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

Current status of India’s economic growth

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Context
- India’s economic growth slowed to 6.5 percent during the July-September quarter because of a fading low-base effect. For the full year, the economy is expected to grow at 7 percent, with risks tilted to the downside. This implies that the second half of the year (October–March) will see growth slow down to 4.6 percent, again largely due to the base effect and slowing global growth.
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Background: The COVID Pandemic, geopolitical tensions and the Prospects
- This was the second consecutive quarter with no functional disruption of economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Since October, Google, too, has stopped reporting mobility indicators, which had become one of the most tracked data points for analysts and policymakers since the pandemic struck.
- This suggests that COVID-19 is unlikely to come in the way of growth for most parts of the world, with China, which is following a zero-COVID policy, being the key exception.
Performance of Indian economy amidst the current global slowdown
- Spill over effect in India: In an interconnected world, Geopolitical tensions, high and broad-based inflation in many parts of the world and sharp increases in policy rates in developed countries amid a looming recession will continue to confront the global economy. These effects will spill over to India as well, despite its structural strengths.
- Slow growth of contact- intensive service sector: Growing at 14.7 per cent, contact-intensive services such as trade, hotels and transport continued to be key drivers of the growth momentum in the second quarter. This segment had borne the brunt of the pandemic because of recurrent lockdowns, and is showing a strong rebound because of pent-up demand, a trend that is likely to continue this year.
- Strong private consumption: Private consumption was quite strong in the second quarter, growing by 9.7 per cent, and now 11.2 per cent above the pre-pandemic level.
- Rising domestic demand, good for the economy: The resilience of domestic demand will shape the contours of GDP growth in coming quarters as the global growth momentum is anticipated to lose steam. Advanced economies, whose growth is expected to slow sharply next year, account for almost 45 per cent of India’s merchandise exports.
- Strong and firm Agriculture sector: Despite climate-related disturbances, agriculture surprisingly held its ground in the second quarter.
- Healthy tax revenue: So far, healthy tax revenue collections have allowed the government to finance its bloated subsidy bill and investments without much pressure on the fiscal deficit. Led by government capex, investments grew 10.4 per cent in the second quarter.
- Good corporate balance sheets: strong corporate balance sheets not only cushion them against global headwinds but also provide an opportunity to kick-start the investment cycle once uncertainty subsides.
The current status of India’s manufacturing growth
- Slowed growth: Manufacturing GDP growth slowed rather sharply due to the base effect and margin pressure on manufacturing companies. This is somewhat contradictory to the relatively strong signals from the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) which, at 55.9, was in the expansion zone during the July-September quarter, while also being slower than the IIP growth of 1.4 per cent in the same quarter.
- Support from the government: Currently, manufacturing is finding some support from government spending on infrastructure, particularly in sectors such as steel and cement. The production-linked incentive scheme has incentivised private investment and fast-forwarded manufacturing investments in electronics and pharmaceuticals.
- Overall demand is low except few high value segments: The festive season-related production and the continued strong demand in the automobile sector (especially in high-value segments), was not enough to prevent an overall slide in manufacturing.
The current status of Agriculture sector
- Strong and firm Agriculture sector: Despite climate-related disturbances, agriculture surprisingly held its ground in the second quarter. Although rains were 6 per cent above normal this year, they were quite lopsided and led to a drop in rice acreage in some of the rice-growing regions on account of rainfall deficiency and some damage to crops from excess unseasonal rains in October.
- Inconsistency in rainfall may affect kharif: In fact, October rains were 47 per cent above the long-period average. Rain shortfall in some regions, excess in others, and unseasonal excess rains point towards some hit to kharif production.
- Rabi crops look in good swing: That said, the prospects for the winter crop (rabi crop), which is largely irrigated, look good owing to favourable soil moisture conditions and healthy reservoir levels. While rabi sowing was initially delayed on account of unseasonal October rains, it is now progressing well, with sown area until November 18 about 7 per cent higher than during the same period last year.
- Overall agriculture growth prospects: This trend, if sustained, should offset the hit to kharif production to some extent. Overall, we expect agriculture to grow at 3 per cent this year, lower than the decadal average of 3.8 per cent.
- Food inflation: Abnormal weather has also triggered food inflation, particularly in cereals, which will cool off only when the prospects for rabi crop become clear. While fall in inflation in October was largely due to a high base effect, core inflation continues to be sticky and food inflation risks persists.
Conclusion
- India’s growth cycle has become well-synchronized with those of advanced economies. So, a sharp slowdown in these countries will spill over to India and the maximum impact of domestic interest rate hikes on growth will play out next fiscal given that monetary policy impacts growth with a lag. The key policy challenge for India will be to manage a soft landing amid the possibility of a hard landing in advanced countries.
Mains question

Q. COVID pandemic disrupted the global economy, moreover the geopolitical tensions are adding to the existing slow growth. In this context, discuss the current status of Indian economy.

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G20 : Economic Cooperation ahead

G20: Setting the World Agenda Through Task Forces

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
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Context
- India’s G20 presidency began on December 1. It will be driven by the underlying vision of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, best encapsulated by the motto “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. As the main “ideas bank” of the G20, the activities and deliberations of the Think20 (T20) engagement group of the G20 are spread over seven task forces.
Task force on “Macroeconomics, trade, and livelihoods”
- Create Coherence in monetary and fiscal policy: It has the mandate to make recommendations on coordination within the G20 to create coherence in monetary and fiscal policy, trade, investment, and supply chain resilience.
- Recover together, recover stronger: The aim is to give further impetus to the initiatives taken by the Indonesian presidency to “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” in the post-pandemic period.
- Consensus on international trade: With supply chain resilience emerging as a common concern against the backdrop of ineffective WTO mechanisms, the G20 has assumed the mantle as the most significant platform to forge consensus among the top 20 economies on international trade policy.
Task force on “Digital Futures”
- Digital infrastructure: It will endeavour to build an inclusive digital public infrastructure to ensure affordability and safe access by all.
- Interoperability of Digital services: It will discuss the universal interoperability of digital services. It will also address issues of digital financial inclusion and skills, both integral to economic growth.
Task force on “LiFE, Resilience, and Values for Wellbeing”
- Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE): The LiFE initiative aims to put the individual at the centre of the discourse and to sensitise every human being, regardless of nationality and geography. If individuals become more conscious of their lifestyle choices and act more responsibly, it can make a huge difference.
- Contribution of all: The focus on LiFE is a timely initiative given the fact that the deleterious effects of climate change on the economy and livelihood are felt the most by the vulnerable countries around the world.
Task force on “Green transitions”
- Refuelling growth: Growth will be the aim of the task force on green transitions as it recommends pathways for a smooth transition to clean energy without compromising on efforts for global economic revival in a post-pandemic world.
Task force on the “Global financial order”
- Restructuring the financial institution: It will examine the potential for realigning the global financial architecture. The challenge today is to restructure institutions in accordance with contemporary economic needs, including for infrastructure.
- Finance and resource mobilization: Greater access to development finance and resource mobilisation through innovative methods is of key importance.
Task force on “Accelerating SDGs”
- Sustainable collaboration: It will explore new pathways to deliver on the 2030 agenda through strengthened and sustainable collaboration.
- Focus on circular economy to reduce waste: Given the earth’s finite resources, a shift towards a circular economy and deliberate and mindful consumption is likely to reduce waste and help build a virtuous cycle for development.
Task Force on “Reformed Multilateralism”
- Road map for Multilateralism 2.0: It will seek to create a roadmap for “Multilateralism 2.0”. A targeted reform agenda for key multilateral institutions, whether the United Nations or its affiliated frameworks such as the WHO, WTO and the ILO, must be undertaken.
- Representative world order: With sincere efforts, the global community can look forward to the birth of a more representative and egalitarian multipolar world order from the chrysalis of the G20.
Conclusion
- The year ahead is an opportunity for India to share its values to world. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the guiding canon for India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and Vaccine Maitri, places higher human values above narrow nationalism. It is an approach that is expected to permeate all aspects of India’s G20 Presidency.
Mains Question

Q. What are the different task forces created under India’s G20 presidency? Briefly explain the role of different task forces.

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Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

What are Personality Rights?

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Intellectual Property Rights
The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order to prevent the unlawful use of a megastar’s name, image and voice.

What did the HC say?
- The court, through its order, restrained persons at large from infringing the personality rights of the actor.
Why are we discussing this?
- Celebrities are protected from commercial misuse of their name and personality.
- However, there have been instances where the consumers are misled owing to false advertisements or endorsements by such personalities.
- Due to such cases, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has made a notification in 2022 to keep a check on misleading adverts and endorsements of consumer products by imposing a penalty on the endorser.
What are Personality Rights?
- Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
- These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales.
- Therefore, it is necessary for renowned personalities/celebrities to register their names to save their personality rights.
- A large list of unique personal attributes contribute to the making of a celebrity.
- All of these attributes need to be protected, such as name, nickname, stage name, picture, likeness, image and any identifiable personal property, such as a distinctive race car.
Correlation with publicity rights
- Personality rights are different from publicity rights.
- Publicity rights are governed by statutes like the Trade marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957.
Types of personality rights
- Personality rights consist of two types of rights-
1. Right of publicity: It is the right to keep one’s image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark;
2. Right to privacy: It is the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission.
- However, under common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the ‘tort of passing off’.
- Passing off takes place when someone intentionally or unintentionally passes off their goods or services as those belonging to another party.
- Often, this type of misrepresentation damages the goodwill of a person or business, resulting in financial or reputational damage.
Does the use of a name on the internet affect personality rights?
- The Delhi High Court in 2011 made an observation in the case of Arun Jaitley vs Network Solutions Private Limited and Ors.
- In this case, former finance minister filed a suit seeking permanent injunction against the defendants from misuse and immediate transfer of the domain name www.arunjaitley.com.
- The Court stated that the popularity or fame of individual will be no different on the internet than in reality.
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Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

Places in news: Great Barrier Reef

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena
A joint report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) expressed concern about the status of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia, recommending that it “be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.”

About Great Barrier Reef
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km and having nearly 3,000 individual reefs.
- It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
- Coral reefs support over 25% of marine biodiversity even as they take up only 1% of the seafloor.
- The marine life supported by reefs further fuels global fishing industries.
- Besides, coral reef systems generate $2.7 trillion in annual economic value through goods and service trade and tourism.
- In Australia, the Barrier Reef, in pre-COVID times, generated $4.6 billion annually through tourism and employed over 60,000 people including divers and guides.
What does the new report say?
- The current report surveyed 87 reefs in the GBR between August 2021 and May 2022.
- Coral cover is measured by determining the increase in the cover of hard corals.
- The hard coral cover in northern GBR had reached 36% while that in the central region had reached 33%.
- Meanwhile, coral cover levels declined in the southern region from 38% in 2021 to 34% in 2022.
- The record levels of recovery, the report showed, were fuelled largely by increases in the fast-growing Acropora corals, which are a dominant type in the GBR.
Threats found
- Acropora corals are also the most susceptible to environmental pressures such as rising temperatures, cyclones, pollution, crown-of-thorn starfish (COTs) attacks which prey on hard corals and so on.
Does this mean the reef is out of the woods?
- Behind the recent recovery in parts of the reef, are the low levels of acute stressors in the past 12 months — no tropical cyclones, lesser heat stress in 2020 and 2022 as opposed to earlier.
- Besides predatory attacks and tropical cyclones, scientists say that the biggest threat to the health of the reef is climate change-induced heat stress, resulting in coral bleaching.
- The concern is that in the past decade, mass bleaching events have become more closely spaced in time.
- The first mass bleaching event occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces to heat, causing 8% of the world’s coral to die.
- The second event took place in 2002.
- But the longest and most damaging bleaching event took place from 2014 to 2017. Mass bleaching then occurred again in 2020, followed by earlier this year.
Back2Basics: Coral Reefs
- Corals are marine invertebrates or animals which do not possess a spine.
- They are the largest living structures on the planet.
- Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grow when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
- Corals are of two types — hard corals and soft corals.
1. Hard corals extract calcium carbonate from seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons. Hard corals are in a way the engineers of reef ecosystems and measuring the extent of hard coral is a widely-accepted metric for measuring the condition of coral reefs.
2. Soft corals attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years. These growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs.
How do corals bleach?
- Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
- The algae prepares food for corals through photosynthesis and also gives them their vibrant colouration.
- When exposed to conditions like heat stress, pollution, or high levels of ocean acidity, the zooxanthellae start producing reactive oxygen species not beneficial to the corals.
- So, the corals kick out the colour-giving algae from their polyps, exposing their pale white exoskeleton and leading to coral starvation as corals cannot produce their own food.
- Bleached corals can survive depending on the levels of bleaching and the recovery of sea temperatures to normal levels.
- Severe bleaching and prolonged stress in the external environment can lead to coral death.
Try this PYQ:

Consider the following statements:
1. Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
2. More than one third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

Post your answers here.
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Food Safety Standards – FSSAI, food fortification, etc.

Combating micronutrient malnutrition through food fortification

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India,PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security
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Context
- When it comes to nutrition, or more specifically micronutrient malnutrition, there is an urgent need to address the maladies that poor nutrition can inflict on the masses, especially given the diverse populations in India.
What is malnutrition?
- Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.
- The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions.
- One is ‘undernutrition’ which includes stunting (low height for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals).
- The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer).
What are micronutrients and why they are so important?
- Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals needed by the body in very small amounts.
- They perform a range of functions, including enabling the body to produce enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for normal growth and development.
- However, their impact on a body’s health is critical, and deficiency in any of them can cause severe and even life-threatening conditions. This can lead to reduced educational outcomes, reduced work productivity and increased risk from other diseases
- Deficiencies in iron, vitamin A and iodine are the most common around the world, particularly in children and pregnant women.
- Low- and middle-income counties bear the disproportionate burden of micronutrient deficiencies.
- Many of these deficiencies are preventable through food fortification and supplementation, where needed.
The worrying status of malnutrition in India
- According to National family Health survey (NFHS): As in NFHS-5 data, every second Indian woman is anaemic, every third child is stunted and malnourished, and every fifth child is wasted.
- According to an FAO Food Security Report for 2021: India ranks 101 out of 116 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2021, with a 15.3% undernourished population, the highest proportion of stunted children (30%), and wasted children (17.3%).
- Higher rate of stunting: The picture the Global Nutrition Report 2021 paints is cause for concern, noting that stunting among children in India is significantly higher than the Asian average of 21.8%.
How the countries are tackling malnutrition?
- Since the 1920s, developed countries and high-income countries have successfully tackled the issue of malnutrition through food fortification.
- Of late, the low-and middle-income countries, such as India, have pursued food fortification as one of the strategies to tackle micronutrient malnutrition.
- The health benefits accruing from food fortification have made 80 countries to frame laws for the fortification of cereal flour, and 130 countries with iodised salt, where 13 countries have mandated rice fortification.
What is food fortification?
- Food fortification is the process of adding nutrients to food.
- For instance, rice and wheat are fortified with iron, folic acid and vitamin B12, and salt fortified with iron and iodine. Iodised salt has been in use for the past few decades.
How India is tackling malnutrition and anemia?
- Fortified rice though PDS: Pilot projects on the distribution of fortified rice have been taken up in select States, including Maharashtra (Gadchiroli district) as part of a targeted Public Distribution programme for the masses.
- Scaling up the distribution through various food security schemes: The programme has been a success in terms of preventing cases of anaemia from 58.9% to 29.5%, within a span of two years, prompting the central government to declare the scaling up of the distribution of fortified rice, the major staple diet of 65% of the population, through the existing platform of social safety nets such as the PDS, ICDS and PM-POSHAN.
- Cost-effective strategy: Experiences from the different States on the fortified rice project, so far tally with the results of global programmes that use fortified food as a cost-effective strategy.
- Reduction in anaemia: The study found a promising reduction (29.5%) in the prevalence of anaemia among women, adolescent girls, and children put together in Gadchiroli district.
Case study of Noon meal scheme in Gujarat
- In Gujarat, an eight-month long study on multiple micronutrient fortified rice intervention for schoolchildren (six-12 years) in 2018-2019, as part of the Midday Meal Scheme, found increased haemoglobin concentration, 10% reduction in anaemia prevalence, and, more importantly, improved average cognitive scores (by 11.3%).
The probable outcome according to NITI Aayog
- Iron deficiency anaemia is a major public health concern, because it is responsible for 3.6% of disability-adjusted life years or DALYs (years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) i.e., a loss of 47 million DALYs, or years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability, or premature death (2016).
- According to NITI Aayog (based on WHO meta-analysis on the impact of rice fortification), a rice fortification budget of around ₹2,800 crore per year can save 35% of the total or 16.6 million DALYs per year with no known risk of toxicity.
- In India, the cost of one DALY lost due to iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is approximately ₹30,000, while the cost of averting an IDA-related DALY is only ₹1,545, resulting in a cost-benefit ratio of 1:18.
- Rice fortification, which costs less than 1% of the food subsidy bill (2018-19), has the potential to prevent 94.1 million anemia cases, saving ₹8,098 crore over a five-year period.
Concerns over the excess of per capita nutrients intake?
- Despite the programme’s proven efficacy, activists have expressed concern that excess iron overload from fortified rice has been dangerous for Jharkhand’s tribal population suffering from sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia.
- Iron levels in fortified rice range from 28 mg to 42.5 mg, folic acid levels from 75 mcg-125 mcg, and vitamin B12 levels from 0.75 mcg to 1.2 mcg (FSSAI standards).
- Considering the per capita intake, in a family of three members with a rice consumption of approximately 60 grams per person, the additional intake is 2.45 mg of iron. This in fact compensates our daily losses of iron from the body, which is 1 mg-2 mg per day.
Conclusion
- Given its proven efficacy and cost-effectiveness, food fortification can help us in reducing micronutrient deficiencies and address overall health benefits. The intervention, carried out with precautions is the key to address the issue of the malnutrition.
Mains question

Q. What is micronutrient malnutrition? Food fortification programmes have made great strides in India, reducing micronutrient deficiencies in recent decades but more efforts are needed. Discuss

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Housing for all – PMAY, etc.

Taking care of Vulnerable Homeless People

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Poverty & Development Issues
Context
- In India, the northern states face extreme weather in peak winter and summer. Hundreds of homeless people die in winter due to harsh cold conditions and, in summer, due to intolerable heat.
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Why homelessness needs attention?
- Lack of record: There is an absence of official records enumerating deaths due to homelessness. It undermines the scale of the crisis in the era of statistics and showcases states apathy.
- Extreme poverty: Homelessness is one of the worst forms of marginalisation as most homeless individuals suffer from malnutrition and extreme poverty.
- Poor health condition: Access to healthcare facilities and their affordability is also a hurdle. Exorbitant conditions affect mental health in many cases.
- Vulnerability to violence: Moreover, these conditions also give rise to drug and alcohol consumption. It creates a conducive situation for substance abuse. Such circumstances increase an individual’s vulnerability to violence, especially in the case of women and children.
- Social castigation: Stigmatisation and social marginalisation compound their precarious situation. In a nutshell, homelessness strips a person from all human rights.
Reasons for homelessness
- Extreme poverty,
- Inadequate affordable housing,
- High levels of inequality,
- Discrimination,
- Low wages,
- High rents,
- The soaring cost of living
What are the estimates of homelessness in India?
- The 2011 census estimate: Nearly 17.7 lakhs people as houseless, however, the census fails to capture the entire homeless population.
- Commissioners of Supreme courts: since census are conducted in every 10 years, this data is decadal old. As per the Commissioners of the Supreme Court, 1 percent of the urban population is homeless, making it a population of ~37 lakhs.
- The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: Ministry conducted a third-party survey in 2019 to identify the urban homeless. It estimates that approximately 23.93 lakh people are homeless. Population increase and the COVID-19 pandemic have fueled the rise in the homeless population.
What is the “Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH)” Scheme about?
- The scheme seeks to provide shelter to the urban poor. SUH is a sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM). The scheme guidelines mention the following provisions:
- All weather permanent shelters will be open for 24 hours.
- Permanent community centre for at least 100 people for every 1 lakh population.
- Each one should cater to 50-100 persons depending on local conditions.
What are the problems in shelter homes?
- Entry level barrier: Homeless people face entry-level barriers in accessing public shelters due to local issues such as shelter location, entry fees, and identification proof for verification.
- Non-availability of IDs: Most of the homeless are in the informal economy, lacking necessary documentation like voter ids, Aadhar card, etc. It makes them ‘invisible’ in the eyes of the city administration, and their voice remains unheard.
Addressing the issue of homelessness
- Responsibility of ULBs: The responsibility of accessing the homeless population rests with the urban local bodies. Local authorities need to conduct surveys to assess the homeless population.
- Decentralisation of funds: State governments must implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment in its true spirit. Its implementation will empower ULBs, which can then bring all the shelter homes under the ambit of SMCs and train them to manage local issues.
- Ensuring the benefits through ULBs: It can help them to secure benefits and guarantee the convergence of various government schemes, thus also addressing deep-rooted issues like violence and exclusion.
Conclusion
- The aim of providing housing for all will remain a distant dream if the homeless are not covered. Sheltering the homeless is a crucial link in the overall housing continuum. The state governments need to empower municipal bodies to ensure the decentralisation of governance.
Mains Question

Q. Discuss the problem of Homelessness in India? What are the challenges in addressing the homelessness problems and suggest the solution for it.

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Electoral Reforms In India

Reforming the Election Commission

op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Constitutional Bodies,Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters
Context
- A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is examining a bunch of petitions recommending reforms in the process of appointment of members of the Election Commission.
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Electoral reforms and reluctant Governments
- Long pending reforms: A list of over 20 reform proposals was compiled in 2004. More proposals were added to the list over time and are pending with government.
- Ineffective model code of conduct: These range from strengthening the Commission’s inherent structure to handling the misuse of muscle and money power during elections, which violate the Model Code of Conduct.
- Judicial intervention because of reluctant Government: It is hoped that the Bench will also examine electoral reforms suggested to governments by successive Election Commissions over the last two decades or so.
Issue of appointment of election commissioners
- The Dinesh Goswami Committee in 1990: It is suggested that the Chief Election Commissioner be appointed by the President (read: executive) in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition (and in case the Leader of the Opposition was not available, then consultation be held with the leader the largest opposition group in the Lok Sabha).
- Statutory backing for collegium led appointment: It said this process should have statutory backing. Importantly, it applied the same criteria to the appointments of Election Commissioners, along with consultation with the Chief Election Commissioner.
- The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution: The commission under Justice M.N. Venkatachalam, said that the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners should be appointed on the recommendation of a body comprising the Prime Minister, the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
- The 255th Report of the Law Commission: Chaired by Justice A.P. Shah, said the appointment of all the Election Commissioners should be made by the President in consultation with a three-member collegium consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha), and the Chief Justice of India.
What is T.N.Seshan case?
- Conferred equal power on election commissioners: The T.N.Seshan case conferred equal powers on the Election Commissioners as those enjoyed by the Chief Election Commissioner (referring to the Chief Election Commissioner as primus inter pares, or first among equals).
- Equal protection was not conferred: Supreme court offered majority power, whereby any two can overrule even the Chief Election Commissioner. Yet, it did not accord the Election Commissioners the same constitutional protection (of removal by impeachment) as is accorded to the Chief Election Commissioner.
Why security of tenure is important for Election Commissioners?
- Hesitancy to act: Without security of tenure, they may hesitate to act independently, which they otherwise might if they were truly secure.
- Junior to chief election commission: In the absence of full constitutional security, an Election Commissioner could feel they must keep on the right side of the Chief Election Commissioner.
- Remain loyal to government: They might also feel they should remain within the ambit favoured by the government.
- Fear of non-elevation: An Election Commissioner can never be sure whether they will automatically be elevated to the top post because nowhere has elevation been statutorily decreed.
What are the suggested reforms?
- Same procedure for removal of judge: It is suggested measures to safeguard Election Commissioners from arbitrary removal, in a manner similar to what is accorded to the Chief Election Commissioner, who can only be removed by impeachment, which is by no means easy.
- Appointment by collegium: While the Chief Election Commissioner should be appointed by a collegium, this must apply equally to the Election Commissioners.
- Reform by constitutional amendments: The Election Commissioners must now equally be protected from arbitrary removal by a constitutional amendment that would ensure a removal process that currently applies only to the Chief Election Commissioner.
Conclusion
- Reforms in election commission is absolutely necessary but manner of reforms is debatable. Judiciary’s role is not to reform the institution but to deliver the justice. This might be another case of judicial overreach in legislative domain any reform. Any reform in election commission has to come from legislature.
Mains Question

Q. What are the necessary reforms in Election commission of India? Why security of tenure is important for election commissioners?

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Port Infrastructure and Shipping Industry – Sagarmala Project, SDC, CEZ, etc.

Protests against Vizhinjam Port

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.
Kerala’s ambitious Vizhinjam port project for a transshipment container terminal is caught in protests and violence.

Vizhinjam Port Project
- In 2015, the Adani Group signed a concession agreement with the Kerala government to build India’s first mega transshipment container terminal at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram.
- The ₹7,525 crore project — an all-weather deep-sea port with a depth of 24 meters — can service large megamax-sized container ships.
- This natural port has no littoral sedimentation, obviating the need for periodic dredging and lowers maintenance costs.
- The port, which is well-connected to the hinterland, will handle 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units in Phase-I and another 6.2 million TEUs when completed.
Significance of the project for India?
- Transshipment hub: The Vizhinjam Port holds the potential to attract a large share of container transshipment traffic that is now handled by Colombo, Singapore or Dubai.
- Important shipping lane: It located just off the International Shipping Lane and close to the East-West Shipping Axis.
- Cargo handling: A large share of India’s exports and imports that are now transshipped through these international ports can be handled at Vizhinjam.
- Reducing logistic costs: It would mean a sharp reduction in shipping costs and lead time. This will go a long way in reducing overall logistics costs and making manufacturing competitive.
- Employment generation: It will also create thousands of jobs – directly and otherwise.
Reasons for protests
- Local fishermen fear displacement and loss of livelihood. They blame higher tides and increasing coastal erosion on the project.
- Protests has some leftist leaning inherently opposing every development project.
- A Latin Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the protests.
- Many right-wing outfits have thrown their weight behind the project and want its quick completion.
- They blame foreign funding for what they call ‘anti-development’ protests.
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Coal and Mining Sector

What is SHAKTI Policy?

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.
Ministry of Power has launched a scheme for procurement of aggregate power of 4500 MW for 5 years under SHAKTI Policy to help states that are facing power shortages and help generation plants to increase their capacities.

SHAKTI Policy
- SHAKTI is an acronym for Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India.
- It was launched in 2018 to provide coal to stressed power units which lack coal supply.
- It seeks to provide coal linkages to power plants which lack fuel supply agreements (FSAs) through coal auctions.
Need for such policy
- SHAKTI is a policy designated by the government for the allocation of coal among thermal power plants in a transparent and objective manner.
- It aims to transfer the benefits of linkage coal to the end consumers.
- The scheme is supposed to be beneficial not just for the infrastructure sector, but also for the public sector banks which have huge loans unpaid at the end of the power companies.
- The companies, which did not have coal linkages before the introduction of the Shakti Scheme, would benefit when they would get domestic fuel supplies through auction at competitive rates.
- The scheme also aims to reduce the dependence on imported coal and promote domestic industries.
- With this policy, the government also aims to reduce dependence on imported coal.
Coal linkage scenario in India
- Coal linkage to the power sector is governed by provisions of the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP), 2007.
- Under the NCDP, a system of issuance of Letter of Assurance (LoA) was introduced.
- The requests for Linkage/LoA are forwarded to the Ministry of Power for its recommendations.
- The coal availability scenario has, now, emerged from scarcity to adequacy.
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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Supreme Court seeks government’s response on evolving ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’

Species | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
The Supreme Court sought the government’s response about evolving a ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’ conservation program like the ‘Project Tiger’ to bring attention to the peril faced by the critically endangered bird species.

Great Indian Bustards
- GIBs are the largest among the four bustard species found in India, the other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican, and the Bengal florican.
- GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10 percent of it. Among the heaviest birds with flight, GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats.
- GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland.
On the brink of extinction
- The GIB population in India had fallen to just 150.
- Pakistan is also believed to host a few GIBs and yet openly supports their hunting.
Protection accorded
- Birdlife International: uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered (2011)
- Protection under CITES: Appendix I
- IUCN status: Critically Endangered
- Protection under Wildlife (Protection) Act: Schedule I
Threats
- Overhead power transmission
- Poor vision: Due to their poor frontal vision, can’t detect powerlines in time and their weight makes in-flight quick maneuvers difficult.
- Windmills: Coincidentally, Kutch and Thar desert are the places that have witnessed the creation of huge renewable energy infrastructure.
- Noise pollution: Noise affects the mating and courtship practices of the GIB.
- Changes in the landscape: by way of farmers cultivating their land, which otherwise used to remain fallow due to frequent droughts in Kutch.
- Cultivation changes: Cultivation of cotton and wheat instead of pulses and fodder are also cited as reasons for falling GIB numbers.
Supreme Court’s intervention
- The Supreme Court has ordered that all overhead power transmission lines in core and potential GIB habitats in Rajasthan and Gujarat should be undergrounded.
- The SC also formed a three-member committee to help power companies comply with the order.
Conservation measures
- In 2015, the Central government launched the GIB species recovery program.
- Under the program, the WII and Rajasthan Forest departments have jointly set up conservation breeding centers where GIB eggs are harvested from the wild.
- They have been incubated artificially and hatchlings raised in a controlled environment.
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