Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tarapur Massacre of 1932
Mains level: NA
Bihar CM has announced that February 15 would be celebrated as “Shahid Diwas” in memory of the 34 freedom fighters who were killed by police in Tarapur town of Bihar’s Munger district 90 years ago.
Why such move?
- The Tarapur massacre was the biggest carried out by the British police after the one in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in 1919.
- The freedom fighters had never got their due, the CM said.
- PM Modi too had referred to the Tarapur massacre in his Mann ki Baat radio address of January 2021.
Tarapur Massacre: Course of events
- On February 15, 1932, a group of young freedom fighters planned to hoist an Indian national flag at Thana Bhavan in Tarapur.
- Police were aware of the plan, and several officers were present at the spot. Around 2 pm, even as the police carried out a brutal lathicharge, Gopal Singh succeeded in raising the flag at Thana Bhavan.
- A 4,000-strong crowd pelted the police with stones, injuring an officer of the civil administration.
- The police responded by opening indiscriminate fire on the crowd.
- After about 75 rounds were fired, 34 bodies were found at the spot, even though there were claims of an even larger number of deaths.
Trigger for protest
- The hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru in Lahore on March 23, 1931, sent a wave of grief and anger around the country.
- Following the collapse of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Mahatma was arrested in early 1932.
- The Congress was declared an illegal organization, and Nehru, Patel, and Rajendra Prasad were also thrown in jail.
- In Munger, freedom fighters Srikrishna Singh, Nemdhari Singh, Nirapad Mukherjee, Pandit Dasrath Jha, Basukinath Rai, Dinanath Sahay, and Jaymangal Shastri were arrested.
- A call given by the Congress leader Sardar Shardul Singh Kavishwar to raise the tricolour over government buildings resonated in Tarapur.
Back2Basics:
Explained: Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SECC
Mains level: Paper 2- Importance of caste data
Context
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the 27% quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the All-India Quota seats for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and reiterated that reservations for backward classes were not an exception but an extension of the principle of equality under Article 15(1) of the Constitution.
Multiple dimensions of reservation
- The judgment highlighted how open competitive exams give the illusion of providing equal opportunity in ignorance of the widespread inequalities in educational facilities, the freedom to pursue such education, and societal prejudices.
- Psychological and social effects: The Court pointed out how such disparities are not limited to the issue of access to good education or financial constraints alone, but also to the psychological and social effects of inherited cultural capital (communication skills, books, accent, academic accomplishments, social networks, etc.), which ensures the unconscious training of upper-caste children for high-grade performance.
- The Constituent Assembly held a similar philosophy while introducing constitutional provisions which enable the government to make special provisions for the uplift of the “lower castes”.
Importance of justifiable data
- The politicisation of issue: Political parties often promise reservation for communities on being brought to power without any credible data collection exercises to justify the decision.
- It can be said that the faith of our citizens cannot be restored until credible exercises of data collection are undertaken regarding caste.
- Lack of data on OBC: Even though data concerning the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been included in the Census, there is no similar data on OBCs.
- Proper assessment: In the Indra Sawhney case, the Supreme Court held that the States must conclude the “backwardness” of a particular class of people only after proper assessment and objective evaluation.
- It held that such a conclusion must be subject to periodic review by a permanent body of experts.
- The National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, provides under Section 11 that the Central government may every 10 years revise lists with a view to exclude those classes which have ceased to be backward and include new backward classes.
- This exercise has not been done to date.
- Impartial data and subsequent research might save the bona fide attempts of the uplift of the most backward classes from the shadow of caste and class politics and be informative to people on both sides of the spectrum – for and against reservation.
- Calls for caste data in Census: Last year, many calls were made for the inclusion of caste data (including that of the OBCs) in the 2021 Census, and the matter reached the Supreme Court.
- However, the government took the stand that the 2011 SECC was “flawed” and is “not usable”.
Conclusion
Caste data will enable independent research not only into the question of who does and does not need affirmative action but also into the effectiveness of this measure.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sagaing region
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Myanmar relations
Context
One year ago, the military in Myanmar attempted to grab power from the elected civilian government in a dramatic coup. Meanwhile, the deposed civilian lawmakers who were elected in free-and-fair elections in November 2020 put together their own government known as the National Unity Government (NUG).
The current situation in Myanmar
- The coup faced popular resistance from the first day, with mass protests bringing the country to a halt.
- According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, as of January 28, 1,499 civilians have been killed in Myanmar since the coup.
- Dozens of civilian militias, called People’s Defence Forces (PDF), now armed with more sophisticated weapons, mushroomed in nearly every region and state.
- Today, the military is having to fight on multiple fronts, as even powerful ethnic armed groups in the north, northwest, and east have joined forces with the PDFs.
India’s approach towards situation in Myanmar
- Balanced approach: Since the coup, India has taken a balanced diplomatic approach on Myanmar, calling for restraint, restoration of democracy, and release of political prisoners, but also maintaining its lines of communication with the military.
- Avoiding sanctions: India has also firmly stayed away from imposing sanctions on the junta.
Why does India need to recalibrate its approach?
- The last 12 months have made it clear that the military is incapable of providing the kind of political, economic, and social stability that India needs in Myanmar to advance its interests, including development projects.
- Public faith in the military as a state institution is at its lowest.
- Northeastern border issue: For New Delhi, India’s Northeastern border with Myanmar remains on top of the bilateral agenda.
- However, even on this, the military has damaged whatever semblance of stability was left.
- Sagaing region, which borders three Northeast Indian states, has seen the highest number of clashes so far.
- Chin state, bordering Mizoram and Manipur, has seen dramatic military offensives in civilian areas, which have forced thousands to flee into India.
- The Myanmar military has roped in Manipuri insurgents as mercenaries to attack anti-junta forces, in exchange for safe haven.
Way forward
- New Delhi must reconsider its partnerships in Myanmar and invest in those entities that can not only provide a stable political environment overall but also effectively secure its security interests along the border.
- The NUG enjoys much more mass popularity than the military, which means it is in a position to restore calm.
- China has strong links with ethnic armed groups in northern Myanmar, but not with the new PDFs.
- So, if India really wants to offset Chinese influence in Myanmar, it needs to take this opportunity to forge new friendships.
Conclusion
It is time India rapidly expanded its links with these entities, instead of playing by the old rules.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 332
Mains level: Paper 2- Reservation for STs in Jammu and Kashmir
Context
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has recently shared its interim report. One of the salient features of the report is the proposed reservation of nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Reservation for STs in Legislative Assembly
- It is for the first time that seats have been reserved for the ST community in the Legislative Assembly of J&K.
- The commission has also proposed reserving seven seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs).
- In the erstwhile Legislative Assembly, there were also seven seats reserved for SCs, but there was no such reservation for STs.
- This denial of constitutionally guaranteed reservation under Article 332 post-1991 when four communities (the Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis and Sippis) were granted ST status is a pointer to the harsh reality that discrimination has largely been deliberate.
Issue of reservation for STs in J&K
- No role of Article 370: Nothing in Article 370 has prevented the provision of political reservation to STs or extension of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 to J&K.
- The presence of Article 370 has often been given as a reason for the absence of reservation for the tribals in J&K though this is untrue.
- Reservation for SCs: SCs in J&K had reservations even before the dilution of Article 370, and it was provided under the J&K Constitution.
- This lack of political will stemmed from an unwillingness to share power with groups ethnically and culturally different from both Dogras and the Kashmiris, the two predominant power groups in J&K.
What has changed now?
- The dilution of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and the subsequent Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 changed political dynamics in the region.
- As far as tribals are concerned, it promised them political reservation under Article 332 and led to the extension of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- Essentially, it has changed the nature of tribal politics in J&K as well, which had largely centered around these two major objectives.
Way forward
- Economic and social empowerment: The focus of tribal politics has to shift toward the economic and social empowerment of tribal communities.
- Implementation of the Forest Rights Act has to be a major issue as it has the potential to significantly empower these communities.
- The political mobilization of STs began many years ago, and the interim report has thrown up new challenges before STs than merely empowering them.
- Awareness: It will not change after reservation unless there is an awareness and conscious attempt by the leadership to prioritize tribal interests over party politics.
- Political relevance: The tendency to limit tribal politics to Rajouri and Poonch (which the interim report has also done) is the extension of past practice though the reality is that more than 68% of the ST population lives outside these districts.
- Political relevance is a major challenge that tribal politics in J&K faces.
- Community leaders, especially tribal youth, need to understand the significance of the tribal vote.
- Tribal politics also have to address the political, social, and economic empowerment of marginal tribes such as the Bakerwals, Gaddis and Sippis.
- Women empowerment: Women have to play a major role in tribal politics, and their participation and leadership have to be made feasible and suitably promoted.
- They have proven their leadership in the District Development Council (DDC) elections, and it needs to be strengthened further.
Conclusion
The focus of tribal politics has to shift toward the economic and social empowerment of tribal communities, with a special focus on the effective implementation of welfare schemes and policies for STs in J&K.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Mob lynching and the dysfunctions created
Bills passed against mob lynching in some states have not been implemented since lynching is not defined as a crime under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Why are the bills pending?
- Most bills have been reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President.
- The President has to go with the advice given by the Council of Ministers, in the case of such legislations, represented by the MHA.
- The Union Home Ministry examines the State legislations on three grounds-
- Repugnancy with Central laws
- Deviation from national or central policy and
- Legal and constitutional validity
What is Mob Lynching?
- Lynching is a premeditated extrajudicial killing by a group.
- It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate a group.
- Recent incident can be recalled from Pakistan where a Sri Lankan national was set ablaze over blasphemy charges.
Dealing with lynching in India
- In 2017, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) collected data on mob lynching, hate crimes and cow vigilantism but it was not published and discontinued.
- This is because, there is “no separate” definition for lynching under the IPC.
- However, lynching incidents could be dealt with under Sections 300 and 302 of the IPC, pertaining to murder.
- In 2018, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to make lynching a separate offense.
- Since then, the government is working to overhaul the IPC framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to consider mob-lynching.
Why anti-lynching law is necessary?
- Fills the void: It fills a void in our criminal jurisprudence.
- Lawlessness: The Indian Penal Code has provisions for unlawful assembly, rioting, and murder but nothing that takes cognizance of a group of people coming together to kill (a lynch mob).
- Rise in Lynching incidents: There has been a rise in lynching incidents in recent years.
Reason for the rise in lynchings
- Impunity: The lynch mobs are confident of getting away with it. So far, the state has done little to shake that confidence.
- Communalism: In the case of cow-linked lynchings, a lot depends on whether the incumbent in power considers it compatible with its political interests to crack down on such attacks.
- Fake news: Another factor that gave rise to lynchings is the spread of fake news through social media platforms which incite a sudden wave of antagonism.
- Alienation: With modernity, there is a growth of individualism and erosion of associational life. The sense of fraternity has been fading away due to this.
- Unemployment: High Unemployment rates leave millions of youth unengaged.
Effect of lynching
(1) State
- Violation of FR: It is against the values upheld in the constitution of India. Every individual have certain fundamental rights any violence would be a curtailment of this right.
- Law and order crisis: Lynchings have led to degrading regard to law and order.
(2) Economy
- Reputation damage: Many International agencies warned India against mob lynching incidents. This impacts both foreign and domestic investment thereby adversely affecting sovereign ratings.
- Impact on migration patterns: It directly hampers internal migration which in turn affects economy.
- Damage of public property: Large resources deployed to tackle such menaces induces extra burden on state-exchequer.
(3) Society
- Fear of radicalization: Radical and extremist organizations such as ISIS etc could take leverage of the atmosphere created by such incidents.
- Communal disharmony: This impact solidarity of society and idea of Unity in diversity. This create an atmosphere of majority v/s minority.
- Intolerance: It could aggravate caste, class and communal hatred. Such acts shows loss of tolerance in society and people are being swayed by emotions, prejudices etc.
Way forward
- States should be more vigilant and proactive in flagging rumors using social media and other platforms.
- Some states are doing it, others need to emulate these examples.
- The more proactive the administration is in this regard, the stronger a deterrent it will be.
- There is also a need for a special court for the trial of mob violence.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Public Order
Mains level: Hijab Row
The Karnataka High Court is hearing a challenge to the constitutionality of the state government’s ban on students wearing a hijab in educational institutions. The judges heard an argument on whether the state can justify the ban on the ground that it violates ‘public order’.
What is Public Order?
- Public order is one of the three grounds on which the state can restrict freedom of religion.
- It is also one of the grounds to restrict free speech and other fundamental rights.
- Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees to all people’s right to freedom and conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and health.
Who can check it?
- Public order is normally equated with public peace and safety.
- What affects public order is contextual and is determined by the state.
- According to List 2 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the power to legislate on aspects of public order rests with the states.
How does it relate to the hijab ban?
- According to the government order issued under the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, “public order” is one of the reasons for not allowing students to wear a headscarf in educational institutions along with “unity” and “integrity”.
- The petitioners have asked the state to show how the mere wearing of a hijab by students could constitute a public order issue.
- Another argument made is that the government cannot delegate the power to college committees the function of determining whether the hijab was detrimental to public order.
- The government order states that while individual college committees are free to determine the uniform, in the absence of such rules the government order banning the headscarf would apply.
- Only the government can make an assessment of public order.
How has the state responded?
- The government order makes no mention of “public order” and that the petitioners reading of the order could be an error in translation.
- The order, in Kannada, uses the words “sarvajanika suvyavasthe”.
- Incidentally, the official Kannada translation of the Constitution uses “sarvajanika suvyavasthe” for “public order” in all nine instances.
How has public order been interpreted by courts?
- Courts have broadly interpreted it to mean something that affects the community at large and not a few individuals.
- In Ram Manohar Lohia vs State of Bihar (1965), the Supreme Court held that in the case of ‘public order’, the community or the public at large have to be affected by a particular action.
- One has to imagine three concentric circles:
- the largest representing ‘law and order’
- the next representing ‘public order’ and
- the smallest representing ‘security of State’
Arguments against the K’taka Order
- In the Karnataka case, the petitioners have argued:
- Public order is not every breach of law and order.
- Public order is an aggravated form of disturbance that is much higher than a law and order issue.
Conclusion
- Thus it is evident that wordplay is given more cognisance over the interpretation of constitution.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OIC
Mains level: India's relations with OIC members
India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), saying it was “hijacked by vested interests” over its remark on Karnataka Hijab Row.
What is OIC?
- The OIC — formerly Organisation of the Islamic Conference — is the world’s second-largest inter-governmental organization after the UN, with a membership of 57 states.
- The OIC’s stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.
- OIC has reserved membership for Muslim-majority countries. Russia, Thailand, and a couple of other small countries have Observer status.
India and OIC
- At the 45th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Summit in 2018, Bangladesh suggested that India, where more than 10% of the world’s Muslims live, should be given Observer status.
- In 1969, India was dis-invited from the Conference of Islamic Countries in Rabat, Morocco at Pakistan’s behest.
- Then Agriculture Minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was dis-invited upon arrival in Morocco after Pakistan President Yahya Khan lobbied against Indian participation.
Recent developments
- In 2019, India made its maiden appearance at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, as a “guest of honor”.
- This first-time invitation was seen as a diplomatic victory for New Delhi, especially at a time of heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pulwama attack.
- Pakistan had opposed the invitation to Swaraj and it boycotted the plenary after the UAE turned down its demand to rescind the invitation.
What is the OIC’s stand on Kashmir?
- It has been generally supportive of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and has issued statements criticizing India.
- Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for their condemnation of the move.
- To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — both top leaders among the Muslim countries — issued nuanced statements, and were not as harshly critical of New Delhi as Islamabad had hoped.
- Since then, Islamabad has tried to rouse sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticized India.
How has India been responding?
- India has consistently underlined that J&K is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India.
- The strength with which India has made this assertion has varied slightly at times, but never the core message.
- It has maintained its “consistent and well known” stand that the OIC had no locus standi.
- This time, India went a step ahead and said the grouping continues to allow itself to be used by a certain country “which has a record on religious tolerance, radicalism, and persecution of minorities”.
OIC members and India
- Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially, have looked up significantly in recent years.
- The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbors, Bangladesh and Maldives.
- Indian diplomats say both countries privately admit they do not want to complicate their bilateral ties with India on Kashmir but play along with OIC.
Way ahead
- India now sees the duality of the OIC as untenable, since many of these countries have good bilateral ties and convey to India to ignore OIC statements.
- But these countries sign off on the joint statements which are largely drafted by Pakistan.
- India feels it important to challenge the double-speak since Pakistan’s campaign and currency on the Kashmir issue has hardly any takers in the international community.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMFBY, Beed Model of Crop Insurance
Mains level: Issues with PMFBY
Maharashtra may follow several other big states and opt-out Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the government’s much-highlighted crop insurance scheme.
Why do many states want to opt-out?
- The major reasons are denial and delay of claims along with a huge subsidy burden on state governments.
- The farmers are facing a problem with timely claim settlement.
- Maharashtra is studying the Beed Model for insurance settlement.
Who else has stepped out?
- Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Bihar, Gujarat (PM’s home state), Punjab and West Bengal — all predominantly agriculture states — have already opted out of the scheme.
- Some of these states have their own insurance schemes.
What is PMFBY?
- The PMFBY was launched in February 2016. It is being administered by Ministry of Agriculture.
- It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
- It is implemented by empanelled general insurance companies.
- The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account for notified crops and voluntary for other others.
Its functioning
- PMFBY insures farmers against all non-preventable natural risks from pre-sowing to post-harvest.
- Farmers have to pay a maximum of 2 per cent of the total premium of the insured amount for kharif crops, 1.5 per cent for rabi food crops and oilseeds as well as 5 per cent for commercial / horticultural crops.
- The balance premium is shared by the Union and state governments on a 50:50 basis and on a 90:10 basis in the case of northeastern states.
Farmers covered
- All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.
- To address the demand of farmers, the scheme has been made voluntary for all farmers from Kharif 2020.
- Earlier to Kharif 2020, the enrolment under the scheme was compulsory for following categories of farmers:
- Farmers in the notified area who possess a Crop Loan account/KCC account (called as Loanee Farmers) to whom credit limit is sanctioned/renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. and
- Such other farmers whom the Government may decide to include from time to time.
Risks covered under the scheme
- Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado.
- Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
- In post-harvest losses, coverage will be available up to a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in “cut & spread” condition to dry in the field.
- For certain localized problems, Loss/damage resulting from the occurrence of identified localized risks like hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area would also be covered.
Back2Basics: Beed Model
- The model of crop insurance in place in Maharashtra’s Beed district is being studied by a central government panel set up to suggest suitable working models for PMFBY.
- In the Beed model, there is a cap on the profit of the insurance companies.
- If the claims exceed the insurance cover, the state government pays the bridge amount.
- If the claims are less than the premium collected, the insurance company keeps 20 per cent of the amount as handling charges and reimburses the rest to the state government.
- This is expected to reduce burden of subsidies from state.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SVAMITVA Scheme
Mains level: Land records management
India plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities to mark a year of the updated geospatial policy guidelines under the SVAMITVA Scheme.
What is SVAMITVA Scheme?
- SVAMITVA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
- Under the scheme, the latest surveying technology such as drones will be used for measuring the inhabited land in villages and rural areas.
- The mapping and survey will be conducted in collaboration with the Survey of India, State Revenue Department and State Panchayati Raj Department under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
- The drones will draw the digital map of every property falling in the geographical limit of each Indian village.
- Property Cards will be prepared and given to the respective owners.
Broad Objectives
- Leveraging property as a financial asset by the citizens of rural India
- Creation of accurate land records for rural planning
- Provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India
- Serve as a means of reduction in property-related disputes. Facilitate with the determination of property tax
- Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS (Geographic Information System) maps that can be used by any department or agency
Features of the Scheme
- Accurate survey: SVAMITVA Scheme uses the combination of Survey Grade Drones and CORS network (Continuously Operated Reference Stations) to accurately survey large areas in a very short span of time.
- High resolution: The 1:500 scale maps generated through the drone survey are of very high accuracy i.e., 3-5 cms, which the conventional methodology does not provide.
- Geo-tagging: Moreover, editable and geo-tagged maps are produced at a fraction of the cost without the need for line-of-sight.
- Permanent records: These maps facilitate the creation of the most durable record of property holdings in areas with no legacy revenue records.
What are the updated guidelines?
- The updated guidelines help private companies to prepare a variety of maps without needing approvals from a host of ministries.
- They aim to make it easier to use drones and develop applications via location mapping.
- It encompasses the trinity of geospatial Systems, Drone Policy, and unlocked Space Sector will be the hallmark of India’s future economic progress.
Also read:
[Yojana Archive] SVAMITVA Scheme
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Indian economy
Context
There is fear that the way the money will be used by the Centre will disempower the states further, just when they must do most of the heavy lifting on public welfare.
Wealth creation and trickle-down
- Failure of trickle-down: Evidence from around the world is that the economic policy paradigm, of first increasing the overall size of the pie by reducing taxes at the top and then “redistributing” the wealth, has not delivered benefits to people.
- Gandhiji had declared that he was not against wealth creators. He lauded wealth creation.
- However, it must not be at the cost of workers and welfare.
- Wealth creators must be trustees of the wealth they create, not its exclusive owners.
The demand-side problem of the Indian economy
- The Indian economy is suffering from a chronic “demand-side” problem that is becoming worse with misguided economic policies.
- Young people who have been getting educated in larger numbers than before, even learning vocational skills, cannot find jobs.
- If people don’t earn, demand will not increase, and investments in businesses will not be attractive.
- Moreover, frustrated youth are tinderboxes for social unrest.
Financial globalization and its impact on India
- Around the world, there is a reaction to the financial globalization of the last 30 years.
- In his book, Davos Man, Peter Goodman explains how the wealthiest people have influenced economic policies in democratic countries from the 1990s to make themselves wealthier.
- Thomas Piketty has documented how wealth inequalities have increased alarmingly.
- Wealth has accumulated at the top, with regressive tax policies along with deregulation.
- Government expenditure on social reforms has been crimped.
Way forward
- The global economy must move on from hyper-financial, deregulated capitalism, which has given easy money too much freedom.
- They must move out from their ideological ruts.
- Invest in human capital: Until the economy grows there will be no resources to invest in human development — whereas China invested in human development before its economic take-off.
- Protection to industrial sector: That an unprepared industrial sector will thrive in global free trade — whereas the UK and US (and Japan and China too), grew their industrial sectors behind walls of protection, and then demanded that the rest open their markets to the might of their enterprises.
- Inclusive growth: Political divisions by religion and caste are tearing India’s social fabric again. The Indian economy must grow inclusively to repair it.
Conclusion
Indian policymakers must urgently discover India’s own, contextually appropriate model of development and shed defunct economic theories.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CPI and WPI
Mains level: Paper 3- Inflation and policy response
Context
The disconnect between retail and wholesale inflation suggests that the two measures are driven by distinct and unrelated shocks.
The disconnect between retain inflation and wholesale inflation
- In the months between April 2020 and November 2020, retail inflation remained above 6%, while average wholesale inflation was -0.20%.
- During the financial crisis (2008-2009) wholesale inflation came down significantly as commodity prices crashed after a boom, but retail inflation kept rising.
- Correlation: This disconnect is reflected in the contemporaneous correlation between these two measures of inflation, which we find to be very low (0.04), and not significant.
Understanding the reasons for the disconnect
- We cannot rule out feedback from wholesale inflation to retail inflation.
- To better explore this, it helps to understand the driving forces behind retail and wholesale inflation.
- Driving factors for CPI: Retail inflation is closely linked to food and beverage prices, partly because of their higher weightage in the consumer price index (CPI).
- The dominance of supply shocks: High retail inflation in 2020 was primarily due to the rising prices of food and beverages.
- The surge was likely led by the usual supply shocks—rainfall, agricultural productivity, or Covid-19-induced supply shocks.
- This suggests two important features of Indian retail inflation: it is predominantly led by supply shocks (food inflation shock) and it is transitory in nature.
- Driving factor for WPI: High wholesale inflation in recent months was mainly due to rising prices in fuel and power and manufacturing, which together comprise around 77% of the wholesale price index (WPI).
- Rising fuel and energy prices in India were a result of the recent increase in global oil prices.
Takeaways
- High wholesale inflation should not warrant any immediate policy responses as the two inflation measures seem to reflect different things.
- Overall, the high correlation between world energy inflation and India’s wholesale inflation (0.88) indicates that India’s wholesale inflation is predominantly driven by world commodity prices.
- On the other hand, the low correlation between India’s retail inflation and world energy inflation (-0.13, and not significant), suggests that India’s retail inflation is primarily driven by domestic food prices.
- Higher wholesale inflation implies a higher profit margin for producers, which acts as an incentive for investment
- There are, in fact, some early signs of a revival in investment in recent quarters, and policy must be careful not to derail this.
Policy options
- Given the pass-through of wholesale inflation into retail inflation, if the ongoing commodity boom persists, then the fuel and power component of the WPI is likely to raise retail inflation directly.
- At that point, there would be some urgency to increase the interest rate, which may be premature and could dampen the revival of growth prospects.
- To avoid the interest rate response, the best option going forward would be to rationalise fuel taxes, to reduce the pass-through of global commodity prices into wholesale prices and ultimately into retail inflation.
Conclusion
The correct fiscal-monetary coordination requires fiscal policy not to be inflationary, so that the RBI can support growth by keeping interest rates low.
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Source:
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/time-to-rationalise-fuel-taxes-oil-is-a-major-input-in-production-hence-a-tax-on-it-is-highly-inflationary/2430635/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Geospatial sector
Context
Last year new guidelines took effect to completely de-regulate the geospatial sector for Indians.
Potential of India’s geospatial sector
- India has a robust ecosystem in geospatial, with the Survey of India (SoI), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), remote sensing application centres (RSAC)s, and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in particular, and all ministries and departments, in general, using geospatial technology.
- However, the full benefits have yet to percolate to the public; neither is there much contribution to the nation’s GDP.
- The Prime Minister’s speech during Independence Day and mention of geospatial in the Union Budget have created the necessary buzz.
- The last year has also witnessed some activity on the ground.
- The most noticeable was the over subscription of the initial public offering of MapmyIndia.
- The other noticeable activity was the launching of a city mapping programme by Genesys International in India.
- Such an aggressive stance by investors for geospatial was not seen in the earlier regime; it is certain that the new guidelines have played a role.
Challenges
- Lack of demand: There is no demand for geospatial services and products on a scale linked to India’s potential and size.
- This is mainly due to the lack of awareness among potential users in government and private.
- Lack of skilled manpower: The other hurdle has been the lack of skilled manpower across the entire pyramid.
- Unavailability of foundation data: The unavailability of foundation data, especially at high-resolution, is also a constraint.
- Lack of clarity on data sharing: The lack of clarity on data sharing and collaboration prevents co-creation and asset maximisation.
- Lastly, barring a few cases, there are still no ready-to-use solutions especially built to solve the problems of India.
Suggestions
- Despite one year since the new guidelines came into effect, users are still not fully aware of things.
- Publish policy document: First and foremost is the need to publish the entire policy document and make government and private users aware of things.
- Data sharing protocol: The data available with government departments should be unlocked, and data sharing should be encouraged and facilitated.
- Standards: The Government needs to invest in developing standards and must mandate the adoption of standards
- Foundation data: While different types of data will be produced on a project-to-project basis, there is a need to generate foundation data across India.
- This should include the Indian national digital elevation model (InDEM), data layers for cities, and data of natural resources.
- Local technology and solutions should be promoted, and competition should be encouraged for quality output.
- As the new guidelines prevent high-accuracy data being stored in overseas clouds, there is a need to develop a geospatial data cloud locally and facilitate a solution as service.
- Professionals: Unlike the West, India lacks a strata of core professionals who understand geospatial end-to-end. India should start a bachelor’s programme in geospatial also in the Indian Institutes of Technology and the National Institutes of Technology.
- Besides these, there should be a dedicated geospatial university.
Conclusion
The geospatial sector in the country is rightly positioned for investment. However, clarity on the issues discussed and the creation of an enabling ecosystem are essential.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMLA
Mains level: Issues with PMLA
The Supreme Court is looking into allegations of the metamorphosis of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), brought to sniff out drug money, into a potent weapon to raid rivals and deny rights.
What is meant by money laundering?
- Money laundering is the process of making significant amounts of money obtained through criminal activities, such as drug trafficking or terrorist funding, appear to have come from a legitimate source.
- Large profits are made by illegal arms sales, drug trafficking, smuggling and prostitution rings, insider trading, bribery, and computer fraud schemes.
- As a result, it provides an incentive for money launderers to “legitimize” their ill-gotten gains through money laundering.
- The money generated is referred to as ‘dirty money,’ and money laundering is the act of converting ‘dirty money’ into ‘legitimate’ money.
Money Laundering Procedure:
It is a 3-stage process. They are:
- Placement: The first stage involves the injection of crime money into the formal financial system.
- Layering is the second stage, money injected into the system is layered and spread over various transactions in order to conceal the money’s tainted origin.
- Integration: In the third and final stage, money enters the financial system in such a way that the initial association with the crime is sought to be erased, and the money can then be utilized as clean money by the offender.
Some of the most Common Money Laundering Methods:
- Bulk cash smuggling, cash-intensive businesses, round-tripping,trade-based laundering, shell companies and trusts, bank capture, gambling, real estate, black salaries, fictional loans, hawala, and false invoicing
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)
- PMLA, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted by the NDA government to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from money laundering.
- It was enacted in response to India’s global commitment (including the Vienna Convention) to combat the menace of money laundering.
- PMLA and the Rules notified there under came into force with effect from July 1, 2005.
- The act was amended in the year 2005, 2009 and 2012.
Objectives of PMLA
The PMLA seeks to combat money laundering in India and has three main objectives:
- To prevent and control money laundering.
- To confiscate and seize the property obtained from the laundered money; and
- To deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.
Key definitions
- Payment System: A system that enables payment to be effected between a payer and a beneficiary, involving clearing, payment or settlement service or all of them. It includes the systems enabling credit card, debit card, smart card, money transfer or similar operations.
- Money-laundering: Whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or assist other person or actually involved in any activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property.
- Attachment: Prohibition of transfer, conversion, disposition or movement of property by an appropriate legal order.
- Proceeds of crime: Any property derived or obtained, directly or indirectly, by any person as a result of criminal activity relating to a scheduled offence.
Salient features
- Punishment and Jail term: The Act prescribes that any person found guilty of money laundering shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment from three years to seven years. The maximum punishment may extend to 10 years instead of 7 years.
- Powers of attachment of tainted property: The Director or officer above the rank of Deputy Director with the authority of the Director, can provisionally attach property believed to be “proceeds of crime”.
- Adjudicating Authority: It is the authority appointed by the central government which decides whether any of the property attached or seized is involved in money laundering.
- Presumption in inter-connected transactions: Where money laundering involves two or more inter-connected transactions. It is presumed that the remaining transactions form part of such inter-connected transactions.
- Burden of proof: A person, who is accused of having committed the offense of money laundering, has to prove that alleged proceeds of crime are in fact lawful property.
- Appellate Tribunal: It is given the power to hear appeals against the orders of the Adjudicating Authority and any other authority under the Act. Its orders are not final and can be challenged.
- Establishment of Special Court: To ensure speedy trial.
Issues with PMLA
- Misuse of central agencies: PMLA is being pulled into the investigation of even ordinary crimes by the Enforcement Directorate.
- Seizing of assets: Assets of genuine victims have been attached. The ED could just walk into anybody’s house.
- Politically motivated raids: In all this, the fundamental purpose of PMLA to investigate the conversion of “illegitimate money into legitimate money” was lost.
- Opacity of charges: Petitioners pointed out that even the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) – an equivalent of the FIR – is considered an “internal document” and not given to the accused.
- Vagueness over evidences: The accused is called upon to make statements that are treated as admissible in evidence.
- Harassment: The ED begins to summon accused persons and seeks details of all their financial transactions and of their family members.
- Against individual liberty: The initiation of an investigation by the ED has consequences that have the potential of curtailing the liberty of an individual.
Way ahead
- It is unlikely that corruption can be substantially reduced without modifying the way government agencies operate.
- The fight against corruption is intimately linked with the reform of the investigations.
- Therefore the adjudicating authorities must work in cooperation and ensure the highest standards of transparency and fairness.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Data sovereignty issue
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended a ban on 54 Chinese mobile applications that pose a threat to the country’s security.
Legal basis of app ban
- The ban has been enforced under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
- This act empowers to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource.
- This is done in the interest of –
- sovereignty and integrity of India
- defense of India, security of the State
- friendly relations with foreign states
- public order (or)
- for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offense relating to above
Why MHA has put such a ban?
- Most of these apps were operating as clones or shadow apps of the apps that had earlier been banned by the government.
- There was stealing and secretly transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India.
- These apps largely impact the psychosocial abilities of the users.
- The immediate decision has been taken in a specific strategic and national security
Implications of the ban
- India’s offensive: The move comes as an exercise of coercive diplomacy with China amid the heated exchange of words during the diplomatic boycott on the winter Olympics.
- Hurting china’s ambitions: The ban may affect one of China’s most ambitious goals, namely to become the digital superpower of the 21st century.
- Data nationalization: The ban is also based on the recognition that data streams and digital technology are a new currency of global power.
Issues with the ban
- Not only China: Data privacy and data security concerns are not limited only to Chinese apps.
- Harm already caused: The apps that were banned were very popular in India and the move to block them comes after these apps had already amassed hundreds of millions of users in India.
- Further dependency on China: The ban on Chinese mobile apps is a relatively soft target, as India remains reliant on Chinese products in several critical and strategically sensitive sectors.
Way Forward
- There is a strong case to revise the key legislations and sync them to change the digital environment.
- Data privacy and security remain to be major challenges emanating from the ongoing digital revolution.
- Thus, a data protection law is long overdue.
- India must speed up indigenization, research, and development, and frame up a regulatory architecture to claim data sovereignty.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Charaka, Charaka Samhita, Ayurveda
Mains level: Medical Ethics of Charaka
The National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulator for medical education and practices that replaced the Medical Council of India in 2020, has suggested to medical colleges that the traditional Hippocratic Oath should be replaced by a “Charak Shapath”.
Who was Hippocrates?
- The Hippocratic Oath is attributed to Hippocrates of the island of Kos, a Greek physician of the classical period (4th-5th centuries BC, until the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC).
- It broadly corresponds to the period from the death of the Buddha (486 BC) to the rise of the Mauryas (321 BC) in India.
- Among the great contemporaries of Hippocrates were the Athenian philosopher Plato and his teacher Socrates, and Plato’s student and Alexander’s tutor, the polymath Aristotle.
- He is regarded as the “father of modern medicine”.
What is the Hippocratic Oath?
- Basically, the Hippocratic Oath is a charter of ethical principles that physicians over the ages have sworn to uphold in the practice of their profession.
- The earliest available fragments of what is understood to be the original oath date back to the late 3rd century AD, and a millennium-old version is now in the library of the Holy See.
What are general outlines of a Medical Oath?
- Always exercise his/her independent professional judgment and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct
- Respect a competent patient’s right to accept or refuse treatment
- Not allow his/her judgment to be influenced by personal profit or unfair discrimination
- Be dedicated to providing competent medical service in full professional and moral independence, with compassion and respect for human dignity
- Deal honestly with patients and colleagues, and report to the appropriate authorities those physicians who practice unethically or incompetently or who engage in fraud or deception
- Certify only that which he/she has personally verified
- Respect the local and national codes of ethics
About Charaka and Charak Samhita
- The Charak Samhita is a medical pharmacopeia and collection of commentaries and discussions on medical practices that is dated to the 1st-2nd centuries AD.
- Along with the compendium of Susruta (c. 4th century AD), which is about surgery, the Charak Samhita is considered the foundational text of ancient Indian medicine,.
- It is an evolved system of understanding and treating disease that resembled that of Hippocrates and Galen (2nd century AD), and was in some ways ahead of the Greeks.
- In theory and praxis, ayurvedic medicine today remains broadly unchanged from these ancient Indian principles.
The medical ethics of Charaka
- The physician was an important and respected member of ancient Indian society, and medical practice followed rules of professional conduct and ethical principles. It goes on to say that-
- You must strive with all your soul for the health of the sick.
- You must not betray your patients, even at the cost of your own life.
- You must not get drunk, or commit evil, or have evil companions.
- You must be pleasant of speech…and thoughtful, always striving to improve your knowledge.
- When you go to the home of a patient you should direct your words, mind, intellect, and senses nowhere but to your patient and his treatment.
- Nothing that happens in the house of the sick man must be told outside, nor must the patient’s condition be told to anyone who might do harm by that knowledge to the patient or to another.
- This ethical code is universal, and remains just as relevant and applicable today.
Arguments in favour of Charaka Oath
- There is no universally accepted version of the physician’s oath.
- Many medical schools around the world hold a ceremony in which graduating doctors swear to a broad charter of ethics that are sometimes customised by individual institutions.
- A version of the ‘physician’s code of ethics’ is commonly displayed in hospitals or clinics in most places, including India.
Issues with this oath
- The opposition has criticised the proposal as an attempt to saffronise medical education.
- Introducing Indian elements into Indian education is necessary, but not at the expense of universal values and standards.
- Like several other sages mentioned in the literature of ancient India, the historicity of Charaka is still uncertain.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Erra Matti Dibbalu
Mains level: NA
Citizens join hands to preserve the geological marvel of Erra Matti Dibbalu in Visakhapatnam.
What is Erra Matti Dibbalu?
- Located between Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam, the Erra Matti Dibbalu are rare red sand dunes that are a reminder of the million years of geological processes.
- Its towering red sand dunes with patches of greenery is like a meandering maze.
- The width of the dunes, which runs for five kilometres along the coast, varies from 200 metres to two kilometres.
- It is listed among the 34 notified National Geological Heritage Monument Sites of India by the Geological Survey of India.
(Don’t they resemble to Ravines of Chambal?)
Its formation
- Studies indicate that the area was tectonically active between 2.5 million years and 11,000 years ago.
- The sediments are mainly derived from the Khondalite rocks from the hinterland of the Eastern Ghats.
- Geologically these red sand dune sediments particularly hold significance.
- They are the result of the combined effect of numerous factors including global climatic changes, sea-level variations, monsoonal variability and as a result serves as valuable paleo-environment indicators.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tilka Manjhi
Mains level: Tribal Revolts during colonial times
The Nation is remembering revolutionary freedom fighter and tribal leader Tilka Manjhi on his 272nd birth anniversary.
Tilka Manjhi (1750-1785)
- He organized Adivasis into an army and led the famous Santhal Hool in 1784 against the exploitative British.
- In 1770, there was a severe famine in the Santhal region and people were dying of hunger.
- Tilka Manjhi looted the treasury of the East India Company and distributed it among the poor and needy.
- Inspired by this noble act of Tilka, many other tribals also joined the rebellion.
- With this began his Santhal Hool, the revolt of the Santhals.
- He continued to attack the British and their sycophantic allies.
- From 1771 to 1784, Tilka Manjhi never surrendered.
Offensive with the colonists
- Tilka Majhi attacked Augustus Cleveland, an East India Company administrator and fatally wounded him.
- The British surrounded the Tilapore forest from which he operated but he and his men held them at bay for several weeks.
- When he was finally caught in 1784, he was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged all the way to the Collector’s residence at Bhagalpur, Bihar, India.
- There, his deeply wounded body was hung from a Banyan tree.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.After the Santhal uprising subsided, what was/ were the measure/measures taken by the colonial government?
- The territories called ‘Santhal Paraganas’ were created.
- It became illegal for a Santhal to transfer land to a non Santhal.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 16
Mains level: Paper 2- Reservation in jobs for locals
Context
Last week, the Punjab and Haryana High Court admitted a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Act, and stayed the implementation until it heard the case.
Laws raises constitutional questions
- There are at least three important constitutional questions that arise from this Act.
[1] Violation of Article 19(1)(g)
- Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution guarantees freedom to carry out any occupation, trade or business.
- There may be reasonable restrictions “in the interests of the general public”, and in particular related to specifying any professional or technical qualifications, or to reserve a sector for government monopoly.
- This Act, by requiring private businesses to reserve 75% of lower end jobs for locals, encroaches upon their right to carry out any occupation.
- In 2005, in the P.A. Inamdar case, Supreme Court said that reservation cannot be mandated on educational institutions that do not receive financial aid from the state, as that would affect the freedom of occupation.
[2] Violation of Article 16
- The provision of reservation by virtue of domicile or residence may be unconstitutional.
- Article 16 of the Constitution specifically provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in public employment.
- It prohibits discrimination on several grounds including place of birth and residence.
- However, it permits Parliament to make law that requires residence within a State for appointment to a public office.
- This enabling provision is for public employment and not for private sector jobs.
- And the law needs to be made by Parliament, and not by a State legislature.
[3] Breaching of 50% limit
- In the Indra Sawhney case in 1992, the Supreme Court capped reservations in public services at 50%.
- It however said that there may be extraordinary situations which may need a relaxation in this rule.
- It also specified that “in doing so, extreme caution is to be exercised and a special case made out”.
- That is, the onus is on the State to make a special case of exceptional circumstances, for the 50% upper limit on reservations to be relaxed.
- It stated that the 50% limit is “to fulfil the objective of equality”, and that to breach the limit “is to have a society which is not founded on equality but on caste rule”.
- The Haryana Act does not further “caste rule” as it is for all residents of the State irrespective of caste but it breaches the notion of equality of all citizens of India.
[4] Against the conception of India as a one nation
- The Constitution conceptualises India as one nation with all citizens having equal rights to live, travel and work anywhere in the country.
- These State laws go against this vision by restricting the right of out-of-State citizens to find employment in the State.
- This restriction may also indirectly affect the right to reside across India as finding employment becomes difficult.
- If more States follow similar policies, it would be difficult for citizens to migrate from their State to other States to find work.
[5] Economic implications
- The move may potentially increase the costs for companies.
- There may also be an increase in income inequality across States as citizens of poorer States with fewer job opportunities are trapped within their States.
Conclusion
The courts, while looking at the narrow questions of whether these laws violate fundamental rights, should also examine whether they breach the basic structure of the Constitution that views India as one nation which is a union of States, and not as a conglomeration of independent States.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHG from agriculture
Mains level: Paper 3- Moving toward net-zero agriculture
Context
In the backdrop of the 2070 carbon neutrality target set by India at the CoP26 in Glasgow, the Union Budget for 2022-23 has listed “climate action” and “energy transition” as one of the four priorities for the Amrit Kaal.
Climate related announcement in Budget 2022-23
- An additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore for solar PV modules has been made.
- The finance minister also talked of co-firing of 5-7 per cent of biomass pellets in thermal power plants, “sovereign green bonds” and a “battery-swapping policy”.
- These are positive steps towards making the energy and transport sectors less polluting.
How agriculture impact environement
- Agriculture contributes 73 per cent of the country’s methane emissions.
- Third largest emitter: India has kept away from the recent EU-US pledge to slash methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, despite the country being the world’s third largest emitter of methane.
- As per the national GHG inventory, the agriculture sector emits 408 MMT of carbon-dioxide equivalent and rice cultivation is the third highest source (17.5 per cent) of GHG emissions in Indian agriculture after enteric fermentation (54.6 per cent) and fertiliser use (19 per cent).
- Paddy fields are anthropogenic sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide and methane, which have been reckoned as 273 and 80-83 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in driving temperature increase in 20 years’ (Sixth Assessment Report IPCC 2021).
- Moreover, paddy fields require about 4,000 cubic metres of water per tonne of rice for irrigation.
- There is scientific evidence that intermittent flooding reduces water and methane emissions but increases nitrous oxide emissions.
- Thus, lowering of methane emissions through controlled irrigation does not necessarily mean net low emissions.
- Role of subsidies and procurement policies: The environmental damage caused by agriculture is largely a result of the various kinds of subsidies — on urea, canal irrigation and power for irrigation — as well as the minimum support prices (MSP) and procurement policies concentrated on a few states and largely on two crops, rice, and wheat.
Excess rice and wheat stock
- As of January 1, the stocks of wheat and rice in the country’s central pool were four times higher than the buffer stocking requirement.
- Rice stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are seven times the buffer norms for rice.
- The financial value of these excessive grain stocks is Rs 2.14 lakh crore, of which Rs 1.66 lakh crore is because of excess rice stocks — as per the economic cost of rice and wheat given by the FCI.
- All this does not just reflect inefficient use of scarce capital, the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) embedded in these stocks is also large.
Way forward
- Carbon tax: According to the IMF, the world needs a carbon tax of $ 75 per tonne by 2030 to reduce emissions to a level consistent with a 2 degree Celsius warming target.
- India does not have an explicit carbon-price yet, but many countries have begun to implement carbon pricing.
- Revisiting policies: The Economic Survey 2021-22 points out that the country is over-exploiting its ground water resource (see map), particularly in the northwest and some parts of south India.
- This calls for revisiting policies to subsidise power and fertilisers, MSP and procurement and reorient them towards minimising GHG emissions.
- Farmer groups and the private sector can be mobilised to develop carbon markets in agriculture, both at the national and international levels, which can reward farmers in cash for switching from carbon-intensive crops to lower GHG emissions.
Consider the question “Elaborate on the impact of agriculture on the environment. Suggest the changes needed in Indian agriculture policies to reduce the impact.”
Conclusion
Such a move towards “net-zero” agriculture will give India a “climate smart” agriculture in Amrit Kaal. And, if we can protect productivity levels with a low-carbon footprint, it will help India to access global markets too.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
Mains level: Disinvestment in India
The Union government has filed a draft document with the stock market regulator for selling 5% of its shares in the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.
Details of the IPO
- The IPO is a 100% OFS [offer for sale] by the Government of India and entails no fresh issue of shares by LIC.
- 6 Crore shares are on offer representing 5% of the government’s equity in the firm.
- As much as 10% of the offer could be reserved for LIC policyholders, as per the regulatory filing, and another 5% of the shares may be reserved for employees.
About Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
- LIC is an Indian state-owned insurance group and investment corporation owned by the Government of India.
- It was founded in 1956 when the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalized the insurance industry in India.
- Over 245 insurance companies and provident societies were merged to create the state-owned LIC.
Why LIC?
- LIC is India’s largest financial institution.
- When listed on stock exchanges, it could easily emerge as the country’s top listed company in terms of market valuation, overtaking current leaders Reliance and TCS.
- It is also the largest investor in government securities and stock markets every year.
- On average, LIC invests Rs 55,000 crore to Rs 65,000 crore in stock markets every year and emerges as the largest investor in Indian stocks.
- LIC also has huge investments in debentures and bonds besides providing funding for many infrastructure projects.
Impacts of listing of LICs
- Profit-making for govt: The government is trying to make the most of the brand value of LIC, given that it is one of the few remaining profit-making entities owned by the state.
- Better returns: Listing will boost LIC’s efficiency and thereby policy returns.
- Reforming the insurance sector: LIC will also become more competitive. This will put pressure on its peers to innovate, benefitting policyholders in terms of pricing, product features, and services.
- Better financial position: Less govt interference will be a positive for LIC’s financial health.
- Risk-free: As long as a sovereign guarantee over the maturity proceeds and the sum assured to continue, policyholders won’t perceive any risk.
Various challenges
- Structural challenges: LIC can even evolve into a bank like many of its global peers like Axa, Berkshire, and Munich Re.
- Market hurdles: LIC’s own issues are not the only challenge the company would face in going public. It also remains to be seen if the Indian share market is ready to absorb such a large public issue.
- Impact on growth: The size of the IPO will determine the extent of liquidity it will suck out, but Indian markets do not have the depth to take the issue of a very size.
- Fears of disclosure: The Company’s books and operations have been opaque for far too long but it is trusted by 250 million policyholders.
- Investors trust at risk: Being one of the biggest financial institutions of the country, the move to privatize LIC will shake the confidence of the common man and will be an affront to our financial sovereignty.
Way Forward
- Over the years, LIC has become the lender of last resort to the Government of India.
- Confronted with an unprecedented fiscal deficit and worried by an economy in crisis, the government has to find resources.
- This disinvestment is also a preferred option for ideological and practical reasons.
- The government could utilize the money gained by selling off its stakes to improve services in public goods like infrastructure, health, and education.
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