place hosts a large stupa along with a monastery complex and black and red ware pottery from the Chalcolithic or Copper Age.
- In other sites across West Bengal, such as Karnasubarna in Murshidabad, Moghalamari in Paschim Medinipur and Jagjivanpur in Malda, archeologists have found only smaller votive stupas.
- Further excavation is likely to shed more light to understand the earliest occupation of the site and its continuity till the establishment of a Buddhist monastery.
Key findings
- In the 1970s when the site was excavated along with the stupa, five beautiful seated sculptures of the Buddha in Bhumisparsha Mudra -with all five fingers of the right hand extended to touch the ground — were found.
- These miniature sculptures, each about 30 cm in height, were most likely used for worship in the monastery.
Back2Basics: Mudras of Buddha
(1) Dharmachakra Mudra
- It is also called as the gesture of ‘Teaching of the Wheel of Dharma’ that describes one of the most important moments in the Buddha’s life as he performed the Dharmachakra mudra in his first sermon in Sarnath after he attained enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands which are held against the chest, the left facing inward, covering the right facing outward.
(2) Dhyan Mudra
- It is also known as Samadhi or Yoga Mudra.
- It is performed with the help of two hands, which are placed on the lap and place the right hand on the left hand with stretched fingers (thumbs facing upwards and other fingers of both the hand resting on each other.)
- This is the characteristic gesture of Buddha Shakyamuni, Dhyani Buddha Amitabh and the Medicine Buddha.
(3) Bhumisparsa Mudra
- This gesture is also known as ‘touching the Earth’, which represents the moment of the Buddha’s awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of the right hand, which is held above the right knee, reaching toward the ground with the palm inward while touching the lotus throne.
(4) Varada Mudra
- This mudra represents the offering, welcome, charity, giving, compassion and sincerity.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands in which palm of right hand is facing forward and fingers extended and left hand palm placed near centre with extended fingers.
(5) Karana Mudra
- It signifies the warding off of evil which is performed by raising the index and the little finger, and folding the other fingers.
- It helps in reducing sickness or negative thoughts.
(6) Vajra Mudra
- This gesture denotes the fiery thunderbolt that symbolises the five elements—air, water, fire, earth, and metal.
- It is performed with the help of right fist and left forefinger, which is placed by enclosing the erect forefinger of the left hand in the right fist with the tip of the right forefinger touching (or curled around) the tip of the left forefinger.
(7) Vitarka Mudra
- It signifies the discussion and transmission of the teachings of the Buddha.
- It is performed by joining the tips of the thumb and the index fingers together while keeping the other fingers straight, which is just like the Abhaya Mudra and Varada Mudra but in this mudra the thumbs touch the index fingers.
(8) Abhaya Mudra
- It is a gesture of fearlessness or blessing that represents the protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear.
- It is performed with the help of right hand by raising to shoulder height with bent arm, and the face of palm will be facing outward with fingers upright whereas the left hand hanging down while standing.
(9) Uttarabodhi Mudra
- This denotes the supreme enlightenment through connecting oneself with divine universal energy.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands, which are placed at the heart with the index fingers touching and pointing upwards and the remaining fingers intertwined.
(10) Anjali Mudra
- It is also called Namaskara Mudra or Hridayanjali Mudra that represents the gesture of greeting, prayer and adoration.
- It is performed by pressing the palms of the hands together in which the hands are held at the heart chakra with thumbs resting lightly against the sternum.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2014 in the comment box:
Q.Lord Buddha’s image is sometimes shown with a hand gesture called ‘Bhumisparsha Mudra’. It symbolizes-
a) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to watch over Mara and to prevent Mara from disturbing his meditation
b) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to witness his purity and chastity despite the temptations of Mara
c) Buddha’s reminder to his followers that they all arise from the Earth and finally dissolve into the Earth and thus this life is transitory
d) Both the statements ‘a’ and ‘b’ are correct in this context
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Jagannath Temple and its architecture
Mains level: Not Much
Odisha Governor’s suggestion that foreigners and non-Hindus should be allowed to enter Puri’s famed Jagannath temple has not gone down well with traditionalists and political leaders alike.
Why in news?
- It has been the practice for centuries — even though there is no clearly articulated reason for it.
- Some historians believe that multiple attacks on the Temple by foreign invaders might have led the servitors to impose restrictions on the entry of non-Hindus.
- Others have said that this was the practice from the time the Temple was built.
- In 1984, the servitors famously opposed the entry of Indira Gandhi inside the Temple, saying she had married a non-Hindu.
About Jagannath Temple
- The Jagannath Temple is an important Vaishnavite temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Sri Krishna in Puri in Odisha.
- The present temple was rebuilt from the 10th century onwards, on the site of an earlier temple, and begun by Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva, the first king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
- The Puri temple is famous for its annual Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three principal deities are pulled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars.
Its architecture
- With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Oriya style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India.
- The huge temple complex covers an area of over 400,000 square feet and is surrounded by a high fortified wall.
- This 20 feet high wall is known as Meghanada Pacheri.
- Another wall known as kurma bedha surrounds the main temple.
The temple has four distinct sectional structures, namely:
- Deula, Vimana or Garba griha (Sanctum sanctorum) where the triad deities are lodged on the ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls). In Rekha Deula style;
- Mukhashala (Frontal porch);
- Nata mandir/Natamandapa, which is also known as the Jagamohan (Audience Hall/Dancing Hall), and
- Bhoga Mandapa (Offerings Hall)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Charaideo Maidams, Ahom Kingdom
Mains level: Medieval kingdoms of India
The Centre has decided to nominate Assam’s Charaideo Maidams — the Ahom equivalent of the ancient Egyptian pyramids — for the UNESCO World Heritage Centre this year.
Why in news?
- The nomination has attained significance at a time when the country is celebrating the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Barphukan.
Charaideo Maidams
- The Charaideo maidams represents the late medieval (13th-19th century CE) mound burial tradition of the Tai Ahom community in Assam.
- The Ahoms preferred to place the departed family members at Charaideo where the first king Sukapha was laid to rest.
- The historical chronicles inform that wives, attendants, pet animals and huge quantity of valuables were buried with the departed kings.
- The Charaideo Maidams enshrine the mortal remains of the members of the Ahom royalty, who used to be buried with their paraphernalia.
- After the 18th century, the Ahom rulers adopted the Hindu method of cremation and began entombing the cremated bones and ashes in a Maidam at Charaideo.
- Out of 386 Maidams explored so far, 90 royal burials at Charaideo are the best preserved, representative of and the most complete examples of mound burial tradition of the Ahoms.
Architecture details
- Architecturally it comprises a massive underground vault with one or more chambers having domical superstructure.
- It is covered by a heap of earthen mound and externally it appears a hemispherical mound.
- At the top of the mound a small open pavilion chow-chali is provided.
- An octagonal dwarf wall encloses whole maidam.
Ahoms Dynasty
- The Ahom, also known as the Tai-Ahom, are an ethnic group from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India.
- This ethnic group is made up of interbred descendants of the Tai people, who first came to Assam’s Brahmaputra valley in 1228, and indigenous people who later joined them.
- Sukaphaa, the Tai group’s leader, and his 9000 supporters founded the Ahom empire (1228–1826 CE), which ruled over part of modern-day Assam’s Brahmaputra Valley until 1826.
- Charaideo, more than 400 km east of Guwahati, was the first capital of the Ahom dynasty founded by Chao Lung Sukaphaa in 1253.
- The current Ahom people and culture are a mix of the ancient Tai people and culture, as well as indigenous Tibeto-Burman people and cultures that they assimilated in Assam.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: LNG
Mains level: Not Much
The EU is weaning itself off piped Russian gas by rapidly expanding imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from US.
What is Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG?
- LNG is natural gas reduced to a liquid state (liquefaction) through intense cooling to around -161 degrees Celsius (-259 Fahrenheit).
- It is constituted almost wholly of methane — a potent greenhouse gas and can be transported around the world by ship.
- This liquid gas is 600 times smaller than the original volume and is half the weight of water.
- After arriving at its destination, the cargo is regasified in a floating terminal and redistributed through pipelines.
Economic feasibility of LNG
- High cost of liquefaction: despite LNG’s export potential, the high cost of liquefaction and producing LNG has limited its market.
- Losses: Between 10-25% of the energy of the gas is being lost during the liquefaction process.
- Costly transport: The cooling, liquefying and transport processes, as well as the post-transport regasification procedures, also require a lot of energy.
What’s the climate impact of LNG?
- Emission: With LNG creating almost 10 times more emissions than piped gas by one estimate, its rapid expansion will likely compromise climate targets.
- Risks of methane leakages: Methane loss across the supply chain risks also contributes to LNG’s high emissions.
- Huge carbon equivalence: Meanwhile, LNG emits 14 times as much carbon as solar power when producing the equivalent amount of energy, and 50 times as much carbon as wind power.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AT1 Bonds
Mains level: NA
The Bombay High Court has quashed the write-off of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bonds worth Rs 8,400 crore issued by Yes Bank Ltd, bringing relief to investors.
What are AT1 bonds?
- AT-1, short for Additional Tier-1 bonds, are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to shore up their core capital base to meet the Basel-III norms.
- AT-1 bonds are complex hybrid instruments, ideally meant for institutions and smart investors who can decipher their terms and assess if their higher rates compensate for their higher risks.
- They carry a face value of ₹10 lakh per bond.
- There are two routes through which retail folk have acquired these bonds — initial private placement offers of AT-1 bonds by banks seeking to raise money; or secondary market buys of already-traded AT-1 bonds based on recommendations from brokers.
Why are they important?
AT-1 bonds have several unusual features lurking in their fine print, which make them very different from plain bonds.
- One, these bonds are perpetual and carry no maturity date. Instead, they carry call options that allow banks to redeem them after five or 10 years. But banks are not obliged to use this call option and can opt to pay only interest on these bonds for eternity.
- Two, banks issuing AT-1 bonds can skip interest payouts for a particular year or even reduce the bonds’ face value without getting into hot water with their investors, provided their capital ratios fall below certain threshold levels. These thresholds are specified in their offer terms.
- Three, if the RBI feels that a bank is tottering on the brink and needs a rescue, it can simply ask the bank to cancel its outstanding AT-1 bonds without consulting its investors. This is what has happened to YES Bank’s AT-1 bond-holders who are said to have invested ₹10,800 crore.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Intranational COP, Cooperative federalism for effective climate action
Context
- India revised its target to reduce the carbon intensity of its GDP to 45 percent by 2030, more ambitious than the earlier target of 34 percent. These National carbon emission targets were globally appreciated and have further strengthened its leadership position in climate action.
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Spirit of cooperative federalism is needed to achieve this target
- In order to effectively address climate change, India needs to involve all of its states and Union Territories. During recent climate summits, the states and UTs have not been active participants.
- A new approach to cooperation between states and UTs on climate action is needed, similar to the cooperation used in the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). This will lead to better results in public sector actions to tackle climate change.
Role of states
- Power of States and UTs: Provisions in the Constitution of India, legislations of the Parliament, executive orders, and judicial decisions enable states/UTs to have a substantial influence on matters pertaining to land, electricity, mobility, labour, pollution control, skill building, law and order, financial incentives for commercial activities, etc.
- Role of States and UTs in Policy Implementation: States/UTs can become prime movers in the last mile through interventions in policy, regulation, and project implementation.
- Potential of India’s Cooperative Federalism: During the ongoing winter session of Parliament, the Prime Minister of India also emphasised the potential of India’s cooperative federalism in becoming ‘a torch bearer of the world’ in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while addressing its Rajya Sabha.
How India’s model of ‘Intranational COP’ will work?
- Utilizing GST council model for climate action: Climate action is a unifying theme, and creating a forum similar to the Goods and Services Taxes (GST) council, which created successful engagement models during the pan-India roll-out of GST, can be helpful.
- Facilitating cross-party dialogue: This intra-country group, Intranational COP, can offer opportunities for sharing a stage across parties in a neutral setting where outcome-oriented conversations can take place.
- Promoting cooperative and competitive federalism for Net Zero: It can kindle the friendly spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism with each state/UT committing to bolder actions towards net zero.
- Measuring stakeholder performance through consensus building: It can potentially introduce new evaluation parameters for measuring the performance of stakeholders based on their ability to build consensus across boundaries while keeping aside their myopic and constricted vote-bank-centered politics.
- Learning and Leveraging Best Practices: Climate change is a new and dynamic topic for all stakeholders. It is an equaliser where no state/UT has any inherent advantageous positions. States/UTs can learn best practices from each other to implement, achieve, and measure the outcomes of their actions.
Electricity distribution: A case of cooperation
- Today, though a project is conceived, financed, and implemented by central agencies, site-specific mobilisation of resources requires the active cooperation of the states/UTs.
- An important case in point can be electricity distribution, where states can exponentially augment India’s clean energy ambitions.
- Furthermore, they can directly support municipal corporations/village panchayats in innovating customised approaches for faster and inclusive adoption of national climate goals in line with the socioeconomic and cultural sensitivities of the region.
‘Intranational COP’ for common but differentiated responsibilities
- Forum for addressing Climate Change within India: It is well-established that some parts of India are economically more developed as compared to others. This translates to the fact that the relatively more prosperous regions contribute more to India’s carbon emissions. Such states are better positioned to initially invest in expensive low-carbon technologies and disseminate them to achieve economies of scale.
- Addressing Regional Imbalances in Carbon Emissions: IndiaCOP can can unleash creative mechanisms to offset regional imbalances while respecting local cultural sensitivities.
- Platform for States/UTs to Forge Mutual Cooperation Agreements: It can provide a platform for states/UTs to forge MOUs that complement each other’s strengths while filling up the gaps in technical/financial/people resources. For e.g., small hilly states have good hydroelectric power potential, but they may lack financial wherewithal; states like Rajasthan have good solar energy potential but currently lack sufficient trained manpower, etc.
- Intranational COP can be a dedicated flagship platform to thrash out a national consensus on India’s climate goals and the means to achieve them. For example, the Finance Commission can play a role in allocating capital based on the climate actions and needs of states.
- The mechanisms of climate funding and allocation, led by the Finance Commission, can be debated and agreed upon on this platform. Such a consensus will enjoy double legitimacy as it is arrived at collectively by the union and state/UT governments.
Conclusion
- The success of India’s model of “Intra-national COP” can become a template for federal nations across the world to engage with provincial/local governments with diverse socio-political and economic challenges. It can score a big win in promoting India’s soft power, especially as it takes on the presidency of the G20.
Mains question
Q. During recent climate summits, the states and UTs have not been active participants. In this backdrop how India’s model of Intra-national COP will be helpful?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Police conference, Concept of SMART police etc
Mains level: Challenges faced by police and suggestions
Context
- A conference of the Directors General of Police of all the states and union territories is being held in Delhi from January 20 to 22. The Prime Minister will be attending all the sessions of the three-day conference.
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All you need to know about the Conference
- This conference of the Directors General of Police is an annual feature.
- It is organised by the Intelligence Bureau and its deliberations are presided over by the Director, IB, who is considered primus inter pares among the senior-most police officers of the country.
- This year’s conference, according to media reports, will be discussing emerging trends in militancy and hybrid militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, counter-terrorism, cryptocurrency, drug trafficking, radicalisation and other important matters.
What is missing in the agenda?
- Problems at grass root are rarely discussed: The agenda, year after year, reflects the security-related problems of the country at the macro level. So far so good. But the grass roots problems are seldom taken up or deliberated upon.
- Dismal picture of Police stations: The strength of a chain, as they say, is determined by its weakest link, and the weakest link today is the police station. Leaving aside the model police stations and some in the metro cities, the average police station presents a dismal picture dilapidated building, case property like motorcycles and cars littered all over the compound, no reception room, filthy lockup, and so on.
- Overburdened staff: The staff, overworked and fatigued, is generally unresponsive, if not rude.
- Available resources are limited resources: They may not have access to vehicles or have run out of fuel as per the allotted quota.
- Political influence: Even if you are able to speak with a responsible sub-inspector, they may be pressured by politicians to change their actions.
For instance: The data according to the Status of Policing in India Report 2019
- Shortage of personnel: According to the report, police in India work at 77% of their sanctioned strength and these personnel work for 14 hours a day on average.
- Lack of equipment and technology: There are 70 police stations which have no wireless, 214 police stations that have no telephone and 240 police stations that have no vehicles.
- Poor housing and training facilities: Housing facilities for police are unsatisfactory. Training of personnel is inadequate, the training institutions have not kept pace with the changing paradigm on the law or crime front and are manned generally by unwanted, demotivated officers.
- Technology gap: Technology support leaves much to be desired; the criminals are, in fact, way ahead of the police.
Hard fact and the concerns over the police duties in India
- Police Officer’s Duties and Expectations: The demanding role and expectations of police officers as first responders to any crime, 24/7 duty and assisting other departments with their duties. The public has no obligation to assist police officers. For instance, ASI was stabbed to death in Delhi, bystanders were just standing and watching the scene.
- High death toll among Police Personnel: It is estimated that 36,044 police personnel have died in the performance of their duties since India’s independence. It is pointed out that the corresponding figure for all the countries of Europe taken together is much less.
- Duties to become more challenging in future: It is acknowledged that police duties in India are tougher than in any other part of the world, and that these duties are likely to become even more challenging in the future, with the rise of new forms of crime such as terrorist crimes, cybercrimes, drug trafficking, and cryptocurrency.
- The Need to Prioritize Basic Matters: It is important to prioritize basic police matters and ensure that they are effectively dealt with. Once the police station is able to inspire confidence among the people, many other issues will fall into place.
- Division of Conference into Two Parts: The format of police conferences should be changed by dividing it into two parts – one dealing with intelligence matters and the other dealing with crime and law and order issues.
- Roles of DBI and CBI: It is proposed that the Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) preside over the intelligence-related matters, and the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) assisted by a senior-most Director General of a state police nominated by the Ministry of Home Affairs should conduct the proceedings of the conference dealing with crime and law and order matters.
- Need for Specialized Treatment of Crime: the crime is becoming increasingly complex and requires specialized treatment, and that this bifurcation is necessary in order to effectively address the different aspects of crime.
Do you know the concept of SMART police?
- The Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the concept of SMART Police.
- SMART stands for: S: Strict but sensitive, M: Modern and mobile, A: Alert and accountable, R: Reliable and responsive, and T: Trained and tech-savvy.
- It also aims to make the police more responsive to the needs of the people, and to address issues of police brutality, corruption, and lack of accountability to citizens.
Conclusion
- The Prime Minister’s concept of SMART Police, which aims to create a force that is strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive, techno-savvy and trained, has the potential to bring about a significant change in the working of the police and a new era for the people of the country. It’s important for the conference to review the progress made in implementing this transformation in the police and work towards achieving these objectives to bring about a much-needed change in the police force.
Mains question
Q. What are the major challenges faced by the Indian police force? Discuss improvements suggested to address them?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Women in Armed Forces
As many as 108 women officers in the Army are set to be cleared for the rank of Colonel (selection grade) which will make them eligible to command units and troops in their respective arms and services for the first time.
What exactly does Commanding a unit mean?
- Once promoted to a Colonel, an officer is eligible to command troops directly in the Army, which is an acknowledgment of the leadership qualities of the officer.
- It is considered a coveted appointment because in no other rank — including higher ranks like Brigadier or Major General — does an officer interact directly with troops on the ground.
- Women officers in many streams of the Army, including the Army Air Defence, Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, EMEs, Army Ordnance Corps, and Intelligence Corps will be commanding units.
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.
Why did their Colonel promotions come so late?
- An officer in the Army is promoted to the rank of Colonel only after serving between 16 and 18 years, based on certain criteria such as annual confidential reports and various courses.
- Women officers who were inducted into the Army were inducted as Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in 1992 and in the years after did not have the choice to opt for permanent commission.
Supreme Court order affirming Permanent Commission
- In 2019, the Army changed its rules allowing SSC women officers to opt for permanent commission who would have otherwise retired after 14 years of service.
- However, this was not retrospective and applied only to the batches of women officers starting their career in the Army in 2020.
- With the landmark Supreme Court judgment of February 2020, permanent commission was granted to women officers with retrospective effect.
- This opened the doors for their further growth and promotions in the Army, which has been of late opening leadership and higher management courses for women.
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 about the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force?
- Women officers have been inducted into all branches of the Navy, and they will be eligible for permanent commission in the future.
- Women officers can command shore-based units and, as they join the service and become eligible for permanent commission, they would be able to command ships and air squadrons.
- The IAF has opened all branches for women officers, including the fighter stream and the new weapon systems branch.
- As they are granted permanent commission based on eligibility and vacancies, they will be eligible to command units in the future.
How many women serve in the Indian armed forces?
- The Army, being the largest of the three services, has the largest number of women officers at 1,705, followed by 1,640 women officers in the IAF, and 559 in the Navy.
- This data was submitted by the government to Parliament last year.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Forex reserves, BoP
Mains level: India's forex reserves and its implications
India’s forex reserves zoomed by $10.417 billion to $572 billion, making it one of the biggest weekly jumps in recent times.
Recent trends in FOREX Reserves
- In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $1.268 billion to $561.583 billion.
- In October 2021, the country’s forex reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
- The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.
- In October 2022, the reserves had swelled by $14.721 billion during a week.
What is Foreign Exchange (Forex) Reserve?
- Foreign exchange reserves are important assets held by the central bank in foreign currencies as reserves.
- They are commonly used to support the exchange rate and set monetary policy.
- In India’s case, foreign reserves include Gold, Dollars, and the IMF’s quota for Special Drawing Rights.
- Most of the reserves are usually held in US dollars, given the currency’s importance in the international financial and trading system.
- Some central banks keep reserves in Euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan, in addition to their US dollar reserves.
India’s forex reserves cover:
- Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs)
- Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
- Gold Reserves
- Reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Countries with the highest foreign reserves
- Currently, China has the largest reserves followed by Japan and Switzerland.
- India earlier overtook Russia to become the fourth-largest country with foreign exchange reserves. (Data from August 2022)
- China – $3,349 Billion
- Japan – $1,376 Billion
- Switzerland – $1,074 Billion
- Russia – $597.40 Billion
Why are these reserves so important?
- All international transactions are settled in US dollars and, therefore, required to support India’s imports.
- More importantly, they need to maintain support and confidence for central bank action, whether monetary policy action or any exchange rate intervention to support the domestic currency.
- It also helps to limit any vulnerability due to sudden disturbances in foreign capital flows, which may arise during a crisis.
- Holding liquid foreign currency provides a cushion against such effects and provides confidence that there will still be enough foreign exchange to help the country with crucial imports in case of external shocks.
Initiatives taken by the government to increase forex
- To increase the foreign exchange reserves, the Government of India has taken many initiatives like AatmaNirbhar Bharat, in which India has to be made a self-reliant nation so that India does not have to import things that India can produce.
- Other than AatmaNirbhar Bharat, the government has started schemes like Duty Exemption Scheme, Remission of Duty or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP), Nirvik (Niryat Rin Vikas Yojana) scheme, etc.
- Apart from these schemes, India is one of the top countries that attracted the highest amount of Foreign Direct Investment, thereby improving India’s foreign exchange reserves.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: States reorganization in India
Mains level: Read the attached story
Prime Minister has greeted people of three northeast states- Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya on their Statehood Day.
What is the news?
- Today marks the 51st anniversary of the formation of the states, which were created on this day in 1972.
- While Manipur and Tripura were princely states which were absorbed into India in October 1949, Meghalaya, on the other hand, was part of Assam.
- The states came into being the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, enacted on December 30 that year.
Quick backgrounder
- These states attained statehood under the North Eastern Region (Reorganization) Act of 1971.
- The NE composition consisted of Assam plains from the old Assam Province, the hill districts, and the North Eastern Frontier Tracts (NEFT) of the North-Eastern borderland.
- Later on the NE region was turned into seven sisters with the statehood of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.
[1] Meghalaya
- Apart from accounts of the more essential Khasi kingdoms in the chronicles of the neighbouring Ahoms and Kacharis, little is known of Meghalaya prior to the British rule.
- However, in the early 19th century, the British desire to build a road through the region to link Bengal and Assam led to a treaty with the ruler (Syiem) of the Khasi principality of Nonkhlaw.
- In 1829, opponents of the treaty persuaded the Syiem to repudiate it, and a subsequent attack on Britishers led inevitably to its military operations against the Khasis.
- By the mid-1830s, most local rulers had submitted to the British.
- For the next century, the British exercised its political control over the area, then known as the Garrows and Cossiya (Khasi) States, but the tribals who were left to fend themselves managed to preserve their traditional culture in seclusion.
Integration into India
- In 1947, the rulers of the region acceded to the newly independent India.
- The first PM Nehru evolved a policy to preserve and protect the culture of the tribal people.
- The region was given special protection in the Indian constitution along with other tribal areas, and it retained a great deal of autonomy.
- In 1960, when Assamese became the state’s official language, agitation for autonomy and self-rule gathered strength.
- Unlike many other hill regions in north-eastern India, this movement was largely peaceful and constitutional.
- In 1970, Meghalaya became an autonomous state within Assam and achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972.
[2] Manipur
- Over 500 princely states had negotiated their accession to the Indian union before independence.
- According to News Nine, the rulers of these states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’.
- On August 11, 1947, Bodhachandra Singh, then Maharaja of Manipur, signed the document. He had been assured that the autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
- Elections were held in Manipur in June 1948, but its legislative assembly had differences of opinion on the merger.
- However, the Maharaja signed a Merger Agreement with India in September 1949.
[3] Tripura
- Maharajas of the Manikya dynasty ruled the former princely state of Tripura.
- It was an independent administrative unit under the Maharaja even during British rule in India.
- However, according to Tripura State Portal, this independence was qualified, subject to the Britishers’ recognition, as the paramount power of each successive ruler.
- As per Rajmala, in the royal chronology of Tripura, around 184 kings ruled over the state before it merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949.
- Since then, the history of Tripura has been interspersed with various political, economic and social developments.
Attainment of full statehood
- On January 26, 1950, Tripura was accorded the status of a ‘C’ category state, and on November 1, 1956, it was recognized as a Union Territory.
- With its people’s sustained efforts and struggle, it gained full statehood on January 21, 1972, as per the North-East Reorganisation Act, 1971.
- Its democratic set-up further stretched to the village level in 1978 with an election to the local bodies that ultimately culminated in introducing a three-tier Panchayati Raj System.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hakku Patra
Mains level: Land rights to tribals
PM has distributed Hakku Patra (land title deeds) to five Lambani (Banjara) tribes, a nomadic Scheduled Caste group, during a launch programme in Karnataka.
What are Hakku Patras?
- A title deed is a property ownership document, and the bearer of the document owns the land.
- The title deeds enable owners to avail of bank loans with the said document.
- They will also be eligible to buy or sell land to which the title deed is granted by the government.
- This Hakku Patra will secure the future of thousands of people living in the “Tandas” (Lambani habitats) in Kalaburagi, Bidar, Yadgiri, Raichur and Vijayapura districts.
Benefits of Hakku Patra
Hakku Patra, like every legal property document, offers a great set of benefits.
- It makes one the legitimate owner of your land or property by giving an up-to-date and official record of who owns the land.
- The individual does not have to research as the government issues the document.
- It is a state-guaranteed document.
- Hakku Patra registration resolves all types of disputes regarding the ownership or rights over the land.
- The document helps in preventing any encroachment via trespassing on the boundaries.
Who are the Banjaras?
- The Banjara, also known as Lambadi, Gour Rajput, Labana, are a historically nomadic trading caste who may have origins in the Mewar region of what is now Rajasthan.
- According to the National Informatics Centre, the name Banjara /Banjari probably had come from two different sources: ‘Banijya’ – trade or ‘Banachara’, the forest dwellers.
- Their principal group’s name Laban/Labana is derived from the Sanskrit word lavanah, meaning salt as they were salt traders.
- Although considered a tribal group given the life they lead, the Banjaras are a key scheduled caste sub-group in Karnataka.
- Despite the community adopting a multitude of languages, Banjara is used throughout India, although in Karnataka the name is altered to Banijagaru.
Questions of a political move
- The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes together make up nearly 24 per cent of the state population, becoming an important group for political parties.
- The expenses incurred for the programme were funded by the state exchequer.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Trademark
Mains level: IP protection in India
The Delhi High Court dismissed a case of trademark infringement brought by the global fast food chain against a Delhi-based restaurant.
What is a trademark?
- A trademark is a symbol, design, word or phrase that is identified with a business.
- When a trademark is registered, its owner can claim “exclusive rights” on its use.
- The Trademark Act, 1999, governs the regime on trademark and its registration.
- The Act guarantees protection for a trademark that is registered with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, also known as the trademark registry.
- A trademark is valid for 10 years, and can be renewed by the owner indefinitely every 10 years.
Violation of trademark
- Using a registered trademark without authorization of the entity that owns the trademark is a violation or infringement of the trademark.
- Using a substantially similar mark for similar goods or services could also amount to infringement.
- In such cases, courts have to determine whether this can cause confusion for consumers between the two.
- There are several ways in which a trademark can be infringed. However, the trademark owner has to show that the trademark has a distinct character-
- Deceptive similarity: The law states that a mark is considered deceptively similar to another mark if it nearly resembles that other mark, confusing the consumer in the process. Such deception can be caused phonetically, structurally or visually.
- Passing off: Say, a brand logo is misspelt in a way that’s not easy for the consumer to discern. The Supreme Court has ruled that passing off is a “species of unfair trade competition or of actionable unfair trading by which one person, through deception, attempts to obtain an economic benefit of the reputation which other has established for himself in a particular trade or business”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India's fiscal challenge and options
Context
- Between spending and saving, governments are generally better at the former. High growth comes with the advantage that government revenue expands and gets spent, as is happening this fiscal. But this is also habit-forming. If growth tapers down as is expected in FY 2024 cutting back government spending will be politically rocky just before a general election. Better then, to get selective on spending early on.
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- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took over the hot seat in May 2019. True to character, she resolved to pick up this rolling can by tabling in the FY 2021 budget, an amount of INR 2.64 trillion (1.2 percent of GDP) to pay these overdues.
- India, yet again, in an era of high inflation and high oil import prices. It has taken courage and sagacity to reduce the FD from 9.2 percent (FY 2021—the COVID-19 year) to a targeted 6.4 percent this fiscal.
Challenges to establish a declining trend back towards an FD of 3.5 percent of GDP
- The oil slick of global uncertainty and inflation: Oil price uncertainties, created by the Ukraine standoff, which was partially cushioned via nimble Indian diplomacy resisting the boycott of cheaper Russian oil, has kept imported oil at US$77.7 per barrel in January 2023. But the ongoing opening up of China could firm up oil prices.
- India’s high-debt burden compromises fiscal resilience: Interest payments in FY 2023 (budgeted) at INR 9.4 trillion, are the largest expense outlay bucket, accounting for 43 percent of budgeted Union net revenue receipts, up from 41.7 percent in FY 2021. Defence and domestic security services at 15 percent come next, followed by subsidies (food, fertilizers, and fuel) at 14 percent and inflation-indexed government pensions at 9 percent.
- Infrastructure lags: Infrastructure remains a drag on growth although intercity highways have improved. Multimodal transport solutions remain underdeveloped as do train stations and bus terminals in most towns and rural areas. The competitiveness of major Indian ports in 2018 was ranked 42nd well below China, Malaysia and Thailand- pulled down by low outcomes in infrastructure and turn-around time. The gas grid remains nascent with just 10.1 million connections versus 309 million users for LPG canisters a more volatile substitute for cooking fuel, than piped natural gas.
What is the worrying situation?
- Inflation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects retail inflation, assessed at 5.78 percent (December 2022) to trend downwards in FY 2024. But signals of embedded inflation via core inflation (other than volatile food and fuel) above 6 percent are worrying.
- Disrupted energy supply: A disruption in energy supplies could upset sanguine inflation expectations.
- Taming inflation would increase fiscal crunch: Taming the resulting inflation by reducing taxes on the retail supply of petroleum products would increase the fiscal crunch.
- Interests funded by additional borrowings is risky strategy: High-growth economies can afford to fund by borrowings as can start-ups, which borrow against their future growth prospects. For a large, lower middle-income economy like India, with historically moderate long-term growth rates (4 to 6 percent), it compromises reserve fiscal capacity to respond, through counter-cyclical measures, to economic downturns induced by economic shocks a risk-laden strategy.
What India should do?
- Resume much delayed disinvestment: Resume the much-delayed privatisation and disinvestment of public sector enterprises and government-owned financial sector entities.
- Make Indian railway and autonomous entity: Second, make Indian Railway an autonomously regulated, commercially run entity, providing a surplus to the government rather than looking for budgetary support.
- Encourage public finance outlays: Maximise the economic impact by encouraging public finance outlays to be driven by competitive metrics of allocative efficiency across investment options and program/project implementation models.
Conclusion
- For a new phase of growth, government disintermediation is appropriate. It allows for increased competition and innovation in the private sector, leading to greater efficiency and economic growth. India has momentum. What it needs is for the reins to be lightly held.
Mains question
Q. What obstacles does the Indian economy face as it enters a new era of growth, and what should India do?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Herpetofauna , Intraguild predation
Mains level: Herpetofauna , ecological importance and threats
Context
- The demand for land for food production always results in an uncomfortable trade-off between agricultural expansion and species conservation. One can see an example of this trade-off in paddy fields, whose unique combination of wet and drylands provide ideal habitats for amphibians and reptiles. However, Amphibians and reptiles are bearing the brunt of crop intensification.
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Ecological services provided by herpetofauna
- Herpetofauna: Amphibians and reptiles are cold-blooded animals, together referred to as herpetofauna, provide immense ecological services.
- As biological control agents: Frogs and toads, for instance, act as biological control agents by feeding on crop pests. Several salamanders and tadpoles of frogs help in controlling mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases by feeding on the larvae.
- Efficient pollinators and improves soil quality: They also help improve soil quality and aeration, aid in dispersal of seeds and in pollination. There are almost 40 species of lizards including skinks and geckos that are efficient pollinators.
Threats faced by herpetofauna
- Increased use of pesticides and fertilizers: The diversity and abundance of these herpetofauna are rapidly declining with increased use of pesticides, fertilisers, land conversion, changes in cropping systems and the reduced proportion of natural vegetation.
- Threatened by agriculture and management practices: According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1,532 species of Anurans (frogs) and 825 species of reptiles in the world are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable due to agriculture and its management practices.
- Particularly threatened in India: They appear to be particularly threatened in India which has a high amphibian diversity most of them are endemic to the region and, as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had the largest cropland area over the last decade, followed by the US and China.
- Being cold-blooded, amphibians and reptiles have unique physiological demands: They are extremely sensitive to microclimates (with a narrow range of soil humidity, moisture, light flux, acidity, air and soil temperature) and microhabitats (they have small habitats like grass cover and low dispersal range; maximum lifetime dispersal for frogs and toads is 12 km). This makes them particularly susceptible to agricultural intensification. However, the researchers find a distinct difference in the way it affects amphibians and reptiles.
Survey to understand the impact of crop intensification
- To understand the impact of crop intensification on the populations and diversity of herpetofauna, researchers from the University of Calcutta conducted a year-long survey of farm lands in Odisha’s Baleswar district.
- Almost 90 per cent of the 250,550 hectares of cultivable land in the district is under paddy.
Did you know?
- Baleswar district, of Odisha is known as “Rice bowl of the state”.
Comment if any place in your state is recognized as such
Findings of the Survey
- Low diversity in high cropping intensity: The abundance of amphibians was almost half and their diversity was low in areas with high cropping intensity, pesticide application and low natural vegetation when compared with areas where less-intensive farming is practised.
- Amphibians are more exposed to pesticides: The difference is because amphibians are more exposed to pesticide contamination than reptiles as their skin is highly permeable and performs both respiration and water uptake.
- Species are going through an extinction debt: The researchers suggest the species are rather going through an extinction debt wherein there is a lag between the impact of agricultural intensification on them and their response to it.
- Reptiles face a higher threat from conflicts with humans: The real impact of the current intensification of agriculture on reptiles would be felt much later. When compared with amphibians, reptiles like snakes face a higher threat from conflicts with humans. Encroachment of forest areas and misconceptions and myths result in the indiscriminate killing of snakes irrespective of them being venomous or harmless.
- Intraguild predation: The researchers also find that in areas where the diversity of the frog population is lesser, the numbers of beneficial arthropods have reduced due to intraguild predation. If this reduction in populations of both predators continues, it will disrupt the natural system of suppressing crop pest abundance.
What is mean by intraguild predation?
- A phenomenon where more than one species feed on the same prey and therefore competitors feed on each other.
- For example, when one predator, like a lion, hunts and kills another predator, like a hyena, for food.
- It’s when animals that are both hunters, compete against each other for the same prey.
- It is just like how two kids might fight over a candy bar.
- The study shows unless a threshold abundance of frogs is maintained, their impacts will be far from beneficial to agriculture.
- Semi-natural and natural vegetation and buffer strips such as ditches, provide chances to increase numbers of alternate prey, intermediate hosts of target pests and increase the availability of nutritional plant resources.
- Semi-natural patches are beneficial for arthropod communities and can raise their numbers to enhance crop pest regulation.
Conclusion
- To optimize the benefits from existing farmland, the researchers recommend that biodiversity research be holistic so more organisms get targeted ecological services.
Mains question
Q. What are herpetofauna? Highlight the Ecological services provided by herpetofauna and discuss the threats faced by herpetofauna.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: New Eurasia opportunities and challenges for India
Context
- Japan, which invented the contemporary geopolitical idea of the Indo-Pacific, is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In his swing through Europe last week, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s message was simple, the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible.
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How Japan shaped the idea of Indo-pacific?
- Japan is not alone for Indo-pacific anymore: Building on the ideas of his predecessor, the late Shinzo Abe, Kishida is determined to build strong military partnerships with Europe. Together Japan, South Korea and Australia are bridging the divide between Asia and Europe long seen as separate geopolitical theatres.
- South Korea raising profile in Europe: South Korea, which does not always see eye to eye with Japan, is also joining the party by raising its profile in Europe. for example, Seoul, is selling major weapons platforms in Poland.
- Australia eager to bring Europe in Indo pacific: Australia, which has joined the US and UK in the AUKUS arrangement, is equally eager to bring Europe into the Indo-Pacific.
- Accelerated by Ukraine war: This process has been accelerated by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the alliance between Moscow and Beijing.
The idea of Eurasia
- Many used it as a neutral term: The idea of Eurasia is not new, many used it as a neutral term to describe the vast landmass that connected Europe and Asia.
- Separate political spheres: Despite continental continuity, Europe and Asia emerged as separate political and cultural spheres over the millennia.
- Russia as European and Asian: Russia, which straddles this space, saw itself as both a European and Asian power but had trouble becoming a part of either. When post-Soviet Russia’s effort to integrate with the West soured in the 2000s, it developed Eurasia and Greater Eurasia as new geopolitical constructs.
- Putin’s Eurasian strategy: Consolidating the former Soviet space, restoring influence in Central Europe, building a strong alliance with China, and limiting Western influence in the continental heartland became part of Putin’s Eurasian strategy.
China-Russia alliance
- Altering geopolitical dynamics: Well before Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol turned to Europe, it was Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin who altered the geopolitical dynamic in Eurasia.
- Alliance without limits: Days before he ordered his armies into Ukraine, Putin travelled to Beijing last February to sign an agreement declaring an alliance without limits and no forbidden areas.
- China’s tilt towards Russia: China, which had made a largely successful effort to cultivate Europe since the 1990s, deliberately avoided taking sides in Europe’s conflicts with Russia. But on the eve of the Ukraine war, Xi chose to tilt towards Moscow by blaming NATO for the crisis in Ukraine.
- New kind of Eurasian alliance: Together, Putin and Xi unveiled a Eurasian alliance that they might have hoped would deliver the long-awaited coup de grace to the global hegemony of the West. What it did instead was to not only strengthen the Western alliance in Europe but also provide the basis for a new kind of Eurasia an alliance between China’s East Asian neighbours and Russia’s West European neighbours.
- For India, the rise of Eurasia is making it harder to ride on two boats at the same time: Until now, India could easily hunt with the maritime coalition the Quad in the Indo-Pacific and run at the same time with the continental coalitions led by Russia and China.
- US Europe and Japan on the one hand and China, Russia on the other: The conflict between the US, Europe, and Japan on the one hand and China and Russia on the other is now acute and shows no signs of immediate amelioration.
- India’s security challenge on Himalayan frontier: On the downside, then, India’s mounting security challenges from China on the Himalayan frontier and the tightening embrace between Moscow and Beijing will mean the shadow over India’s continental strategy will become darker in the days ahead.
- Strategic capabilities in partnership: On the upside, the possibilities for strengthening India’s strategic capabilities in partnership with the US and Europe as well as Japan, South Korea and Australia have never been stronger.
Opportunities for India may include
- Economic cooperation: Increased economic cooperation and trade between India and countries in Europe and Asia
- India’s larger role in global affairs: The potential for India to play a larger role in regional and global affairs as a result of increased connectivity and cooperation
- To address security concerns in Indo-Pacific: Opportunities for India to strengthen its ties with Japan and other countries in the region to address security concerns in the Indo-Pacific
Conclusion
- Japan’s strategy of promoting greater connectivity and cooperation between Europe and Asia could present both opportunities and challenges for India in terms of economic cooperation and geopolitical influence. India will have to carefully navigate and balance its relationships with various countries and groups in the region to maximize the opportunities and minimize the challenges.
Mains question
Q. Japan is now well on its way to changing the way we think about the relationship between Asia and Europe. In this backdrop discuss opportunities and challenges for India.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 19
Mains level: Freedom of press
While rejecting a closure report filed by the CBI, a Delhi court said there is “no statutory exemption in India to journalists from disclosing their sources to investigating agencies”.
What is the news?
- The CBI had sought to close its investigation on how certain news channels and a newspaper had aired and published reports related to a disproportionate assets case against a leader.
- It had argued that the “documents used by the news channel were forged” but it could not be established who forged the documents.
- This certainly amounts to creation of fake news.
Legal protection for disclosure of Journalistic Sources
Ans. Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19
- In India, there is no specific legislation that protects journalists from being asked to disclose their sources.
- Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression to all citizens.
- Investigative agencies can issue notice to anyone, including journalists, to provide information.
- Like any citizen, a journalist can be compelled to give evidence in Court.
- If she does not comply, the journalist can face charges of Contempt of Court.
Freedom of Press
- The fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 includes press freedom.
- This covers an entire process from newsgathering, editorial judgement, publication and distribution of printed matter.
- Press freedom covers all four stages.
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What have courts said on this issue?
- While the Supreme Court broadly recognises the freedom of the press, including the right of journalists to ensure the protection of their sources, various courts have ruled differently on this issue.
- In the Pegasus spyware case (2021), the Court underlined that the protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for the freedom of the press.
- In 2019, the Supreme Court in a review petition in the Rafale case overruled the Centre’s objections on the petitioner’s claims since they relied on purportedly “stolen” confidential documents.
Is there any legal enforcement?
Ans. No
- Courts have in “public interest asked journalists to disclose their sources. In the absence of a specific law, it is often the discretion of a Court.
- Under the Press Council of India (PCI) Act, of 1978, the Press Council has powers of a civil court to deal with complaints when a newspaper has “offended against the standards of journalistic ethics.”
- However, the Council cannot force a newspaper, news agency, journalist, or editor to reveal their sources during the proceedings.
- The Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014 offers protection to people disclosing acts of corruption, wilful misuse of power, or criminal offences by public servants, in public interest.
Recommendations for a change in law
Ans. Recognition under Indian Evidence Act
- The Law Commission of India in its 93rd Report in 1983 recommended recognising journalistic privilege by amending the Indian Evidence Act.
- In its 185th report on the amendments to the Evidence Act, the Law Commission again suggested this amendment.
Position in other countries
- United Kingdom: The Contempt of Courts Act 1981 creates a presumption in favour of journalists who want to protect the identity of their sources. However, that right is subject to certain conditions in the “interest of justice”.
- United States: Although the First Amendment guaranteeing free speech in the United States specifically mentions the press, the Supreme Court has held that journalists do not have the right to refuse to testify in a federal grand jury proceeding and disclose sources.
- Sweden: The Freedom of the Press Act in Sweden is a broad protection of rights of journalists and even extends to state and municipal employees who might share information with journalists freely. In fact, a journalist who reveals his or her source without consent may be prosecuted at the behest of the source.
- France and Germany: Journalists can refuse to disclose sources in an investigation.
Need for non-disclosure
- Debated issue: The right of journalists to use and protect confidential sources is a debated topic.
- Vitality of larger public interest: Many journalists say that confidential sources are an essential tool in the search to uncover information of great public interest.
- Prevent oppression: It is a reporter’s need and duty to protect the identity of the source of his information or else vital information of concern to the people in a democracy would be suppressed.
Why are we discussing this?
- Media malpractices are on rise: When the public interest is compelling and the disclosure outweighs the public interest then the sources can be revealed.
- Serious allegations and media trial: The court can also require disclosure of the source of the news relates to a public office or public official and serious allegations have been made against him.
- Defamation by media: Also if there is a defamatory article against a person then the Court may compel the journalist to reveal his source.
Why media needs protection for sources?
Where source protection is compromised, the impacts can include:
- Pre-publication exposure of journalistic investigations may trigger cover-ups, intimidation, or destruction of information,
- Revelation of sources’ identities has legal or extra-legal repercussions,
- Sources of information running dry,
- Self-censorship by journalists and citizens.
Conclusion
- Indian law on source disclosure is limited and has mostly been determined by courts on a case-by-case basis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Export Co-operative Society
Mains level: Not Much
The first consignment expected to be exported by the first-ever National Export Co-operative Society.
Why in news?
- The Union Cabinet on January 11 approved the setting up Multi-State Seed Society, Multi-State Organic Society and Multi State Export Society.
What is National Export Co-operative Society (NECS)?
- The society will have an authorised share capital of ₹2,000 crore with the area of operation all over the country.
- It will be registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.
- It will have its registered office in Delhi.
- The Society’s registration will be complete in the next few days and the first consignment will be exported in three months.
- It will work as an export house for handicrafts, handlooms, khadi and other products, ensuring enhancement of income of the cooperative member entrepreneurs.
Funding of NECS
- Leading cooperatives like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, NAFED, Amul and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will be the promoters of the Society.
- They will contribute ₹100 crore each.
Working of NECS
- The Society will be different from the Export Promotion Council under the Ministry of Commerce.
- This Society will provide end-to-end services to the cooperatives.
- It will open foreign bank accounts and complete all the formalities, including necessary permissions for exporting a product.
- The dividends will be shared with the manufacturer instantly and without any brokerage fee.
- The Society will hire consultants in foreign countries who will help expand its footprint across continents.
Why need cooperatives for export promotion?
- Cooperatives contribute 28.80% in fertilizer production, 35% in fertilizer distribution, 30.60% in sugar production and 17.50% in milk in the national economy.
- However, their contribution to exports is negligible.
- Society will benefit the smallest of farmer or artisan who has a good product but does not have access to the right platform.
- Through this Society, they will get access to international market and good returns too.
- Once a product has been tested for international standards, the packaging and export will be done by the Society.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Channapatna Toys
Mains level: NA
Augmented Reality of Channapatna Toys were displayed at First Movers Coalition (FMC) Leadership Meeting of the World Economic Forum.
Channapatna Toys
- Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka.
- This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization, administered by the state govt.
- As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka.
- Traditionally, the work involved lacquering the wood of the Wrightia tinctoria tree, colloquially called Aale mara (ivory-wood).
- Their manufacture goes back at least 200 years according to most accounts and it has been traced to the era of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan in the 18th century.
- The toys are laced with vegetable dyes and colours devoid of chemicals and hence they are safe for children.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
- GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
- The tag stands valid for 10 years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NEP
Mains level: NEP, ASER survey findings
Context
- The Covid pandemic had caused schools to shut down in March 2020, and India had one of the longest school closures in the world primary schools were closed for almost two years. The impact of the pandemic on the education sector was feared to be twofold learning loss associated with long school closures, and higher dropout rates, especially among older children, due to squeezed family budgets.
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ASER survey during the pandemic
- Assessing the learning losses: Estimates from these three state-level surveys could be used to understand the extent of children’s learning losses. These state level estimates are extremely useful as they are the only ASER estimates of learning we have between 2018 and 2022.
- Rising learning level pre-pandemic: For the country as a whole, learning levels had been rising slowly between 2014 and 2018, after being stagnant for several years. For example, at the all-India level, the proportion of children in Class III who could read a Class II level text (a proxy for grade-level reading) had risen from 23.6 per cent in 2014 to 27.2 per cent in 2018.
- Big fall during pandemic: ASER 2022 shows a big drop in this proportion to 20.5 per cent. This 7-percentage point fall is huge, given how slowly the all-India numbers move and confirms fears of large learning losses caused by the pandemic.
- Higher losses in math: In math also, learning levels had risen slowly between 2014 and 2018. The 2022 estimates show a drop here as well although much smaller than in the case of reading.
Case study of three states- Karnataka Chhattisgarh and West Bengal
- Assess learning levels in three states: Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in 2021, when schools were still closed or had just reopened. While these are not national estimates, they provide an interim measurement that is more reflective of pandemic-induced learning losses than the estimates for 2022.
- Reading and math losses: Across all three states, there were large learning losses in both reading and math in 2021 in excess of 7 percentage points, except in the case of Std V in West Bengal. The loss in reading is a little higher, though not by much.
- Learning losses was much below 2014 levels: In both reading and math, the 2021 learning levels in these three states fell below their 2014 levels. A year later, ASER 2022 data shows that across all three states, there has been a recovery in both reading and math (except Karnataka in reading and West Bengal in reading in Std V) after schools reopened in 2021-22.
- Recovery still below pandemic: In other words, while the 2022 learning levels were still below or in some cases close to the 2018 levels, comparing 2018 with 2022 hides the dramatic fall in learning levels observed between these two points and the subsequent recovery that has happened in the last year.
- Focus on foundational competency: Another big development during 2020-21 was the introduction of the new National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. For the first time, there was a big focus on the early years and the importance of foundational competencies.
- Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN): Once schools reopened, states moved quickly and almost all states have made a major push in the area of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) under the NIPUN Bharat mission (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy). This push is reflected in the ASER 2022 data.
- Directive for NEP Implementation: As part of the survey, ASER field investigators visited one government school in each of the sampled village to record enrolment, attendance and school facilities. This year we also asked whether schools had received any directive from the government to implement FLN activities in the school and whether teachers had been trained on FLN. At the all-India level, 81 per cent schools responded that they had received such a directive and 83 per cent said that at least one teacher in the school had been trained on FLN.
Recovery of learning losses
- Partial recovery in some states: Extrapolating from the experience of the three states for which we have 2021 data, we can assume that other states also experienced large learning losses during the pandemic. However, once schools reopened, states made a concerted effort to build or re-build foundational competencies, which has resulted in a partial and in some cases, a full recovery.
- Earliest open, recovered faster: The extent of the recovery varies across states depending on how long their schools were closed as well as when they initiated learning recovery measures. For instance, Chhattisgarh was one of the earliest states to reopen their primary schools in July 2021, giving them a longer period to work with children, as compared to, for instance, Himachal Pradesh or Maharashtra, where schools reopened much later.
- Remarkable recovery by Chhattisgarh: Taking into account the 2021 figures, the 2022 estimates for Chhattisgarh point to a remarkable recovery, in both reading and math, that is hidden if we just compare 2022 with 2018.
- Lack of data for many states: In the absence of a 2021 measurement for other states, it is difficult to say what the original pandemic-induced learning loss was from which states are aiming to recover.
Conclusion
- As per the ASER survey learning losses of the student have been recovered quickly than expected. NEP looks very promising for better learning outcomes for children and college students. Every state and union territory should implement the NEP in its entirety.
Mains Question
Q. Analyze the learning outcomes and recovery of children based on ASER survey. What is impact of NEP on recovery of learning outcome after pandemic?
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