Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Medicanes
Mains level: Frequent landfalls of tropical cyclones in India
Very recently, a medicane named Ianos made landfall along the coast of Greece and caused heavy rainfall and flooding on the islands of Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Ithaca.
Try this PYQ:
In the South Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclone does not originate. What is the reason?
(a) Sea surface temperatures are low
(b) Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone seldom occurs
(c) Coriolis force is too weak
(d) Absence of land in those regions
What are Medicanes?
- Medicanes are extra-tropical hurricanes observed over the Mediterranean Sea.
- Medicanes occur more in colder waters than tropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons.
- Hence, the cores of these storms are also cold, as compared to the warm cores of tropical cyclones.
- Warmer cores tend to carry more moisture (hence rainfall), are bigger in size and have swifter winds.
- The main societal hazard posed by Medicanes is not usually from destructive winds but through life-threatening torrential rains and flash floods.
Why in news?
- This year is a mild La Niña, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
- La Niña is the cooling phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, as opposed to the warming El Niño phase.
- It is characterized by the unusual cooling of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean.
- A La Niña produces more rain in the central-eastern part, where most of the Mediterranean cyclones develop.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: O-Smart Scheme
Mains level: India's deep ocean mission
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has informed about the progress of O-SMART Scheme.
Do you know?
India’s ambitious Deep Ocean Mission is an umbrella scheme under O-SMART initiative. Bottom of Form
O-SMART Scheme
- The services rendered under the O-SMART will provide economic benefits to a number of user communities in the coastal and ocean sectors, namely, fisheries, offshore industry, coastal states, Defence, Shipping, Ports etc.
- It seeks to address issues relating to SDG-14, which aims to conserve the use of oceans, marine resources for sustainable development.
- It also provides the necessary scientific and technological background required for the implementation of various aspects of Blue Economy.
- The State of Art Early Warning Systems established Scheme will help in effectively dealing with ocean disasters like Tsunami, storm surges.
- The technologies being developed will help in harnessing the vast ocean resources of both living and non-living resources from the seas around India.
- A fleet of research vessels viz., Technology Demonstration vessel SagarNidhi, Oceanographic Research Vessel SagarKanya, Fisheries and Oceanographic Research Vessel SagarSampada and Coastal Research Vessel SagarPurvi have been acquired to provide required research support.
Some of the modified objective
The objectives of O-SMART are:
- To generate and regularly update information on Marine Living Resources and their relationship with the physical environment in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),
- To periodically monitor levels of seawater pollutants for health assessment of coastal waters of India, to develop shoreline change maps for assessment of coastal erosion due to natural and anthropogenic activities,
- To develop a wide range of state-of-the-art ocean observation systems for the acquisition of real-time data from the seas around India,
- To generate and disseminate a suite of user-oriented ocean information, advisories, warnings, data and data products for the benefit of society,
- To develop high-resolution models for ocean forecast and reanalysis system,
- To develop algorithms for validation of satellite data for coastal research and to monitor changes in the coastal research,
- Acquisition of 2 Coastal Research Vessels (CRVs) as replacement of 2 old CRVs for coastal pollution monitoring, testing of various underwater components and technology demonstration,
- To carry out exploration of Polymetallic Nodules (MPN) from a water depth of 5500 m in the site of 75000 sq.km allotted to India by United Nations in Central Indian Ocean Basin, to carry out investigations of gas hydrates,
- Exploration of polymetallic sulphides near Rodrigues Triple junction in 10000 sq. km of the area allotted to India in International waters by International Seabed Authority/UN and,
- Submission of India’s claim over continental shelf extending beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone supported by scientific data, and Topographic survey of EEZ of India.
Also read:
Explained: India’s Deep Ocean Mission
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission
Mains level: Paper 3- Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and challenges
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, well considered plan by the Central government seeks to transform the Indian economy. The article analyses its potential and suggests the ways to achieve the aims.
Vocal for local
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a call to fellow Indians to be “Vocal for Local” in May.
- This includes not only to buy and use local products but to also take pride in promoting them.
Challenges
1) Imports from China
- Serious challenge to Atmanirbhar mission is country’s $65 billion worth of imports from China alone.
- Most of these imports are of essential items — raw materials, components and intermediates required in producing finished goods.
- For example, the pharmaceuticals sector imports nearly 70 per cent of its raw material and drug intermediates.
- It may not be feasible to replace all Chinese imports in the near future.
- It may also be debatable if the end goal is to replace the entire chain of imports from a country.
- Nevertheless, experts and industrialists do assert that the ANBA is an excellent initiative and gives India the opportunity to embark on the self-reliance drive.
2) Struggling MSMEs
- A major part of the Vocal for Local mission rests on the MSMEs, which has been seen as struggling for survival.
- But the reforms announced as part of the ANBA should put them on a stronger footing.
- One immediate fallout of these measures will be creation of large scale employment opportunities for both the skilled and unskilled workforce.
- A stronger manufacturing base will also lead to positive spinoffs related to the supply-purchase of local raw material and capacity building of allied manufacturing units.
Way forward
- First, an umbrella action plan should be drawn by the Niti Aayog listing all targets under the ANBA and the Vocal for Local Mission.
- A monitoring agency will review and suggest course correction to ensure that no delay is allowed to build.
- Second, each state/UT will develop an action plan in consonance with the umbrella plan.
- A separate organisation created by each state will be responsible for the implementation of the action plan
- Such organisation should also conduct regular studies to identify local and global market trends and invite competitive solutions to meet market demands.
- Third, each district (or a group of districts) will work out a more detailed action plan, and charter of responsibilities for ground level officers and departments.
Conclusion
The ANBA is a mission to empower the people of India. It will in all likelihood become a benchmark of how governments and their various organisations can work in a mission mode.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with the agriculture bill
The article analyses the issue of farmers opposition to the three agricultural bills.
Context
- Farmers have been protesting against the three bills related to agriculture.
- These three Bills are-
- 1) The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
- 2) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.
- 3) The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
What are the aims of the bills?
- The Bills aim to do away with government interference in agricultural trade by creating trading areas outside the structure of Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs).
- One of the bills aims at removing restrictions of private stockholding (under Essential Commodities Act 1955) of agricultural produce.
- One of the bills deals with the regulation of contract farming.
Issues with the Bills
- The government has failed to hold any discussion with the various stakeholders including farmers and middlemen.
- The attempt to pass the Bills without proper consultation adds to the mistrust among various stakeholders including State governments.
- Farmer organisations see these Bills as an attempt to weaken the APMCs and eventual withdrawal of the Minimum Support Prices (MSP).
- Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have genuine concern about the continuance of the MSP-based public procurement given the large-scale procurement operations in these States.
Understanding the role of APMC
- APMCs do play an important role of price discovery essential for agricultural trade and production choices.
- The middlemen are a part of the larger ecosystem of agricultural trade, with deep links between farmers and traders.
- The preference for corporate interests at the cost of farmers’ interests and a lack of regulation in these non-APMC mandis are cause for concern.
- To understand the role of APMC, consider the example of Bihar.
- After Bihar abolished APMCs in 2006, farmers in Bihar on average received lower prices compared to the MSP for most crops.
- Despite the shortcomings and regional variations, farmers still see the APMC mandis as essential to ensuring the survival of MSP regime.
Conclusion
The protests by farmers are essentially a reflection of the mistrust between farmers and the stated objective of these reforms.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Parliamentary committees and its types
Mains level: Parliamentary committees and thier various functions
The government pushed through two crucial agriculture Bills in Rajya Sabha, rejecting Opposition demands to refer them to a Select Committee of Rajya Sabha.
Try this PYQ:
With reference to the Parliament of India which of the following Parliamentary Committees scrutinizes and reports to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, sub-rules, bylaws, etc. conferred by the Constitution or delegated by the Parliament are being properly exercised by the Executive within the scope of such delegation?(CSP 2018)
(a) Committee on Government Assurances
(b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation
(c) Rules Committee
(d) Business Advisory Committee
What is a Parliamentary Committee?
- It means a Committee which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction of the Speaker and presents its report to the House or to the Speaker and the Secretariat for which is provided by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
By their nature, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds: Standing Committees and Ad hoc Committees.
- Standing Committees are permanent and regular committees which are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. The work of these Committees is of continuous nature. The Financial Committees, DRSCs and some other Committees come under the category of Standing Committees.
- Ad hoc Committees are appointed for a specific purpose and they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a report. The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and Joint Committees on Bills. Railway Convention Committee, Joint Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex etc also come under the category of ad hoc Committees.
Why need Parliamentary Committee?
- Parliament scrutinizes legislative proposals (Bills) in two ways. The first is by discussing it on the floor of the two Houses.
- This is a legislative requirement; all Bills have to be taken up for debate.
- The time spent debating the bills can vary. They can be passed in a matter of minutes, or debate and voting on them can run late into the night.
- Since Parliament meets for 70 to 80 days in a year, there is not enough time to discuss every Bill in detail on the floor of the House.
Its role in the passage of a Bill
- The debate in the house is mostly political and does not go into the technical details of a legislative proposal.
- The second mechanism is by referring a Bill to a parliamentary committee. It takes care of the legislative infirmity of debate on the floor of the House.
- However, referring to Bills to parliamentary committees is not mandatory.
And what is a Select Committee?
- India’s Parliament has multiple types of committees.
- They can be differentiated on the basis of their work, their membership and the length of their tenure. First are committees that examine bills, budgets and policies of ministries.
- These are called departmentally related Standing Committees. There are 24 such committees and between them, they focus on the working of different ministries.
- Each committee has 31 MPs, 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.
- The main purpose is to ensure the accountability of Government to Parliament through a more detailed consideration of measures in these committees.
- The purpose is not to weaken or criticize the administration but to strengthen by investing in with more meaningful parliamentary support.
When does a committee examine a Bill?
- Bills are not automatically sent to committees for examination. There are three broad paths by which a Bill can reach a committee.
- The first is when the minister piloting the Bill recommends to the House that his Bill be examined by a Select Committee of the House or a joint committee of both Houses.
- Last year Electronics and IT Minister moved a motion in Lok Sabha referring the Personal Data Protection Bill to a Joint Committee.
- If the minister makes no such motion, it is up to the presiding officer of the House to decide whether to send a Bill to a departmentally related Standing Committee.
What happens when a bill goes to a Committee?
- Sending a Bill to any committee results in two things.
- First, the committee undertakes a detailed examination of the Bill. It invites comments and suggestions from experts, stakeholders and citizens.
- The government also appears before the committee to present its viewpoint.
- All this results in a report that makes suggestions for strengthening the Bill. While the committee is deliberating on a Bill, there is a pause in its legislative journey.
- It can only progress in Parliament after the committee has submitted its report. Usually, parliamentary committees are supposed to submit their reports in three months, but sometimes it can take longer.
What happens after the report?
- The report of the committee is of a recommendatory nature. The government can choose to accept or reject its recommendations.
- Very often the government incorporates suggestions made by committees. Select Committees and JPCs have an added advantage.
- In their report, they can also include their version of the Bill. If they do so, the minister in charge of that particular Bill can move for the committee’s version of the Bill to be discussed and passed in the House.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Labour reforms
The government has introduced new versions of three labour codes – Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2020, Code on Social Security Bill, 2020 and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill, 2020.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Disguised unemployment generally means:
(a) A large number of people remain unemployed
(b) Alternative employment is not available
(c) Marginal productivity of labour is zero
(d) Productivity of workers is low
What are the key proposals?
(1) Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2020
- In this, the government has proposed to introduce more conditions restricting the rights of workers to strike, alongside an increase in the threshold relating to layoffs and retrenchment.
- The Code has raised the threshold for the requirement of a standing order — rules of conduct for workmen employed in industrial establishments — to over 300 workers.
- This implies industrial establishments with up to 300 workers will not be required to furnish a standing order, a move which experts say would enable companies to introduce arbitrary service conditions for workers.
- These steps are likely to provide more flexibility to employers for hiring and firing workers without government permission.
(2) Social Security Code
- It proposes a National Social Security Board which shall recommend to the central government for formulating suitable schemes for different sections of unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers.
- Also, aggregators employing gig workers will have to contribute 1-2 per cent of their annual turnover for social security, with the total contribution not exceeding 5 per.
(3) Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code
- This code has defined inter-state migrant workers as the worker who has come on his own from one state and obtained employment in another state, earning up to Rs 18,000 a month.
- The proposed definition makes a distinction from the present definition of only contractual employment.
- The Code, however, has dropped the earlier provision for temporary accommodation for workers near the worksites.
- It has though proposed a journey allowance — a lump sum amount of fare to be paid by the employer for to and fro journey of the worker to his/her native place from the place of his/her employment.
What are the other proposals for workers?
- The IR Code Bill has also proposed a worker re-skilling fund.
- The contributions for the fund are only detailed from the employer of an industrial establishment amounting to fifteen days wages last drawn by the worker immediately before the retrenchment along with the contribution from such other sources.
- The mention of ‘other sources’ for funding the re-skilling fund is vague.
What are the concerns raised over the new labour codes?
- Analysts say the increase in the threshold for standing orders will water down the labour rights for workers in small establishments having less than 300 workers.
- The increase is uncalled for and shows the government is very keen to give tremendous amounts of flexibility to the employers in terms of hiring and firing.
- Dismissal for alleged misconduct and retrenchment for economic reasons will be completely possible for all the industrial establishments employing less than 300 workers.
- The Industrial Relations Code also introduces new conditions for carrying out a legal strike.
- The time period for arbitration proceedings has been included in the conditions for workers before going on a legal strike as against only the time for conciliation at present.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Brucellosis
Mains level: NA
As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues, the health commission has announced this week that a leak in a biopharmaceutical company last year caused an outbreak of brucellosis disease.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following kinds of organisms:
- Bacteria
- Fungi
- Flowering plants
Some species of which of the above kinds of organisms are employed as bio-pesticides?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
What is Brucellosis?
- Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that mainly infects cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs.
- Humans can get infected if they come in direct contact with infected animals or by eating or drinking contaminated animal products or by inhaling airborne agents.
- According to the WHO, most cases of the disease are caused by ingesting unpasteurized milk or cheese from infected goats or sheep.
- Symptoms of the disease include fever, sweats, malaise, anorexia, and headache and muscle pain.
- While some signs and symptoms can last for long periods of time, others may never go away. Human to human transmission of the virus is rare.
- These include recurrent fevers, arthritis, swelling of the testicles and scrotum area, swelling of the heart, neurologic symptoms, chronic fatigue, depression and swelling of the liver or spleen.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: e-Gram SWARAJ
Mains level: E-governance of PRIs
A unified tool e-Gram SWARAJ portal has been developed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj for effective monitoring and evaluation of works taken up in the Gram Panchayats.
e-Gram SWARAJ
- It unifies the planning, accounting and monitoring functions of Gram Panchayats.
- Its combination with the Area Profiler application, Local Government Directory (LGD) and the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) renders easier reporting and tracking of Gram Panchayat’s activities.
- It provides a single-window for capturing Panchayat information with the complete Profile of the Panchayat, details of Panchayat finances, asset details, activities taken up through Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SPICe+ Portal
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified and deployed a web-form namely ‘SPICe+’ as a part of Govt of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The SPICe+ Portal sometimes seen in news is related to which of the following Ministry?
(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(b) Ministry of Commerce and Industry
(c) Ministry of Corporate Affairs
(d) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare
SPICe+ Portal
- It offers 10 services by three Central Government Ministries and Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance), one State Government (Maharashtra) and various Banks.
- Thus it saves the procedure, time and cost for Starting a Business in India.
- These 10 services are:-
- Name reservation
- Incorporation
- DIN allotment
- Mandatory issue of PAN
- Mandatory issue of TAN
- Mandatory issue of EPFO registration
- Mandatory issue of ESIC registration
- Mandatory issue of Profession Tax registration (Maharashtra)
- Mandatory Opening of Bank Account for the Company and
- Allotment of GSTIN (if so applied for)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various labour laws
Mains level: Labour reforms in India
This session of Lok Sabha has passed 3 Historic and path-breaking Labour Codes.
UPSC may ask the major laws subsumed under these Labour Codes.
What are the 3 bills?
The 3 bills which were passed are
- Industrial Relations Code, 2020
- Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 &
- Social Security Code, 2020
All the labour laws (29 in number) being amalgamated into 4 labour codes are :
Name of the Code
|
Amalgamated laws
|
| Wage Code
|
4 laws –
- The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
- The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
- The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
- The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
|
| IR Code
|
3 laws –
- The Trade Unions Act, 1926
- The Industrial Employment (Standing orders) Act, 1946
- The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
|
| OSH Code
|
13 laws –
- The Factories Act, 1948
- The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
- The Mines Act, 1952
- The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955
- The Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958
- The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
- The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
- The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
- The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976
- The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
- The Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981
- The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
- The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
|
| Social Security Code
|
9 laws –
- The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923
- The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948
- The Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
- The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
- The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
- The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
- The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981
- The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996
- The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
|
Here are the key features of these bills:
(A) Social Security Code, 2020
- The facility of ESIC would now be provided in all 740 districts. At present, this facility is being given in 566 districts only.
- EPFO’s coverage would be applicable on all establishments having 20 workers. At present, it was applicable only on establishments included in the Schedule.
- Provision has been made to formulate various schemes for providing comprehensive social security to workers in the unorganised sector.
- A “Social Security Fund” will be created on the financial side in order to implement these schemes.
- Work to bring newer forms of employment created with the changing technology like “platform worker or gig worker” into the ambit of social security has been done in the Social Security Code.
- Provision for Gratuity has been made for Fixed Term Employee and there would not be any condition for minimum service period for this.
- With the aim of making a national database for unorganised sector workers, registration of all these workers would be done on an online portal and this registration would be done on the basis of Self Certification through a simple procedure.
(B) Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020
- Free health checkup once a year by the employer for workers which are more than a certain age.
- A legal right for getting Appointment Letter given to workers for the first time.
- Cine Workers have been designated as Audio Visual Worker so that more and more workers get covered under the OSH code. Earlier, this security was being given to artists working in films only.
(C) Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Efforts made by the Government for quickly resolving disputes of the workers include:
- Compulsory facility for Helpline for redressal of problems of migrant workers.
- Making a national database of migrant workers.
- Provision for the accumulation of one day leave for every 20 days worked when work has been done for 180 days instead of 240 days.
- Equality for women in every sphere: Women have to be permitted to work in every sector at night, but it has to be ensured that provision for their security is made by the employer and consent of women is taken before they work at night.
- In the event of the death of a worker or injury to a worker due to an accident at his workplace, atleast 50 % share of the penalty would be given. This amount would be in addition to Employees Compensation.
- Provision of “Social Security Fund” for 40 Crore unorganized workers alongwith GIG and platform workers and will help Universal Social Security coverage
- Occupational Safety & Health Code to also can now over cover workers from IT and Service Sector.
- 14 days notice for Strike so that in this period amicable solution comes out.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Free speech vs hate speech
Context
- Sudarshan TV case will have several implication for the regulation of free speech.
- In principle, Indian law allows prior restraint on broadcasting. This prior restraint should be used sparingly and must meet a high constitutional bar.
- Indian law also allows regulation for hate speech.
Maintaining the equilibrium
- The government feared that if it did not have the power to regulate speech, it will threaten the stability of society.
- The hate and violence got the state to betray its own liberal commitments
- Liberals never acquired the confidence of people to let go of state regulation in the name of defending the republic.
- The spread of hate speech and its political consequences are now infinitely greater.
- The situation, where communication mediums are used to target communities, are not outside the realm of possibility.
- It is for this reason we still have so many restraints on speech.
Challenges in regulation of speech
- Almost every regulation of speech, no matter how well intentioned, increases the power of the state.
- But now, in the current context, empowering the state is a frightening prospect as well.
- The issue is fundamentally political and we should not pretend that fine legal distinctions will solve the issue.
- An over-reliance on legal instruments to solve fundamentally social and political problems often backfires.
3 lessons to learn
- 1) The more the state regulates, the more it politicises the regulation of speech, and ultimately legitimate dissent will be the victim.
- 2) There is a whole bunch of laws and regulation already on the books for regulation, these have been ineffective because of institutional dysfunction.
- 3) Social media operates on a set of monetising incentives. But broadcast media is also based on political economy.
- The granting of licences has always been a political affair; the pricing structures set by the TRAI have perverse consequences for quality and competition.
- Our current media landscape is neither a market nor a state. The more the underlying political economy of media is broken, the less likely it is that free speech will stand a chance.
Way forward
- Not post facto content regulation, but a market structure that can help provide more checks and balances.
- Not let bad media drive out good.
- The Court suo motu setting up a regulatory framework does not inspire confidence. It is not its jurisdiction to begin with.
- This is something for Parliament to think about.
Conclusion
The government must walk the tight rope of regulation and safeguarding the rights of all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST Council, GST compensation etc.
Mains level: Paper 3- GST compensation issue
The article deal with the issue of GST compensation and analyses the various estimates of revenue shortfall given by the Centre.
Context
- The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting has now been deferred to the first week of October due to sharp disagreement between the States and the Centre.
Background of GST
- The Centre had brought the States on board GST by promising higher revenue collection.
- States were lured by the promise of 14% annual growth in GST revenue over the base year of 2015-16.
- Any shortfall from this (for five years) was to be compensated by levying a cess on luxury and sin goods.
What are the options given by the Centre
- The transfers due since April 2020 have been withheld.
- In the last GST Council meeting held on August 27, the Centre gave the States two options.
- First, they could borrow ₹97,000 crore (the shortfall in the GST revenue compensation) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under a special window at a low rate of interest.
- Second, borrow ₹2.35-lakh crore (the total compensation shortfall) from the market with the RBI facilitating it.
- The burden of repayment would be borne by the future collections from the compensation cess.
- It was proposed that this cess which was to end in June 2022 could be extended to facilitate the repayment of the debt.
Issues with the estimates
- Given the uncertainty, how accuracy of the estimates of ₹97,000 crore and ₹2.35-lakh crore offered to the States is questionable.
- When the Ministry of Finance is refusing to give a figure for growth in 2020-21, how such estimates are arrived at gains significance.
Budgetary calculations
- The Union Budget presented on February 1, 2020 assumed a nominal growth of 10%.
- But optimistically, the Centre’s budgetary calculations will be off by at least 20%.
- Revenue will fall by much more than 20%.
- So, income tax collection will also be short by much more than 20%.
- The direct tax/GDP per cent may be expected to fall from 5.5% last year to less than 4% this fiscal.
- Thus, at an optimistic guess, if the economy declines by only 10%, the total tax collection will be down by about ₹12-lakh crore in 2020-21.
Conclusion
As many predictions are that the economy will be down by much more than 10% used in the calculations above, the revenue shortfall is likely to be far greater. This points to the dire position of the Centre (and the States) and the inevitability of a large borrowing programme. Only the Centre is in a position to do such massive borrowing.
Back2Basics: Two options for the GST compensation
- Option 1 has a special window for states, coordinated by the Finance Ministry, to borrow the projected shortfall of Rs 97,000 crore only on account of GST implementation — and not the Covid-19 pandemic.
- This amount can be fully repaid from the compensation cess fund, without being counted as states’ debt.
- Option 2 takes into account the impact of the pandemic, proposing states to borrow the entire Rs 2.35 lakh crore and bearing the interest burden though principal will be repaid from the cess proceeds.
- The GST shortfall amount (Rs 97,000 crore) will not be counted as states’ debt, while the rest of the amount of Rs 1.38 lakh crore will be counted in the books of the states.
Source:
https://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/gst-compensation-centre-gives-states-2-options-easier-terms-for-lower-borrowing-6575499/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Afghan peace process and India's role
The U.S. objectives
- Following 4 were the states as objectives of the Afghan peace process.
- 1) An end to violence by declaring a ceasefire.
- 2) An intra-Afghan dialogue for a lasting peace.
- 3) The Taliban cutting ties with terrorist organisations such as al Qaeda.
- 4) U.S. troop withdrawal.
Evolving Indian stand in the peace process
- India’s vision of a sovereign, united, stable, plural and democratic Afghanistan is one that is shared by a large constituency in Afghanistan, cutting across ethnic and provincial lines.
- At Doha meeting, India’s External Affairs Ministerreiterated that the peace process must be “Afghan led, Afghan owned and Afghan controlled”.
- But Indian policy has evolved from its earlier hands-off approach to the Taliban.
- U.S. and Russian representatives suggested if India had concerns regarding anti-India activities of terrorist groups, it must engage directly with the Taliban. In other words.
Limited interest of the major powers
- Major powers have limited interests in the peace process.
- The European Union has made it clear that its financial contribution will depend on the security environment and the human rights record.
- China can always lean on Pakistan to preserve its security and connectivity interests.
- For Russia, blocking the drug supply and keeping its southern periphery secure from extremist influences is key.
- That is why no major power is taking ownership for the reconciliation talks, but merely content with being facilitators.
Conclusion
A more active engagement will enable India to work with like-minded forces in the region to ensure that the vacuum created by the U.S. withdrawal does not lead to an unravelling of the gains registered during the last two decades.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indus Water Treaty
Mains level: Reconsideration of IWT over cross border terrorism
September 19 this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan.
Tap to read more about Indus River System:
Drainage System | Part 3
Indus Waters Treaty, 1960
- The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank signed in Karachi in 1960.
- According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three “eastern” rivers of India — the Beas, the Ravi and the Sutlej was given to India
- The control over the water flowing in three “western” rivers of India — the Indus, the Chenab and the Jhelum was given to Pakistan
- The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use and unrestricted use for power generation, domestic, industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc. while laying down precise regulations for India to build projects
- India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.
Based on equitable water-sharing
- Back in time, partitioning the Indus rivers system was inevitable after the Partition of India in 1947.
- The sharing formula devised after prolonged negotiations sliced the Indus system into two halves.
- Equitable it may have seemed, but the fact remained that India conceded 80.52 per cent of the aggregate water flows in the Indus system to Pakistan.
- It also gave Rs 83 crore in pounds sterling to Pakistan to help build replacement canals from the western rivers. Such generosity is unusual of an upper riparian.
- India conceded its upper riparian position on the western rivers for the complete rights on the eastern rivers. Water was critical for India’s development plans.
India plays resilient
- That the treaty has remained “uninterrupted” is because India respects its signatory and values trans-boundary Rivers as an important connector in the region in terms of both diplomacy and economic prosperity.
- There have been several instances of terror attacks which could have prompted India, within the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, to withdraw from the IWT.
- However, on each occasion, India chose not to do so.
Significance of the treaty
- It is a treaty that is often cited as an example of the possibilities of peaceful coexistence that exist despite the troubled relationship.
- Well-wishers of the treaty often dub it “uninterrupted and uninterruptible”.
- The World Bank, which, as the third party, played a pivotal role in crafting the IWT, continues to take particular pride that the treaty functions.
Need for a rethink
- The role of India, as a responsible upper riparian abiding by the provisions of the treaty, has been remarkable.
- However, of late, India is under pressure to rethink the extent to which it can remain committed to the provisions, as its overall political relations with Pakistan becomes intractable.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAROTAR rules
The Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR, 2020) shall come into force from September 21.
Try this PYQ:
Q.In the context of the affairs of which of the following is the phrase “Special Safeguard Mechanisms” mentioned in the news frequently?
(a) United Nations Environment Programme
(b) World Trade Organization
(c) ASEAN- India Free Trade Agreement
(d) G-20 Summits
CAROTAR rules
- Importers will have to do their due diligence to ensure that imported goods meet the prescribed ‘rules of origin’ provisions.
- This is the essential availing concessional rate of customs duty under free trade agreements (FTAs).
- A list of minimum information, which the importer is required to possess, has also been provided in the rules along with general guidance.
- Also, an importer would now have to enter certain origin related information in the Bill of Entry, as available in the Certificate of Origin.
Why need CAROTAR?
- CAROTAR 2020 supplements the existing operational certification procedures prescribed under different trade agreements.
- India has inked FTAs with several countries, including Japan, South Korea and ASEAN members.
- Under such agreements, two trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate import/customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.
- The new rules will assist customs authorities in the smooth clearance of legitimate imports under FTAs.
Its significance
- The ASEAN FTA allows imports of most items at nil or concessional basic customs duty from the 10-nation bloc.
- Major imports to India come from five ASEAN countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
- The benefit of concessional customs duty rate applies only if an ASEAN member country is the country of origin of goods.
- This means that goods originating from China and routed through these countries will not be eligible for customs duty concessions under the ASEAN FTA.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blue Flag Certification
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has announced the first time eight beaches of India are recommended for the coveted International eco-label, the Blue flag certification.
Try this PYQ:
Q. At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the seawater recedes from the shoreline a few kilometers and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the seafloor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at:
(a) Bhavnagar
(b) Bheemunipatnam
(c) Chandipur
(d) Nagapattinam
Which are the eight beaches?
The eight beaches are Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Daman & Diu, Kasargod and Padubidri beach in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden beach of Odisha and Radhanagar beach in Andaman and Nicobar.
About Blue Flag Certification
- This Certification is accorded by an international agency “Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark” based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads i.e.
- Environmental Education and Information,
- Bathing Water Quality,
- Environment Management and Conservation and
- Safety and Services on the beaches.
- It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
- Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches.
- Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Internet and related terms
Mains level: Paper 3- Social media and related issues
Internet has transformed our life like no other technologies. However, it has created several problems as well. The article analyses such issues.
Examining the role of social media
- The first reason for the examination of role is the impending US presidential election.
- Ghosts of Cambridge Analytica, are returning to haunt us again.
- The second reason is the COVID pandemic.
- Social media has emerged as a force for good, with effective communication and lockdown entertainment, but also for evil, being used effectively by anti-vaxxers and the #Unmask movement to proselytize their dangerous agenda.
Understanding the problems associated with social media
- The big problem with social networks is their business model.
- The internet was created as a distributed set of computers communicating with one another, and sharing the load of managing the network.
- This was Web 1.0, and it worked very well. But it had one big problem—there was no way to make money off it.
- The internet got monetized, Web 2.0 was born.
- Come 2020, search and social media advertising has crossed $200 billion, rocketing past print at $65 billion, and TV at $180 billion.
- This business model has led to a “winner-takes-all” industry structure, creating natural monopolies and centralizing the once-decentralized internet.
- The emergence of Web 3.0, a revolution that promises to return the internet to users.
Way forward
- One principle of the new model is to allow users explicit control of their data, an initiative aided by Europe-like data protection regulation.
- Another is to grant creators of content—artists, musicians, photographers, —a portion of revenues, instead of platforms taking it all (or most).
- The technologies that Web 3.0 leverages are newer ones, like blockchains, which are inherently decentralized.
- They have technology protection against the accumulation of power and data in the hands of a few.
- Digital currencies enabled by these technologies offer a business model of users paying for services and content with micro-transactions, as an alternative to advertiser-pays.
Conclusion
The path to success for these new kinds of democratic networks will be arduous. But a revolution has begun, and it is our revulsion of current models that could relieve us of our social dilemmas.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Seventh Schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Federal system
The article analyses the issues of distribution of powers under the Constitution and the issues linked with it.
Debate on the role of Centre and states
- There is an argument for the need to re-examine the distribution of powers under the Seventh Schedule so as to rationalise the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs).
- Under the Centrally Sponsored SchemesCentre extends support in sectors pertaining to the State List.
- Spending by the Centre on a state subject like health and need for states’ contribute to a Union subject like defence is considered.
- However, the constitutional assignments between the Centre and subnational governments in federations, are done broadly on the basis of their respective comparative advantage.
- That is why the provision of national public goods is in the federal domain and those with the state-level public service span are assigned to the states.
3 settled issues in the debate
- The debate seems to have settled on at least three counts.
- One, the federal organisation of powers can be revisited and reframed.
- Two, the CSSs must continue but they should be restructured.
- Three, there is a need for an appropriate forum to discuss the complex and contentious issue of reviewing federal organisation of powers and restructuring of central transfers.
Review of the subjects in lists
- In spite of health being a state subject, the response to collective threats linked to the subject required some kind of organisation of federal responsibilities on a functional basis.
- A typical response is to recommend shifting subjects to the Concurrent List to enable an active role for the Centre.
- The High-Level Group, constituted by the 15th Finance Commission, recommended shifting health from the State to the Concurrent List.
- A similar recommendation was made earlier by the Ashok Chawla Committee for water.
Challenges
- Shifting of subjects from the State to Concurrent List in times of acute sub-nationalism, deep territorialisation and competitive federalism is going to be challenging.
Way forward
- The most collective threats and the challenges of coping with emerging risks of sustainability are linked to either the State List subjects or require actions by states — water, agriculture, biodiversity, pollution, climate change.
- This extended role of ensuring security against threats to sustainability of resources forms a new layer of considerations.
- This should define the contours of a coordinated response between the Centre and States — as it happened during the pandemic.
- In fact, such threats and challenges require the states to play a dominant role.
- At the same time, the Centre must expand its role beyond the mitigation of inter-state externalities and address the challenges of security and sustainability.
Consider the question “The federal organisation of powers under the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule needs review. In light of this, examine the problems faced by the distribution and suggest the challenge the review would face.”
Conclusion
The ongoing friction between the Centre and the states over GST reforms tells us that consensus-building is not a one-time exercise. It has to allow sustained dialogue and deliberation. Perhaps it is time to revisit the proposal for an elevated and empowered Inter-State Council.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Paris Agreement
Mains level: Paper 3- Paris Agreement and India's progress on climate action
The article takes stock of India’s climate action and the issue of phasing out the use of coal.
Context
- The UN Secretary-General called on India to give up coal immediately and reduce emissions by 45% by 2030.
State of India’s climate action
- India’s renewable energy programme is ambitious and its energy efficiency programme is delivering, especially in the domestic consumption sector.
- India is one of the few countries with at least 2° Celsius warming compliant climate action.
- India is also among one of smaller list of countries on track to fulfilling their Paris Agreement commitments.
- India’s annual emissions, at 0.5 tonnes per capita, are well below the global average of 1.3 tonnes.
- In terms of cumulative emissions, India’s contribution by 2017 was only 4% for a population of 1.3 billion.
How West is performing?
- While talking about their phasing out of coal, the global North has obscured the reality of its continued dependence on oil and natural gas, both equally fossil fuels, with no timeline for their phaseout.
- While it is amply clear that their commitments into the future set the world on a path for almost 3°C warming, they have diverted attention by fuzzy talk of “carbon neutrality” by 2050.
- Environmentalists in developed countries, unable to summon up the domestic political support have turned to pressure the developing countries.
- All of these are accompanied by increasing appeals to multilateral or First World financial and development institutions to force this agenda on to developing countries.
Implications of ending coal investment for India
- Currently, roughly 2 GW of coal-based generation is being decommissioned per year.
- But meeting the 2030 electricity consumption target of 1,580 to 1,660 units per person per year, will require anywhere between 650 GW to 750 GW of renewable energy.
- Unlike the developed nations, India cannot substitute coal substantially by oil and gas and despite some wind potential, a huge part of this growth needs to come from solar.
- However, renewables at best can meet residential consumption and some part of the demand from the service sector.
- Currently, manufacturing growth powered by fossil fuel-based energy is itself a necessity.
Conclusion
India must unanimously reject the UN Secretary General’s call and reiterate its long-standing commitment to an equitable response to the challenge of global warming.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solar Cycle, solar maxima and minima
Mains level: Solar Cycle and its impact
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has announced the commencement of solar cycle 25.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Which one of the following reflects back more sunlight as compared to the other three?
(a) Sand desert
(b) Paddy cropland
(c) Land covered with fresh snow
(d) Prairie land
What is the Solar Cycle?
- Like seasons on Earth, the Sun follows a cycle of 11 years, during which solar activities fluctuate between solar minima and maxima.
- Depending on the number of sunspots detected on the Sun, scientists term it is as solar maxima (highest number of sunspots) or solar minima (lowest number of sunspots).
- Sunspots are small and dark, yet cooler areas formed on the solar surface, where there are strong magnetic forces.
- They start appearing at Sun’s higher latitudes and later shift towards the equator as a cycle progresses.
- In short, when the Sun is active, there are more sunspots in comparison to fewer sunspots during the lesser active phase.
- Maxima or minima is not a specific time in the 11-year cycle but is a period that can last for a few years.
How are solar cycles determined?
- One of the important elements researchers look out for on the Sun’s surface is the number of sunspots.
- A new cycle commences when the Sun has reached its lowest possible minima phase.
- Every time the cycle changes, the Sun’s magnetic poles reverse.
Monitoring solar cycles
- Since the Sun is a highly variable star, data of sunspot formation and its progress need close monitoring.
- Data of six to eight months are required to confirm whether the star has undergone a minima phase.
- Traditionally, telescopes were used to record sunspots and recorded data since 1755 is available.
- With the advance in technology in recent decades, satellites are also used to make real-time sunspot observations.
- On this basis, scientists announced the completion of solar cycle 24, which lasted between December 2008 and December 2019.
- With the Sun’s activities having reached its lowest minima between the two cycles, the new solar cycle 25 has now commenced.
How has the transition between solar cycles 24 and 25 been?
- The Sun’s activities were notably lesser during 2019 and early 2020. There were no sunspots for 281 days in 2019 and 181 days in 2020.
- Since December 2019, the solar activities have slowly picked up, corroborating the beginning of the news cycle.
- The panel termed solar cycle 25 to be a weak one, with the intensity similar to that of Solar cycle 24.
What solar activities affect us on Earth?
- Solar activities include solar flares, solar energetic particles, high-speed solar wind and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME).
- These influence the space weather which originates from the Sun.
- Solar storms or flares can typically affect space-dependent operations like GPS, radio and satellite communications, besides hampering flight operations, power grids and space exploration programmes.
- CMEs pose danger to space weather. Ejections travelling at a speed of 500km/second are common during solar peaks and create disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere, the protective shield surrounding the planet.
- At the time of spacewalks, astronauts face a great health risk posed by exposure to solar radiation outside Earth’s protective atmosphere.
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