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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

[pib] Anushilan Samiti

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Anushilan Samiti

Mains level: Not Much

Union Education and Skill Development Minister has urged NCERT and the Education fraternity to include enough information about Anushilan Samiti, especially in the upcoming National Curriculum Framework

Anushilan Samiti

  • Anushilan Samiti was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries.
  • It was founded by Satish Chandra Pramatha Mitra, Aurobindo Ghose and Sarala Devi.
  • In the first quarter of the 20th century it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India.
  • The organisation arose from a conglomeration of local youth groups and gyms (akhara) in Bengal in 1902.
  • It had two prominent, somewhat independent, arms in East and West Bengal, Dhaka Anushilan Samiti (centred in Dhaka), and the Jugantar group (centred in Calcutta).
  • It challenged British rule in India by engaging in militant nationalism, including bombings, assassinations, and politically motivated violence.

Revolutionary activities

  • The Samiti collaborated with other revolutionary organisations in India and abroad.
  • It was led by the nationalists Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother Barindra Ghosh, influenced by philosophies like Italian Nationalism, and the Pan-Asianism of Kakuzo Okakura.
  • The Samiti was involved in a number of noted incidents of revolutionary attacks against British interests and administration in India, including early attempts to assassinate British Raj officials.
  • These were followed by the 1912 attempt on the life of the Viceroy of India, and the Seditious conspiracy during World War I, led by Rash Behari Bose and Jatindranath Mukherjee respectively.

Defiance from militant nationalism

  • The organisation moved away from its philosophy of violence in the 1920s due to the influence of the Indian National Congress and the Gandhian non-violent movement.
  • A section of the group, notably those associated with Sachindranath Sanyal, remained active in the revolutionary movement, founding the Hindustan Republican Association in north India.
  • A number of Congress leaders from Bengal, especially Subhash Chandra Bose, were accused by the British Government of having links with the organisation during this time.
  • The Samiti’s violent and radical philosophy revived in the 1930s, when it was involved in the Kakori conspiracy, the Chittagong armoury raid, and other actions against the administration in British-occupied India.

Other personalities associated with Anushilan Samiti

  • Legends like, Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath Tagore, Jatindranath Banerjee, Bagha Jatin were associated with Anushilan Samiti.
  • Dr Hedgewar who established the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was also an alumnus of the Samity.

 

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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Why is Karnataka opposing Centre’s draft Eco-Sensitive Area norms for Western Ghats?

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ESA in Western Ghats

Mains level: Issues with ESA

The Union Environment Ministry’s latest draft notification on Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats is facing stiff opposition in Karnataka.

What is the news?

  • The MoEFCC had issued a draft notification that demarcated large parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra as eco-sensitive areas.
  • Among these states, Karnataka contains the largest geographical share of the notified areas in the Western Ghats, at 20,668 sq km.

ESA in Western Ghats

  • In 2013, the Kasturirangan committee had submitted a report which recommended that 37% of the Western Ghats, covering an area of 59,940 sq km be classified as ESA.
  • On the basis of this, several drafts were introduced which were subsequently rejected by the surrounding states, including Karnataka.

What is ESA?

  • Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
  • The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
  • They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

How are they demarcated?

  • The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does NOT mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
  • However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.
  • Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.
  • The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).

Defining its boundaries

  • An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
  • Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.
  • Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.

Activities Permitted and Prohibited

  • Permitted: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.
  • Prohibited: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc.), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
  • Under regulation: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.

What does the new draft notification for the Western Ghats say?

  • The draft notification demarcates 46,832 sq km in the five states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Tamil Nadu as ESA in the Western Ghats.
  • Kerala is excluded from the draft notification and it had earlier undertaken the exercise of demarcating ESA in the state by physical verification.
  • Among the five states, 20,668 sq km of the ESA lies in Karnataka, 1,461 sq km in Goa, 17,340 sq km in Maharashtra, 6,914 sq km in Tamil Nadu and 449 sq km in Gujarat.
  • According to the notification, the concerned state governments are responsible for monitoring and enforcing the provisions of the notification.

What are the curbs that the state governments will have to implement?

  • The draft notification states there shall be a complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in the ESA.
  • All existing mines are to be phased out within five years from the date of issue of the final notification or on the expiry of the existing mining lease.
  • It also bars setting up of new thermal power projects and expansion of existing plants in the sensitive area, and the banning of all new ‘Red’ category industries.
  • The construction of new townships and area development projects will also be prohibited in the areas.
  • ‘Orange’ category industries, with a pollution index score of 41-59, such as jute processing and ‘White’ industries that are considered non-polluting will also be allowed with strict compliance.

What were the suggestions by the Kasturirangan panel?

  • The panel, formed in 2012, was tasked with the mandate of taking a “holistic view of the issue, and to bring synergy”.
  • It aimed to protecting the environment and biodiversity, while maintaining the needs and aspirations of the local and indigenous people, of sustainable development and environmental integrity of the region.
  • The report had recommended a blanket ban on mining, quarrying, red category industries and thermal power projects.
  • It also stated that the impact study of infrastructural projects on the forest and wildlife should be conducted before permission is given.

What is Karnataka’s stand on the matter?

  • The Karnataka government has been firm in rejecting the implementation of the guidelines.
  • It has staunchly opposed to the Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats.
  • It urged that declaring Western Ghats as ESA would adversely affect the livelihood of people in the region.
  • Environmental experts consider the state government’s decision to be disastrous for the biodiversity of the Western Ghats.

 

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

Despite pressures, the Indian rupee’s remarkable resilience

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Dollar Index

Mains level: Paper 3- Depreciation of Indian rupee

Context

The Indian rupee has depreciated by around 7% against the U.S. dollar, since the start of the year, in response to various domestic and global factors.

What are the factors responsible for decline?

  • A widening current account deficit, persistent risk-off sentiment as a result of geopolitical tensions, ‘a strengthening dollar index, and continuous sell-off by foreign portfolio investors have all put pressure on the rupee’.
  • Reversal of monetary policy in the US: The runaway inflation levels since last year, which have seen consumer price index (CPI) inflation in the United States reaching a multi-decade high of 9.1% in June 2022, have prompted the reversal in the monetary policy stance of the US Federal Reserve.
  • With inflation rising unabated, the Fed is widely expected to continue raising interest rates.
  • Higher risk-free return in the US: As a result of higher risk-free returns being available in the U.S., there have been persistent outflows of foreign portfolio capital since October 2021, which, on a cumulative basis, stands at $30 billion this year.

Comparison with the depreciation in the past

  • Even as the rupee has fallen sharply against the dollar, the depreciation has been relatively lower compared with past crises.
  • During the global financial crisis of 2008, the rupee had weakened by over 20% between December 2007-June 2009 and during the Taper Tantrum of 2013 for seven months from the start of the crisis in May 2013, the rupee had depreciated by over 11%.
  • Reduced external vulnerability: The relative lower depreciation this time is attributed to the lowering of India’s external vulnerability measured in terms of a relatively high import cover and low short-term external debt.
  • During the Taper Tantrum, India’s import cover stood at over seven months as compared to around 12 months in the current period.

Decline in foreign exchange reserves

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stepped in to arrest a large depreciation in the currency, with interventions in the spot and forward foreign exchange markets.
  • Consequently, India’s foreign exchange reserves have moderated by almost $55 billion from a high of $635 billion seen this year.
  • Elevated global crude oil prices have impinged on India’s oil import bill, in turn widening the trade deficit, thus increasing the demand for U.S. dollars, and affecting forex reserves further.

Effects of weak rupee

  • Export to become competitive: Among the benefits is the premise that the rupee’s weakening should aid exporters in becoming more competitive.
  • However, the concomitant depreciation of currencies of some of India’s competitors such as South Korea, Malaysia and Bangladesh against the dollar, alongwith a high import intensity of some of its key export segments (petroleum, gems and jewellery and electronics), is likely to have blunted the ameliorative impact on India’s exports.
  • Increase in the price of imported commodities: a weaker rupee is driving up prices of key import commodities such as coal, oil, edible oil, gold, thus impacting the imported component of inflation.
  • Impact on the borrowers: The unhedged component of corporate debt denominated in dollars is also likely to bear the brunt of a weaker rupee.
  • Impact on investment: Most importantly, a continuously sliding exchange rate discourages foreign investors from making fresh investments, which keep losing value in dollar terms.
  • For this reason, it is ideal to provide confidence to investors by arresting a continuous slide in the exchange rate.

Measure by the RBI to arrest the weakening of rupee

  • Apart from intervening in the forex market to arrest the fall in the rupee’s value, the RBI announced a slew of measures recently to liberalise foreign inflows into the country and make them more attractive.
  • Measures such include:
  • Promoting trade settlements between India and other countries in rupee terms.
  • Offering higher interest rates on fresh Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) and Non-Resident External deposits.
  • A widening of investible universe of government and corporate debt, a relaxation of the interest rate.
  • Amount ceiling for External Commercial Borrowing loans, among others, have contributed to arresting the rupee’s slide against the greenback.

Way forward

  • Inclusion of companies in glabal indices: The Government could encourage some of the large market cap companies (private and public sectors) to be included in the major global indices such as MSCI and FTSE.
  • This will help increase the weight of Indian equities in these indices, compensating for foreign portfolio outflows to some extent as investors are unlikely to be underweight on India.
  • India’s entry into bond indices: The Government could also expedite India’s entry into bond indices such as J.P. Morgan’s Emerging-Market Bond Index and Barclays Global Bond Index.
  • This will not only lead to forex inflows but also have a benign impact on interest rates.
  • Such measures will keep the forex war chest of the RBI at a comfortable level, providing the central bank the requisite ammunition in case there is further weakness.
  • The maintenance of the U.S.-India interest rate differential along with timely forex market interventions by the central bank to manage volatility will prove to be salutary in preserving the rupee value against the greenback.

Conclusion

Even as the rupee is expected to remain under pressure in the near term because of global uncertainty, high commodity prices and rising U.S. interest rates, mitigating measures have to be taken to partly arrest the slide.

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Back2Basics: What is taper tantrum?

  • Taper tantrum refers to the 2013 collective reactionary panic that triggered a spike in U.S. Treasury yields, after investors learned that the Federal Reserve was slowly putting the breaks on its quantitative easing (QE) program.
  • The Fed announced that it would be reducing the pace of its purchases of Treasury bonds, to reduce the amount of money it was feeding into the economy.
  • The ensuing rise in bond yields in reaction to the announcement was referred to as a taper tantrum in financial media.

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Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

Russia, Ukraine seal grain exports deal

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2:
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Global wheat shortage

Kyiv and Moscow penned a landmark agreement with Turkey and the UN to unblock Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports after a Russian blockade raised fears of a global food crisis.

What is the deal about?

  • The deal was agreed through UN and Turkish mediation.
  • It establishes safe corridors along which Ukrainian ships can come in and out of three designated Black Sea ports in and around Odessa.
  • Both sides also pledged not to attack ships on the way in or out.

Why such move?

  • It will bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine.
  • The five-month war has already displaced millions and left thousands dead.
  • It is being fought across one of Europe’s most fertile regions by two of the world’s biggest grain producers.
  • Up to 25 million tonnes of wheat and other grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships and landmines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.

Why was the grain export deal signed?

  • Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s invasion of the country and naval blockade of its ports have halted shipments.
  • Some grain is being transported through Europe by rail, road and river, but the prices of vital commodities like wheat and barley have soared during the nearly five-month war.
  • Ukrainian and Russian military delegations reached a tentative agreement last week on a UN plan that would also allow Russia to export its grain and fertilizers.
  • Ukraine is expected to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products that have been stuck in Black Sea ports due to the war.

What is the grain export deal?

  • The deal makes provisions for the safe passage of ships.
  • It foresees the establishment of a control center in Istanbul, to be staffed by UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials, to run and coordinate the process.
  • Ships would undergo inspections to ensure they are not carrying weapons.
  • Ukraine has insisted that no Russian ship would escort vessels and that there would be no Russian representative present at Ukrainian ports.
  • Ukraine also plans an immediate military response in case of provocations.

 

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Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

What is a Private Member’s Bill?

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Private Members Bill

Mains level: Places of worship act

Opposition members protested against the introduction of a private member’s Bill on the repeal of The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, in the Rajya Sabha.

Private Member’s Bill

  • A private member’s Bill is different from a government Bill and is piloted by an MP who is not a minister. An MP who is not a minister is a private member.
  • Individual MPs may introduce private member’s Bill to draw the government’s attention to what they might see as issues requiring legislative intervention.

Difference between private and government Bills

  • While both private members and ministers take part in the lawmaking process, Bills introduced by private members are referred to as private member’s Bills and those introduced by ministers are called government Bills.
  • Government Bills are backed by the government and also reflect its legislative agenda.
  • The admissibility of a Private Bill is decided by the Chairman in the case of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker in the case of the Lok Sabha.
  • Before the Bill can be listed for introduction, the Member must give at least a month’s notice, for the House Secretariat to examine it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation.
  • While a government Bill can be introduced and discussed on any day, a private member’s bill can only be introduced and discussed on Fridays.

Has a private member’s bill ever become a law?

  • No private member’s Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970.
  • To date, Parliament has passed 14 such Bills, six of them in 1956.
  • In the 14th Lok Sabha, of the over 300 private member’s Bills introduced, roughly four per cent were discussed, the remaining 96 per cent lapsed without a single dialogue.
  • The selection of Bills for discussion is done through a ballot.

Back2Basics: Places of Worship Act, 1991

  • It was passed in 1991 by the P V Narasimha Rao-led government.
  • The law seeks to maintain the “religious character” of places of worship as it was in 1947 — except in the case of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, which was already in court.
  • The law was brought in at the peak of the Ram Mandir movement, exactly a year before the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
  • Introducing the law, then Home Minister S B Chavan said in Parliament that it was adopted to curb communal tension.

What are its provisions?

The objective of the law describes it as an Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship.

  • It aims to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.
  • Sections 3 and 4 of the Act declared that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it was on August 15, 1947.
  • No person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination into one of a different denomination or section.
  • Section 4(2) says that all suits, appeals or others regarding converting the character of a place of worship, that was pending on August 15, 1947, will stand abated when the Act commences and no fresh proceedings can be filed.
  • However, legal proceedings can be initiated after the commencement of the Act if the change of status took place after the cut-off date of August 15, 1947.

What does it say about Ayodhya, and what else is exempted?

  • Act does not to apply to Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid.

Besides the Ayodhya dispute, the Act also exempted:

  • any place of worship that is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site, or is covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958;
  • a suit that has been finally settled or disposed of;
  • any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.

What has the Supreme Court said about the Act?

  • In the 2019 Ayodhya verdict, the Constitution Bench led by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi referred to the law and said it manifests the secular values of the Constitution and strictly prohibits retrogression.
  • In providing a guarantee for the preservation of the religious character of places, Parliament determined that independence from colonial rule furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past.
  • The law addresses itself to the State as much as to every citizen of the nation. Its norms bind those who govern the affairs of the nation at every level.
  • Those norms implement the Fundamental Duties under Article 51A and are hence positive mandates to every citizen as well.

Why is the law under challenge?

  • A politician has challenged the law on the ground that violates secularism.
  • He has also argued that the cut-off date of August 15, 1947, is “arbitrary, irrational and retrospective” and prohibits Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs from approaching courts to “reclaim” their places of worship.
  • Such places, he argued, were “invaded” and “encroached” upon by “fundamentalist barbaric invaders”.
  • The right-wing politicians have opposed the law even when it was introduced, arguing that the Centre has no power to legislate on “pilgrimages” or “burial grounds” which is under the state list.
  • Another criticism against the law is that the cut-off is the date of Independence, which means that the status quo determined by a colonial power is considered final.

 

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Goods and Services Tax (GST)

What is Transition Tax Credit?

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Transitional Tax Credit

Mains level: Not Much

Taxpayers who had missed out on getting the benefit of transitional tax credits during India’s switchover to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime five years ago, will now get a fresh window to avail them.

What is Transitional Tax Credit?

  • A tax credit is a component of a company’s tax payment that can be applied to offset a subsequent tax obligation.
  • When India moved to the GST regime in 2017, companies had to transition the credit sitting on their books.
  • So, the closing balance in the old tax regime would become the opening credit balance under GST.
  • When India moved from the old indirect tax regime to GST, a one-time transition of credit was allowed.
  • That is, companies could set off part of the taxes paid during the old tax regime against future GST liabilities.
  • Many companies claimed that they had simply forgotten to claim the transitional credit.

Why in news?

  • The Supreme Court has directed the revenue authorities to facilitate such credits.
  • The move is likely to benefit hundreds of GST assessees who had hitherto not been able to avail such credits.
  • They will be given two-month window to claim during September and October.

 

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Who were Raja Serfoji and Sivaji?

Prelims Only | | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Doctrine of Lapse

Mains level: Not Much

A 19th-century painting of Raja Serfoji and his son Sivaji, which was stolen from Saraswathi Mahal, Thanjavur, a few years ago has been traced to the Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, in the US.

Who was Raja Serfoji?

  • For long, the rulers of Thanjavur had been devoid of absolute power.
  • Serfoji, placed by the British on the throne over his stepbrother Amar Singh, died in 1832.
  • His only son Sivaji ruled until 1855.
  • However, he had no male successor.
  • Thanjavur became a casualty of Lord Dalhousie’s infamous ‘Doctrine of Lapse’, and it got absorbed into British-ruled Indian provinces.
  • The painting, which has Raja Serfoji and his young son, according to some historians, was probably painted between 1822 and 1827 and kept in the Saraswathi Mahal.

Back2Basics: Doctrine of Lapse

  • Between 1848 and 1856, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, devised the Doctrine of Lapse as an annexation policy.
  • It was an idea to annex those states which have no heir.
  • They lose the right of ruling, and it will not be reverted by the adoption of a child.
  • It was one of the key components that added to the 1857 revolt.

Features of the doctrine

  • Any princely state or any territory under the direct influence of the British, as a vassal state under the British Subsidiary System, would inevitably be annexed if the ruler was either “manifestly incompetent or died without a direct heir”.
  • It ousted the age-old right of an Indian ruler without an heir to select a successor.
  • Additionally, the British decided whether potential rulers were competent enough or not.

Annexations made under this policy

Annexation           Year

Satara                1848

Jaitpur                1849

Sambalpur            1849

Baghat               1850

Udaipur              1852

Jhansi                 1853

Nagpur               1854

 

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Sri Lanka

‘Advantage New Delhi’ in Sri Lanka’s India lifeline

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: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- India-Sri Lanka relations

Context

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election as the President of Sri Lanka in a crucial Parliament vote on July 20, 2022, gives India an opportunity to take the lead in the foreign aid game in its neighbourhood.

Background of the crisis in Sri Lanka

  • Sri Lanka has been facing economic turbulence since its pre-emptive default on its foreign debt obligations in mid-April this year.
  • Following the debt default and a shortage of dollars, the Sri Lankan economy is experiencing stagflation.
  •  Inflation has spiralled to over 50%, translating into higher food and fuel prices.
  •  Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948 is due to a tepid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict shock and economic mismanagement under the administration of the Rajapaksas.
  • Sri Lanka is also facing challenges in getting foreign aid, as 60% of the world’s poorest countries are also experiencing debt distress.

Opportunities for India

  •  In the first six months of 2022, Indian aid worth $3.8 billion has flowed to Sri Lanka through loans, swaps and grants.
  • This is India’s largest bilateral aid programme in recent times.
  •  Stabilising Sri Lanka’s economy could prove to be a major win for Indian’s ‘neighbourhood-first’ policy.
  • Moreover, once the Sri Lankan economy stabilises, India can deepen its trade and investment linkages with Sri Lanka, transcending the current humanitarian aid relationship.
  • On the other hand, an unstable Sri Lankan economy could pose security risks to India and lead to a flood of refugees across the Palk Strait.
  • This is an opportunity for India to strengthen bilateral and regional partnerships.
  • Countering Chinese influence: In recent years, China has emerged as a major partner for Sri Lanka, especially for infrastructure projects, many of which are under scrutiny now.
  • This provides an opportunity for India to upscale its aid and cement its first mover advantage over China by leading an aid consortium for Sri Lanka, working closely with other friendly countries such as the United States, Japan and the European Union as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Why China is reluctant to help?

  • China worries that unilaterally restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt or giving it moratoria would set a new precedent in its lending practices, leading to a queue of similarly distressed countries seeking debt relief from Beijing.
  • Furthermore, China, which is a G2 economy, and wanting to challenge the U.S., does not want its reputation to be tarnished by bailing out a floundering economy.

Steps Sri Lanka needs to take

  • Concluding the talks with Sri Lanka: The government must show that it is serious about stabilising the economy by concluding talks on an IMF programme which will increase taxes and utility prices to raise revenue and increase interest rates to control inflation.
  • Economic reforms: It has to implement structural reforms to make the economy more open to trade and investment and allow market forces to determine resource allocation.
  • National consensus on IMF program: It has to build national consensus on implementing the IMF programme and reforms by explaining that this is the only solution to the crisis.
  • Anti-corruption policies: It has to restore the rule of law and enforce strong anti-corruption policies (including asset declarations for all parliamentarians and a strong anti-corruption office supported by the United Nations).
  • Reset foreign policy: It has to reset foreign policy towards a more neutral direction.

Conclusion

With political will and the right set of policies, Sri Lanka stands a sporting chance of achieving some economic normalcy within the next three years. India stands to gain by supporting Sri Lanka in its hour of need. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

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Need for a debate on freebies

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: PM-Kisan

Mains level: Paper 2- Phasing out the unwarranted subsidies

Context

Many in India have been lamenting for quite some time the culture of political populism and “freebies”

Fiscal stress due to subsidies

  • Technically, a subsidy is the unrecovered cost of any service (or good) provided by the government.
  • Freebies such as distribution of televisions, free cycles or laptops are the most highly visible and discussed freebies, but they are fiscally insignificant compared to the much larger subsidies on food, fertiliser and petroleum.
  • Though curbed in recent years, these “visible” subsidies in government budgets remain a major source of fiscal stress.
  • Then there is a range of “invisible” subsidies, especially in state government budgets, not always recognised as such, but which are also very large.
  • The deficit between the receipts and expenditure of a government department in providing a service is the unrecovered cost of providing that service, that is, a subsidy, even if not recognised as such in the budget.
  • Examples include the unrecovered cost of providing public education, healthcare, irrigation, power, water supply and sanitation.

Some facts about the subsidies

  • Relation with per capita income: The volume of subsidies as a proportion of GDP comes down with rising per capita incomes, but very gradually.
  • The total volume of subsidies came down from 13 per cent of GDP way back in 1987-88 to a little over 10 per cent by 2015-16, almost 30 years later.
  • Contribution of central government: The central government accounts for less than 30 per cent of total subsidies, provided mainly for economic services including food.
  • Merit subsidies: From the total volume there is a very small number of “merit subsidies” which might be warranted in public interest.
  • All governments have provided a food subsidy for poor households by bi-partisan consensus for decades.
  • Then there is basic education and health services which have large benefits for society beyond the benefit accruing to the immediate recipient of the service, what economists call “externalities”.
  • Also in case of expenditure on water supply and sanitation, where again the benefit to society is much larger than that accruing to the immediate recipient of the service — for example, prevention of infectious diseases.
  • These four “merit” subsidies account for only a third of total subsidies.
  • Unwarranted freebies: Thus, two-thirds of total subsidies, about 6 per cent of GDP, are unwarranted freebies which should be eliminated.

Way forward

  • Phasing out the unwarranted freebies: If central and state governments could step beyond their business as usual budgets and take bold measures to phase out these unwarranted freebies, along with much of the tax exemptions and concessions, which amount to about 5 per cent of GDP, that would free up huge fiscal space.
  • Universal basic income: There is a growing demand in many advanced countries, which already have large social security schemes, to provide a minimum “Universal Basic Income” for all.
  •  Providing a small safety net for the poor in countries like India, which have no social security system, is the least that any caring government can do.
  • MGNREGA is the largest and longest-standing income support programme in India for the unemployed in rural areas.
  • But it is often not regarded as such as it entails payment against performance of work.
  • The usual complaint against such schemes is that they artificially raise rural wages, reduce the incentive to search for work, and that the poor blow up these freebees on liquor etc.
  • Since MGNREGA and similar schemes in the states pay much less than the minimum wage, they obviously cannot raise rural wages beyond what is the legal minimum wage anyway.

Conclusion

Phasing out the unwarranted subsidies will enable a massive reduction in the combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and the states, while at the same time stepping up required expenditure on education, health and infrastructure.

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Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

Droupadi Murmu elected 15th President of India

| 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: President of India

Mains level: Read the attached story

Former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu was elected the 15th President of India, the first (santhal) tribal woman to be appointed to the position and the youngest as well.

Here’s a look at some interesting facts about the past Presidents of India:

* Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India. He is also the only President to have served two consecutive terms.

* Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President. He was the first to have served as Vice President before being elected to the top post.

* Zakir Hussain was the third President of India, and the first Muslim President. He also was the first President to die in office. He was the shortest serving President of India (less than two years).

* On his election, fourth President V.V. Giri became the first one to have also been an acting President.

* Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President and the second Muslim to hold the post. The Emergency was declared during his tenure. He is the second President to have died in office.

* Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President. He became the youngest to take the post at the age of 64. He is also the only one to have been elected unopposed.

* Giani Zail Singh was the seventh President of India and the first Sikh President.

* Eighth President Ramaswamy Venkataraman was the first President to have worked with four Prime Ministers and appointed three: V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P. V. Narasimha Rao.

* Shankar Dayal Sharma was the 9th President. He also worked with four PMs and appointed three of them in his last year: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H. D. Deve Gowda, I. K. Gujral.

* Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the 10th President of India and the first Dalit President. At 76 years and 271 days, he was the oldest President to be elected.

* APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th President and first Muslim President to serve an entire term.

* Elected as the 12th President, Pratibha Patil was the first woman President of India.

* Pranab Mukherjee, the 13th President, was the first Bengali to hold the post.

* 14th President Ram Nath Kovind was the first BJP candidate to be elected to the post.

* 11 Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. 8 were from Congress, 2 from BJP, 1 from Janata Party, and the rest were Independents.

The President of India

  • The President of India is recognized as the first citizen of the country and the head of the state.
  • The elected President of India is a part of the Union Executive along with several other members of the parliament including the Prime Minister, Attorney-General of India and the Vice – president.

Electing the President

  • The provisions of the election of the President are laid down in Article 54 of the Constitution of India.
  • The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952 led to the establishment of this Constitutional provision.

Qualifications to become the President of India

The qualification of being the President of India are given below:

  • He/ She must be an Indian citizen
  • A person must have completed the age of 35.
  • A person must be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People.
  • Must not hold a government (central or state) office of profit
  • A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of President or Vice-President.

Actual course of election

  • The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College following the system of proportional representation utilizing a single transferable vote system and secret ballots.
  • MPs and MLAs vote based on parity and uniformity values.

Electoral College composition-

(1) Legislative Assemblies of the States:

  • According to the provision of Article 333, every state’s Legislative Assembly must consist of not less than 60 members but not more than 500 members.

(2) Council of States:

  • 12 members are nominated by the President of India based on skills or knowledge in literature, arts, science, and social service to act as the members of the Council of States.
  • In total, 238 represent act as representatives from both the States and Union Territories.

(2) House of the People:

  • The composition of the House of People consists of 530 members (no exceeding) from the state territorial constituencies.
  • They are elected through direct election.
  • The President further elects 20 more members (no exceeding) from the Union Territories.

Uniformity in the scale of representation of states

To maintain the proportionality between the values of the votes, the following formula is used:

Value of vote of an MLA= total no. of the population of the particular state/ number of elected MLAs of that state divided by 1000.

Single vote system

  • During the presidential election, one voter can cast only one vote.
  • While the MLAs vote may vary state to state, the MPs vote always remain constant.

MPs and MLAs vote balance

  • The number of the total value of the MPs votes must equal the total value of the MLAs to maintain the State and the Union balance.

Quotas:

  • The candidate reaching the winning quota or exceeding it is the winner.
  • The formula sued is ‘Winning quota total number of poll/ no.of seats + 1’.

Voters’ preference:

  • During the presidential election, the voter casts his vote in favor of his first preferred candidate.
  • However, in case the first preference candidate does not touch the winning quota, the vote automatically goes to the second preference.
  • The first preferred candidate with the lowest vote is eliminated and the votes in his/her favor are transferred to the remaining candidates.

Why need Proportional representation?

  • The President of India is elected through proportional representation using the means of the single transferable vote (Article 55(3)).
  • It allows the independent candidates and minority parties to have the chance of representation.
  • It allows the practice of coalition with many voters under one government.
  • This system ensures that candidates who are elected don’t represent the majority of the electorate’s opinion.

Why is President indirectly elected?

If Presidents were to be elected directly, it would become very complicated.

  • It would, in fact, be a disaster because the public doesn’t have absolute clarity of how the president-ship runs or if the candidate fits the profile of a president.
  • Another reason why the direct election system isn’t favorable is that the candidate running for the president’s profile will have to campaign around the country with the aid of a political party.
  • And, this will result in massive political instability.
  • Moreover, it would be difficult and impossible for the government to hand out election machinery (given the vast population of India).
  • This will cost the government financially and may end up affecting the economy as well.
  • The indirect election system is a respectable system for the First Man of India (rightly deserving).
  • The system/method of indirect electing of the president also allows the states to maintain neutrality and minimize hostility.

 

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Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

Women have Right to Safe Abortion: SC

SC Judgements | 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: Right to Safe Abortion

Mains level: MRTP Act

Denying an unmarried woman the right to a safe abortion violates her personal autonomy and freedom, the Supreme Court held in an order.

What did the SC say?

  • A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
  • She has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity, the court quoted from precedents.
  • The court said forcing a woman to continue with her pregnancy would not only be a violation of her bodily integrity but also aggravate her mental trauma.

Indispensable clause of safety

  • The court ordered a medical board to be formed by the AIIMS to check whether it was safe to conduct an abortion on the woman and submit a report in a week.

What is the case?

  • A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing the appeal of a woman who wanted to abort her 24-week pregnancy after her relationship failed and her partner left her.
  • The lower court had taken an “unduly restrictive view” that her plea for a safe abortion was not covered under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
  • This was since the pregnancy arose from a consensual relationship outside wedlock.

What was the last amendment?

  • The court noted that an amendment to the Act in 2021 had substituted the term ‘husband’ with ‘partner’, a clear signal that the law covered unmarried women within its ambit.

Reiterating the live-in recognition

  • Chastising the lower court, the Bench said live-in relationships had already been recognised by the Supreme Court.
  • There were a significant number of people in social mainstream who see no wrong in engaging in pre-marital sex.
  • The law could not be used to quench “notions of social morality” and unduly interfere in their personal autonomy and bodily integrity.

Back2Basics: Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

  • Abortion in India has been a legal right under various circumstances for the last 50 years since the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971.
  • The Act was amended in 2003 to enable women’s access to safe and legal abortion services.
  • Abortion is covered 100% by the government’s public national health insurance funds, Ayushman Bharat and Employees’ State Insurance with the package rate for surgical abortion.

The idea of terminating your pregnancy cannot originate by choice and is purely circumstantial. There are four situations under which a legal abortion is performed:

  1. If continuation of the pregnancy poses any risks to the life of the mother or mental health
  2. If the foetus has any severe abnormalities
  3. If pregnancy occurred as a result of failure of contraception (but this is only applicable to married women)
  4. If pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or rape

These are the key changes that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, has brought in:

  1. The gestation limit for abortions has been raised from the earlier ceiling of 20 weeks to 24 weeks, but only for special categories of pregnant women such as rape or incest survivors. But this termination would need the approval of two registered doctors.
  2. All pregnancies up to 20 weeks require one doctor’s approval. The earlier law, the MTP Act 1971, required one doctor’s approval for pregnancies upto 12 weeks and two doctors’ for pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks.
  3. Women can now terminate unwanted pregnancies caused by contraceptive failure, regardless of their marital status. Earlier the law specified that only a “married woman and her husband” could do this.
  4. There is also no upper gestation limit for abortion in case of foetal disability if so decided by a medical board of specialist doctors, which state governments and union territories’ administrations would set up.

 

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Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

Russia resumes gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream Pipeline

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: International Institutions
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Nord Stream Pipelines

Mains level: Energy implications of Russia-Ukraine War

Russia restored critical gas supplies to Europe through Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline after 10 days of uncertainty in guise of maintenance.

Nord Stream Pipeline

  • It is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
  • It includes two active pipelines running from Vyborg to Lubmin near Greifswald forming the original Nord Stream, and two further pipelines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Lubmin termed Nord Stream 2.
  • In Lubmin the lines connect to the OPAL line to Olbernhau on the Czech border and to the NEL line to Rehden near Bremen.
  • The first line Nord Stream-1 was laid and inaugurated in 2011 and the second line in 2012.
  • At 1,222 km in length, Nord Stream is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world, surpassing the Langeled pipeline.

Why in news?

  • Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, had feared that Moscow would not reopen the pipeline after the scheduled work and accused Moscow of using energy as a “weapon”.
  • The showdown came amid the worst tensions in several years over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • Germany believes Russia is squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over the war.

Why is Russian gas so important?

(1) Major chunk of energy

  • Russia supplied some 40% of Europe’s natural gas before the war.
  • That has dropped to around 15%, sending prices through the roof and straining energy-intensive industries.

(2) Everyday use

  • Gas is used across a range of processes that most people never see – to forge steel to make cars, make glass bottles and pasteurise milk and cheese.
  • Companies warn that they often can’t switch overnight to other energy sources such as fuel oil or electricity to produce heat.

(3) Fuel inflation

  • High energy prices are already threatening to cause a recession in Europe through record inflation, with consumers having less to spend as costs rise for food, fuel and utilities.
  • A complete cutoff could deal an even heavier blow to an already troubled economy.

What is visible in Russia’s game plan?

  • Since the invasion, Russia’s revenue from exporting oil and gas to Europe has doubled over the average from recent years, to $95 billion.
  • So Putin has cash in hand and could calculate that painful utility bills and an energy recession could undermine public support for Ukraine in Europe and increase sentiment for a negotiated settlement in his favour.
  • It would be unwise to exclude the possibility that Russia could decide to forgo the revenue it gets from exporting gas to Europe in order to gain political leverage.

What alternatives does Europe have?

  • The EU has turned to more-expensive liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which comes by ship from places like the US and Qatar.
  • Germany is fast-tracking construction of LNG import terminals on its North Sea coast, but that will take years.
  • But LNG alone can’t make up the gap.
  • Conservation and other energy sources are key.

Could people freeze this winter?

  • Its unlikely homes, schools and hospitals will lose heat because governments are required to impose rationing first on businesses.
  • The German government also could allow gas suppliers to immediately pass on increases to customers.
  • The choices could include torpedoing industry and/or socking consumers with even higher bills.
  • The IEA recommends that European countries step up campaigns for people to conserve at home and plan to share gas in an emergency.

 

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Promoting Science and Technology – Missions,Policies & Schemes

Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

Bills/Act/Laws | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: S&T - Applications In Everyday Life
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

Mains level: Read the attached story

The Lok Sabha deferred the consideration and passing of the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 as the Opposition benches were empty due to the ongoing protests outside of Parliament.

Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

Aims and objectives:

  • To provide for national measures to protect the Antarctic environment and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty
  • To provide a harmonious policy framework for India’s Antarctic activities through a well-established legal mechanism
  • Facilitate activities of the Indian Antarctic programme, including management of Antarctic tourism and sustainable development of fisheries
  • To prohibit carrying of certain activities without a permit or the written authorisation of another party to the protocol
  • To provide for inspection in India by an officer designated by the Central government as an Inspector and to constitute an inspection team to carry out inspections in Antarctica
  • To prohibit drilling, dredging, excavation or collection of mineral resources or even doing anything to identify where such mineral deposits occur.

Key feature: Committee on Antarctic governance

  • It will empower the government to establish a committee on Antarctic governance and environmental protection to monitor, implement and ensure compliance with the relevant international laws, emissions standards and rules of protection.
  • The panel is to be headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, as ex officio chairperson.
  • Among other roles, he/she has also been the vice-president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Science Council since 2018.
  • The committee will have ten members from various ministries, departments and organizations of the Union government, plus two experts on the Antarctic environment or other relevant areas.

Prohibited activities

The Bill prohibits certain activities in Antarctica including:

  • Nuclear explosion or disposal of radioactive wastes,
  • Introduction of non-sterile soil, and
  • Discharge of garbage, plastic or other substance into the sea which is harmful to the marine environment

About Antarctica Treaty

  • Antarctica has a geographical area of 14 million sq. km and has had no indigenous population (i.e. “Antarcticans” don’t exist).
  • However, a few thousand people reside there, in some 40 research stations spread across the continent, throughout the year.
  • In 1959, 12 countries – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the UK and the US signed the Antarctic Treaty.
  • Their aim was to prevent the continent from being militarised and to establish it as a center of peaceful activities.
  • Later, more countries, including India, have become party to the treaty, and today it counts more than 54 members.

Significance of the treaty

  • The treaty requires each party to take appropriate measures within its competence, including the adoption of laws and regulations, administrative actions, and enforcement measures, to ensure compliance with the protocol.
  • Countries also signed the ‘Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1991, which designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”.

Need for the Antarctic Legislation

  • The growing presence of Indian scientists in Antarctica and the commitment to Antarctic research and protection prompted the government to adopt domestic legislation consistent with its obligations as a member of the Antarctic Treaty system.
  • These laws will enable India’s courts to deal with disputes or crimes committed in parts of Antarctica, and help build credibility vis-à-vis India’s participation.

 

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Innovation Ecosystem in India

Karnataka tops India Innovation Index List

DOMR | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Achievements Of Indians In S&T
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: India Innovation Index

Mains level: Not Much

Karnataka has bagged the top rank in NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index, 2022, which determines innovation capacities and ecosystems at the sub-national level.

India Innovation Index (III)

  • The release of the second edition of the index—the first was launched in October 2019—demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy.
  • The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation environment of all states and UTs in India.
  • It intends to perform the following three functions-
  1. Ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores
  2. Recognizing opportunities and challenges, and
  3. Assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation
  • The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, northeast and hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states.

Significance

  • The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.
  • The aim is to create a holistic tool that can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing policies.

Highlights of the 2022 index

  • Karnataka has held this position, under the Major States category, in all three editions of the Index so far.
  • It was followed by Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Gujarat were at the bottom of the index.
  • In the Index, Manipur secured the lead in the Northeast and Hill States category, while Chandigarh was the top performer in the Union Territories and City States category.

 

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Water Management – Institutional Reforms, Conservation Efforts, etc.

Kali Bein and its cultural significance

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Kali Bein

Mains level: River water management issues

Punjab CM has been admitted to hospital, days after he had drunk a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi.

What is the Kali Bein?

  • The 165-km rivulet starts from Hoshiarpur, runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.
  • Along its banks are around 80 villages and half a dozen small and big towns.
  • Waste water from there as well as industrial waste used to flow into the rivulet via a drain, turning its waters black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet).
  • Dense grass and weeds grew on the water until a cleaning project started.

Why did Punjab CM drink water from it?

  • The occasion was the 22nd anniversary of the cleaning project, which had started on July 16, 2000.
  • The project has been slow for years after having made remarkable progress in the initial years.
  • Nevertheless, when Mann drank water from it directly, it was a much cleaner Kali Bein than it was before 2000.

Cultural significance

  • The Kali Bein is of great significance to Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here.
  • When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister Bebe Nanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein.
  • He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day.
  • The first thing he recited was the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion.

How did the cleaning project start?

  • It was started by environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal with a handful of followers, without government help.
  • They removed weeds, treated the water and spread awareness among residents.
  • Six years of hard work paid off when then President A P J Abdul Kalam visited the site in 2006 and praised them for their effort.
  • The then government in Punjab then announced that it would take up the project to stop the discharge of untreated water into the rivulet.

What is its national significance?

  • At one stage, the project had become a role model for river cleaning missions.
  • The ‘Kali Bein Model’ was cited as the blueprint for the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
  • Uma Bharti, then Union Minister for Water Resources, River Project and Ganga Rejuvenation, visited the Kali Bein in 2015, and called it a Guru Sthan for the Ganga project.

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

The cost of misrepresenting inflation

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 3- Food inflation in India

Context

Globally, inflation is now the prime concern of governments, even as there is a speculation that a recession may not be far behind.

Is inflation in India driven by the global factors?

  • The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been reported as saying that there was a “need to recognise global factors in inflation”.
  • However, the current inflation in India is, even largely, due to global factors is wrong, and harmful.
  • While the price of edible oils and the world price of crude may have risen following the Ukraine war, the impact of this development on overall inflation in India, measured by the rise in the consumer price index, would depend upon their share in the consumption basket of households, which is relatively low.
  • For the commodity groups ‘fuel and light’ and ‘fats and oils’, chosen as proxies for the price of imported fuel and edible oils, respectively, inflation has actually been lower in the first five months of 2022 than in the last five months of 2021.
  • On the other hand, for the commodity group ‘food and beverages’, it was exactly the reverse, i.e., inflation has been much higher in the more recent period.
  • Contribution of domestic factors: The estimated direct contribution of this group to the current inflation dwarfs that of all other groups, establishing conclusively that the inflation is driven by domestic factors.

Inadequacy of monetary policy to address the food-price driven inflation

  • Issues with the monetary policy: Starting in May, the repo rate has been raised.
  • Raising the interest rate in an attempt to control inflation, implicitly assumes that it reflects economy-wide excess demand.
  • Such a diagnosis of the current inflation is belied by the fact that the price of food is rising faster than that of other goods i.e., its relative price has risen.
  • So, the excess demand is in the market for foodstuff, and it is this that needs to be eliminated.
  • The inadequacy of monetary policy to address food-price-driven inflation has been flagged by economists internationally.
  • at the World Economic Forum’s annual meet held at Davos, Switzerland in June, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz observed that raising interest rates is not going to solve the problem of inflation. It is not going to create more food.
  • Jerome Powell is reported stating that even though the Fed’s resolve to fight inflation is unconditional, “a big part of inflation won’t be affected by our tools”.
  • This is an acknowledgement that there is only so much a central bank can do when battling inflation driven by the rise in energy and food prices.

Way forward

  • Need for supply side interventions:  To hold on to the view that inflation in India is due to excess aggregate demand curable by raising interest rates ensures that attention is not paid to the necessary supply-side interventions.

Conclusion

India is suffering from undercurrent of a food price inflation, which, by exacerbating poverty, stands in the way of a more rapid expansion of the economy.

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India-Vietnam ties, from strong to stronger

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: Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative

Mains level: Paper 2- India-Vietnam relations

Context

India and Vietnam are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

India-Vietnam relations background

  • Commonalities: India’s relations with Vietnam — some of which is based on a set of historical commonalities — predate any conflict between India and China as well as that between China and Vietnam.
  • Political and security engagement: As India pursues its ‘Act East Policy’, Vietnam has become a valuable partner in India’s political and security engagements in the Indo-Pacific region.

Growing convergence between India and Vietnam

  • Convergence of strategic and economic interests: Bolstering friendship between the two countries is a natural outcome of a growing convergence of their strategic and economic interests, and also their common vision for peace, prosperity and their people.
  • Shared strategic concerns: The two countries are working to address shared strategic concerns (such as energy security and open and secure sea lines of communication), and make policy choices without undue external interference.
  • Given India’s broadening economic and strategic interests in the region and Vietnam’s desire for strategic autonomy, both countries will benefit from a stronger bilateral relationship.
  • Shared apprehension about China: India and Vietnam face territorial disputes with and shared apprehensions about their common neighbour, China.
  • Vietnam is of great strategic importance because its position enables it to control ‘the South China Sea — a true Mediterranean of the Pacific’.
  • The maritime domain, therefore, has become an essential element of India and Vietnam cooperation.
  • More importantly, India sees an open and stable maritime commons being essential to international trade and prosperity; therefore, it has an interest in protecting the sea lanes.
  • There are some other potential areas for New Delhi and Hanoi to further deepen collaboration, such as meaningful academic and cultural collaborations, shipbuilding, maritime connectivity, maritime education and research, coastal engineering, the blue economy, marine habitat conservation, and advance collaboration between maritime security agencies.

Four factors responsible for growing maritime engagement with Vietnam

  • 1] Countering China: India’s aspiration to counter an assertive China by strengthening Vietnam’s military power.
  • 2] Security sea lines: With India’s increasing trade with East and Southeast Asia, India has begun to recognise the importance of its sea lines of communication beyond its geographical proximity; the South China Sea occupies a significant geostrategic and geo-economic position, resulting in India’s renewed interests in the South China Sea.
  • 3] Development in maritime domain: India desires to intensify its presence to track potential developments in the maritime domain that could affect its national interests.
  • 4] Naval partnership: The Indian Navy underlines the importance of a forward maritime presence and naval partnership that would be critical to deter potential adversaries.
  • India’s maritime strategic interests in the region are well established, including the fact that almost 55% of India’s trade with the Indo-Pacific region passes through the South China Sea.

Strategic and defence cooperation

  • Ever since the formal declaration of a strategic partnership in 2007 and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016, the scope and scale of the India-Vietnam strategic and defence cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain, is deepening with a clear vision, institutional mechanisms.
  • The signing of ‘Joint Vision for Defence Cooperation’ and a memorandum of understanding on mutual logistics support in June 2022 has further strengthened mutual defence cooperation.
  • Enhancing Vietnam’s defence capabilities: While a U.S.$100 million Defence Line of Credit has been implemented, India has also announced early finalisation of another U.S.$500 million Defence Line of Credit to enhance Vietnam’s defence capability.
  • New Delhi has also agreed to expand military training and assist the Vietnam Navy’s strike capabilities.

Cooperation in Indo-Pacific region

  •  India is willing to take a principled stand on territorial disputes in the hope that it contributes to the stabilisation of the Indo-Pacific.
  • Such positions align closely with Vietnam’s stance on the management of the South China Sea disputes.
  • The two countries are also engaging in wide-ranging practical cooperation in the maritime domain through a maritime security dialogue, naval exercises, ship visits, Coast Guard cooperation, and training and capacity building.
  • Working in various frameworks: Both countries have found mutual convergences on cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and are synergising their efforts to work in bilateral as well as other sub-regional and multilateral frameworks, such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation, ADMM-Plus or the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus.
  • Both countries are also looking at collaboration around the seven pillars of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).

Conclusion

The road map agreed upon by the leaders will be helpful in addressing common challenges and decisively navigating towards making an India-Vietnam partnership that helps in stability in the Indo-Pacific.

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Monetary Policy Committee Notifications

India’s Tenfold Path to manage Exchange Rate Volatility

Prelims Only | 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: Rupee-Dollar relation

Mains level: Issues with Rupees depreciation

The RBI is prepared to sell a sixth of its foreign exchange reserves to defend the rupee against a rapid depreciation after it plumbed record lows in recent weeks.

Must read:

[Burning Issue] Global Trade in Rupees

Is there a forex crisis underway?

  • And the way in which India has tackled foreign exchange crises over the years has been quite profound.
  • A forex crisis can be loosely defined as one where the rupee starts depreciating rapidly or when forex reserves slide precipitously.
  • Ever since India’s reforms of 1991-92, the external sector has been liberalized, with even full capital account convertibility being considered at one point.

In the rupee’s context, let’s look at options that have been used in the last three decades or so:

(1) Selling dollars

  • The first course of action has been selling dollars in the spot forex market.
  • This is fairly straightforward, but has limits as all crises are associated with declining reserves.
  • While this money is meant for a rainy day, they may just be less than adequate.
  • The idea of RBI selling dollars works well in the currency market, which is kept guessing how much the central bank is willing to sell at any point of time.

(2) NRI deposits

  • The second tool used is aimed at garnering non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits.
  • It was done in 1998 and 2000 through Resurgent India bonds and India Millennium Deposits, when banks reached out asking NRIs to put in money with attractive interest rates.
  • The forex risk was borne by Indian banks.
  • This is always a useful way for the country to mobilize a good sum of forex, though the challenge is when the debt has to be redeemed.
  • At the time of deposits, the rates tend to be attractive, but once the crisis ends, the same rate cannot be offered on deposit renewals.
  • Therefore, the idea has limitations.

(3) Let oil importers buy dollars themselves

  • The third option exercised often involves getting oil importing companies to buy dollars directly through a facility extended by a public sector bank.
  • Its advantage is that these deals are not in the open and so the market does not witness a large demand for dollars on this account.
  • It is more of a sentiment cooling exercise.

(4) Let exporters trade in dollars

  • Another tool involves a directive issued for all exporters to mandatorily bring in their dollars on receipt that are needed for future imports.
  • This acts against an artificial dollar supply reduction due to exporter hold-backs for profit.

(5) Liberalized Exchange Rate

  • The other weapon, once used earlier, is to curb the amount of dollars one can take under the Liberalized Exchange Rate Management System.
  • This can be for current account purposes like travel, education, healthcare, etc.
  • The amounts are not large, but it sends out a strong signal.

(6) Forward-trade marketing

  • Another route used by RBI is to deal in the forward-trade market.
  • Its advantage is that a strong signal is sent while controlling volatility, as RBI conducts transactions where only the net amount gets transacted finally.
  • It has the same power as spot transactions, but without any significant withdrawal of forex from the system.

(7) Currency swaps

  • The other tool in India’s armoury is the concept of swaps.
  • This became popular post 2013, when banks collected foreign currency non-resident deposits with a simultaneous swap with RBI, which in effect took on the foreign exchange risk.
  • Hence, it was different from earlier bond and deposit schemes.

Most preferred options by the RBI

  • Above discussed instruments have been largely direct in nature, with the underlying factors behind demand-supply being managed by the central bank.
  • Of late, RBI has gone in for more policy-oriented approaches and the last three measures announced are in this realm.

(8) Allowing banks to work in the NDF market

  • First was allowing banks to work in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market.
  • This is a largely overseas speculative market that has a high potential to influence domestic sentiment on our currency.
  • Here, forward transactions take place without real inflows or outflows, with only price differences settled in dollars.
  • This was a major pain point in the past, as banks did not have access to this segment.
  • By permitting Indian banks to operate here, the rates in this market and in domestic markets have gotten equalized.

(9) Capital account for NRI deposits

  • More recently, RBI opened up the capital account on NRI deposits (interest rates than can be offered), external commercial borrowings (amounts that can be raised) and foreign portfolio investments (allowed in lower tenure securities), which has the potential to draw in forex over time.
  • Interest in these expanded contours may be limited, but the idea is compelling.

(10) Settlement in Rupees

  • RBI’s permission for foreign trade deals to be settled in rupees is quite novel; as India is a net importer, gains can be made if we pay in rupees for imports.
  • The conditions placed on the use of surpluses could be a dampener for potential transactions.
  • But the idea is innovative and could also be a step towards taking the rupee international in such a delicate situation.
  • Clearly, RBI has constantly been exploring ways to address our forex troubles and even newer measures shouldn’t surprise us.

 

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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Cheetahs likely to arrive in Kuno before August 15

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Asiatic Cheetah

Mains level: Cheetah reintroduction project

 

India came one step closer to bringing back the world’s fastest animal, the Cheetah to the country with an agreement signed in New Delhi with Namibia.

Asiatic Cheetah

  • Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
  • The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
  • It was expected to be re-introduced into the country after the Supreme Court lifted curbs for its re-introduction.

Distribution of cheetahs in India

  • Historically, Asiatic cheetahs had a very wide distribution in India.
  • There are authentic reports of their occurrence from as far north as Punjab to Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu, from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to Bengal in the east.
  • Most of the records are from a belt extending from Gujarat passing through Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha.
  • There is also a cluster of reports from southern Maharashtra extending to parts of Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
  • The distribution range of the cheetah was wide and spread all over the subcontinent. They occurred in substantial numbers.
  • The cheetah’s habitat was also diverse, favouring the more open habitats: scrub forests, dry grasslands, savannahs and other arid and semi-arid open habitats.

What caused the extinction of cheetahs in India?

  • The major reasons for the extinction of the Asiatic cheetah in India:
  1. Reduced fecundity and high infant mortality in the wild
  2. Inability to breed in captivity
  3. Sport hunting and
  4. Bounty killings
  • It is reported that the Mughal Emperor Akbar had kept 1,000 cheetahs in his menagerie and collected as many as 9,000 cats during his half-century reign from 1556 to 1605.
  • The cheetah numbers were fast depleting by the end of the 18th century even though their prey base and habitat survived till much later.
  • It is recorded that the last cheetahs were shot in India in 1947, but there are credible reports of sightings of the cat till about 1967.

Conservation objectives for their re-introduction

  • Based on the available evidence it is difficult to conclude that the decision to introduce the African cheetah in India is based on science.
  • Science is being used as a legitimising tool for what seems to be a politically influenced conservation goal.
  • This also in turn sidelines conservation priorities, an order of the Supreme Court, socio-economic constraints and academic rigour.
  • The issue calls for an open and informed debate.

Issues in re-introduction

  • Experts find it difficult whether the African cheetahs would find the sanctuary a favorable climate as far as the abundance of prey is concerned.
  • The habitat of cheetahs is needed to support a genetically viable population.

 

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

Heat Waves across the Europe

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

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Heat waves

Mains level: Read the attached story

The UK posted its highest temperature ever recorded — crossing 40°C.  Parts of France, Spain and Portugal recorded temperatures between 42 and 46 degrees.

Why in news?

  • Dozens of towns and regions across Europe reeled under what has been described as a “heat apocalypse”, which has caused widespread devastation this year.
  • Wildfires caused by a combination of extreme heat and dry weather have destroyed 19,000 hectares of forest in southwestern France.

What is a Heatwave and when is it declared?

  • Heatwaves occur over India between March and June.
  • IMD declares a heatwave event when the maximum (day) temperature for a location in the plains crosses 40 degrees Celsius.
  • Over the hills, the threshold temperature is 30 degrees Celsius.

How are they formed?

  • Heatwaves form when high pressure aloft (3,000–7,600 metres) strengthens and remains over a region for several days up to several weeks.
  • This is common in summer (in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres) as the jet stream ‘follows the sun’.
  • On the equator side of the jet stream, in the upper layers of the atmosphere, is the high pressure area.
  • Summertime weather patterns are generally slower to change than in winter. As a result, this upper level high pressure also moves slowly.
  • Under high pressure, the air subsides (sinks) toward the surface, warming and drying adiabatically, inhibiting convection and preventing the formation of clouds.
  • Reduction of clouds increases shortwave radiation reaching the surface.
  • A low pressure at the surface leads to surface wind from lower latitudes that brings warm air, enhancing the warming.
  • Alternatively, the surface winds could blow from the hot continental interior towards the coastal zone, leading to heat waves.

Following criteria are used to declare a heatwave:

To declare heatwave, the below criteria should be met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological subdivision for at least two consecutive days and it will be declared on the second day.

a) Based on Departure from Normal

  • Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C
  • Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C

b) Based on Actual Maximum Temperature (for plains only)

  • Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C
  • Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

How long can a heatwave spell last?

  • A heatwave spell generally lasts for a minimum of four days.
  • On some occasions, it can extend up to seven or ten days.

Impact of Heat Waves

  • Heat Strokes: The very high temperatures or humid conditions pose an elevated risk of heat stroke or heat exhaustion.
  • Healthcare crisis: Effects from extreme heat are also associated with increased hospitalisations and emergency room visits, increased deaths from cardio-respiratory and other diseases, mental health issues, adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, etc.
  • Productivity loss: Extreme heat also lessens worker productivity, especially among the more than 1 billion workers who are exposed to high heat on a regular basis.
  • Risk of Wildfires: The heat domes act as fuel to wildfires, which destroys a lot of land area every year in countries like the US.
  • Prevents Cloud Formation: The condition also prevents clouds from forming, allowing for more radiation from the sun to hit the ground.
  • Effect on Vegetation: The trapping of heat can also damage crops, dry out vegetation and result in
  • Increased Energy Demands: The sweltering heat wave also leads to rise in energy demand, especially electricity, leading to pushing up rates.
  • Power Related Issues: Heat waves are often high mortality disasters.
  • Infrastructure failure: Avoiding heat-related disasters depends on the resilience of the electrical grid, which can fail if electricity demand due to air conditioning use exceeds supply.

What is behind the extreme heat waves in Europe?

Ans. Climate change, but exactly how

  • Scientists are near-unanimous that the heat waves are a result of climate change caused by human activity.
  • Global temperatures have already risen by more than 1°C , and studies in the UK had shown that a one degree rise in temperature raises the probability of the country witnessing 40°C by ten times.
  • The rising global temperature, which this year led to deviations above the normal by as much as 15 degrees in Antarctica, and by more than 3 degrees in the north pole.

Major factor: Changes in old wind patterns

  • In the case of the US, the record temperatures are being linked to changes in the jet stream — a narrow band of westerly air currents that circulate several km above the earth’s surface.
  • While a conventionally strong jet stream would bring cooler air from the northern Atlantic, in recent years the jet stream has weakened and split into two.
  • This has led to intense and more frequent heat waves over parts of the American continent.

 

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