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Roads, Highways, Cargo, Air-Cargo and Logistics infrastructure – Bharatmala, LEEP, SetuBharatam, etc.

GPS-based toll system to replace FASTag

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: FASTags, GPS

Mains level: Read the attached story

The government plans to start a GPS-based toll system in place of FASTag to ensure seamless payment and vehicle movement on national highways.

Why in news?

  • The move would end the role of toll plazas across the country.

How will a GPS-based tolling system work?

  • Vehicles will be fitted with an electronic device that can track their movement.
  • Highways will be geo-fenced, creating virtual boundaries. The system will use GPS or radio frequency identification technologies.
  • The software will recognize when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area, and toll will be charged based on the distance travelled at the highway’s exit point.
  • As the system is based on sensors, there will be no need to stop at toll plazas.
  • Vehicles and users must be registered with the GPS toll system, linked to bank accounts that will be used to transfer toll payments.

What are FASTags?

  • FASTags are stickers that are affixed to the windscreen of vehicles and use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to enable digital, contactless payment of tolls without having to stop at toll gates.
  • RFID uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.
  • The tags are linked to bank accounts and other payment methods.
  • As a car crosses a toll plaza, the amount is automatically deducted, and a notification is sent to the registered mobile phone number.

Issues with FASTags

  • Since the card is affixed to the windscreen, it can be easily misplaced, damaged or stolen.
  • The existing FASTag system, though faster than cash payments, still requires vehicles to stop at toll booths to enable reading of tags.
  • Also, the vehicle must wait till the gate is opened.
  • It has been observed that sometimes the toll fee is deducted twice from user account. Mostly, this happens due to a technical glitch.
  • Some card readers take longer time to read and register. Hence the purpose of saving time is itself defied.
  • Still, the wait time at toll booths is much more than the 30 seconds that was promised earlier.
  • Also, it has not helped reduce the number of toll booths.

Hence the benefits of using FASTag far outweigh the challenges.

Is FASTags a total failure?

  • Usage has increased since FASTag was made mandatory in 2021 after its launch in 2015.
  • Penetration has grown from nearly 16% in FY18 to 96.3% in FY22.
  • Total toll collection in FY18 was ₹21,948 crore, including ₹3,532 crore collected through FASTags.
  • In FY22, toll collection through FASTags increased sharply to ₹33,274 crore out of total toll collection of ₹34,535 crore.

How will GPS benefit highway users?

  • GPS tolling uses satellite-based navigation and requires no halting.
  • Also, vehicles can be charged only for their actual travel on a highway stretch.
  • Currently, toll is paid at toll booths which is fixed between two points of tolling and a user does not get any concession even if he/she exits before completing the full run between two toll plazas.
  • The new system should reduce the toll amount charged for travel on highways.

What is the progress so far on GPS tolling?

  • The Union road ministry has amended the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008, allowing for the collection of toll based on distance travelled on national highways.
  • This will facilitate the introduction of GPS tolling.
  • First trials may be done on the under-construction Mumbai-Delhi expressway which will be geo-fenced.
  • Also the cost of GPS devices needs to be considered at very beginning.

Way forward

  • The system needs a proper legislative framework, and a full launch is still years away. The government intends to introduce it in phases.
  • The road ministry is expected to amend the Motor Vehicles Act and create rules to facilitate GPS tolling as well as to penalize offenders.
  • Moreover, GPS will come with its own set of complications on calculating differential tolls.
  • Regulations and framework for these need to be developed first.

 

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Uniform Civil Code: Triple Talaq debate, Polygamy issue, etc.

Uniform Civil Code

| Polity | Mains Paper 1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: UCC

Mains level: Need for UCC

uniform civil code

The expert committee formed by the Uttarakhand government to examine ways for the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has launched a website, seeking public opinion on the plan.

What is a Uniform Civil Code?

  • A Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is one that would provide for one personal civil law for the entire country.
  • This would be applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.

Basis for Uniform Civil Code

  • Article 44, one of the Directive Principles of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
  • These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.

Personal Laws And Uniform Civil Code: Timeline

# British period
During the British Raj, Personal laws were first framed mainly for Hindu and Muslims citizens.

# Start of 20th Century
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the demand for a uniform civil code was first put forward by the women activists. The objective behind this demand was the women’s rights, equality and secularism.

# 1940 – The Idea of Uniform Civil Code is born
The idea of Uniform Civil Code was tabled by the National Planning Commission (NPC) appointed by the Congress. There was a subcommittee who was to examine women’s status and recommends reforms of personal law for gender equality.

# 1947 – Question of UCC as a Fundamental Right
UCC was sought to be enshrined in the Constitution of India as a fundamental right by Minoo Masani, Hansa Mehta, Amrit Kaur and Dr. B.R Ambedkar.

# 1948 – Constitution Assembly debated UCC
Article 44 of the Indian Constitution i.e. Directive Principles of State Policy sets implementation of uniform civil laws which is the duty of the state under Part IV.

# 1950 – Reformist Bill passed
Reformist bills were passed which gave the Hindu women the right to divorce and inherit property. Bigamy and child marriages are outlawed. Such reforms were resisted by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

# 1951 – Dr. Ambedkar Resigns
Dr. Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951 when his draft of the Hindu Code Bill was stalled by the Parliament.

# 1985 – Shah Bano Case
In this case, a divorced Muslim woman was brought within the ambit of Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 by the Supreme Court in which it was declared by the Apex court that she was entitled for maintenance even after the completion ofiddatperiod.

# 1995- Sarla Mudgal v. Union of India
In this case, Justice Kuldip Singh reiterated the need for the Parliament to frame a Uniform Civil Code, which would help the cause of national integration by removing contradictions based on ideologies. Therefore, the responsibility entrusted on the State under Article 44 of the Constitution whereby a Uniform Civil Code must be secured has been urged by the Supreme Court repeatedly as a matter of urgency.

# 2000 – Supreme Court advocates UCC
The case of Lily Thomas v. Union of India (2000),where the Supreme Court said it could not direct the centre to introduce a UCC.

# 2015 – The Debate lives through
The apex court refused to direct the government to take a decision on having a UCC.

# 2016 – Triple Talaq Debate
When PM asked the Law Commission to examine the issue.

# 2017 – Ruling of the Triple Talaq case
Triple Talaq (Talaq -e- biddat) was declared unconstitutional on August 22, 2017.

UCC vs. Right to Freedom of Religion

  1. Article 25 lays down an individual’s fundamental right to religion
  2. Article 26(b) upholds the right of each religious denomination or any section thereof to “manage its own affairs in matters of religion”
  3. Article 29 defines the right to conserve distinctive culture

Reasonable restrictions on the Freedom of Religion

  • An individual’s freedom of religion under Article 25 is subject to “public order, health, morality” and other provisions relating to FRs, but a group’s freedom under Article 26 has not been subjected to other FRs.
  • In the Constituent Assembly, there was division on the issue of putting UCC in the fundamental rights chapter. The matter was settled by a vote.
  • By a 5:4 majority, the fundamental rights sub-committee headed by Sardar Patel held that the provision was outside the scope of FRs and therefore the UCC was made less important.

Minority Opinion in the Constituent Assembly

  • Some members sought to immunize Muslim Personal Law from state regulation.
  • Mohammed Ismail, who thrice tried unsuccessfully to get Muslim Personal Law exempted from Article 44, said a secular state should not interfere with the personal law of people.
  • B Pocker Saheb said he had received representations against a common civil code from various organisations, including Hindu organisations.
  • Hussain Imam questioned whether there could ever be uniformity of personal laws in a diverse country like India.
  • B R Ambedkar said “no government can use its provisions in a way that would force the Muslims to revolt”.
  • Alladi Krishnaswami, who was in favour of a UCC, conceded that it would be unwise to enact UCC ignoring strong opposition from any community.
  • Gender justice was never discussed in these debates.

Enacting and Enforcing UCC

  • Fundamental rights are enforceable in a court of law.
  • While Article 44 uses the words “state shall endeavour”, other Articles in the ‘Directive Principles’ chapter use words such as “in particular strive”; “shall in particular direct its policy”; “shall be obligation of the state” etc.
  • Article 43 mentions “state shall endeavour by suitable legislation” while the phrase “by suitable legislation” is absent in Article 44.
  • All this implies that the duty of the state is greater in other directive principles than in Article 44.

What are more important — fundamental rights or directive principles?

  • There is no doubt that fundamental rights are more important.
  • The Supreme Court held in Minerva Mills (1980): Indian Constitution is founded on the bed-rock of the balance between Parts III (Fundamental Rights) and IV (Directive Principles).
  • To give absolute primacy to one over the other is to disturb the harmony of the Constitution.
  • Article 31C inserted by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, however, lays down that if a law is made to implement any directive principle, it cannot be challenged on the ground of being violative of the FRs under Articles 14 and 19.

What about Personal Laws?

  • Citizens belonging to different religions and denominations follow different property and matrimonial laws which are an affront to the nation’s unity.
  • If the framers of the Constitution had intended to have a UCC, they would have given exclusive jurisdiction to Parliament in respect of personal laws, by including this subject in the Union List.
  • “Personal Laws” are mentioned in the Concurrent List.

Various customary laws

  • All Hindus of the country are not governed by one law, nor are all Muslims or all Christians.
  • Muslims of Kashmir were governed by a customary law, which in many ways was at variance with Muslim Personal Law in the rest of the country and was, in fact, closer to Hindu law.
  • Even on the registration of marriage among Muslims, laws differ from place to place.
  • In the Northeast, there are more than 200 tribes with their own varied customary laws.
  • The Constitution itself protects local customs in Nagaland. Similar protections are enjoyed by Meghalaya and Mizoram.
  • Even reformed Hindu law, in spite of codification, protects customary practices.

 Why need UCC?

  • UCC would provide equal status to all citizens
  • It would promote gender parity in Indian society.
  • UCC would accommodate the aspirations of the young population who imbibe liberal ideology.
  • Its implementation would thus support the national integration.

Hurdles to UCC implementation

  • There are practical difficulties due to religious and cultural diversity in India.
  • The UCC is often perceived by minorities as an encroachment of religious freedom.
  • It is often regarded as interference of the state in personal matters of the minorities.
  • Experts often argue that the time is not ripe for Indian society to embrace such UCC.

These questions need to be addressed which are being completely ignored in the present din around UCC.

  1. Firstly, how can uniformity in personal laws are brought without disturbing the distinct essence of each and every component of the society.
  2. Secondly, what makes us believe that practices of one community are backward and unjust?
  3. Thirdly, has other uniformities been able to eradicate inequalities that diminish the status of our society as a whole?

Way forward

  • It should be the duty of the religious intelligentia to educate the community about its rights and obligations based on modern liberal interpretations.
  • A good environment for the UCC must be prepared by the government by explaining the contents and significance of Article 44 taking all into confidence.
  • Social reforms are not overnight but gradual phenomena. They are often vulnerable to media evils such as fake news and disinformation.
  • Social harmony and the cultural fabric of our nation must be the priority.

 

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Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

IIP gives us true health of our economy

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: particulars of IIP

Mains level: economic indicator

IIPContext

  • India’s statistics ministry generates only one high-frequency gauge of economic activity. And that lone barometer, the index of industrial production (IIP), is completely broken.

What is IIP?

  • The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that indicates the performance of various industrial sectors of the Indian economy. It is a composite indicator of the general level of industrial activity in the economy.

IIPHow is IIP calculated?

  • IIP is calculated as the weighted average of production relatives of all the industrial activities. In the mathematical calculation Laspeyre’s fixed base formula is used.

What are the Core Industries in India?

  • The main or the key industries constitute the core sectors of an economy.
  • In India, there are eight sectors that are considered the core sectors.
  • They are electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilizers.

Which has highest weightage in IIP?

  • The eight core sector industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.

IIPWhy is IIP important?

  • IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production. It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc. for policy-making purposes. IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates.

Who releases IIP data?

How useful are monthly IIP figures to draw a conclusion about India’s growth?

  • IIP figures are monthly data and as such it keeps going up and down.
  • In fact, the release calls them “quick estimates” because they tend to get revised after a month or two.

IIP Index Components

  • Mining, manufacturing, and electricity are the three broad sectors in which IIP constituents fall.
  • The relative weights of these three sectors are 77.6% (manufacturing), 14.4% (mining) and 8% (electricity).
  • Electricity, crude oil, coal, cement, steel, refinery products, natural gas, and fertilizers are the eight core industries that comprise about 40 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.

Basket of products

  • Primary Goods (consisting of mining, electricity, fuels and fertilisers)
  • Capital Goods (e.g. machinery items)
  • Intermediate Goods (e.g. yarns, chemicals, semi-finished steel items, etc)
  • Infrastructure Goods (e.g. paints, cement, cables, bricks and tiles, rail materials, etc)
  • Consumer Durables (e.g. garments, telephones, passenger vehicles, etc)
  • Consumer Non-durables (e.g. food items, medicines, toiletries, etc)

IIP base year change

  • The base year was changed to 2011-12 from 2004-05 in the year 2017.

Way ahead

  • IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP (Gross Domestic Product) estimates.

Mains question

Q. What do you understand by IIP? How it helps us to understand economic health?

 

 

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G20 : Economic Cooperation ahead

G20 summit will open pandora of opportunities

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: members of G20

Mains level: opportunities for India

G20 summitContext

  • India is going to be at the centre stage of geopolitical spectrum as India will be hosting G20 summit presidency from December 2022. As Harsh V. Shringla, India’s chief G20 coordinator and former Foreign Secretary, (Amitabh kant is G20 Sherpa of India) recently said, “Our G20 Presidency would place India on the global stage, and provide an opportunity for India to place its priorities and narratives on the global agenda.”

What is G20 (Group of Twenty)?

  • Composed of most of the world’s largest economies: 19 countries plus European Union, including both industrialized and developing nations. Together, its members represent more than 80% of the world’s GDP, 75% of international trade and 60% of the world’s population.
  • Role: To address major issues related to the global economy such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
  • It is an Intergovernmental forum.
  • Strategic role: The G20 holds a strategic role in securing global economic growth and prosperity.

G20 summitIndia and the presidency of G20 summit

  • In November this year, the 17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in Bali.
  • After Indonesia, India will assume the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
  • By hosting the summit of the G20, India will have the opportunity to assume centre stage in proposing and setting the global agenda and discourse.
  • India can assert its political, economic and intellectual leadership while hosting the G20 presidency.
  • Further it Provides India an opportunity to also champion the causes of developing and least developed countries.
  • India could invite and engage countries from Africa and South America to ensure better and more balanced representation at the G20.

G20 summitChallenges before India:

         Global

  • World affected by the pandemic: Uneven vaccine availability has been flagged by many countries. Vaccine issue upset some countries.
  • Ukraine conflict: According to external affairs ministers Dr.S.Jaishankar due to Ukraine  conflict world is divided and this poses the challenge for India to bring rival camp on same stage
  • Climate change: Divergent view of developed and developing countries on climate change can be the bone of contention between west and the rest.
  • The rise of an assertive China: To maintain the delicate balance between NATO, G7 on the on hand while Russia and china on the other (as India is part of both QUAD and SCO).

     Domestic

  • Economic challenges: Such as stagflation, unemployment, exchange rate, declining prospects for exports and rising trade deficit.
  • Terrorism: Cross border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

Indonesia has focused on three key pillars in its presidency of G20 presidency:

  • Global health architecture: president of Indonesia Joko Widodo talked about a global contingency fund for medical supplies, building capacity in developing countries to manufacture vaccines and the creation of global health protocols and standards.
  • Sustainable energy transition: as part of its roadmap to reach net zero by 2060, Indonesia had slashed the coverage area of forest fires sevenfold. The country has restored peatlands and rehabilitated 50,000 hectares of mangrove forests.
  • Digital transformation

What India can address?

  • Issues of global concern: Terrorism, climate change, stagflation etc.
  • Domestic and regional: economic recovery, trade and investment, unemployment, patent waivers on diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc.
  • Greater co-operation and co-ordination: free trade agreements, supply chain resilience mechanism, stressing on green and digital transformations in the economy and its impact on societal well-being.
  • Other important Areas :such as technology transfer, assistance towards green economy, greater access to trade for developing countries, addressing debt distress of countries by offering sustainable aid and loan programmes, tackling food and energy prices/security for vulnerable economies etc.

Why G20 summit presidency is an opportunity for India?

  • India exchange the G20 presidency with Indonesia and chose 2023 instead of 2022 to host the G20 countries.
  • India wanted to showcase its prowess in its 75th year of independence as cornerstone of new emerging world order. As India is part of Quad and SCO BRICS -the warring factions at world stage, it’s an opportunity in crisis to become the bridge of the divided world.
  • India is hosting the summit in Kashmir. World media will be in the Kashmir. In the direct message to world India will again assert that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Way ahead

  • As India will be hosting G20 and SCO summits, India will be central in outlining key priority areas. India can assert its political, economic and intellectual leadership which will have to address issues that help in cement the Fault-line in the world order.
  • India’s leadership could define the coming years and decades of global discourse and avenues of cooperation.

Other related Information

SCO (Shanghai Co-operation Organization):

  • The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. It is the world’s largest regional organization, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.
  • Members: The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996; China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

QUAD:

  • Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ (QSD), the Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely – United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan.
  • One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

G7:

  • The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the European Union is a ‘non-enumerated member.

Mains Question

Q. India can take advantage of G20 for its economic growth and security architecture. Discuss.

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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Cheetah reintroduction

op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: environment conservation

Cheetah

Context

  • This is the world’s first intercontinental translocation of a carnivore. It is even more unique because this is the first time cheetahs has reintroduced in an unfenced protected area (PA).
  • The Government is preparing to translocate the first batch from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.

About Asiatic Cheetah

  • Feature: Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
  • Status: The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
  • Reintroduction: It was expected to be re-introduced into the country after the Supreme Court lifted curbs for its re-introduction.
  • Extinction: From 400 in the 1990s, their numbers are estimated to have reached to 50-70 today, because of poaching, hunting of their main prey (gazelles) and encroachment on their habitat.

Cheetah

Cheetah

What caused the extinction of cheetahs in India?

  • Reduced fecundity and high infant mortality in the wild
  • Inability to breed in captivity
  • Sport hunting
  • Bounty killings

Cheetah

Why reintroduce Cheetahs?

  • Climate Change Mitigation: It will enhance India’s capacity to sequester carbon through ecosystem restoration activities in cheetah conservation areas and thereby contribute towards the global climate change mitigation goals.
  • Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognized as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
  • The cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated, mainly by over-hunting in India in historical times.
  • India now has the economic ability to consider restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons.

Why was Kuno National Park chosen for Cheetah Reintroduction?

  • Both Cheetah and Asiatic Lions share the same habitats semi-arid grasslands and forests that stretch across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
  • The rainfall, temperature, and altitude in the Sheopur district, where Kuno is situated, are equivalent to those of South Africa and Namibia.
  • In addition, Kuno contains a diverse population of prey species, including peafowl, wild pigs, gazelle, langurs, chital, sambhar, and nilgai.

What are the Other Recent Initiatives for Wildlife Conservation in India?

Legal Framework:

  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
  • Environment Protection Act, 1986
  • The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

India’s Collaboration with Global Wildlife Conservation Efforts:

  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
  • Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
  • Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
  • Global Tiger Forum (GTF)

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Citizenship and Related Issues

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CAA

Mains level: Read the attached story

A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit will hear the challenge to the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

What is Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019?

  • The act is sought to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India.
  • In other words, it intends to make it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s three Muslim-majority neighbours to become citizens of India.
  • Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the requirements for citizenship by naturalization is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.
  • The amendment relaxes the second requirement from 11 years to 6 years as a specific condition for applicants belonging to these six religions, and the aforementioned three countries.
  • It exempts the members of the six communities from any criminal case under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1920 if they entered India before December 31, 2014.

Key feature: Defining illegal migrants

  • Illegal migrants cannot become Indian citizens in accordance with the present laws.
  • Under the CAA, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who: (i) enters the country without valid travel documents like a passport and visa, or (ii) enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.
  • Illegal migrants may be put in jail or deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.

Exceptions

  • The Bill provides that illegal migrants who fulfil four conditions will not be treated as illegal migrants under the Act.  The conditions are:
  1. they are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians;
  2. they are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan;
  3. they entered India on or before December 31, 2014;
  4. they are not in certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, or areas under the “Inner Line” permit, i.e., Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

Controversy with the Act

  • Country of Origin: The Act classifies migrants based on their country of origin to include only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
  • Other religious minorities ignored: It is unclear why illegal migrants from only six specified religious minorities have been included in the Act.
  • Defiance of purpose: India shares a border with Myanmar, which has had a history of persecution of a religious minority, the Rohingya Muslims.
  • Date of Entry: It is also unclear why there is a differential treatment of migrants based on their date of entry into India, i.e., whether they entered India before or after December 31, 2014.
  • Against the spirit of Secularism: Further, granting citizenship on the grounds of religion is seen to be against the secular nature of the Constitution which has been recognised as part of the basic structure that cannot be altered by Parliament.

Basis of challenging in Supreme Court

  • The challenge rests primarily on the grounds that the law violates Article 14 of the Constitution that guarantees that no person shall be denied the right to equality before law or the equal protection of law in the territory of India.

The Supreme Court has developed a two-pronged test to examine a law on the grounds of Article 14.

  1. First, any differentiation between groups of persons must be founded on “intelligible differentia”
  2. Second, that differentia must have a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved by the Act
  • Simply put, for a law to satisfy the conditions under Article 14, it has to first create a “reasonable class” of subjects that it seeks to govern under the law.
  • Even if the classification is reasonable, any person who falls in that category has to be treated alike.

What happens next?

  • The listing of the CAA challenge indicates that the hearing will be fast-tracked.
  • The court will have to ensure that all pleadings, written submissions are filed and served to the opposite party before it is listed for final hearing.
  • Some petitioners could also seek a referral to a larger Constitution Bench.
  • However, the challenge is to a statute and does not directly involve interpretation of the Constitution.
  • These issues are also likely to be debated before the court allots time for the final hearing.

Way forward

  • India is a constitutional democracy with a basic structure that assures a secure and spacious home for all Indians.
  • Being partitioned on religious grounds, India has to undertake a balancing act for protecting the religious minorities in its neighbourhood.
  • These minorities are under constant threat of persecution and vandalism.
  • India needs to balance its civilization duties to protect those who are prosecuted in the neighbourhood.

 

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

Why Cloudbursts forecast in India still remains elusive?

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Cloudburst

Mains level: Flash floods and cloudbursts

cloudbursts

The characteristics of cloud burst events remain elusive, and our efforts in monitoring and forecasting them is at an embryonic stage.

Cyclones can be predicted about one week in advance. However, cloudburst forecasts still remain elusive.

What is Cloudbursts?

  • A cloudburst is a localised but intense rainfall activity.
  • Short spells of very heavy rainfall over a small geographical area can cause widespread destruction, especially in hilly regions where this phenomenon is the most common.
  • Not all instances of very heavy rainfall, however, are cloudbursts.
  • A cloudburst has a very specific definition: Rainfall of 10 cm or more in an hour over a roughly 10 km x 10-km area is classified as a cloudburst event.
  • By this definition, 5 cm of rainfall in a half-hour period over the same area would also be categorized as a cloudburst.

Which clouds do burst?

  • Cloudburst events are often associated with cumulonimbus clouds that cause thunderstorms and occasionally due to monsoon wind surges and other weather phenomena.
  • Cumulonimbus clouds can grow up to 12-15 km in height through the entire troposphere (occasionally up to 21 km) and can hold huge amounts of water.
  • Tall cumulonimbus clouds can develop in about half an hour as the moisture updraft happens rapidly, at a pace of 60 to 120 km/hr.
  • A single-cell cloud may last for an hour and dump all the rain in the last 20 to 30 minutes, while some of these clouds merge to form multi-cell storms and last for several hours.
  • However, cloudbursts are not defined based on cloud characteristics and do not indicate clouds exploding. Cloudbursts are defined by the amount of rainfall.

How is it different from normal rainfall?

  • According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 100 mm of rain in an hour is called a cloudburst.
  • Usually, cloudbursts occur over a small geographical region of 20 to 30 sq. km.

When do they occur?

  • In India, cloudbursts often occur during the monsoon season, when the southwesterly monsoon winds bring in copious amounts of moisture inland.
  • The moist air that converges over land gets lifted as they encounter the hills.
  • The moist air reaches an altitude and gets saturated, and the water starts condensing out of the air forming clouds.
  • This is how clouds usually form, but such an orographic lifting together with a strong moisture convergence can lead to intense cumulonimbus clouds taking in huge volumes of moisture that is dumped during cloudbursts.

How common are cloudbursts?

  • Cloudbursts are not uncommon events, particularly during the monsoon months.
  • Most of these happen in the Himalayan states where the local topology, wind systems, and temperature gradients between the lower and upper atmosphere facilitate the occurrence of such events.
  • However, not every event that is described as a cloudburst is actually, by definition, a cloudburst.
  • That is because these events are highly localized.
  • They take place in very small areas which are often devoid of rainfall measuring instruments.

Climate change and cloudbursts: How are they related?

  • Climate change is projected to increase the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts worldwide.
  • As the air gets warmer, it can hold more moisture and for a longer time. We call this the Clausius Clapeyron relationship.
  • A 1-degree Celsius rise in temperature may correspond to a 7-10% increase in moisture and rainfall.
  • This increase in rainfall amount does not get spread moderately throughout the season.
  • As the moisture holding capacity of air increases, it results in prolonged dry periods intermittent with short spells of extreme rains.
  • Deeper cumulonimbus clouds will form and the chances of cloudbursts also increase.

Why are they so destructive?

  • The consequences of these events, however, are not confined to small areas.
  • Because of the nature of terrain, the heavy rainfall events often trigger landslides and flash floods, causing extensive destruction downstream.
  • This is the reason why every sudden downpour that leads to destruction of life and property in the hilly areas gets described as a “cloudburst”, irrespective of whether the amount of rainfall meets the defining criteria.
  • At the same time, it is also possible that actual cloudburst events in remote locations aren’t recorded.

Detecting cloudbursts

  • Satellites are extensively useful in detecting large-scale monsoon weather systems.
  • However the resolution of the precipitation radars of these satellites can be much smaller than the area of individual cloudburst events, and hence they go undetected.
  • Weather forecast models also face a similar challenge in simulating the clouds at a high resolution.
  • The skillful forecasting of rainfall in hilly regions remains challenging due to the uncertainties in the interaction between the moisture convergence and the hilly terrain.
  • There also involves the cloud microphysics, and the heating-cooling mechanisms at different atmospheric levels.
  • Multiple radars can be a quick measure for providing warnings, but radars are an expensive affair, and installing them across the country may not be practically feasible.

Solutions to cloudbursts forecast

  • Multiple doppler weather radars can be used to monitor moving cloud droplets and help to provide nowcasts (forecasts for the next three hours).
  • A long-term measure would be mapping the cloudburst-prone regions using automatic rain gauges.
  • If cloudburst-prone regions are co-located with landslide-prone regions, these locations can be designated as hazardous.

 

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Tourism Sector

Sustainable Tourism in India

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 2: Ministries & Departments Of The Government
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: tourism as economic driver

TourismContext

  • Ministry of Tourism identified Tourism Industry’s potential as a Sunrise Industry.
  • There is a need for tourism analysts to hold tourism planners accountable.

What is tourism?

  • Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours.

Types of tourism

  • Domestic tourism: Refers to activities of a visitor within their country of residence and outside of their home (e.g. a Indian visiting other parts of India)
  • Inbound tourism: Refers to the activities of a visitor from outside of country of residence (e.g. a Spaniard visiting Britain).
  • Outbound tourism: Refers to the activities of a resident visitor outside of their country of residence (e.g. an Indian visiting an overseas country).

What does sustainable tourism mean?

  • Sustainable tourism is defined by the UN Environment Program and UN World Tourism Organization as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”

TourismWhat is the main importance of tourism?

  • Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy, creates thousands of jobs, develops the infrastructures of a country, and plants a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens.

Why tourism is needed?

  • Tourism is not a fad. It is a compulsion driven by the urge to discover new places. Because we have this compulsion to venture into the unknown, we need each other. When humans travel, meet and exchange ideas, civilisation flourishes.

What should be done to promote tourism?

  • National Tourism Authority: A separate National Tourism Authority (NTA) should be established for executing and operationalizing various tourism related initiatives. Simple, flexible and elegant processes will be laid down to allow for nimbleness.
  • National Tourism Advisory Board: A National Tourism Advisory Board (NTAB) should be set up to provide overall vision, guidance and direction to the Development of Tourism Sector in the country.
  • Creating Synergy in Tourism Eco System: In order to ensure synergy at various levels of Government and with the Private Sector, it is important to have a well-defined framework in place.
  • Quality Tourism Framework: A robust framework for quality certification of products and services across all segments like accommodation providers, tour operators, adventure tour operators, service providers like spa and wellness, guides, restaurants etc. should be laid down.
  • Enhancing the existing luxury tourism products: The existing tourism products such as Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Palace on Wheels etc. should be enhanced and their numbers will also be increased. Haulage charges will be rationalised to make luxury trains viable.
  • Railways can be a game changer: For tourism Railways have presence in most parts of the country. Most of the tourist destinations in the country are connected by rail. Railways is also in the process of connecting more places especially the strategic locations that also are tourist places with limited connectivity at present. Indian Railways is working towards promoting tourism in the country by operating more trains connecting tourists’ destinations and also by providing an array of products starting from luxury tourist trains to budget catering tourist trains

TourismWhat is MICE tourism of Gujarat?

  • The acronym “MICE” stands for “Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions”, and is essentially a version of business tourism that draws domestic and international tourists to a destination.
  • The policy aims to make Gujarat one of the top five MICE tourism destinations in the country.

Way forward

  • Enhance the contribution of tourism in Indian economy by increasing the visitation, stay and spend
  • Create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in tourism sector and ensure supply of skilled work force
  • Enhance the competitiveness of tourism sector and attract private sector investment
  • Preserve and enhance the cultural and natural resources of the country
  • To ensure sustainable, responsible and inclusive development of tourism in the country

Conclusion

  • We know that India has the highest tourism potential of any country. That is because we have every terrain and climate zone, and a range of customs, traditions, cuisines, crafts, art forms and festivals unmatched by any other nation. We should monetize our potential through putting comprehensive National tourism policy in place.

Mains question

Q. What should be done to transform our tourist destinations to provide world class visitor experience making India one of the topmost destinations for sustainable and responsible tourism?

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J&K – The issues around the state

Kashmiri pandits

op-ed snap | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: national integration

Kashmiri panditsContext

  • Recent events of targeted killings of Kashmiri pandits and other Hindus by the militants in the valley lead to the protests which once again brought forward the question of their right to return and the safety of minorities living in the valley

Who are the Kashmiri pandits?

  • The Kashmiri Pandits are one of the highest ranked Brahman castes who are the natives of the valley, locally known as pundits.
  • They were the minority in the valley comprising only 5% of the total population.
  • Traditionally dependent on agriculture and small-scale business and one of the favored sections in the administration.

What is the conflict?

  • Radical Islamists and militants started targeting the Kashmiri pundits putting in front the option of either of conversion or persecution.
  • The Growth of militancy in the 1990s forced Kashmiri pandits to leave the valley in greater numbers. They started migrating to the other states, leaving every belonging behind and seeking refuge in other parts.
  • While many of them started migrating some decided to stay back in their homeland.
  • Conflict arose between radical Islamists organization and the Hindus leading to the mass killings of the Kashmiri Hindus in waves which is termed as exodus.

kashmiri panditWhat has been done so far?

  • After the Pandit exodus from the Valley in the 1990s, the first few years of this century saw government efforts to send Pandits back to the Valley.
  • Under the Prime Minister’s return and rehabilitation of Kashmir migrants scheme, created government postings in the Valley for Kashmiri Pandit “migrant” youth.
  • Mostly, teachers and these government employees have lived in protected high security enclaves, but their work requires them to leave these enclaves and mingle with the rest of the population. Another segment, known as “non-migrant” Pandits because they never left the Valley, has lived in their own homes, without state-provided protection.

What is CDR?

  • Centre for dialogue and reconciliation (CDR) is a Delhi-based think-tank incorporated in March 2001, aims to be a catalyst for peace in South Asia.
  • CDR working for the peace-building process in Jammu Kashmir, supported the initiative of dialogue between the two communities as a part of self-assessment, acknowledging the mistakes.

kashmiri panditsWhat did CDR do in Kashmir?

  • CDR supported the initiative for a dialogue proposed by two prominent young Kashmiris one a Muslim and the other a Pandit both who have witnessed the violence of 1990 and the subsequent years.
  • They believe in the principle of talking could lead to healing.
  • It led to CDR’s ‘Shared Witness’, a Pandit-Muslim dialogue series, in December 2010.
  • Public intellectuals and other influential persons from both communities were participants

Observations of the dialogue

  • The dialogue series coincided with the launching of the Prime Minister’s job scheme.
  • Dialogues created a social environment that enabled Kashmiri Pandits to take up government postings in the Valley.
  • They focused on the events in and around 1990, and the incidents that triggered the displacement of the Pandit community.
  • By the third dialogue, participants were sharing individual experiences that did not fit into the narrative that each community had built about the other.
  • The process of the conversation lead them to think on the actual reason behind the conflict, was it communal differences, or was it only religion?

From the eyes of the pandits

  • Pandits were aggrieved that the Muslims did not protest the Pandit killings, not even when the killers claimed them. That greater responsibility lay with the Muslims as they were the majority.
  • If some social organizations had acted quickly, the exodus could have been stopped.
  • They observed that the Pandit community too had suffered from a lack of leadership.
  • They demand an apology and to set up of possible “Truth commission”

What do the Muslims say?

  • The Muslim participants felt the Pandits were in denial of the struggle of the Muslims in the Valley, who were facing violence from the system.
  • The Kashmiri Muslim was always portrayed as being misguided, aided, and abetted by Pakistan.
  • The protest in Kashmir was not against religion but against structures of power and oppression.

What is the Current situation?

  • The fresh spate of targeted killings of Kashmir pandits created an environment of fear and provided a major setback to their rehabilitation in the Kashmir valley.

Way ahead:

  • We need urgent civil society engagement between communities in Kashmir once again.
  • The government can enable it, but individuals and civil society will need to create conditions on the ground. They will have to encourage people to give up the blame game.

 

Mains question

Q. Dialogue can bring peace in Kashmir valley. Critically examine.

 

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Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

Apple Farming in India

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Agriculture and related issues,Food Processing & Related Industries In India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: farmers welfare

apple farmersContext

  • The increasing cost of production and the increase in GST on apple cartons has triggered protests in Himachal Pradesh’s apple farmers.

What is the issue?

  • The cost of production of agricultural items increased substantially, denying remunerative prices to the poor and marginal apple farmers.

Reason for crisis in apple farming

  • Increase in cost of production: The input cost of fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides has risen in the last decade by 300%, as per some estimates. The cost of apple cartons and trays and packaging has also seen a dramatic rise. In the last decade, the cost of a carton, for instance, has risen from about ₹30 to ₹ The cost borne to market the Produce has also risen.
  • High taxation: The increase in the Goods and Services Tax on cartons from 12% to 18%. This was done to ensure that farmers are forced to sell their produce to big buyers instead of selling it in the open market. Just as the three farm laws were designed on the pretext of getting rid of the middlemen, the argument here was that commission agents, who fleece the apple farmers, will be forced to exit the picture. But this leaves the apple growers at the mercy of large giants in procurement, who have precedence of even deciding the procurement price.
  • No MSP in Himachal: Unlike in Jammu and Kashmir, where there is a minimum rate for procurement, there is no such law in Himachal. The government also does not seem prepared to bring in such a law. The farmers are demanding that legally guaranteed procurement at a Minimum Support Price (C2+50%) should be ensured to improve apple farmers condition.

apple farmersHow to address this issue?

  • Need for a regulator: What is required is an independent body that is duly supported and trusted by the farmers. Such a body should have representatives of apple growers, market players, commission agents and the government. This must be a statutory body that is also given the task of conducting research in the apple economy.
  • Directional efforts: Issues such as high input cost, lack of fair price and unavailability of infrastructure such as cold chains should be addressed.
  • Required research to support improvements in apple farming systems: Over the past few decades, the priorities in research projects and government policies on apple production were focused on the improvement of tree productivity and product quality. This was important to enhance the net incomes and living standards of apple producers in India. This research should be further enhanced by introducing European varieties in India.
  • Focussing on Alternative Market Channels: The alternative market channel works on the principles of decentralisation and direct-to-home delivery. The idea is to create smaller, less congested markets in urban areas with the participation of farmers’ groups and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) so that farmers have direct access to consumers.
  • Logistics transformation: To sustain the demand for agricultural commodities, investments in key logistics must be enhanced. Moreover, e-commerce and delivery companies and start-ups need to be encouraged with suitable policies and incentives. The small and medium enterprises, running with raw materials from the agriculture and allied sector or otherwise, also need special attention so that the rural economy doesn’t collapse.

apple farmersConclusion

  • Agriculture is dying, not as in the production of food but as a desirable profession. One bad yield, whether due to errant rains, pests, etc., and most farmers have no buffer available. The last point worth considering is that food and agriculture are not the same. Expenditures on food span the value-add, including processing, preparation, service in restaurants, etc. Farmers in India merely get paid for their product and not for the food we eat.

 

Mains question

Q. Do you think there is urgent need to extend MSP to horticulture sector also? Discuss what can be done to solve the apple farmer crisis in Himachal Pradesh.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Bangladesh

What is the Kushiyara River Treaty?

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood - Relations
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Kushiyara River

Mains level: Read the attached story

Kushiyara

For the first time in 26 years, India and Bangladesh agreed to share the waters of a significant transboundary river, the Kushiyara, while negotiations over a long-delayed agreement to share the Teesta River’s waters, which are politically sensitive are still ongoing.

India-Bangla water disputes: A backgrounder

  • The Teesta River and the Ganges River dispute are the two main long-standing water conflicts between India and Bangladesh.
  • Both rivers are important supplies of water for fishermen, farmers, and boatmen in both nations.
  • Since the sacred river flows from India to Bangladesh, the Ganga river dispute has been a source of contention between the two countries for the past 35 years.
  • There hasn’t been a long-term solution for sharing water offered despite several rounds of bilateral negotiations failing.
  • In order to establish a water sharing arrangement for the following 30 years, a treaty was signed in 1996. This deal is about to expire.

What is the Kushiyara River Treaty?

  • The first such deal since the 1996 signing of the Ganga water treaty, India and Bangladesh reached an interim agreement on water sharing for the Kushiyara River.
  • India withdrew its objection to withdrawal of Kushiyara’s waters by Bangladesh through the Rahimpur Canal.
  • Over the last century, the flow of the Barak river has changed in such a way that the bulk of the river’s water flows into Kushiyara while the rest goes into Surma.
  • The agreement is aimed at addressing part of the problem that the changing nature of the river has posed before Bangladesh as it unleashes floods during the monsoon.
  • It goes dry during the winter when demand of water goes up because of a crop cycle in Sylhet.

Terms of the treaty

  • Under this MoU, Bangladesh will be able to withdraw 153 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the Kushiyara out of the approximately 2,500 cusecs of water that is there in the river during the winter season.
  • The agreement addresses Bangladesh’s concern over water supply along the river, during the winter months but flood control in the basin of Kushiyara is expected to require much more work.

How will Bangladesh use the water?

  • The water of Kushiyara will be channelled through the Rahimpur Canal project in Sylhet.
  • The eight km long canal is the only supplier of water from the Kushiyara to the region and Bangladesh has built a pump house and other facilities for withdrawal of water that can now be utilised.

Benefits to Bangladesh

  • It is generally understood that approximately 10,000 hectares of land and millions of people will benefit from the water that will flow through a network of canals in Sylhet.
  • It will benefit the farmers involved in Boro rice, which is basically the rice cultivated during the dry season of December to February and harvested in early summer.
  • Bangladesh has been complaining that the Boro rice cultivation in the region had been suffering as India did not allow it to withdraw the required water from the Kushiyara.

Why is the water from the Kushiyara so important for Rahimpur Canal?

  • The water of the Kushiyara has been used for centuries in Sylhet’s subdivisions like the Zakiganj, Kanaighat and Beanibazar areas.
  • But Bangladesh has witnessed that the flow and volume of water in the canal has reduced during the lean season.
  • The utility of the river and the canal during the lean/winter season had gone down, affecting cultivation of rice as well as a wide variety of vegetables for which Sylhet is famous.

What was India’s objection to the Rahimpur Canal?

  • India objected to the clearing and dredging of canal.
  • It claimed that the dyke and other infrastructure interfered in border security as Kushiyara itself forms part of the border between the two sides.
  • However, the agreement indicates that the economic benefits possible from the river outweighed the security

What are the hurdles to the Teesta agreement?

  • The Kushiyara agreement is relatively smaller in scale in comparison to Teesta that involves West Bengal, which has problems with the proposal.
  • The Kushiyara agreement did not require a nod from any of the States like Assam from which the Barak emerges and branches into Kushiyara and Surma.

 

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Child Rights – POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

Adoption in India

| Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CARA

Mains level: Child Adoption

adoption

There is confusion over the implementation of new adoption rules that require the transfer of adoption petitions from courts to District Magistrates (DMs).

What is the news?

  • From September 1, DMs have been empowered to give adoption orders instead of courts.
  • All cases pending before courts have to be now transferred.
  • Hundreds of adoptive parents in the country are now concerned that the transfer process will further delay what is already a long and tedious process.
  • There are questions whether an order passed by the executive will pass muster when an adopted child’s entitlements on succession and inheritance are contested before a court.

Adoption in India: A backgrounder

  • In 2015, the then Minister for Women and Child Development centralised the entire adoption system by empowering Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).
  • It was empowered to maintain in various specialised adoption agencies, a registry of children, prospective adoptive parents as well as match them before adoption.
  • This was aimed at checking rampant corruption and trafficking as child care institutions and NGOs could directly give children for adoption after obtaining a no-objection certificate from CARA.

DMs to issue Adoption Orders

  • The Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 in order to amend the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act), 2015.
  • The key changes include authorising District Magistrates and Additional District Magistrates to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act by striking out the word “court”.
  • This was done “in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability,” according to a government statement.
  • The DMs have also been empowered under the Act to inspect child care institutions as well as evaluate the functioning of district child protection units, child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards, specialised juvenile police units, child care institutions etc.

Why is there concern over the revised rules?

  • Parents, activists, lawyers and adoption agencies will have to be transferred and the process will have to start afresh.
  • A delay in such an order can often mean that a child can’t get admission into a school because parents don’t yet have a birth certificate.
  • Parents and lawyers also state that neither judges, nor DMs are aware about the change in the JJ Act leading to confusion in the system and delays.
  • DMs don’t handle civil matters that bestow inheritance and succession rights on a child.
  • If these rights are contested when a child turns 18, a judicial order is far more tenable to ensure the child is not deprived of his or her entitlements.

Is it such a big issue?

  • The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) says there are nearly 1,000 adoption cases pending before various courts in the country.
  • This is not such a huge burden.

What is the adoption procedure in India?  

  • Adoptions in India are governed by two laws:
  1. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA): It is a parent-centric law that provides son to the son-less for reasons of succession, inheritance, continuance of family name and for funeral rights and later adoption of daughters was incorporated because kanyadaan is considered an important part of dharma in Hindu tradition.
  2. Juvenile Justice Act, 2015: It handles issues of children in conflict with law as well as those who are in need of care and protection and only has a small chapter on adoptions.
  • Both laws have their separate eligibility criteria for adoptive parents.
  • Those applying under the JJ Act have to register on CARA’s portal after which a specialised adoption agency carries out a home study report.
  • After it finds the candidate eligible for adoption, a child declared legally free for adoption is referred to the applicant.
  • Under HAMA, a “dattaka hom” ceremony or an adoption deed or a court order is sufficient to obtain irrevocable adoption rights.

Issues with child adoption in India

  • Parent-centrism: The current adoption approach is very parent-centred, but parents must make it child-centred.
  • Age of child: Most Indian parents also want a child between the ages of zero and two, believing that this is when the parent-child bond is formed.
  • Institutional issues: Because the ratio of abandoned children to children in institutionalised care is lopsided, there are not enough children available for adoption.
  • Lineage discrimination: Most Indians have a distorted view of adoption because they want their genes, blood, and lineage to be passed down to their children.
  • Red-tapism: Child adoption is also not so easy task after the Juvenile Justice Rules of 2016 and the Adoption Regulations of 2017 were launched.

Practical issues in adoption

  • There are no rules for monitoring adoptions and verifying sourcing of children and determining whether parents are fit to adopt.
  • There are many problems with the adoption system under CARA but at the heart of it is the fact that there are very few children in its registry.
  • According to the latest figures there are only 2,188 children in the adoption pool, while there are more than 31,000 parents waiting to adopt a child.

 

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Foreign Policy Watch: Indo-Pacific and QUAD

India stays out of ‘Trade Pillar’ of IPEF

IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

Mains level: Read the attached story

India stayed out of the joint declaration on the trade pillar of the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meet in Los Angeles, with Union Commerce Minister citing concerns over possible discrimination against developing economies.

Why did India opt out of the trade pillar?

  • One of the reasons for staying out of the trade pillar was that the contours of the framework had not emerged yet.
  • This is particularly about the kind of commitment each country would have to make on “environment, labour, digital trade and public procurement”.
  • India’s decision also mirrors the decision to walk out after seven years of negotiations from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

What is IPEF?

  • It is a US-led framework for participating countries to solidify their relationships and engage in crucial economic and trade matters that concern the region, such as building resilient supply chains battered by the pandemic.
  • It is not a free trade agreement. No market access or tariff reductions have been outlined, although experts say it can pave the way to trade deals.

Members of IPEF

  • The member nations include Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
  • It includes seven out of 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), all four Quad countries, and New Zealand.
  • Together, these countries account for 40 per cent of the global GDP.

Four pillars of IPEF

  1. Trade that will include digital economy and emerging technology, labor commitments, the environment, trade facilitation, transparency and good regulatory practices, and corporate accountability, standards on cross-border data flow and data localisations;
  2. Supply chain resilience to develop “a first-of-its-kind supply chain agreement” that would anticipate and prevent disruptions;
  3. Clean energy and decarbonization that will include agreements on “high-ambition commitments” such as renewable energy targets, carbon removal purchasing commitments, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions; and
  4. Tax and anti-corruption, with commitments to enact and enforce “effective tax, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery schemes in line with [American] values”.

How do members participate?  

  • Countries are free to join (or not join) initiatives under any of the stipulated pillars but are expected to adhere to all commitments once they enrol.
  • Negotiations are meant to determine and list the provisions under each pillar and open the floor for countries to choose their ‘commitments’.
  • The framework would be open to other countries willing to join in the future provided they are willing to adhere to the stipulated goals and other necessary obligations.

Reasons for the creation of IPEF

  • US regaining lost credibility: IPEF is also seen as a means by which the US is trying to regain credibility in the region after Trump pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP).
  • Rising Chinese influence: Since then, there has been concern over the absence of a credible US economic and trade strategy to counter China’s economic influence in the region.
  • Competing RCEP: It is also in the 14-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, of which the US is not a member (India withdrew from RCEP).
  • “Pivot to Asia” strategy: US has intensified its engagement with the wider Asia-Pacific region to advance its economic and geopolitical interests.

India’s perception of IPEF

  • PM Modi described the grouping as born from a collective desire to make the Indo-Pacific region an engine of global economic growth.
  • India has called for common and creative solutions to tackle economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

What does it have to do with China?  

  • The US strategists believe the US lacks an economic and trade strategy to counter China’s increasing economic influence in the region since 2017.
  • US companies are looking to move away from manufacturing in China.
  • IPEF would therefore offer an advantage to participating countries, allowing them to bring those businesses into their territory.
  • However, it officially excluded Taiwan despite its willingness and economic merit to join.
  • This exhibits Washington’s geopolitical caution.

Reactions from the opponents

  • Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the initiative as an attempt to further economic decoupling from China.
  • He argued that the initiative, and the US Indo-Pacific strategy as a whole, created divisions and incited confrontation. It is destined to be ultimately be a failure.
  • Taiwan was excluded in order to appease key “fence-sitter” countries such as Indonesia whose governments feared angering China.

Issues with IPEF framework

  • IPEF would neither constitute a ‘free trade agreement,’ nor a forum to discuss tariff reductions or increasing market access.
  • Unlike a traditional trade agreement, the US administration will not need congressional approval to act under the IPEF. Hence its legal status is questionable.
  • This also raises doubts among potential participants about their reluctance to offer significant concessions under the agreement.
  • The volatility of US domestic politics has raised concerns about IPEF’s durability.
  • Unlike traditional FTAs, the IPEF does not subscribe to the single undertaking principle, where all items on the agenda are negotiated simultaneously.

Given the divisive nature of American politics, it is unclear whether the IPEF will survive past the Biden administration.

Way forward

  • The IPEF’s launch in Tokyo was symbolic in nature; bringing the IPEF to fruition will involve significant domestic and international challenges.
  • Without ratification by Congress, the IPEF’s fortunes will remain in limbo.
  • Going forward, the US and the founding partners need to develop the process and criteria by which other countries from the region will be invited to join the negotiations on the IPEF.

 

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

PM Modi to attend SCO meet

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: SCO

Mains level: Read the attached story

sco

PM Modi will travel to Samarkand in Uzbekistan to attend the first in-person summit of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) countries since the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is SCO?

  • After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
  • The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
  • The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
  • Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority.
  • The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra. Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.

India’s entry to the SCO

  • India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
  • While Central Asian countries and China were not in favor of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
  • A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
  • From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO in 2017.
  • China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry.

Changing the narrative of SCO

Infographic: Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: An Explainer - Times of India

  • There has been discussion in the international arena that the trend of non-alignment is back.
  • NATO is based on Cold War thinking.
  • The logic of NATO is creating new enemies to sustain its own existence.
  • However, SCO is a cooperative organisation based on non-alignment and not targeting a third party.

India and SCO: Present status

  • India will host the SCO summit next year, and Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”.
  • India will also be chairing the summit.

 

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Global Geological And Climatic Events

What is Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province?

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province

Mains level: NA

karoo

A new study shows that a decline in continental plate movement likely controlled the onset and duration of many of the major volcanic events throughout Earth’s history.

Why is the news?

  • Previous studies have linked major volcanic eruptions with past mass extinctions and disturbances in the global climatic, environmental and the carbon cycle.
  • Large igneous province volcanism, formations due to major volcanic eruptions occurring throughout Earth’s history, released large quantities of greenhouse gasses and toxic compounds into the atmosphere.
  • The sea warmed up by 4°C to 10°C, even at low- to mid-latitudes, the study noted.
  • Increased acidic levels and a lack of oxygen drove major ocean extinctions.
  • Large-scale volcanism took place in southern Africa, Antarctica and Australia. This is known as the Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province.

About Karoo-Ferrar Large Igneous Province

  • The Karoo and Ferrar Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are two large igneous provinces in Southern Africa and Antarctica respectively, collectively known as the Karoo-Ferrar, Gondwana, or Southeast African LIP associated with the initial break-up of the Gondwana supercontinent.
  • Its flood basalt mostly covers South Africa and Antarctica but portions extend further into southern Africa and into South America, India, Australia and New Zealand.
  • Karoo-Ferrar formed just prior to the breakup of Gondwana in the Lower Jurassic epoch, about 183 million years ago.
  • This time corresponds to the early Toarcian anoxic event and the Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction.

 

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Who was Dara Shikoh?

Prelims Only | History and Art & Culture | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

dara shikoh

The Vice President has released the Arabic Version of “Majma Ul-Bahrain” of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh.

The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians. Critically analyse.

Who was Dara Shikoh?

  • Dara Shikoh, who was Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s son and expected heir, was killed on the orders of his brother Aurangzeb in 1659 after losing the war of succession.
  • He was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.
  • Dara was designated with the title Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba (Prince of High Rank) and was favored as a successor by his father and his older sister, Princess Jahanara Begum.
  • In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan’s illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (Aurangzeb).
  • He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb’s orders in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.

His legacy

  • Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim as opposed to the orthodox Aurangzeb.
  • He authored the work Majma Ul-Bahrain (The Confluence of the Two Seas), which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism.
  • It was Dara Shikoh who was responsible for making the Upanishads available to the West as he had them translated.
  • He had commissioned a translation of Yoga Vasistha.
  • A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits.
  • He translated the Upanishads and other important works from Sanskrit to Persian. He was convinced that the Upanishads are what the Qur’an calls ‘Al-Kitab Al-Maknoun’ (The Hidden book).

Try this PYQ:

Q.Who among the following Mughal Emperors shifted emphasis from illustrated manuscripts to album and individual portrait?

(a) Humayun

(b) Akbar

(c) Jahangir

(d) Shah Jahan

 

Post your answers here.

 

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Railway Reforms

Vande Bharat production to begin in October: Minister

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Vande Bharat express

Mains level: High speed railway in India

vande bharat

Indian Railways had successfully completed trials of the second generation Vande Bharat train that will come with enhanced passenger comfort and safety features.

What is Vande Bharat Express?

  • The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed train designed, developed, and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF).
  • Presently there are only two Vande Bharat trains that are running — Delhi to Varanasi and Delhi to Katra.

Key Features

  • The current Vande Bharat trains have seating only in two classes — chair car and executive chair car. But Railways is planning to upgrade it.
  • The trains have fully sealed gangways for a dust-free environment, modular bio-vacuum toilets, rotating seats in Executive Class, personalized reading lights, automatic entry/exit doors with sliding footsteps, diffused LED lighting, mini pantry, and sensor-based interconnecting doors in each coach.
  • They are self-propelled trains that do not require an engine. This feature is called a distributed traction power system.

Benefits of Vande Bharat Trains

  • Cuts Travel Time Drastically
  • Energy Efficient
  • Reduce Turnaround Time
  • Faster Acceleration and Deceleration among others.

 

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Three Indian Cities are now in UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities

Prelims Only | History and Art & Culture | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: UNESCO Learning Cities

Mains level: Not Much

unesco

Warangal, Nilambur, and Thrissur have joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).

What does UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities mean?

  • An international policy-oriented network, the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities is a network of inspiration, know-how and best practices.
  • It is coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).
  • The Network has member cities that it supports in aspects like promoting policy dialogue and peer learning, documenting effective strategies and best practices; building partnerships; capacity development; and more.

What is a learning city?

  • According to UNESCO, a learning city is one that
  1. effectively mobilizes its resources in every sector to promote inclusive learning from basic to higher education
  2. revitalizes learning in families and communities
  3. facilitates learning for and in the workplace
  4. extends the use of modern learning technologies
  5. enhances quality and excellence in learning
  6. fosters a culture of learning throughout life
  • In doing so, the city enhances individual empowerment and social inclusion, economic development and cultural prosperity, and sustainable development

Inclusion of Indian cities

  • The Indian cities, Nilambur and Thrissur in Kerala, and Warangal in Telangana became the nation’s first entrants in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
  • As per UNESCO, 77 cities from 44 countries across the globe have joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
  • The group of global cities also includes cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hamburg, Athens, Incheon, Bristol, and Dublin.
  • The inclusion will foster sharing of ideas with other cities, provide already applied solutions to issues and much more.

About the cities

(1) Thrissur – the cultural capital of Kerala

  • Popularly known as the cultural capital of Kerala, Thrissur is home to academic and research institutions.
  • It is also known for its jewellery industry, especially gold.
  • As a member of the UNESCOI GNLC, Thrissur hopes to contribute to the intellectual and peer learning processes, focusing on equitable access to learning for all, digital learning ecosystems and skills for sustainability.
  • Thrissur ticked UNESCO’s check boxes in aspects of good practices, equity and inclusion among other factors.
  • For e.g., the presence of a MSME-Development Institute of India regional centre in Thrissur offers institutional support in promoting decent work and entrepreneurship through upskilling.

(2) Nilambur, Kerala’s eco-tourism destination

  • Nilambur is an eco-tourism destination in the Kerala.
  • It is a city with various socio-economic patterns marked by an urban and rural mix.
  • The majority of the population depends on agriculture and allied industries.
  • The city offers free healthcare facilities to all citizens and utilizes health volunteers to provide door-to-door treatment for bedded patients.
  • It also promotes first-aid training for students and young citizens.
  • Nilambur aims to promote sustainable development, gender equality, inclusivity and democracy through community ownership.
  • Nilambur also aspires to become a women-friendly city by ensuring equal opportunities in all sectors, promoting capacity-building and reducing harassment.
  • As a learning city, Nilambur aims to work to innovate in agriculture and handicrafts, promote eco-tourism and improve water management.

(3) Warangal, the tourism spot

  • Warangal has a rich cultural heritage. The city is a major tourism venue, welcoming 3.2 million tourists every year.
  • Warangal’s economy is primarily composed of agricultural, industrial and service sectors.
  • The city promotes equity and inclusion, for which it has implemented several strategies, including Women and Child Welfare policy, Urban Policy etc.
  • Further, it also provides free training to the transgender community which helps in employment opportunities.

 

 

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Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

Cyborg Cockroaches to help in urban search-rescue missions

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Cyborg

Mains level: Not Much

cyborg

Japanese scientists have devised a system that can create cyborg cockroaches that are part insect and part machine.

Cyborg cockroaches

  • Cyborg cockroaches’ movements are controlled by tiny integrated circuits.
  • They will be able to conduct surveillance in procedures like urban search and rescue, environmental monitoring and inspection of areas dangerous to humans.
  • By equipping the cockroaches with small wireless control modules, handlers will be able to control the insect’s legs remotely for long periods of time.
  • The team used Madagascar cockroaches, which are not only the largest species of cockroaches, reaching an estimated 6 cm, but are also known for making hissing sounds when disturbed, which they make by expelling air from the openings on their back.

How is it powered?

  • The researchers also designed the system to be rechargeable, by powering it with a super thin 0.004 mm solar cell module that is installed on the dorsal side of the cockroach’s abdomen.
  • This was done to ensure that the battery remains charged and the cockroach can be controlled for long periods of time, while simultaneously ensuring that the movement remains unhindered.

 

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Tuberculosis Elimination Strategy

TB mukt India

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: multi drug resistant TB

Mains level: TB control

TBContext

  • People’s participation in the ‘TB-Mukt India’ campaign can help eliminate the disease by 2025.

What is TB?

  • A potentially serious infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs.

How TB is caused?

  • Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a type of bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It’s spread when a person with active TB disease in their lungs coughs or sneezes and someone else inhales the expelled droplets, which contain TB bacteria.

What does TB do to humans?

  • It mainly affects the lungs, but it can affect any part of the body, including the tummy (abdomen), glands, bones and nervous system.

TBHow long has the TB infected us?

  • TB is as old as humanity itself, infecting us for at least 5,000 years. The infecting agent, a bacterium, was identified way back in 1882, by Robert Koch, signalling one of the landmark discoveries which laid the foundation of modern medicine

Is TB painful?

  • If TB affects your joints, you may develop pain that feels like arthritis. If TB affects your bladder, it may hurt to go to the bathroom and there may be blood in your urine. TB of the spine can cause back pain and leg paralysis. TB of the brain can cause headaches and nausea.

Can we get TB if vaccinated?

  • BCG is a vaccine for TB. This vaccine is not widely used in the United States, but it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common. The BCG vaccine is not very good at protecting adults against TB. We can still get TB infection or TB disease even if you were vaccinated with BCG.

When do TB symptoms start?

TB

 

  • TB disease usually develops slowly, and it may take several weeks before you notice you’re unwell. Your symptoms might not begin until months or even years after you were initially infected. Sometimes the infection does not cause any symptoms. This is known as latent TB.

Is TB curable permanently?

  • TB can usually be completely cured by the person with TB taking a combination of TB drugs. The only time that TB may not be curable is when the person has drug resistant TB.

What are drug-resistant tuberculosis?

  • Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a form of antimicrobial resistance that is difficult and costly to treat. It is caused by TB bacteria that are resistant to at least one of the first-line existing TB medications, resulting in fewer treatment options and increasing mortality rates.

Risk factors for TB include

  • Poverty
  • HIV infection.
  • Being in jail or prison (where close contact can spread infection)
  • Substance abuse.
  • Taking medication that weakens the immune system.
  • Kidney disease and diabetes.

TB statistic for mains

We are home to 1 in 4 of the world’s TB patients.

Over 2.5 million Indians are infected.

Government initiatives

  • Nikshay Poshan Yojana: in which TB patients receive Rs 500 every month while on treatment was launched. Nikshay Poshan Yojana ensure that the patients have economic support and nutrition during the required period.
  • TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign: was launched to accelerate the efforts to end TB by 2025. The campaign aims to initiate preventive and promotive health approaches.
  • Community-led approach: By applying “multi-sectoral and community-led” approach, the government is building a national movement to end TB by 2025.
  • Ni-kshay Mitra: Any individual or organisation can register as Ni-kshay Mitra on the Ni-kshay 2.0 portal to support people affected by the disease. The initiative intends to provide essential nutritional and social support to people with TB and root out stigma and discrimination against them.

Some positive suggestions to eliminate TB

  • Sincere efforts need to be made to make our health systems more accessible and reliable.
  • It also required to ensure that those seeking care trust the healthcare system and get the appropriate care for completing treatment.
  • There is a need to create more labs, point of care tests, an assured drug pipeline, access to new drugs.
  • The government should also ensure counselling and support for those affected.
  • Every patient who is diagnosed late and does not receive timely treatment continues to infect others.
  • To break this cycle, government machinery at the field level should work with communities and provide free diagnosis and treatment to every affected individual.

Conclusion

  • We have ignored TB for too long. It’s time we acknowledge the magnitude of the disease, and work harder at offering individuals equitable healthcare access and resources that the disease warrants.

Mains question

Q. Do you think we can eliminate TB by 2025? Discuss the roadmap and give some affirmative actions to be taken by government.

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