Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Raja Ravi Varma
Mains level: Evolution of modern indian art
Ahead of the 175th birth anniversary fete of the legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma, erstwhile royal family of Kilimanoor has urged the Union government to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, on him.
Raja Ravi Varma
- Raja Ravi Varma was born in April 1848 in Kilimanoor, Kerala, to a family which was very close to the royals of Travancore.
- Often referred to as the father of modern Indian art, he is widely known for his realistic portrayal of Indian gods and goddesses.
- While he majorly painted for the royalty, he is also credited for taking art to the masses with his prints and oleographs.
- At a young age, he would draw animals and everyday scenes on the walls in indigenous colours made from natural materials such as leaves, flowers and soil.
- His uncle, Raja Raja Varma, noticed this and encouraged his talent.
- Patronised by Ayilyam Thirunal, the then ruler of Travancore, he learnt watercolour painting from the royal painter Ramaswamy Naidu, and later trained in oil painting from Dutch artist Theodore Jensen.
How he become an artist of the royals?
- Varma became a much sought-after artist for the aristocrats and was commissioned several portraits in late 19th century.
- Arguably, at one point, he became so popular that the Kilimanoor Palace in Kerala opened a post office due to the sheer number of painting requests that would come in for him.
- He travelled across India extensively, for work and inspiration.
Fame as a notable painter
- Following a portrait of Maharaja Sayajirao of Baroda, he has commissioned 14 Puranic paintings for the Durbar Hall of the new Lakshmi Vilas Palace at Baroda.
- Depicting Indian culture, Varma borrowed from episodes of Mahabharata and Ramayana for the same.
- He also received patronage from numerous other rulers, including the Maharaja of Mysore and Maharaja of Udaipur.
- As his popularity soared, the artist won an award for an exhibition of his paintings at Vienna in 1873.
- He was also awarded three gold medals at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Nature of his artforms
- Much of his celebrated art also borrows heavily from Indian mythology.
- In fact, he is often credited with defining the images of Indian gods and goddesses through his relatable and more realistic portrayals often painted with humans as models.
- The depictions include Lakshmi as the goddess of wealth, Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge and wisdom, and Lord Vishnu with his consorts, Maya and Lakshmi.
How he took Indian art to the masses?
- Raja Ravi Varma aspired to take his art to the masses and the intent led him to open a Lithographic Press in Bombay in 1894.
- The idea, reportedly, came from Sir T Madhava Rao, former Dewan of Travancore and later Baroda, in a letter where he pointed out to Varma that since it was impossible for him to meet the large demand for his work, it would be ideal for him to send some of his select works to Europe and have them produced as oleographs.
- Varma, instead, chose to establish a printing press of his own.
- The first picture printed at Varma’s press was reportedly The Birth of Shakuntala, followed by numerous mythological figures and saints such as Adi Shankaracharya.
Major works
- It is believed that he had made around 7,000 paintings before his death at the age of 58.
- But only one painting is now left in ‘Chithrashala,’ the artist’s studio at Kilimanoor Palace — an unfinished portrait of ‘Parsi lady’ which was his last work.
- Some of his popular works include ‘Lady in the Moonlight’, ‘Nair Lady Adorning Her Hair’, ‘Malabar Lady with Violin’, ‘Lady with Swarbat’, and ‘Maharashtrian Lady with Fruits’.
Try this PYQ:
There are only two known examples of cave paintings of the Gupta period in ancient India. One of these is paintings of Ajanta caves. Where is the other surviving example of Gupta paintings?
(a) Bagh caves
(b) Ellora caves
(c) Lomas Rishi cave
(d) Nasik caves
Post your answers here.
Back2Basics: Bharat Ratna
- Bharat Ratna – ‘Jewel of India’ is the highest civilian award of the country.
- It is conferred for exceptional Service to the nation in various fields such as Science arts, literature and recognition of public service of the highest order.
- The award can be granted posthumously and since its establishment, seven awards were granted posthumously.
- The award was established by formal President of India Rajendra Prasad on 2nd January 1954.
- The concept of awarding this award posthumously was not there in the original statute declared in January 1954.
- Provision to award posthumously was finally added in January 1966 statute of this prestigious award.
- The medallion is cast in Bronze.
- The medallion is designed like the leaf of a pipal tree with a sunburst in the centre and Bharat Ratna is engraved underneath it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tribal revolts in news
Mains level: Tribals uprising and thier contribution to the freedom struggle
Addressing the nation after being sworn in, President Murmu invoked four tribal revolutions that she said had strengthened tribal contribution to the freedom struggle.
[1] Santhal revolution
- On June 30, 1855, over 10,000 Santhals were mobilised by their leaders — Kanho Murmu, Chand Murmu, Bhairab Murmu and Sidho Murmu – to revolt against the East India Company over oppression by revenue officials, zamindars, and corrupt moneylenders.
- The landmark event in tribal history, referred to as Santhal Hul, took place in Bhognadih village in present-day Jharkhand.
- Soon after their open rebellion, Santhals took to arms to resist imposition of East India Company laws.
- The seeds of the protracted rebellion, however, were sown in 1832 where the East India Company created Damin-i-koh region in the forested belt of Rajmahal hills, and invited the Santhals to settle there.
- Over the years, Santhals found themselves at the receiving end of exploitative practices aided by the British.
- After the rebellion broke out in 1855, both sides continued clashing till the uprising was crushed in 1856.
- The British defeated the Santhals using modern firearms and war elephants in decisive action in which both Sidho and Kanho died.
[2] Paika rebellion
- In several recent descriptions, the 1817 Paika Rebellion in Odisha’s Khurda is referred to as the “original” first war of Indian Independence.
- That year, the Paikas – a class of military retainers traditionally recruited by the kings of Odisha – revolted against the British colonial rulers mainly over being dispossessed of their land holdings.
- In the run-up to the revolt, the British had dethroned and exiled the Khurda king in 1803, and then started introducing new revenue settlements.
- For Paikas, who were into rendering martial services in return for hereditary rent-free land (nish-kar jagirs) and titles, this disruption meant losing both their estates and social standing.
- The trigger for the revolt came as some 400 Kondhs descended from the Ghumusar area to rise against the British.
- Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Bharamarbar Rai, the highest-ranking military general of the banished Khurda king, led an army of Paikas to join the uprising of the Kondhs.
- The Paikas set fire to government buildings in Banapur, killed policemen and looted the treasury and the British salt agent’s ship docked on the Chilika.
- They then proceeded to Khurda and killed several British officials.
- Over the next few months, the Paikas fought bloody battles at several places, but the colonial army gradually crushed the revolt.
- Bakshi Jagabandhu escaped to the jungles, and stayed out of reach of the British until 1825, when he finally surrendered under negotiated terms.
[3] Kol revolt
- The Kols, tribal people from the Chhota Nagpur area, rose in revolt against the British in 1831.
- The trigger here too was the gradual takeover of tribal land and property by non-tribal settlers who were aided by new land laws.
- The simmering discontent over the economic exploitation of the original inhabitants led to an uprising led by Buddhu Bhagat, Joa Bhagat and Madara Mahato among others.
- The Kols were joined by other tribes like the Hos, Mundas and Oraons.
- The tribals fought with traditional weapons taking the battle to colonial forces who finally overpowered them with modern weaponry.
- The uprising, which spread to areas like Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Palamau, and Manbhum and continued for almost two years before being snuffed out, mainly targeted colonial officials and private money-lenders.
[4] Bhil uprising
- After the British intruded into the Bhil territory in Maharashtra’s Khandesh region, the tribals pushed back fearing exploitation under the new regime in 1818.
- The revolt was led by their leader, Sewaram and was brutally crushed using the British military might.
- This uprising again erupted in 1825 as the Bhils sought to take advantage of reverses being suffered by the British in the first Anglo-Burmese war.
Also read:
Important Rebellions and Peasant Movements
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: N-Treat technology
Mains level: Best practices to treat wastewater
To prevent sludge and sewage from stormwater drains from flowing into the sea, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned in-situ treatment of sewage from the drains with the help of N-Treat Technology developed by IIT-B.
What is N-Treat technology?
- N-Treat is a seven-stage process for waste treatment that uses screens, gates, silt traps, curtains of coconut fibres for filtration, and disinfection using sodium hypochlorite.
- According to the detailed project report for N-Treat, it is a natural and environment-friendly way of sewage treatment.
- It’s setup takes place within the nullahs channels that is through the in-situ or on-site method of treatment, and does not require additional space.
What does the process involve?
(1) Screening
- The first stage involves screening to prevent the entry of floating objects such as plastic cups, paper dishes, polythene bags, sanitary napkins, or wood.
- IIT-B has proposed to install three coarse screens, the first with 60 mm spacing for removal of large floating matter, the second with 40 mm spacing, and the third with 20 mm spacing.
(2) Slit trap
- The second stage has proposed construction of a silt trap, which creates an inclination and ‘parking spot’ on the bed of the nullah for sedimentation.
(3) Bio zones
- The next three stages are installation of ‘bio zones’ in the form of coconut fibre curtains that will act as filters and promote growth of biofilm to help in decomposition of organic matter.
- A floating wetland with aquatic vegetation planted on floating mats has been proposed.
(4) Florafts
- Aside from a floating bed on the surface, IIT-B has proposed suspending floating rafts vertically, called florafts.
- Their hanging roots would provide a large surface area for passive filtration as well as development of microbial consortium.
- In the floating wetlands, plants acquire nutrition directly from the water column for their growth and development, thus reducing the organic as well as inorganic pollutants.
- The final stage for sewage treatment will include disinfection using sodium hypochlorite, to kill the bacteria in the water.
How will it be used by BMC?
- A senior civic official said: “BMC approached IIT-B to submit a Detailed Project Report for the project.
- The N-Treat method suggested to the civic body is cost-effective, as it does not require manual pumping, and saves electricity, and does not require extensive manpower for maintenance.”
- The floating matter will be removed daily, silt deposits from the silt traps will be removed once in four months, and plants will be trimmed as required.
- The floating matter collected every day will be disposed of at the nearest municipal waste collection point daily.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Simultaneous Elections
Mains level: Read the attached story
The issue of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections had been referred to the Law Commission for a practicable road map and a framework can be worked out, the Union Law Minister informed the Lok Sabha.
What are simultaneous polls?
- Currently, elections to the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha are held separately — that is whenever the incumbent government’s five-year term ends or whenever it is dissolved due to various reasons.
- This applies to both the state legislatures and the Lok Sabha. The terms of Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha may not synchronize with one another.
- For instance, Rajasthan faced elections in late 2018, whereas Tamil Nadu will go to elections only in 2021.
- But the idea of “One Nation, One Election” envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.
Simultaneous polls in India
- India had concurrent elections for the first two decades.
- Starting from the first general elections of free India in 1951 and the next three cycles of elections, the country witnessed concurrent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
- Exceptions to these were a few states like Kerala where a mid-term election was held in 1960 on the premature dissolution of the Assembly.
- In Nagaland and Pondicherry where the Legislative Assembly was created only after the 1962 general elections.
End of the era
- The fourth Lok Sabha constituted in 1967 was dissolved prematurely in 1971 ahead of its normal term resulting in a mid-term Lok Sabha election.
- This was the beginning of the end of simultaneous elections in India.
- Extension of the term of Lok Sabha during the National Emergency declared in 1975 and the dissolution of Assemblies of some States after the 1977 Lok Sabha election further disturbed this cycle.
- Currently, there are at least two rounds of Assembly general elections every year.
Making simultaneous elections a reality
- Sections 14 and 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, empower the Election Commission to notify elections any time during the last six months of the term of the House and not earlier than that.
- Therefore, if the terms of the Houses are expiring within a window of three to four months, it would be legally possible to hold elections simultaneously to constitute the new Houses.
- In other words, to contemplate simultaneous elections, we need, as a starting point, a situation where the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of all States and UTs have their terms ending together.
Synchronizing the terms of the Houses
- Both the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies (ordinarily) have a term of five years.
- Article 83 of the Constitution provides for the tenure of Lok Sabha. Identical provisions are present in Article 172(1) regarding the term of the Legislative Assemblies.
There is no duplication of work in preparing the electoral rolls for the two elections and hence no extra labor or expenditure is involved on this count.
What is required?
- This necessarily calls for either extending the terms of several of the Houses or curtailing of terms or a combination of both, that too by two to three years in some cases.
- For enabling such curtailing or extension of the term, the relevant Articles of the Constitution mentioned above will have to be suitably amended.
Why Simultaneous Elections?
Two seemingly relevant factors in favor of simultaneous elections, as opposed to separate elections, are:
- Effort saving: Simultaneous elections reduce labour, time and expenditure in the conduct of elections; and
- Instances of pause in governance are addressed if elections are conducted in one go instead of staggered elections.
[1] How is effort saving possible?
- Electoral roll: Polling stations for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections are the same. So is the electoral roll.
- Labour: There is no duplication of work in preparing the electoral rolls for the two elections and hence no extra labour or expenditure is involved on this count.
- Logistics: In the conduct of elections, all logistic arrangements are replicated for the two elections when the same drill can cater to both the elections if held together.
- Security: This will also mean saving in terms of human resources. Another area of saving in simultaneous elections would be in the deployment of the Central Police Force.
[2] Governance pause can be avoided
- Instances of pause in governance is due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
- MCC is a set of behavior guidelines for candidates and political parties that comes into operation from the date election is announced by the Election Commission.
- A crucial part of the MCC is the restrictions on the party in power. If all elections are held together, the restrictions under MCC will be through in one go.
[3] Help reduce campaign expenses
- Simultaneous elections can bring considerable savings in the election propaganda campaign expenditure for the political parties.
- Given that political funding is a major factor in the increasing menace of corruption, the move to reduce campaign expenditure is a welcome initiative.
[4] Voter turnout
- A nationwide election could push up the voter turnout since a once-in-five-years event is bound to attract more enthusiastic participation across all sections.
- Frequent elections can bring in the election-fatigue factor at least among some sections of electors.
- The simultaneous elections help address the fatigue element and the usually observed urban apathy in voting. Better electors’ participation will further add to the credibility of the election.
Exceptions to this debate: Local Bodies’ Elections
- The local bodies’ elections have not been considered for the analysis here.
- This is for the reason that the elections to local bodies cannot be clubbed with the proposed simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha.
Why?
- The elections to local bodies are conducted under the superintendence, direction, and control of a different constitutional authority, namely, the respective State Election Commission.
- Holding local bodies’ elections along with the other elections will require the team of the same polling officials to report to and take instructions from two different authorities simultaneously.
- There is a distinct set of polling stations too for local bodies’ elections.
- Further, the litigation forum before which these elections can be challenged is different.
Challenges in ensuring simultaneous elections in India:
[1] Synchronizing the Houses
- Bringing the terms of all the Houses to sync with one another necessarily calls for either extending the terms of several of the Houses or curtailing of terms or a combination of both.
- This may be by two to three years in some cases.
- For this, relevant Articles of the Constitution will have to be suitably amended.
[2] Midterm dissolution cannot be controlled
- Even if the terms of the Houses are in sync as a one-time measure, we will still need an adequate legal safeguard in place to avoid mid-term dissolution and protect the simultaneous elections cycle.
- This can be a tough task in conventionally fragile states with smaller assemblies with coalitions.
[3] EVM related expenses
- One aspect that could offset the savings would be the doubling of expenses on electronic voting machines (EVMs).
- Considering that the incidental recurring expense in the storage and security of the EVMs will also be a considerable amount.
- The overall expenditure in holding elections may not see any substantial dip on account of simultaneous elections.
Arguments against the idea
- National and state issues are different, and holding simultaneous elections is likely to affect the judgment of voters.
- Since elections will be held once in five years, it will reduce the government’s accountability to the people. Repeated elections keep legislators on their toes and increase accountability.
- When an election in a State is postponed until the synchronized phase, President’s rule will have to be imposed in the interim period in that state.
- This will be a blow to democracy and federalism.
Way forward
- We need an adequate legal safeguarding place to avoid mid-term dissolution and protect the simultaneous elections cycle.
- For maintaining the electoral cycle, some countries have legal provisions to the effect that for a ‘no-confidence motion’.
- Their proposed resolution also contains a constructive ‘vote of confidence in an alternative government to continue with the tenure.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AUKUS
Mains level: Paper 2- Rethinking the nuclear policy
Context
Last week’s report on Asian nuclear transitions by Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Japan’s debate on its atomic options underline the shared security challenges for Delhi and Tokyo.
Common nuclear challenge for India and Japan and need for rethink
- At the root of that common nuclear challenge is the continuing growth in Chinese military power and the rapid modernisation of Beijing’s nuclear arsenal.
- 1] Modernising and expansion by China: China is modernising and expanding its nuclear arsenal as part of the general military transformation. Some estimates say China’s arsenal could grow to 1,000 warheads by 2030 from about 350 now.
- 2] Muscular approach of China: Xi Jinping’s China has taken a more muscular approach to its territorial disputes, including with India and Japan.
- 3] Reluctance of the world to confront nuclear power: The Ukraine crisis has revealed that if a nuclear weapon power invades and seizes the territory of a neighbour, the rest of the world is reluctant to directly confront the aggression for fear of an escalation to the nuclear level.
- Russia made this amply clear with its threat to use nuclear weapons if the US and NATO decide to join the war.
Nuclear disarmament challenge
- Indian and Japanese capacity to deter China is eroding steadily thanks to the problems with India’s minimum deterrence posture and the US nuclear umbrella over Japan.
- India and Japan have long presented themselves as champions of nuclear disarmament.
- Despite its call for total nuclear disarmament, India never agreed to give up its own nuclear weapons.
- Japan, as the world’s victim of nuclear bombing, had even a higher moral claim than India as the champion for the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
- But Japan’s narrative is shaded by one reality—Tokyo’s reliance on the US nuclear umbrella.
- Today neither Delhi nor Tokyo is ready to sign the 2017 Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.
- It is the problem presented by the expanding Chinese nuclear arsenal and its growing sophistication.
- Locked in a confrontation with the US, China is determined to raise its nuclear profile.
- As China closes the economic and military gap with the US, there is a darkening shadow over the credibility of the US-extended deterrence for Japan.
- This uncertainty is transforming the Japanese security debate.
- For India, the question is whether its nuclear restraint and policy of minimum deterrence are enough to prevent China’s bullying.
How Japan is responding to the challenge?
- In Japan, former prime minister Shinzo Abe had called for a fresh look at Japan’s nuclear policy.
- He was suggesting that Tokyo must consider “nuclear weapon sharing” with the US.
- The model is Europe, where several countries including Belgium, Italy, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have arrangements to participate in the US nuclear weapon deployment and use.
- This proposal was rejected by the current prime minister.
- While rejecting nuclear solutions to the problem of deterring China, Japan’s focus has been on raising the defence expenditure, developing sophisticated conventional weapons, beefing up the alliance with the US and widening the circle of Asian as well as European military partners,
Suggestions in the report
- Unlike Japan, India has no constraints on its nuclear weapons programme except the ones it has imposed on itself.
- In the wake of the nuclear tests of 1998, India quickly announced a policy of minimum deterrence and a doctrine of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.
- The big question is whether this conservatism in India’s nuclear posture can or should be sustained in the face of China’s military modernisation, nuclear expansion and strategic assertiveness.
- Fresh debate on nuclear policies: The Tellis report, detailed and technical, should provide a basis for a fresh Indian debate about its nuclear weapons policies.
- Revising US attitude to India’s nuclear weapons: Tellis also calls on the US to revise its attitudes to India’s nuclear weapons programme.
- In the past, the US insisted on constraining India’s nuclear weapon programme.
- Today a strong Indian nuclear deterrent against China is critical for the geopolitical stability of Asia and the Indo-Pacific and in the US interest.
- Facilitating more sophisticated nuclear warheads: Tellis suggests that the US should be prepared to facilitate India’s development of more sophisticated nuclear warheads as well as improve the survivability of the Indian deterrent against the expanding Chinese nuclear arsenal.
- The US should midwife an agreement under which France would help India accelerate the development of an Indian underwater deterrent based on ballistic missile carrying submarines (SSBN) as well as nuclear attack submarines (SSN),
Conclusion
Tellis is calling both Delhi and Washington to reconsider entrenched nuclear assumptions in the two capitals. While the resistance to his ideas will be strong, Delhi and Washington will have to respond, sooner than later, to the dramatic changes in the global environment triggered by the rise and assertion of China.
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Back2Basics: Nuclear umbrella
- At the dawn of the nuclear age, to encourage friendly countries to refrain from building nuclear weapons, the United States promised to protect them with U.S. nuclear weapons.
- This arrangement came to be called the nuclear umbrella. The experts call it extended nuclear deterrence.
- The umbrella covers the countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, South Korea, and Australia.
- It is not a binding legal arrangement included in their security treaties with the United States.
- It is an informal assurance reinforced by dialogue and, in the case of NATO, cooperative arrangements to deliver U.S. nuclear weapons if authorized by a U.S. president.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 10th Schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Role of Opposition in democracy
Context
Role of Opposition in indispensable in the democracy.
Reasons for adopting parliamentary democracy
- The Indian Constitution adopted the parliamentary system and not the presidential system.
- B.R. Ambedkar provided the rationale for this: “A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions –
- (1) It must be a stable executive and
- (2) it must be a responsible executive.
- Unfortunately it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both in equal degree.
- Assessment of executive: In England, where the parliamentary system prevails, the assessment of responsibility of the executive is both daily and periodic.
- Daily assessment: The daily assessment is done by members of Parliament, through questions, resolutions, no-confidence motions, adjournment motions and debates on addresses.
- Periodic assessment: Periodic assessment is done by the electorate at the time of the election.
- The daily assessment of responsibility which is not available under the American system it is felt far more effective than the periodic assessment and far more necessary in India.
Role of Opposition in democracy
- Democracy is the basic feature of the Constitution.
- The presence of a vigilant Opposition is necessary not just for a vibrant democracy but for its very survival.
- When the Opposition criticises the government or carries on an agitation to arouse public opinion against a party’s misdeeds, it is performing a duty that is assigned by the Constitution.
- Without an effective Opposition, democracy will become dull and legislature will become submissive.
Significance of anti-defection law
- Encouraging defections from the parties in power in States will sound the death knell for democracy.
- The Tenth Schedule has failed to serve its purpose.
- The Supreme Court, in Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992), while upholding the 52nd Amendment said that: “On the one hand there is the real and imminent threat to the very fabric of Indian democracy posed by certain levels of political behaviour conspicuous by their utter and total disregard of well recognised political proprieties and morality… On the other hand, there are… certain side-effects which might affect and hurt even honest dissenters and conscientious objectors.”
- In upholding the law, the court held: “But a political party functions on the strength of shared beliefs… Any freedom of its members to vote as they please independently of the political party’s declared policies will not only embarrass its public image and popularity but also undermine public confidence in it.”
- What is whip? The whip system is part of the established machinery of political organisation in the House and does not infringe on a member’s rights or privilege in any way.
- Some political thinkers have recognised as an additional device the ‘theory of recall,’ so that a member whose personal behaviour falls below standards expected of his constituents goes back and seek their approval.
- This power is particularly apt when a member shows disloyalty to his party but declines to resign from his seat and to fight an immediate by-election.
- The anti-defection law was supposed to be the justification underlying the power of recall.
Way forward
- Political parties, the judiciary and civil society must take steps to ensure that democracy does not fail.
- The Opposition must be tolerated because if it is left for the party in power to decide what is healthy and unhealthy criticism, then every criticism of the latter will be treated as unhealthy.
- while the Opposition must be credible and strong, it is for the Opposition to make itself credible and strong. It must feel the pulse of the people.
- Unless it makes itself respectable, it cannot demand any respect. This is the biggest challenge facing the nation today.
Conclusion
The Opposition must also work constructively. Our constitutional goal was to establish a sovereign, democratic republic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GFCF
Mains level: Paper 3- Long term growth through public capital expenditure
Context
The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said recently that India’s long-term growth prospects are embedded in public capital expenditure programmes. She added that an increase in public investment would crowd in (or pull in) private investment, thus reviving the economy.
Significance of public investment-led economic growth
- Public investment-led economic growth forms a credible strand of explanation for India’s post-Independence economic growth.
- Revival after Asian financial crisis: When it was faced with a slow-down after the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the government initiated public road building projects.
- In the form of the Golden Quadrilateral and the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, these initiatives sowed the seeds of economic revival, culminating in an investment and export-led boom in the 2000s; GDP grew at 8%-9% annually.
- In comparison, the investment record during the 2010s has been dismal.
- However, a recent uptick is evident in the real gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) rate — the fixed investment to GDP ratio (net of inflation).
- The ratio recovered to 32.5% in 2019-20 from a low of 30.7% in 2015-16.
Analysing the Investment distribution
- As in the June edition of the Ministry of Finance’s Monthly Economic Review, the fixed investment to GDP ratio was 32% in 2021-22.
- However, there is need for caution in reading the most recent data, as they are subject to revision.
- Moreover, the budgetary definition of investment refers to financial investments (which include purchase of existing financial assets, or loans offered to States) and not just capital formation representing an expansion of the productive potential.
- The National Accounts Statistics provides disaggregation of gross capital formation (GCF) by sectors, type of assets and modes of financing; over 90% of GCF consists of fixed investments.
- No change in investment distribution: The investment distribution has hardly changed over the last decade, with the public sector’s share remaining 20%.
- Fall in share of agriculture and industry: Between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the shares of agriculture and industry in fixed capital formation/GDP fell from 7.7% and 33.7% to 6.4% and 32.5%, respectively.
- Services’ share rose to 52.3% in 2019-20 compared to 49% in 2014-15.
- The rise in the services sector is almost entirely on transport and communications.
- The share of transport has doubled from 6.1% to 12.9% during the same period.
- Within transportation, it is mostly roads.
- Decline in the share of investment: Its share in the investment ratio (column 2.1) fell from 19.2% in 2011-12 to 16.5% in 2019-20.
- This indicates that ‘Make in India’ failed to take off, import dependence went up, and India became deindustrialised.
- Import dependence on China is alarming for critical materials such as fertilizers, bulk drugs (active pharmaceutical ingredients or APIs) and capital goods.
- Instead of boosting investment and domestic technological capabilities, the ‘Make in India’ campaign frittered away time and resources to raise India’s rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index.
- Decline in foreign capital in GFC: The contribution of foreign capital to financing GCF fell to 2.5% in 2019-20 from 3.8% in 2014-15 (or 11.1% in 2011-12).
- With declining investment share, industrial output growth rate fell from 13.1% in 2015-16 to a negative 2.4% in 2019-20, as per the National Accounts Statistics.
Way forward
- Need for balance: As roads and communications are classic public goods, investment in them is welcome.
- However, for healthy domestic output growth, there is a need for balance between “directly productive investments” (in farms and factories) and infrastructure investments.
- And this balance was missed.
- The recent upturn in the aggregate fixed capital formation to GDP ratio is positive, though the rate is still lower than its mark in the early 2010s.
Conclusion
The claim that the investment revival is public sector driven is not borne out by facts. The budgetary figures refer to financial investment, not estimates of capital formation, indicating expansion of the economy’s productive capacity.
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Back2Basics: Gross fixes capital formation
- Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), also called “investment”, is defined as the acquisition of produced assets (including purchases of second-hand assets), including the production of such assets by producers for their own use, minus disposals.
- The relevant assets relate to assets that are intended for use in the production of other goods and services for a period of more than a year.
- The term “produced assets” means that only those assets that come into existence as a result of a production process are included.
- It therefore does not include, for example, the purchase of land and natural resources.
- This indicator is available in different measures: GFCF at current prices and current PPPs in US dollars, and annual growth rates of GFCF at constant prices, as well as quarterly data for percentage change over previous period and percentage change over same period last year.
- The indicator at current prices and current PPPs is less suited for comparisons over time, as developments are not only caused by real growth, but also by changes in prices and PPPs.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-US relations
Context
The possibility of India’s continuing rise over this century seems to be on a stronger wicket today than it did a decade ago, marred as the early 2010s were by political instability and economic turmoil.
Historical background of dominance of world economy by the East
- Prior to the era of colonial exploitation followed by self-inflicted stagnation due to communist economic policies adopted across the region, the ancient civilisations of India and China dominated the world economy
- There existed a deep history of scientific innovation and technological prowess, which spread by osmosis and intercourse from the East to the West.
- The West, led principally by Great Britain, then stole a march over Asia with the advent of the Industrial Revolution.
- Emergence of the US: A pyrrhic victory for Britain in the Second World War marked the formal transfer of the Western bloc’s leadership to the US.
Geopolitics in 2020s
- Emergence of China: China is now home to a manufacturing-led and technology-driven economy, competing head-on with the US in areas like biotech, robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced materials.
- India, which faced an economic setback when the liberalisation process largely came to a halt between 2004-2014, is back on its feet, with consistent commitment and concerted policy action focused on building domestic capabilities in critical technologies as well as in key manufacturing industries and pursuing important structural economic reforms.
- Common threat of China: From seeing non-democratic China as a benign partner, the US now sees it as a threat, the present preoccupations in Europe notwithstanding.
- India, which for a time welcomed Chinese involvement in its economy, has also recalibrated after the 2020 Galwan face-off.
- Unlike India and the US, which are both well-established republics with deep democratic cultures, China is “a party with a state attached to it”.
- Concerns for India: Being inextricably linked by geography, Beijing’s ambition to dominate its periphery and proximate region is of particular concern to India.
What this mean for India-US relations?
- Natural allies: Given this background, India and the US are natural allies to confront the challenges posed by an expansionist and aggressive China in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
- New areas of cooperation: There are clear signals of unprecedented cooperation between the two countries in areas like national security, defence production and most prominently, new-age information technology and internet industries where American financial firms and blue-chip corporates are contributing growth capital as well as know-how.
- Closer cooperation in scientific research and critical emerging technologies is imperative.
- Reducing India’s dependence for defence equipment: In particular, as some American lawmakers highlighted when providing India with exemption under CAATSA that the American defence industry should contribute to reducing India’s dependence on Russian armaments and equipment.
- Technology cooperation: Connected to the expansion of defence-industrial ties is the broadening of technology collaboration in areas like artificial intelligence, drones, advanced materials, space technology, semiconductors, and biotech in India, beyond the consumer tech and software sectors.
Conclusion
Demographic and economic trends firmly position India as a global force that will have the weight to stride alongside America and China, who would constitute the other two geopolitical — and ideological — poles over the 21st century.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bank merger and nationalization
Mains level: Debate over banks privatization
Last week, on July 19 was the 53rd anniversary of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalizing 14 banks.
Bank Nationalization: A Backgrounder
- In 1955 Imperial Bank of India was nationalized as RBI with State Bank of India to act as the principal agent for extensive banking facilities on a large scale, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
- The other banks of the princely states were acquired by SBI much earlier.
- However, the nationalization of banks in 1969 and later in 1980 was of a completely different scale.
- In 1969, the move covered 14 (followed by six in 1980) of the largest private sector banks—putting 85% of the deposit base into the hands of the government.
- This brought 80% of the banking segment in India under Government ownership.
Why Nationalization of Banks?
- After independence, the Government of India (GOI) adopted planned economic development for the country.
- Nationalization was in accordance with the national policy of adopting the socialistic pattern of society.
- The actual course came at the end of a troubled decade when India had suffered many economic as well as political shocks.
Other reasons
- Social welfare
- Controlling private monopolies
- Expansion of banking to rural areas
- Reducing regional imbalance to curb the urban-rural divide
- Priority Sector Lending
- Mobilization of savings
Immediate causes
- There were two wars with China in 1962 and Pakistan in 1965 that put immense pressure on public finances.
- Banks were failing largely due to speculative financial activities when Indira Gandhi became the prime minister in 1967.
- Two successive years of drought had not only led to food shortages but also compromised national security because of the dependence on American food shipments.
- Subsequently, a three-year plan holiday affected aggregate demand as public investment was reduced.
- Agriculture needed a capital infusion, with the initiation of the Green Revolution in India which aimed to make the country self-sufficient in food security.
- The collapse of banks was causing distress among people, who were losing their hard-earned money in the absence of a strong government support and legislative protection to their money.
Post-nationalization challenges
- Having ownership and operational control of the banks was a challenging task for the government.
- The banks were constantly challenged on their profitability parameters—particularly RRBs which had both geographical and portfolio concentration risks.
Establishing regional balance
- The objective of social control was about making banking sector accessible in areas where these services were not accessible.
- The state established 196 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) between two nationalizations.
- While nationalization, branch licensing policy and priority sector lending targets helped the banks to go to rural areas and certain sectors, it did not achieve regional balance.
- Of the 20 banks that were nationalized, seven were concentrated in south India, six in west India, four in north India and three in east India.
- The expanded rural branch network followed the extant regional concentration, bringing more intensive banking in southern and western regions.
How was regional balance achieved then?
- This skew was partially set right by two initiatives. The first was an institutional intervention of opening 196 RRBs which had focused area of operation.
- The RRBs contributed significantly to reduce the regional imbalance with their expanding branch network in the 1980s.
- RRBs also had a greater proportion of their loans flowing to priority sector in general and agriculture in particular.
- The second was the policy on lead bank scheme where one bank was assigned as a lead for each district.
- The lead bank was responsible for the growth and penetration of banking in districts and had to achieve it in coordination with other banks and the state machinery.
- A “district credit” plan (euphemism for a banking plan), dovetailed with the government schemes, was to be prepared and monitored by the lead bank.
- Regional Rural Banks
- RRBs are a shade better when it comes to rural lending.
- While they have deployed 72% of the rural and semi-urban deposits as credit in those areas, the figure for urban understandably is very low, and most of these funds have gone into investments.
- Small Finance Banks
- The new small finance banks (SFBs) give an entirely different picture—a large number of them are MFIs that converted into banks.
- These institutions are trying to collect deposits from the middle and upper middle class and deploy those resources towards the poor.
- From a paradigm point of view, possibly SFBs are the most interesting institutions that have turned the tables and are trying to achieve from the private sector the objectives set out in the bank nationalization.
Public versus Private Banks
- A look at the broad performance ratios for 2017-18 shows that private sector banks score better on efficiency and profitability parameters.
- They have better return on assets, return on equity, net interest margin and a higher proportion of low-cost deposits.
- On the other hand, public sector banks (PSBs) have a better impact on priority sector lending achievement, and paid higher wages.
- Of the new Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts 77% were opened by state-owned banks, 20% by RRBs, and a mere 3.4% accounts were opened by private banks.
- From this perspective bank nationalization was indeed a good move at that time.
What benefits do we reap today?
- Banking under government ownership gave the public implicit faith and immense confidence about the sustainability of the banks.
- Banks were no longer confined to only metropolitan or cosmopolitan in India. In fact, the Indian banking system has reached even to the remote corners of the country.
- The present government has reached out to people through banks.
- Assistance for constructing toilets under Swachh Bharat programme, DBT, Crop insurance schemes etc was given through banks.
- The dispensing of Mudra loans to about 20 crore individuals, benefits under PM Kisan scheme for providing cash assistance to close to 15 crore farmers annually are only possible through this banks.
- Thus banks became the government’s dispenser of goodies due to the decision which was taken 50 years ago.
What about Financial Inclusion?
- The All India Debt and Investment Survey reports indicate that the formal sector has been losing ground to the informal sector in the rural indebtedness pie since 2001 onwards.
- This is worrying and indicates that the inclusion agenda is far from achieved.
- Some examples in the public sector banking system—particularly SBI—have shown that it is possible to achieve the double bottom line of being in the commercial market while continuing to achieve significant targets in inclusion, sectoral, spatial and geographical.
Way Forward
- From the larger perspective of efficiency and better utilization of capital, it may be a good idea to move state-owned banks towards more market-based framework.
- However, that call should be taken to achieve the residual task of inclusion.
- Making state-owned banks more autonomous and accountable to the market may be the first significant step that can be taken for now.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Privatization of PSBs
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- AI governance
Context
Artificial intelligence (AI) is more present in our lives than ever. From predicting what we want to see as we scroll through social media to helping us understand weather patterns to manage agriculture, AI is ubiquitous.
Issues with AI and it why it matters to India
- Bias and discrimination: The data used to feed into AI often aren’t representative of the diversity of our societies, producing outcomes that can be said to be biased or discriminatory.
- Errors in facial recognition: There are problems emerging in facial recognition technologies, which are used to access our phones, bank accounts and apartments, and are increasingly employed by law-enforcement authorities, in identifying women and darker-skinned people.
- For three such programs released by major technology companies, the error rate was 1% for light-skinned men, but 19% for dark-skinned men, and up to 35% for dark-skinned women.
- Biases in facial recognition technologies have led to wrongful arrests.
- Indeed, if the business model of how these technologies are developed does not change to place human interests first, inequalities will grow to a magnitude never before experienced in history; access to the raw material that is data is key.
- These issues are of particular importance to India, which is one of the world’s largest markets for AI-related technologies, valued at over $7.8 billion in 2021.
- The National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence released by NITI Aayog in 2018 highlights the massive potential of AI in solving complex social challenges faced by Indian citizens across areas such as agriculture, health, and education, in addition to the significant economic returns that AI-related technologies are already creating.
UNESCO agreement
- To ensure that the full potential of these technologies is reached, the right incentives for ethical AI governance need to be established in national and sub-national policy.
- India has made great strides in the development of responsible and ethical AI governance, starting with NITI Aayog’s #AIForAll campaign to the many corporate strategies that have been adopted to ensure that AI is developed with common, humanistic values at its core.
- UNESCO’s recommendations: Last November 193 countries reached a groundbreaking agreement at UNESCO on how AI should be designed and used by governments and tech companies.
- UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence took two years to put together and involved thousands of online consultations with people from a diverse range of social groups.
- It aims to fundamentally shift the balance of power between people, and the businesses and governments developing AI.
- Countries which are members of UNESCO have agreed to implement this recommendation by enacting actions to regulate the entire AI system life cycle, ranging from research, design and development to deployment and use.
- This means they must use affirmative action to make sure that women and minority groups are fairly represented on AI design teams.
- The Recommendation also underscores the importance of the proper management of data, privacy and access to information.
- It establishes the need to keep control over data in the hands of users, allowing them to access and delete information as needed.
- It also calls on member states to ensure that appropriate safeguards schemes are devised for the processing of sensitive data and effective accountability, and redress mechanisms are provided in the event of harm.
- Socio-cultural impact: The broader socio-cultural impacts of AI-related technologies are also addressed, with the Recommendation taking a strong stance that-
- 1] AI systems should not be used for social scoring or mass surveillance purposes;
- 2] That particular attention must be paid to the psychological and cognitive impact that these systems can have on children and young people;
- 3] Member states should invest in and promote not only digital, media and information literacy skills, but also socio-emotional and AI ethics skills to strengthen critical thinking and competencies in the digital era.
- In a number of countries, the principles of the Recommendation are already being used in AI regulation and policy.
- Finland provides an example of good practice of this regard, with its 2017 AI Strategy.
Conclusion
The new agreement is broad and ambitious. It is a recognition that AI-related technologies cannot continue to operate without a common rulebook. Over the coming months and years, the Recommendation will serve as a compass to guide governments and companies, to voluntarily develop and deploy AI technologies that conform with the commonly agreed principles it establishes.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICJ, ICC
Mains level: Rohingya Crisis
Judges at the United Nations’ highest court have dismissed preliminary objections by Myanmar to a case alleging for genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
Who are the Rohingyas?
- Rohingya Muslims comprise one million out of the 53 million people that live in Myanmar, forming the world’s largest stateless population in a single country.
- Universally reviled by the country’s Buddhist majority, they have been oppressed by the government since the late 1970s when the government launched a campaign to identify ‘illegal immigrants’.
- Serious abuses were committed, forcing as many as 250,000 Rohingya refugees to flee to Bangladesh.
- The 1982 Citizenship Law in former Burma made the Rohingyas stateless people.
- They have often been called the most persecuted minority in the world.
- The 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims squeezed precariously into the northwest state of Rakhine, in mainly Buddhist Burma, bordering majority Muslim Bangladesh, are stateless and unwanted.
Why are they persecuted by Myanmar?
- To qualify for citizenship, Rohingya applicants had to renounce their identity And accept being labelled as ‘Bengalis’ on all official documents.
- They also had to prove that they could trace the presence of their family in Rakhine back three generations, something which is extremely difficult as many Rohingya lack documents or had lost them in 2012.
Why did the Rohingya Crisis happen?
- Since World War II they have been treated increasingly by Burmese authorities as illegal, interloping Bengalis, facing apartheid-like conditions that deny them free movement or state education.
- The army “clearing operations” sparked the mass exodus of Rohingyas in both October 2016.
- In August 2017, were launched after insurgents known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked several paramilitary check posts.
- Rohingya activists claim the insurgents are mainly young men who have been pushed to breaking point by relentless oppression.
Security Implications
- The Rohingya issue and its spill over impact on Myanmar`s western peripheral region and security implications figured in the discussions is not clear.
- In all probability, the import of the ferment caused by the Rohingya migration, efforts of radical Islamists to influence some of the Rohingya youth, and the Pakistan ISI’s attempts to capitalise on the situation.
- Rising anger in the Muslim world about the plight of the Rohingya has compounded fears of home-grown militancy as well as support from international jihadists.
- Illegal movement of people, combined with human trafficking and cross-border migration, can weaken Myanmar’s relations with its neighbour Bangladesh and its ASEAN partners.
What is the case against Myanmar?
- Last year, the Republic of the Gambia moved the ICJ against Myanmar over alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
- The Gambia urged the ICJ to direct Myanmar to stop the genocide, ensure that persons committing genocide are punished, and allow the “safe and dignified return of forcibly displaced Rohingya”.
- The Gambia and Myanmar are parties to the Genocide Convention that allows a party to move the ICJ for violations.
- Disputes between the Contracting Parties are settled according to Article 9 of the Genocide Convention.
International support for Gambia’s case
- The Netherlands and Canada are backing Gambia, saying in 2020 that the country took a laudable step towards ending impunity for those committing atrocities in Myanmar and upholding this pledge.
- Canada and the Netherlands consider it their obligation to support these efforts which are of concern to all of humanity.
What next?
- The ICJ’s ruling sets the stage for court hearings, airing evidence of atrocities against the Rohingya that human rights groups and a UN probe say amount to breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
- The International Court of Justice rules on disputes between states.
- It is not linked to the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals accountable for atrocities.
- Prosecutors at the ICC are investigating crimes committed against the Rohingya who were forced to flee to Bangladesh.
- The ruling of the ICJ is binding on Myanmar, and cannot be appealed. However, no means are available to the court to enforce it.
Back2Basics:
| BASIS |
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) |
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ) |
| Relationship with the United Nations |
Independent; UN Security Council may refer matters to it |
Primary judicial branch of the UN. |
| Members |
105 members |
193 members (all members of the United Nations). |
| Derives authority from |
The Rome Statute |
Charter of the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice. |
| Scope of work |
Criminal matters – investigating and prosecuting crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes |
Civil matters- settling legal disputes between the member-states and giving advisory opinions on international legal issues |
| Jurisdiction |
Only the member nations of the ICC, which means around 105 countries. Can try individuals. |
All the member nations of the UN, which means 193 countries. Cannot try individuals and other private entities. |
| Composition |
1 prosecutor and 18 judges, who are elected for a 9-year term each by the member-states which make up the Assembly of State Parties with all being from different nations |
15 judges who are elected for a 9-year term each and are all from different nations. |
| Funding |
Funded by state parties to the Rome Statute and voluntary contributions from the United Nations, governments, individual corporations, etc. |
Funded by the UN. |
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST Slabs
Mains level: Issues with GST Rationalization
From July 18, a 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been levied on several food items and grains that are sold in a pre-packed, labelled form even if they are not branded.
What is the news?
- So far, these items, which include curd, lassi, buttermilk, puffed rice, wheat, pulses, oats, maize and flour, were exempted from the GST net.
- The fresh tax levies have attracted an outcry from traders as well as consumers.
What is GST?
- GST launched in India on 1 July 2017 is a comprehensive indirect tax for the entire country.
- It is charged at the time of supply and depends on the destination of consumption.
- For instance, if a good is manufactured in state A but consumed in state B, then the revenue generated through GST collection is credited to the state of consumption (state B) and not to the state of production (state A).
- GST, being a consumption-based tax, resulted in loss of revenue for manufacturing-heavy states.
What are GST Slabs?
- In India, almost 500+ services and over 1300 products fall under the 4 major GST slabs.
- There are five broad tax rates of zero, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, plus a cess levied over and above the 28% on some ‘sin’ goods.
- The GST Council periodically revises the items under each slab rate to adjust them according to industry demands and market trends.
- The updated structure ensures that the essential items fall under lower tax brackets, while luxury products and services entail higher GST rates.
- The 28% rate is levied on demerit goods such as tobacco products, automobiles, and aerated drinks, along with an additional GST compensation cess.
How did the rate hikes come about?
- The 5% tax on unbranded packed food items was approved by the GST Council.
- Some of the other items to have lost their tax-exempt status include bank cheques, maps and atlases, hotel rooms that cost up to ₹1,000 a night, and hospital room rents of over ₹5,000 a day.
- The pre-packed items weighing over 25 kg would not attract GST.
Why such move?
- This move was part of a broader set of changes in the GST structure to do away with tax exemptions as well as concessional tax rates.
- The Centre and States had discussed the need to raise revenues from the GST, which at the time of its launch five years ago, was premised on levying a ‘revenue-neutral’ rate of 15.5%.
- All affected food items, including wheat, pulses, rice, curd and lassi, will be exempt from GST when sold loose.
What has the government said on the issue?
- FM has hit out at misconceptions about the GST levies on food items and dismissed suggestions that they were imposed unilaterally by the Centre.
- The 5% levy, she said, was critical to curb tax leakages and was not taken by ‘one member’ of the GST Council alone as all States had agreed to the move.
- When GST was rolled out, a GST rate of 5% was made applicable on branded cereals, pulses, flour.
- This was later amended to tax only such items which were sold under a registered brand or brands on which enforceable right was not foregone by the suppliers.
- This tax exemption triggered ‘rampant misuse’ by reputed manufacturers and brand owners leading to a gradual drop in revenues.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PHEIC, Monkeypox
Mains level: Rise in zoonotic diseases
The World Health Organization’s Director-General has declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) July 23, 2022.
What is PHEIC?
Definition: Under the International Health Regulations (IHR), a public health emergency is defined as “an extraordinary event which is determined, as provided in these Regulations: to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease; and to potentially require a coordinated international response”.
What criteria does the WHO follow to declare PHEIC?
- PHEIC is declared in the event of some “serious public health events” that may endanger international public health.
- The responsibility of declaring an event as an emergency lies with the Director-General of the WHO and requires the convening of a committee of members.
Implications of a PHEIC being declared
The PHEIC is the highest level of alert the global health body can issue.
- There are some implications of declaring a PHEIC for the host country.
- Only polio and SARS-CoV-2 were ongoing PHEIC prior to monkeypox.
- Declaring a PHEIC may lead to restrictions on travel and trade.
Back2Basics: Monkeypox
- The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, which is a genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus, which causes smallpox, and vaccinia virus, which was used in the smallpox vaccine.
- It causes symptoms similar to smallpox, although they are less severe.
- While vaccination eradicated smallpox worldwide in 1980, monkeypox continues to occur in a swathe of countries in Central and West Africa, and has on occasion showed up elsewhere.
- According to the WHO, two distinct clade are identified: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade, also known as the Central African clade.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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