Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Avicennia marina
Mains level: Mangroves and their significance
Scientists at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have reported for the first time a reference-grade whole genome sequence of a highly salt-tolerant and salt-secreting true-mangrove species Avicennia Marina.
Avicennia marina
- Avicennia marina is one of the most prominent mangroves species found in all mangrove formations in India.
- It is a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater.
- It is among the rare plant species, which can excrete 40% of the salt through the salt glands in the leaves, besides its extraordinary capacity to exclude salt entry to the roots.
Why in news?
- The A. marina genome assembled in this study is nearly complete and can be considered as a reference-grade genome reported so far for any mangrove species globally and the first report from India.
- This study assumes significance as agriculture productivity globally is affected due to abiotic stress factors such as limited water availability and salinization of soil and water.
Its significance
- Availability of water is a signiďŹcant challenge to crop production in dryland areas, accounting for ~40 per cent of the worldâs total land area.
- Salinity is prevalent in ~900 million hectares globally (with an estimated 6.73 million ha in India), and it is estimated to cause an annual loss of 27 billion USD.
- The genomic resources generated in the study will pave the way for researchers to study the potential of the identified genes for developing drought and salinity tolerant varieties of important crop species.
- This is particularly important for the coastal region as India has 7,500m of coastline and two major island systems.
Try these PYQs:
Q.Which one of the following is the correct sequence of ecosystems in the order of decreasing productivity? (CSP 2013)
(a) Oceans, lakes, grasslands, mangroves
(b) Mangroves, oceans, grasslands, lakes
(c) Mangroves, grasslands, lakes, oceans
(d) Oceans, mangroves, lakes, grasslands
Q.The 2004 Tsunami made people realize that mangroves can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge? (CSP 2011)
(a) The mangrove swamps separate the human settlements from the sea by a wide zone in which people neither live nor venture out
(b) The mangroves provide both food and medicines which people are in need of after any natural disaster
(c) The mangrove trees are tall with dense canopies and serve as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or tsunami
(d) The mangrove trees do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots.
Back2Basics: Mangroves
- A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water.
- Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 30° N and 30° S, with the greatest mangrove area within 5° of the equator.
- Mangroves are salt-tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to live in harsh coastal conditions.
- They contain a complex salt filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion and wave action.
- They are adapted to the low-oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud.
- They are a unique group of species found in marshy intertidal estuarine regions and survive a high degree of salinity through several adaptive mechanisms.
- They form a link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, protect shorelines, provide habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial organisms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
Mains level: Not Much
The GIS Enabled Land Bank is gaining immense popularity.
Try to answer this question in short:
Q.Discuss the benefits of digitizing land records in India.
India Industrial Land Bank (IILB)
- The IILB is a GIS-based portal with all industrial infrastructure-related information such as connectivity, infra, natural resources and terrain, plot-level information on vacant plots, line of activity, and contact details.
- It was launched by the Ministry for Commerce and Industry in 2020.
- Currently, the IILB has approximately 4000 industrial parks mapped across an area of 5.5 lakh hectares of land, serving as a decision support system for investors scouting for land remotely.
- The system has been integrated with industry-based GIS systems of 17 states to have details on the portal updated on a real-time basis and will achieve pan-India integration by December 2021.
- In the previous quarter (Apr â Jun 2021) total users were 13,610 out of which 12,996 were unique users with total page views of approximately 1.3 lakh.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Reforms in institutions and role of civil society
Context
In the wake of the second wave of Covid, our failure as a country to hold our government accountable is evident. Civil society perhaps also needs to re-examine its role.
What constitutes civil society
- Indiaâs civil society has many actors:
- Grassroots organisations that connect to the last mile and provide essential services.
- Think tanks and academic institutions that churn out new policy ideas and generate evidence.
- Advocacy organisations that amplify and build support for causes.
- Large impact funds and philanthropists who decide how these organisations get funded.
Challenges faced by civil society
- Government have significantly curtailed the kind of activities that civil society actors can engage in.
- Philanthropists and donor organisations often find themselves unable to support initiatives that strengthen Indiaâs democracy and its accountability mechanisms, for fear of retribution.
- By ignoring the politics around policy and focussing disproportionately on technocratic solutions, civil society has also missed the wood for the trees.
How civil society can play role in reforms of democratic institutions
- In the absence of a strong push from civil society, our democratic institutions have no intrinsic incentive to reform.
- There is a need to re-examine parliamentary rules that are heavily tilted in favour of the sitting government, strengthen the judiciary, bolster federalism and the independent media, while creating transparency in decision making within the executive.
- Civil society has an important and irreplaceable role to play here.
- Civil society organisations too need to broaden their agenda to include issues that strengthen Indiaâs institutions while collaborating to present a strong unified voice that demands more transparency and accountability in all areas and levels of policymaking.
- This involves taking more fights to the courts on transgressions by the government, building public opinion about expectations from a well-functioning democracy and creating tools and fora that help citizens engage with policymaking more readily.
Conclusion
To not see the strengthening of institutions and the deepening of checks and balances as important areas of work is our collective failure, one we must address immediately.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for a coordinated database of fugitives
Context
India lacks a domestic tracking system for fugitives. That makes it easier for them to evade the criminal justice system.
Challenges at investigation and prosecution level
- Central agencies have developed reasonable expertise in investigation and prosecution because they are focussed only on investigation and prosecution work.
- On the other hand, State police forces (except specialised wings) are engaged in law-and-order work as well as investigations.
- The bulk of the investigation and prosecution work happens at police stations in the States.
- There is a tendency to close investigations once the accused have absconded.
- Some police stations do initiate proceedings for attachment of property and declaration of the accused as proclaimed offenders, but the number of cases where coordinated efforts are made to pursue fugitives â domestically or internationally â are hardly documented.
No system for tracking criminals domestically
- Through Interpol Notices and the sharing of immigration databases of different countries, there exists a system of tracking criminals worldwide.
- However, there is no coordinated system or database for tracking criminals or wanted persons domestically in India.
- In the absence of such a system, it is relatively easy for criminals from one police station/jurisdiction to melt into the population in any other area, almost undetected.
Way forward
- The creation of a nationwide database of wanted persons, which could be accessible for police agencies, the public and others is needed.
- A nation-wide system of âWanted Persons Noticesâ, similar to Interpol Notices, is required, to help track fugitives domestically.
- The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the National Intelligence Grid are efforts in the right direction/
- Countries like the U.S. have functional inter-State extradition and fugitive tracking systems.
- India needs to set up such dedicated âfugitive tracking unitsâ.
- There needs to be enhanced integration between immigration agencies, State police agencies, Interpol-New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry and Home Ministry and central investigation agencies.
- Sharing India’s âwantedâ database or providing access to it to foreign embassies on a reciprocal basis or through treaties or arrangements would also be helpful.
- Signing of more bilateral and multilateral conventions on criminal matters would help plug legal infirmities.
- Signing bilateral agreements on cooperation in policing matters would also help.
- All relevant legal processes and requirements should be incorporated into one consolidated law on international cooperation.
- The entire gamut of activities pertaining to fugitives, from investigation to extradition, needs to be incorporated into a specialised set-up.
Conclusion
In the absence of a coordinated database, criminals can go undetected. What we need is a watertight system that would deter criminals from hoodwinking the law.
Back2Basics: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)
- CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level.
- It aism at adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state of- the-art tracking system around “investigation of crime and detection of criminals” in real time.
- It is is a critical requirement in the context of the present day internal security scenario.
- The scope of CCTNS spans all 35 States and Union Territories and covers all Police Stations (15,000+ in number) and all Higher Police Offices (6,000+ in number) in the country.
- The CCTNS project includes vertical connectivity of police units (linking police units at various levels within the States – police stations, district police offices, state headquarters, SCRB and other police formations â and States, through state headquarters and SCRB, to NCRB at GOI level) as well as horizontal connectivity, linking police functions at State and Central level to external entities.
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
- First conceptualised in 2009, NATGRID seeks to become the one-stop destination for security and intelligence agencies to access database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details of a suspect on a âsecured platformâ.
- All State police are mandated to file First Information Reports (FIR) in the CCTNS.
- It is only a repository and the data pertaining to FIRs of a particular police station are a State subject.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 124 and Article 214
Mains level: Paper 2- Collegium system
Context
Judiciary is being challenged, from within and outside. It must shield itself from further erosion of its independence and competence by scrupulously following the law, as declared by the Supreme Court (SC) itself.
How the Collegium helped to secure the independence of judiciary
- In 1993, the SC held the following:
- The process of appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts is an integrated âparticipatory consultative processâ.
- The process aims at selecting the best and most suitable persons available for appointment.
- The Collegium consists of the CJI and the four senior-most judges of the SC and high courts.
- It was devised to ensure that the opinion of the Chief Justice of India is not merely his individual opinion, but an opinion formed collectively by a body of men at the apex level in the judiciary.
- By judicial interpretation, the Supreme Court re-interpreting Article 124 and 214 of the Constitution empowered the judiciary to make appointments to the higher judiciary to secure the rule of law.
Threat to the judicial independence
- The framers of the Constitution were alive to the likely erosion of judicial independence.
- On May 23, 1949, K T Shah stated that the Judiciary, which is the main bulwark of civil liberties, should be completely separate from and independent of the Executive, whether by direct or by indirect influence.
- In 2016, the Supreme Court struck down a constitutional amendment for creating the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
- The SC strongly disapproved of any role for the political executive in the final selection and appointment of judges.
- The SC said that âreciprocity and feelings of payback to the political executiveâ would be disastrous to the independence of the judiciary.
Consider the question “How the Collegium system helped the Judiciary secure its independence? What are the issues with it?”
Conclusion
The selection of deserving judges is essential to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The Collegium must do its best in this task.
Back2Basics: About the National Judicial Appointments Commission
- The NJAC or National Judicial Appointments Commission sought to change the system, where judges would have been appointed by a commission where the legislative and the executive would have had a role.
- The NJAC was supposed to comprise of the Chief Justice of India (Chairperson, ex-officio), two other senior judges of the Supreme Court, The Union Minister of Law and Justice, ex-officio and two eminent persons, to be appointed by the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister of India, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014 and by the Rajya Sabha on 14 August 2014, and became an Act.
- The NJAC replaced the collegium system for the appointment of judges.
- The NJAC Bill and the Constitutional Amendment Bill, was ratified by 16 of the state legislatures in India, and the President gave his assent on 31 December 2014.
- The NJAC Act became effective from April 13, 2015.
- The NJAC enjoyed support from the Supreme Court Bar Association and many legal luminaries but was also challenged by some lawyer associations and groups before the Supreme Court of India through Writ Petitions.
- A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court referred the matter to a Constitution Bench that heard different arguments for over a month.
- Â Finally, on October 16, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court declared the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the NJAC Act 2014 “unconstitutional and void”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Centre has decided to allow state-run market yards to access financing facilities through its Agricultural Infrastructure Fund to calm the fears of protesting farmers that such market yards are being weakened.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Schemes
- It is a Central Sector Scheme meant for setting up storage and processing facilities, which will help farmers, get higher prices for their crops.
- The Union Cabinet approved this scheme in July 2020 for a period of 10 years.
- It will support farmers, PACS, FPOs, Agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure.
- These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage and increase processing and value addition.
   Note the following things about AIF:
   1) It is a Central Sector Scheme
   2) Duration of the scheme
   3)Target beneficiaries
What exactly is the AIF?
- The AIF is a medium â long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
- Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with an interest subvention of 3% per annum.
- It will provide credit guarantee coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for loans up to Rs. 2 Crore.
Target beneficiaries
The beneficiaries will include farmers:
- PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, FPOs, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects
What are the new changes?
- The Union Cabinet decided to extend the AIF to State agencies and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs), as well as federations of cooperative organizations, Farmers Producers Organizations and self-help groups.
- They will now be eligible for interest subvention for loans up to âš2 crores, with APMCs allowed to access separate loans for different kinds of infrastructure projects to build cold storage, silos, sorting, grading and assaying units in their market yards.
- The scheme has also been extended to 2032-33.
Why such a move?
- The modifications in the Scheme will help to achieve a multiplier effect in generating investments while ensuring that the benefits reach small and marginal farmers.
- The APMC markets are set up to provide market linkages and create an ecosystem of post-harvest public infrastructure open to all farmers.
- This is also proof that APMC will not end as the farmers’ concern since the three farm laws.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tele Law Scheme
Mains level: Pendency issue in Indian Judiciary
The Law Ministry recently commemorated an event to mark the coverage of more than nine lakh beneficiaries of the governmentâs tele-law scheme, using common service centres (CSCs) to provide justice across the country.
Tele-Law Scheme
- The concept of Tele-Law is to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers stationed at the State Legal Services Authorities (SALSA) and CSC.
- Tele-Law means the use of communications and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice.
- The project initiates to connect citizens with lawyers through video conferencing facilities by the Para-Legal Volunteers stationed at identified 50,000 CSCs.
- This e-interaction between lawyers and people would be through the video-conferencing infrastructure available at the CSCs.
Features of the program
- Under this programme, smart technology of video conferencing, telephone/instant calling facilities available at the vast network of CSC.
- It enables anyone to seek legal advice without wasting precious time and money.
- The service is free for those who are eligible for free legal Aid as mentioned under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987.
- For all others, a nominal fee is charged.
Back2Basics: Free legal aid in India
- Article 21 of the Constitution of India states, âNo person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by lawâ.
- Hence ensuring legal aid to everyone is necessary for ensuring substantive equality.
- Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society, to promote justice on the basis of equal opportunity.
- Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before the law and a legal system that promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Methanogens on saturn's moon
Mains level: Hunt for extra-terrestrial life
NASAâs Cassini spacecraft has detected an unusually high concentration of methane, along with carbon dioxide and dihydrogen, in the moons of Saturn by flying through their plumes.
What is the new observation?
- The spacecraft has found that Titan has methane in its atmosphere and Enceladus has a liquid ocean with erupting plumes of gas and water.
Are there methane-producing organisms on Earth?
- Most of the methane on Earth has a biological origin.
- Microorganisms called methanogens are capable of generating methane as a metabolic byproduct.
- They do not require oxygen to live and are widely distributed in nature.
- They are found in swamps, dead organic matter, and even in the human gut.
- They are known to survive in high temperatures and simulation studies have shown that they can live in Martian conditions.
- Methanogens have been widely studied to understand if they can be a contributor to global warming.
Could there be methanogens on Enceladus?
- We cannot conclude that life exists in the Enceladus ocean.
- It is the probability that Enceladusâ hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earth-like microorganisms.
- There can be life hypotheses.
What other processes could have produced the methane?
- Methane could be formed by the chemical breakdown of organic matter present in Enceladusâ core.
- Hydrothermal processes could help the formation of carbon dioxide and methane.
- On Earth, hydrothermal vents on seafloors are known to release methane, but this happens at a very slow rate.
- This hypothesis is plausible but only if Enceladus was formed through the accretion of organic-rich material from comets.
- The results suggest that methane production from hydrothermal vents is not sufficient to explain the high methane concentration detected by Cassini in the plumes.
- An additional amount of methane produced via biological methanogenesis could match Cassiniâs observations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State Development Loans
Mains level: Paper 3- Centre needs to help states to tide over the uncertain year
Context
The states are borrowing less than expected in the first quarter of FY 2021-22 despite the negative impact of state-level restrictions, amidst the second Covid wave, on economic activity.
An overview of borrowing by States
- In 2020-21, the gross amount raised through state development loans (SDLs) or bonds had jumped to Rs 8 trillion, up from Rs 6.3 trillion in the previous year.
- The increase was a fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on state finances.
- In the first quarter of the current financial year i.e. 2021-22, gross issuances of bonds stood at Rs 1.4 trillion.
- This amount is 14 per cent lower than the bonds issued last year (Rs 1.7 trillion).
- This is also around 20 per cent lower than what states had initially indicated they would borrow (Rs 1.8 trillion) through the indicative calendar of market borrowings released by the RBI.
- As a result, state bond issuances have undershot expectations in the first quarter.
Factor’s responsible for lower state borrowing
- Â Lower state borrowings were a consequence of three major factors.
- First, an additional tax devolution of Rs 450 billion from the Centre in late March.
- This amount was in excess of the Rs 5.5 trillion tax devolution that had been included in the revised estimates for 2020-21.
- Second, record-high GST collections in April which doubled to Rs 1.3 trillion in the first quarter of this year, up from Rs 0.6 trillion in the same period last year.
- Third, receipt of substantial grants from the Centre adding up to Rs 436 billion in April-May related to the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Factors that could influence the borrowing pattern in the next three quarters
- First, the varying pace of unlocking and the consequent economic revival in states from June onwards may crucially affect state borrowings in the second quarter.
- A faster ramp-up of vaccine administration may help some states, reducing the need to borrow.
- Second, the eventual calendar for raising back-to-back loans by the GoI to compensate states for the loss in their GST revenues could also result in a change in the statesâ borrowing schedule.
- Third, the quantum, and timing of tax devolution will also play a role.
Why timing of the Central tax devolution matters for States
- Central tax devolution forms a quarter of statesâ combined revenue receipts.
- This revenue stream has contracted by 15 per cent in the first two months of the year, falling to Rs 392 billion each in April-May this year, from Rs 460 billion last year.
- If the Centre continues to devolve to states this amount till February 2022, then a massive Rs 2.4 trillion (36 per cent of the budgeted amount) will be left for devolution in March 2022 â assuming that the devolution for the full year is not revised below the budgeted level.
- From the statesâ point of view, this would be rather inefficient from a cash flow perspective.
Conclusion
An early step-up in tax devolution by the central government may provide comfort to the states to accelerate expenditure during another uncertain year, without borrowings being pushed up in the next two quarters.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UAPA
Mains level: Paper 2- Misuse of UAPA and role of judiciary
Context
Father Stan Swamy passed away at a private hospital in Mumbai on July 5. Fr. Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
How Supreme Court judgment leaves the scope for misuse of UAPA
- The Supreme Court’s April 2019 decision in National Investigation Agency vs Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali on the interpretation of the UAPA has affected all downstream decisions involving the statute.
- This decision has created a new doctrine.
- According to the decision, in considering bail applications under the UAPA, courts must presume every allegation made in the First Information Report to be correct.
- Further, bail can now be obtained only if the accused produces material to contradict the prosecution.
- In other words, the burden rests on the accused to disprove the allegations, which is virtually impossible in most cases.
- The decision has essentially excluded the admissibility of evidence at the stage of bail.
- By doing so, it has effectively excluded the Evidence Act itself, which arguably makes the decision unconstitutional.
- Due to the Supreme Court judgment, High Courts have their hands tied, and must perforce refuse bail, as disproving the case is virtually impossible.
- The Delhi High Court recently granted bail to three young activists arrested under UAPA in a conspiracy relating to the 2020 riots in Delhi.
- The Supreme Court reportedly expressed surprise and gave the direction that the decision will ânot to be treated as precedent by any courtâ to give similar reliefs.
Misuse of the UAPA
- With such high barriers of proof, it is now impossible for an accused to obtain bail, and is in fact a convenient tool to put a person behind bars indefinitely.
- This is being abused by the government, police and prosecution liberally: now, all dissenters are routinely implicated under charges of sedition or criminal conspiracy and under the UAPA.
- Â In multiple instances, evidence is untenable, sometimes even arguably planted, and generally weak overall.
- But as a consequence of UAPA being applied, the accused cannot even get bail.
Way forward
- If we want to prevent the misuse, the decision in the Watali case must be urgently reversed or diluted, otherwise, we run the risk of personal liberties being compromised very easily.
Conclusion
The provision of the act leaves the scope for misuse and therefore judiciary and legislature need to take steps to provide safeguards to prevent the misuse.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: One nation, one ration card scheme
Mains level: Paper 2- Guidelines for providing relief to migrant workers
Context
The Supreme Court on June 29 pronounced its judgment in the migrant labourers case. The case was initiated last year after the national lockdown was announced on March 24.
Guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court
- Two of the most important components to protect the migrants during this time were the food and travel arrangements insisted on by the court.
- In the orders pronounced in May this year, it laid down that dry ration be provided to migrants who want to return to their homes.
- Further, the court said that identity proof should not be insisted upon by the governments since the labourers might not be able to furnish it.
- Secondly, the court called upon the State governments to arrange transportation for workers who need to return to their homes.
- The Supreme Court fixed July 31 as the deadline for the States to implement the âOne nation One Ration Cardâ scheme.
- Apart from dry ration, the top court also directed the State governments to run community kitchens for migrant workers.
- In the order passed on June 29, the court affirmed the Right to Food under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- In furtherance of this, the court asked the States to formulate their own schemes and issue food grains to migrants.
- The top court recognised the need for direct cash benefit transfer to workers in the unorganised sector.
- But it did not issue any guidelines for the same.
Challenges
- The Supreme Court has given a purposive declaration in the case but the bulk of the judgment seems declaratory rather than mandatory.Â
- Under the âOne nation One Ration Cardâ scheme, the States are to complete the registration of migrant workers in order to provide dry ration to them.
- But it is unlikely that a standardised system can be developed within the deadline prescribed by the court.
- There are administrative problems in running community kitchens for migrant workers.
- First, migrant workers keep moving in search of employment and it is difficult to cover them all under the scheme.
- Second, many States do not have the necessary infrastructure to run and maintain community kitchens on such a large scale.
- The court asked the States to formulate their own schemes and issue food grains to migrants, but there are no normative data that would allow the States to identify eligible migrants.
Conclusion
In order to efficaciously implement the orders of the court, the State governments need to work with the Centre closely. It is imperative to ensure that government machinery works to its full potential and robust systems are developed to withstand the challenges of the looming third covid wave.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Harit Dhara
Mains level: Methane pollution
An Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute has developed an anti-methanogenic feed supplement âHarit Dharaâ.
Harit Dhara
- Harit Dhara is prepared using condensed and hydrolysable tannin-rich plant-based sources abundantly available in the country.
- It changes the composition of the volatile fatty acids that are the end-products of rumen fermentation (along with hydrogen and CO2).
- It roughly costs Rs 6/kg and it is to be fed only to animals aged above three months having fully functional rumen.
- When given to bovines and sheep, it not only cuts down their methane emissions by 17-20%.
- It also results in higher milk production and body weight gain.
Why it is significant?
- Belching cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats in India emit an estimated 9.25 million tonnes (mt) to 14.2 mt of methane annually, out of a global total of 90 mt-plus from livestock.
- And given methaneâs global warming potential â 25 times of carbon dioxide (CO2) over 100 years, making it a more potent greenhouse gas â thatâs cause for concern.
- An average lactating cow or buffalo in India emits around 200 litres of methane per day, while it is 85-95 litres for young growing heifers and 20-25 litres for adult sheep.
- Feeding Harit Dhara can reduce these by a fifth.
How is methane produced by the cattles?
- Methane is produced by animals having rumen, the first of their four stomachs where the plant material they eat â cellulose, fibre, starch and sugars â gets fermented or broken down by microorganisms prior to further digestion and nutrient absorption.
- Carbohydrate fermentation leads to the production of CO2 and hydrogen.
- These are used as substrate by archaea â microbes in the rumen with structure similar to bacteria â to produce methane, which the animals then expel through burping.
- Harit Dhara acts by decreasing the population of protozoa microbes in the rumen, responsible for hydrogen production and making it available to the archaea for reduction of CO2 to methane.
- Tropical plants containing tannins â bitter and astringent chemical compounds â are known to suppress or remove protozoa from the rumen.
Need for India
- The 2019 Livestock Census showed Indiaâs cattle population at 193.46 million, along with 109.85 million buffaloes, 148.88 million goats and 74.26 million sheep.
- Being largely fed on agricultural residues â wheat/paddy straw and maize, sorghum or bajra stover â ruminants in India tend to produce 50-100% higher methane than their industrialized country counterparts.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following:
- Carbon monoxide
- Methane
- Ozone
- Sulphur dioxide
Which of the above are released into atmosphere due to the burning of crop/biomass residue?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Back2Basics: CO2 equivalents
- Each greenhouse gas (GHG) has a different global warming potential (GWP) and persists for a different length of time in the atmosphere.
- The three main greenhouse gases (along with water vapour) and their 100-year global warming potential (GWP) compared to carbon dioxide are:
1 x â carbon dioxide (CO2)
25 x â methane (CH4) â I.e. Releasing 1 kg of CH4into the atmosphere is about equivalent to releasing 25 kg of CO2
298 x â nitrous oxide (N2O)
- Water vapour is not considered to be a cause of man-made global warming because it does not persist in the atmosphere for more than a few days.
- There are other greenhouse gases which have far greater global warming potential (GWP) but are much less prevalent. These are sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and perfluorocarbons (PFCs).
- There are a wide variety of uses for SF6, HFCs, and PFCs but they have been most commonly used as refrigerants and for fire suppression.
- Many of these compounds also have a depleting effect on ozone in the upper atmosphere.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Aurora, Hope Mission
Mains level: Study of Mars
The UAEâs Hope spacecraft, which is orbiting Mars since February this year, has captured images of glowing atmospheric lights in the Red Planetâs night sky, known as discrete auroras.
What causes an Aurora on Earth?
- Auroras are caused when charged particles ejected from the Sunâs surface â called the solar wind â enter the Earthâs atmosphere.
- These particles are harmful, and our planet is protected by the geomagnetic field, which preserves life by shielding us from the solar wind.
- However, at the north and south poles, some of these solar wind particles are able to continuously stream down, and interact with different gases in the atmosphere to cause a display of light in the night sky.
- This display, known as an aurora, is seen from the Earthâs high latitude regions (called the auroral oval), and is active all year round.
Where are they observed on Earth?
- In the northern part of our globe, the polar lights are called aurora borealis or Northern Lights and are seen from the US (Alaska), Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
- In the south, they are called aurora australis or southern lights and are visible from high latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.
So, how are Martian auroras different?
- Unlike auroras on Earth, which are seen only near the north and south poles, discrete auroras on Mars are seen all around the planet at night time.
- Unlike Earth, which has a strong magnetic field, the Martian magnetic field has largely died out.
- This is because the molten iron at the interior of the planetâ which produces magnetismâ has cooled.
- However, the Martian crust, which hardened billions of years ago when the magnetic field still existed, retains some magnetism.
- So, in contrast with Earth, which acts like one single bar magnet, magnetism on Mars is unevenly distributed, with fields strewn across the planet and differing in direction and strength.
- These disjointed fields channel the solar wind to different parts of the Martian atmosphere, creating âdiscreteâ auroras over the entire surface of the planet as charged particles interact with atoms and molecules in the skyâ as they do on Earth.
Why is it important to study them?
- Studying Martian auroras is important for scientists, for it can offer clues as to why the Red Planet lost its magnetic field and thick atmosphereâ among the essential requirements for sustaining life.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?
(a) Aeolis Dorsa
(b) Tharsis
(c) Olympus Mons
(d) Hellas
Back2Basics:
Hope Orbiter
- The Hope Probe, the Arab worldâs first mission to Mars, took off from Earth in July last year, and has been orbiting the Red Planet since February.
- The primary objective of the mission is to study Martian weather dynamics.
- By correlating the lower atmosphere and upper atmosphere conditions, the probe will look into how weather changes the escape of hydrogen and oxygen into space.
- By measuring how much hydrogen and oxygen is spilling into space, scientists will be able to look into why Mars lost so much of its early atmosphere and liquid water.
- It is expected to create the first complete portrait of the planetâs atmosphere.
- With the information gathered during the mission, scientists will have a better understanding of the climate dynamics of different layers of Marsâ atmosphere.
Mars
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being larger than only Mercury.
- In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the “Red Planet”.
- The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’s surface, which gives it a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye.
- Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features reminiscent of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
- The days and seasons are comparable to those of Earth, because the rotational period, as well as the tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane, is similar.
- Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pegasus
Mains level: Whatsapp snooping
An online database about the use of the spyware Pegasus was recently launched by the Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International and the Citizen Lab to document attacks against human rights defenders.
What is Pegasus?
- Last year, one of the biggest stories that broke into cyberspace was WhatsAppâs reports that 1,400 of its users were hacked by Pegasus, a spyware tool from Israeli firm NSO Group.
- All spyware do what the name suggests â they spy on people through their phones.
- Pegasus works by sending an exploit link, and if the target user clicks on the link, the malware or the code that allows the surveillance is installed on the userâs phone.
- A presumably newer version of the malware does not even require a target user to click a link.
- Once Pegasus is installed, the attacker has complete access to the target userâs phone.
Why is Pegasus dangerous?
- What makes Pegasus really dangerous is that it spares no aspect of a personâs identity. It makes older techniques of spying seem relatively harmless.
- It can intercept every call and SMS, read every email and monitor each messaging app.
- Pegasus can also control the phoneâs camera and microphone and has access to the deviceâs location data.
- The app advertises that it can carry out âfile retrievalâ, which means it could access any document that a target might have stored on their phone.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bhalia Wheat
Mains level: Popularity of GI goods
In a major boost to wheat exports, the first shipment of Geographical Indication (GI) certified Bhalia variety of wheat was exported today to Kenya and Sri Lanka from Gujarat.
Bhalia Wheat
- The GI certified wheat has high protein content and is sweet in taste.
- The crop is grown mostly across Bhal region of Gujarat which includes Ahmadabad, Anand, Kheda, Bhavanagar, Surendranagar, Bharuch districts.
- The unique characteristic of the wheat variety is that grown in the rainfed condition without irrigation and cultivated in around two lakh hectares of agricultural land in Gujarat.
- The Bhalia variety of wheat received GI certification in July, 2011.
- The registered proprietor of GI certification is Anand Agricultural University, Gujarat.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded âGeographical Indicationâ status?
- Banaras Brocades and Sarees
- Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
- Tirupathi Laddu
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication (GI)
- The World Intellectual Property Organization defines a GI as âa sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that originâ.
- GIs are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, handicrafts, industrial products, wines and spirit drinks.
- Internationally, GIs are covered as an element of intellectual property rights under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- They have also covered under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Authorised Economic Operators
Mains level: Not Much
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has inaugurated the online filing of Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) T2 and T3 applications.
Who are Authorised Economic Operators?
- The AEO concept is one of the main building blocks within the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards (SAFE).
- The latter is part of the future international Customs model set out to support secure trade.
- The growth of global trade and increasing security threats to the international movement of goods have forced customs administrations to shift their focus more and more to securing the international trade flow and away from the traditional task of collecting customs duties.
- Recognizing these developments, the World Customs Organization, drafted the WCO Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate global trade (SAFE).
- In the framework, several standards are included that can assist Customs administrations in meeting these new challenges.
- Developing an Authorized Economic Operator programme is a core part of SAFE.
AEOs in India
- AEO is a voluntary programme.
- It enables Indian Customs to enhance and streamline cargo security through close cooperation with the principal stakeholders of the international supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistics providers, custodians or terminal operators, customs brokers and warehouse operators.
Back2Basics: World Customs Organization (WCO)
- WCO is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
- The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), drugs enforcement, illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion, and delivering the sustainable capacity building to assist with customs reforms and modernization.
- The WCO represents 179 Customs administrations that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.
- As the global centre of Customs expertise, the WCO has the tools and expertise to assist implementation of all legal, policy, procedural, technological, and human resource aspects related to trade facilitation.
- The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Appointment process of Election Commissioner
Mains level: Paper 2- Impact of vacancies
Context
For months on end, top slots in important government agencies like NHRC, CBI, Election Commission, NCERT etc remain vacant affecting the governance.
Vacancies in various agencies
- The post of the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission was kept vacant until June this year.
- The post of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been vacant since February until the recent appointment.
- The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired on April 12 leaving just two members in the Commission.Â
- The Centre appointed the new Election Commissioner in June.
- Â Of the 40 Central universities across the country, nearly half are without regular Vice-Chancellors.
- Officers holding additional charges exist in various ministries, commissions and departments.
Impact of vacancies
- Vacancies have had a deleterious effect on governance.
- Â Delays in promotions and appointments affect the organisations.
- Vacancies also tend to demoralise the officials who await promotions after vacancies arise.
- Â Delays in important appointments send a wrong signal to the nation.
- Elections Commission was functioning only with two members for several months, in case of a disagreement on any issue between the two of them, a solution would have become difficult.
Need to change the process for appointment of Election Commissioners
- The appointment of Elections Commissioners is done by the Centre.
- The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court demanding the appointment of Election Commissioners by a committee, as is done in the case of appointment of the Director of the CBI.
- The 255th Report of Law Commission had recommended that Election Commissioners be appointed by a high-powered committee.Â
- The high-powered committee is headed by the Prime Minister has two members â the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
- However, if the Prime Minister decides on a candidate and the CJI consents, the Opposition leaderâs dissenting note carries no weight.
- There is a need, therefore, to expand the high-powered committee to include at least two more members of eminence with proven integrity for the selection process
Way forward
- A time frame needs to be worked out to announce top appointments at least a month in advance.
- Political considerations need to be pushed to the back seat for a clean and honest administration.
Conclusion
Considering the impact vaccines have on governance, we need to devise a mechanism to avoid such vacancies for such a long duration.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Shift in mental health care system needed
Context
Recently, a High Court suggested that homeless persons with health conditions be branded with a permanent tattoo, when vaccinated against COVID-19.
Issue
- In many countries, persons with severe mental health conditions live in shackles in their homes, in overcrowded hospitals, and even in prison.
- On the other hand, many persons with mental health issues live and even die alone on the streets.
- Three losses dominate the mental health systems narrative: dignity, agency and personhood.
- Issues with the laws: Far-sighted changes in policy and laws have often not taken root and many laws fail to meet international human rights standards.
- Many also do not account for cultural, social and political contexts resulting in moral rhetoric that doesnât change the scenario of inadequate care.
- There is also the social legacy of the asylum, and of psychiatry and mental illness itself, that guides our imagination in how care is organised.
Way forward: A responsive care system
- We must understand mental health conditions for what they are and for how they are associated with disadvantage.
- These situations are linked, but not always so, therefore, not all distress can be medicalised.
- Adopt WHO guidelines: Follow the Guidance on Community Mental Health Services recently launched by the World Health Organization.
- The Guidance, which includes three models from India, addresses the issue from âthe same sideâ as the mental health service user and focuses on the co-production of knowledge and on good practices.
- Drawn from 22 countries, these models balance care and support with rights and participation.
- Open dialogue: The practice of open dialogue, a therapeutic practice that originated in Finland, runs through many programmes in the Guidance.
- This approach trains the therapist in de-escalation of distress and breaks power differentials that allow for free expression.
- Increase investment: With emphasis on social care components such as work force participation, pensions and housing, increased investments in health and social care seem imperative.
- Network of services: For those homeless and who opt not to enter mental health establishments, we can provide a network of services ranging from soup kitchens at vantage points to mobile mental health and social care clinics.
- Small emergency care and recovery centres for those who need crisis support instead of larger hospitals, and long-term inclusive living options in an environment that values diversity and celebrates social mixing, will reframe the archaic narrative of how mental health care is to be provided.
Conclusion
Persons with mental health conditions need a responsive care system that inspires hope and participation without which their lives are empty. We should endeavour to provide them with such a responsive care system.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 15th Finance Commission
Mains level: Paper 2- Federalism at the centre stage of politics
Context
- Several issues such as vaccine wars, debates over the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the fracas over West Bengalâs Chief Secretary, and the pushback against controversial regulations in Lakshadweep have once again brought into focus the idea of federalism.
- The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, since taking office, has begun to craft an ideological narrative on State rights, by re-introducing the term Union into the public discourse and pushing back against increased fiscal centralisation
Lack of political consensus among States for genuine federalism
- Federalism in India has always had political relevance, but except for the States Reorganisation Act, federalism has rarely been an axis of political mobilisation.
- Fiscal and administrative centralisation persisted despite nearly two decades of coalition governments.
- Rather than deepen federalism, the contingencies of electoral politics have created significant impediments to creating a political consensus for genuine federalism.
Three challenges in deepening federalism among States
1) Tendency to equate federalism as against nationalism
- The grammar of development and nationalism, which has mass electoral appeal is used to undermine federalism.
- Slogans such as âone nation, one marketâ, âone nation, one ration cardâ, âone nation, one gridâ symbolise development and nationalism while leaving little space for federalism.
- In this context, federalism as a principle risks being equated with regionalism and a narrow parochialism that is anti-development and anti-national.
2) Lack of federal principles
- Pratap Bhanu Mehta has pointed out that over the decades, federal principles have been bent in all kinds of ways to co-produce a political culture of flexible federalism.
- Federalism in this rendition is reduced to a game of political upmanship and remains restricted to a partisan tussle.
- Claimants of greater federalism often maintain silence on unilateral decisions that affect other States.
- For instance, the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory, the notification of the NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 hardly witnessed protests by States that were not directly affected by these.
3) Economic and governance divergence among states
- Across all key indicators, southern (and western) States have outperformed much of northern and eastern India.
- This has resulted in a greater divergence rather than expected convergence with growth.
- This has created a context where collective action amongst States becomes difficult as poorer regions of India contribute far less to the economy but require greater fiscal resources to overcome their economic fragilities.
- These emerging tensions were visible when the 15th Finance Commission (FC) was mandated to use the 2011 Census rather than the established practice of using the 1971 Census.
- This, Southern states feared, risked penalising States that had successfully controlled population growth by reducing their share in the overall resource pool.
- Â With the impending delimitation exercise due in 2026, these tensions will only increase.
Way forward
- A politics for deepening federalism will need to overcome a nationalist rhetoric that pits federalism against nationalism and development.
- Reclaim fiscal federalism: Â Weak fiscal management has brought the Union government on the brink of what economist Rathin Roy has called a silent fiscal crisis.
- The Unionâs response has been to squeeze revenue from States by increasing cesses.
- Its insistence on giving GST compensation to States as loans (after long delays) and increasing State shares in central schemes.
- Against this backdrop, both sub-nationalist sentiments and the need to reclaim fiscal federalism create a political moment for a principled politics of federalism.
- Sharing burden with poorer States: On the fiscal side, richer States must find a way of sharing the burden with the poorer States.
- An inter-State platform that brings States together in a routine dialogue on matters of fiscal federalism could be the starting point for building trust and a common agenda.
- Overcome isolationist tendency: The politics of regional identity is isolationist by its very nature.
- An effort at collective political action for federalism based on identity concerns will have to overcome this risk.
- Finally, beyond principles, a renewed politics of federalism is also an electoral necessity.
Consider the question “Federalism in India has always had political relevance, but it has rarely been an axis of political mobilisation. What are the factors responsible for this? Suggest the way forward for the states to overcome these factors.”Â
Conclusion
A renewed politics of federalism would require immense patience and maturity from regional parties. It remains to be seen whether they up to the task.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Reserviors on Krishna River
Mains level: Krishna water dispute
An ongoing jala jagadam (fight over water resources), as it has been described by regional media, once again drew the police forces of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana into a tense standoff over release of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir.
Krishna River Dispute
- Both states have disagreements over the sharing of the Krishna River water continue to shape politics in the region.
- AP alleges that Telangana has been drawing Krishna water from four projects â Jurala, Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichintala without approvals from the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
- The KRMB an autonomous body that was set up after the bifurcation of the state, to manage and regulate the waters in the Krishna basin.
What is the issue?
- The water that is used for power generation, Andhra says, is being wasted by releasing it into the Bay of Bengal, even as farmers in the Krishna delta ayacut are yet to begin sowing of the kharif crop.
- Telangana says it would continue with the hydropower generation to meet its requirements of power.
- At the same time, it has taken strong exception to the irrigation projects of the Andhra Pradesh government, especially the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project (RLIP), which it claims is illegal.
- Telangana has called for a 50:50 allocation of water from the Krishna River.
How is the water split between the states currently?
- After Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, the two states agreed to split the water share 66:34 on an ad hoc basis until the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 decided the final allocation.
Why is Telangana making the big hydel push?
- The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project that was inaugurated in 2019 requires a huge amount of power to draw water from the Godavari River.
- Also, the Telangana government says that it needs hydel energy to power its Nettempadu, Bheema, Koilsagar and Kalwakurthy lift irrigation projects.
- Despite protests by Andhra, the Telangana CM has chosen to operate all hydel power stations at full capacity because hydel power is cheaper, and imposes a smaller burden on the already stretched state budget.
What is the solution to the disagreement, then?
- Telangana wants the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 to permanently settle the water dispute.
- In the meantime, it wants the KRMB to convene a full-fledged board meeting on a mutually agreed date this month to address its grievances against Andhra Pradesh.
What political factors are at play behind the dispute?
- The two CMs have maintained cordial relations and have even met on several occasions to discuss long-standing issues arising out of the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh.
- Critics have, however, alleged that the two CMs are fanning regional sentiments purely for political gains.
Back2Basics: Interstate (River) Water Disputes (ISWDs)
- These are a continuing challenge to federal water governance in India.
- Rooted in constitutional, historico-geographical, and institutional ambiguities, they tend to become prolonged conflicts between the states that share river basins.
- India has 25 major river basins, with most rivers flowing across states.
- As river basins are shared resources, a coordinated approach between the states, with adequate involvement of the Centre, is necessary for the preservation, equitable distribution and sustainable utilization of river water.
- Within Indiaâs federal political structure, inter-state disputes require the involvement of the Union government for a federal solution at two levels: between the states involved, and between the Centre and the states.
- The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) was enacted under Article 262 of the Constitution of India on the eve of reorganization of states to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley.
- Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state/regional governments.
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