Archives: News

Defence Sector – DPP, Missions, Schemes, Security Forces, etc.

What is Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)?

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indigenization Of Technology
In line with the effort to promote self-reliance in defence manufacturing, the Defence Minister has approved the third Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) of 780 strategically important line replacement units (LRU).

What is a Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)?
- The positive indigenisation list essentially means that the Armed Forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force—will only procure the listed items from domestic manufacturers.
- The manufacturers could be private sector players or Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).
- This concept was rolled out in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
Why in news?
- This third list is different from the three PILs announced for the armed forces.
- This list is in continuation to the two PILs of LRUs, sub-systems, assemblies, sub-assemblies and components that were published in December 2021 and March 2022.
- These lists contain 2,500 items which are already indigenised and 458 (351+107) items which will be indigenised within the given timelines.
- Out of the 458 items, 167 items (163 from the first PIL, and four from the second PIL) have been indigenised, so far, it stated.
Other steps taken by the Centre to boost defence production
- Licensing relaxation: Measures announced to boost exports since 2014 include simplified defence industrial licensing, relaxation of export controls and grant of no-objection certificates.
- Lines of Credit: Specific incentives were introduced under the foreign trade policy and the Ministry of External Affairs has facilitated Lines of Credit for countries to import defence product.
- Policy boost: The Defence Ministry has also issued a draft Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy 2020.
- Budgetary allocation: In addition, a percentage of the capital outlay of the defence budget has been reserved for procurement from domestic industry.
- Defence Industrial Corridors: The government has also announced 2 dedicated Corridors in the States of TN and UP to act as clusters of defence manufacturing that leverage existing infrastructure, and human capital.
- Long-term vision: The vision of the government is to achieve a turnover of $25 bn including export of $5 bn in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
- Push for self-reliance: The govt has identified the Defence and Aerospace sector as a focus area for the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self-Reliant India initiative.
Issues retarding defence indigenization
- Excess reliance on Public Sector: India has four companies (Indian ordnance factories, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)) among the top 100 biggest arms producers of the world.
- Policy delays: In the past few years, the government has approved over 200 defence acquisition worth Rs 4 trillion, but most are still in relatively early stages of processing.
- Lack of Critical Technologies: Poor design capability in critical technologies, inadequate investment in R&D and the inability to manufacture major subsystems and components hamper the indigenous manufacturing.
- Long gestation: The creation of a manufacturing base is capital and technology-intensive and has a long gestation period. By that time newer technologies make products outdated.
- ‘Unease’ in doing business: An issue related to stringent labour laws, compliance burden and lack of skills, affects the development of indigenous manufacturing in defence.
- Multiple jurisdictions: Overlapping jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Industrial Promotion impair India’s capability of defence manufacturing.
- Lack of quality: The higher indigenization in few cases is largely attributed to the low-end technology.
- FDI Policy: The earlier FDI limit of 49% was not enough to enthuse global manufacturing houses to set up bases in India.
- R&D Lacunae: A lip service to technology funding by making token allocations is an adequate commentary on our lack of seriousness in the area of Research and Development.
- Lack of skills: There is a lack of engineering and research capability in our institutions. It again leads us back to the need for a stronger industry-academia interface.
Way forward
- Reducing import dependence: India was the world’s second-largest arms importer from 2014-18, ceding the long-held tag as the largest importer to Saudi Arabia, says 2019 SIPRI report.
- Security Imperative: Indigenization in defence is critical to national security also. It keeps intact the technological expertise and encourages spin-off technologies and innovation that often stem from it.
- Economic boost: Indigenization in defence can help create a large industry which also includes small manufacturers.
- Employment generation: Defence manufacturing will lead to the generation of satellite industries that in turn will pave the way for a generation of employment opportunities.
UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

Places in news: Taiwan Strait

Prelims Only | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations
India has for the first time referred to what it called “the militarization of the Taiwan Strait”, marking a rare instance of New Delhi appearing to comment on China’s actions towards Taiwan.

What is the news?
- Two American warships have recently sailed very close to China through Taiwan Strait.
- This has intimidated the China which is already fuming due to the visit of Nancy Pelosi.
Taiwan Strait
- The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometer wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental China (and Asia of course).
- The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.
- The narrowest part is 130 km wide.
Issues over Taiwan Strait
- The Taiwan Strait is itself a subject of an international dispute over its political status.
- China claims to enjoy sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait” and regards the waterway as “internal territorial waters” instead of being international waters.
- This means that the Chinese government denies any foreign vessel having the freedom of navigation in the strait.
- This position has drawn strong objections from the western World.
India’s change of stance
- India has followed a “One China policy” since its recognition of the PRC in 1949, and only maintains trade and cultural relations with Taiwan.
- India routinely reiterated this policy until 2008 after which it stopped mentioning it in official statements.
- This is a demand that China usually asks of most countries in official declarations.
Why is India shifting its stance?
- China often make provocative statements claiming Arunachal Pradesh.
- It often moves to issue “stapled visas” to Indian citizens in Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal.
UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Waste Management – SWM Rules, EWM Rules, etc

Construction and demolition waste

op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Context
- Huge amounts of construction and demolition waste in a residential area is hazardous for human health and warrants immediate disposal.
Why in news?
- The Twin towers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh were demolished by controlled implosion. Their being located in a residential neighbourhood of Noida makes it even more essential to introduce interventions to mitigate pollution and waste, post-demolition.
What is construction and demolition waste?
- Construction and demolition wastes (CDW) are the status of building materials after the end life of buildings. CDW could be concrete, steel, wood products, asphalt shingles, and bricks from building.
What is waste management?
- Waste management refers to the activities and actions required to manage waste from its start till its disposal. This includes collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste together with monitoring and regulation.
Why they should be managed properly?
- Waste management and diligent planning becomes critical for regulation of humongous solid waste being generated every day. With growing urbanization and rise of smart cities on the offing the issue of solid waste management becomes even more imperative.
Data to remember

62 million tons of waste is generated annually in the country at present.

India manages to recover and recycle only about 1 per cent of its construction and demolition (C&D) waste, says new CSE analysis.

What are the impacts of construction waste on the environment and human health?
- Air: Disassembling and shredding of construction waste generate dust or large particulates into the surroundings and affects the respiratory health of waste management workers and others.
- Water: (Landfills are not properly designed to hold construction waste + Illegal dump sites + Improper recycling & disposal of e-waste) = compounds leach into the ground = Groundwater gets toxified due to heavy metals from demolition waste.
- Soil: Soil is contaminated by direct contact with contaminants from construction waste or its by-products from recycling & disposal + indirectly through irrigation. Soils become toxic when substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and polychlorinated biphenyl’s (PCBs) are deposited in landfills. Contaminated soils have bad impacts on microbes and plants => the pollutants reach higher animals or humans through the food chain.
Construction And Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 – Salient Features

1.Duties of waste Generators
- Construction and demolition waste must be separated by each waste generator, and it must be deposited at a collection site or given to authorised processing companies.
- Should take care to prevent any trash or depositing that could block vehicles, the general public, or drains.
- Before beginning building, demolition, or remodelling work, large generators (those that create more than 20 tonnes or more in a single day or 300 tonnes per project in a month) must submit a waste management plan and obtain the necessary approvals from the local authorities.
- Large generators must have an environmental management strategy to address any environmental problems resulting from building and demolition work, storage, transportation, and waste disposal and recycling.
- The waste from large generators must be divided into four streams, including concrete, soil, steel, wood, and plastics, as well as bricks and mortar.
- The appropriate fees for collection, transportation, processing, and disposal must be paid by large generators according to the notices issued by the competent authorities.
2.Duties of Service providers and Contractors
- Within six months of the rules’ notification, the service providers are required to develop a thorough waste management plan for the waste produced under their control.
- They must also remove all construction and demolition waste independently or through a third party after consulting with the relevant local authority.
3.Duties of State Government and Local Authorities
- Within one and a half years after the date of the final notice of these regulations, the responsible State Government department dealing with land should offer suitable locations for the establishment of the storage, processing, and recycling facilities for construction and demolition waste.
- In order to prevent long-term disruption of the processing plant, the Town and Country Planning Department must include the location in the authorised land use plan.
- In municipal and government contracts, materials created from building and demolition waste must be purchased and used to the tune of 10–20%.
- The local authority must install suitable bins for garbage collection, removal at regular intervals, and transportation to suitable facilities for processing and disposal.
- Large generators of construction and demolition waste must submit a comprehensive plan or undertaking before Local Authorities may approve the waste management plan;
- Seek help from the relevant authorities for the safe disposal of any nuclear waste or building and demolition debris contaminated with hazardous or toxic materials from industry;
- Local Authorities must provide the generator with the necessary incentives for salvaging, processing, and/or recycling, preferably on-site;
- Million plus cities (based on the 2011 Indian census) must commission the processing and disposal facility within 1.5 years of the date of final announcement of these regulations.
- Local Authorities will build a database and update it once a year.
4.Duties of Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee
- Construction and demolition waste management operating rules must be created by the Central Pollution Control Board.
- The construction and demolition waste processing plant will receive authorization from SPCB.
- The involved local bodies will keep an eye on how these guidelines are being applied.
- Send an annual report to the State Government and the Central Pollution Control Board.
Construction and Demolition Waste Management – Concerns
- In spite of the aforementioned, industry and state pollution control boards operate poorly.
- In India, between 25 and 30 million tonnes of C&D waste are produced each year, but barely 5 percent of it gets treated.
- It is noteworthy that dirt, sand, and gravel make up 36% of C&D waste. This waste affects soil fertility and poses a threat to public health in cities.
- The almost total lack of recycling also violates India’s obligations to reduce carbon emissions.
- The need to recycle C&D waste is critical.
- This is due to the fact that widespread sand mining is already eroding river beds and ultimately aggravating flood damage.
Some positive suggestions
- Need robust estimation and characterisation of C&D waste to design systems for material recovery: Cities need comprehensive assessment and quantification of C&D waste generation, to plan adequate infrastructure and systems for treatment and management.
- Need of documentation: Cities must create easily accessible databases of buildings and their physical and legal attributes. Construction/demolition permits need to be inventorised with associated waste management plans attached.
- Preparing for waste management from new generation material: Expanded polystyrene insulation (EPS), Styrofoam, plastic spacers, bituminous material and asbestos embedded within new wall assemblies are a recycling challenge. This needs special attention.
- Infrastructure projects need to set up their own recycling facilities: DMRC has done so. Concrete can be easily recycled. Butt excavated waste is a challenge. Other infrastructure projects like highway and roadwork find recycling of bituminous material waste challenging. Globally, proactive prevention of waste is undertaken through modification of existing on site construction practices etc.
- Responsibility of the construction Industry: The current system provides no incentive to the construction agencies for managing their own waste via waste reduction and on-site reuse and recycling. The Rules have created a push by creating a legal requirement for waste management but the financial drivers are missing. This requires fiscal strategy.
Conclusion
- Environmental and material challenges associated with the Construction and Demolition waste problem need urgent and immediate attention nation-wide to recover material, protect environment, and for clean air.
Mains question

Q. India manages to recover and recycle only about 1 per cent of its construction and demolition waste analyse the constraints in it. Also suggest some positive measures to address this challenge.

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

Strong gender norms of japan reducing gender equality

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization
Context
- Japan ranked lowest among the developed countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2022 due to its prevalent gender norms.
What Is a Gender-equal Society?
- A society in which both women and men shall be given equal opportunities to participate voluntarily in activities in all fields as equal partners, and be able to enjoy political, economic, social and cultural benefits equally as well as to share responsibilities.
What is sexism in simple words?
- Prejudice or discrimination based on sex especially discrimination against women. Behaviour, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex.
What is the meaning of gender norms?
- Gender norms are social principles that govern the behaviour of girls, boys, women, and men in society and restrict their gender identity into what is considered to be appropriate. Gender norms are neither static nor universal and change over time.
Persistent gender norms in japan
- Men should work outside the home.
- Genders should be brought up differently.
- Women are more suited to household work and child rearing than men.
- Full time housewives are valuable to society because of their family raising role.
What is womenomic’s?
- “Womenomics”, a theory linking the advancement of women to increased development rates. The concept, originally defined by the Japanese Prime Minister Abe.
What is women’s empowerment all about?
- Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.
Measures toward the Realization of a Gender-equal Society
- Promoting the Participation of Women in National Advisory Councils and Committees.
- Recruiting and Promoting of Female National Public Officers.
What is needed to improve women’s welfare?
- Community sensitization: Persistent effort must be directed toward community sensitization to root out patriarchal social norms.
- Directional efforts: In addition to enforcing existing regulations like minimum wages, there must be supportive ancillary policies including childcare; secure transport; lighting; safety at work; and quotas in hiring, corporate boards, and politics to foster more women in leadership.
Key fact

Japan is the world’s fourth largest economy.

Conclusion
- Due to the labour shortage in Japan, women are undoubtedly an essential resource for the nation. Hence, they should also be further involved in policy-making and social decisions such as gender inequality solving and feasible Womenomic’s adjustments for the next future.
Mains question

Q. Japan’s struggle with gender parity teaches us that investing in women’s education and health may have limited impact if that society is trapped in gender norms that restrict women from capitalising these investments for themselves, the society and the country. Critically analyse.

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Right To Privacy

Right to privacy after 5 years

op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters
Context
- Data privacy breaches which result in the loss and theft of personal, sensitive data have not reduced in terms of measurable frequency or their impact.
- It has been 5 years since the nine-judge Supreme Court bench delivered the judgment in the Puttaswamy case. It asserted that Indians have a constitutionally protected fundamental right to privacy.
Right to Privacy can be defined as
- A right to be let alone;
- The right of a person to be free from any unwarranted publicity;
- The right to live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned.
Definition of data
- Data is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted.
What is Data Protection?
- Data protection refers to policies and procedures seeking to minimise intrusion into the privacy of an individual caused by collection and usage of their personal data.
What is data privacy?
- Data privacy refers to controlling access to the data. Organizations must determine who has access to data. Understandably, a privacy breach can lead to data security issues.
What is data security?
- Data security refers specifically to measures taken to protect the integrity of the data itself against manipulation and malware. It provides defense from internal and external threats.
Why we need data protection?
- Increasing internet use: India currently has over 750 million Internet users, with the number only expected to increase in the future.
- Data breaches: At the same time, India has among the highest data breaches in the world. Without a data protection law in place, the data of millions of Indians continues to be at risk of being exploited, sold, and misused without their consent.
- Individual privacy: Data monetization may happen at cost of individual privacy. The most sought-after datasets are those that contain sensitive personal data of individuals, ex. medical history, financial data.
Issues with the data breaches in India
- Violation of the right to privacy: The right to privacy was recognized as a fundamental right, included under the right to life and liberty by the Supreme Court of India in 2017.
- Absence of legal framework: Without a law in place to regulate data collection and to act as an oversight mechanism, valid concerns about privacy and other rights violations continue to arise.
- High Infrastructural Costs: Technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are costly to implement. The size of stored information is extremely large and requires huge network & data storage facilities, which are currently not available in India.
- The concern of Data Leakage: In today’s world of cybercrime, it is important to put appropriate safeguards in place in order to ensure the integrity of the repository/database, so that it doesn’t leak out the information and is not privatized or monetized.
- Reliability & Authenticity: As the data collected may be used in the court of law during the course of a criminal trial, the reliability and the admissibility of the data along with standards and procedures followed would be taken into consideration. Hence, the authenticity of the data is crucial.
Conclusion
- Today, there is a relentless pace of digitisation that relies on gathering personal data in all spheres of our lives. All of this is done in a legal vacuum without any oversight or remedy. This underscores the urgent need for robust data protection law.
Mains question

Q. What do you understand by the term data privacy? Explain how data leakages threatens the sacred right to privacy?

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act

AFSPA

op-ed snap | Security Issues | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters
Context
- While AFSPA is repealed in 28 districts in Assam, 7 districts in Nagaland and 6 in Manipur, NSF president Kegwayhun Tep said that it should be repealed in all Northeastern states .
What is Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958?
- Armed Forces Special Powers Act, to put it simply, gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas.”
- AFSPA gives armed forces the authority use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law.
- The Act further provides that if “reasonable suspicion exists”, the armed forces can also arrest a person without warrant; enter or search premises without a warrant; and ban the possession of firearms.
AFSPA: A Backgrounder
- The AFSPA, 1958 came into force in the context of insurgency in the North-eastern States decades ago.
- It provides “special power” to the Armed Forces applies to the Army, the Air Force and the Central Paramilitary forces etc.
- It has been long contested debate whether the “special powers” granted under AFSPA gives total immunity to the armed forces for any action taken by them.
What are the Special Powers?
- Power to use force: including opening fire, even to the extent of causing death if prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more persons or carrying arms and weapons, etc are in force in the disturbed area;
- Power to destroy structures: used as hide-outs, training camps, or as a place from which attacks are or likely to be launched, etc;
- Power to arrest: without warrant and to use force for the purpose;
- Power to enter and search premises: without a warrant to make arrest or recovery of hostages, arms and ammunition and stolen property etc.
Who can declare/notify such areas?
- The Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.
Issues with AFSPA
- Power to kill: Section 4 of the Act granted officers the authority to “take any action” even to the extent to cause the death.
- Sexual Misconduct by Armed Forces: The issue of violation of human rights by actions of armed forces came under the consideration of the Committee on Amendments to Criminal Law (popularly known as Justice Verma Committee) set up in 2012. It observed that- in conflict zones, legal protection for women was neglected.
- Autocracy: The reality is that there is no evidence of any action being taken against any officer of the armed forces or paramilitary forces for their excesses.
Recommendations to repeal AFSPA
- Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy Commission: The 2004 Committee headed by Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, the content of which has never officially been revealed by the Government, recommended that AFSPA be repealed.
- ARC II: The Administrative Reforms Commission in its 5th Report on ‘Public Order’ had also recommended that AFSPA be repealed.
Why AFSPA should be repealed?
- Human right violations: The repeal of AFSPA is necessary not just for restoring constitutional sanity, but also as a way of acknowledging dark history of our conduct in Nagaland.
- Need for ensuring individual dignity: The political incorporation of Nagaland (and all other areas where this law applies) will be set back if the guarantees of individual dignity of the Indian Constitution are not extended.
- Not state of exception: We often describe AFSPA in terms of a “state of exception”. But this theoretical term is misleading. How can a law that has been in virtually continuous existence since 1958 be described as an “exception”.
- Lack of human empathy: At the heart of AFSPA is a profound mutilation of human empathy.
Conclusion
- To bring in lasting peace in the North East, the government needs to avoid the trap of watered-down peace accords. While the move to withdraw AFSPA is welcome, it needs to be gradually erased. For that, changes in the ground situation would be crucial. Mere smoke signals or drum-beating can never do the job.
Mains question

Q. Do you think AFSPA is license to kill? Critically examine the utility of AFSPA today.

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Electoral Reforms In India

Three-judge bench to review SC Verdict on Poll Promises

SC Judgements | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary
The Supreme Court has decided to reconsider a 2013 judgment on Poll Promises, which held that promises in the election manifesto do not constitute a “corrupt practice” under the law.

What is the news?
- A Bench led by the CJI, Ramana, ordered a three-judge Bench to be set up to review the court’s earlier position.
Subramaniam Balaji Judgment: Invalidating certain Poll Promises
- It was held that pre-poll promises made by political parties to entice voters do not fall within the ambit of Section 123 (corrupt practices) under the Representation of the People (RP) Act.
- The judgment, delivered by a two-judge Bench, had observed that although the law is obvious that the promises in the election manifesto cannot be construed as ‘corrupt practice’ under Section 123 of RP Act.
- The reality cannot be ruled out that distribution of freebies of any kind, undoubtedly, influences all people.
Why revisit this judgment?
- Rationale of the freebie: Now the CJI has said the three-judge Bench should consider whether an enforceable order can be passed to stop political parties in power from promising and distributing “irrational freebies”.
- Freebie vs. Welfare schemes: He opined that such freebies are completely divorced from actual welfare schemes, using public money in order to merely “capture vote banks”.
- Prevent bankruptcy: Freebies may create a situation wherein the State government cannot provide basic amenities due to lack of funds and the State is pushed towards imminent bankruptcy.
- Expert review: The new Bench would also deliberate if an expert body can be formed to independently study and make recommendations against the distribution of largesse at the cost of the national economy and public welfare.
What amounts to Freebie?
- The term Freebies is not new; rather it is a prevalent culture in Indian politics (in the name of socialism).
- The political parties are always trying to outdo each other in luring the Indian voters with assorted freebies.
- From free water to free smartphones the Indian politicians promise everything to attract prospective voters in favour.
- This trend has gained more momentum in the recent times with the political parties being innovative in their offerings as the ‘traditional free water and electricity’ is no longer sufficient as election goodies.
Examples of freebies
1. Promise of Rs 15 lakh in our bank accounts
2. Free TV, Laptops
3. Free electricity
4. Loan waivers
5. Offering free public transport ride to all women in Delhi
Why are such policies popular among the public?
- Failure of economic policies: The answer lies in the utter failure of our economic policies to create decent livelihood for a vast majority of Indians.
- Quest for decent livelihood: The already low income had to be reoriented towards spending a disproportionately higher amount on education and health, from which, the state increasingly withdrew.
- Prevailing unemployment: Employment surveys have shown that employment growth initially slowed down from the 1990s, and then has turned negative over the past few years.
- Increased cost of living: Real income growth of the marginal sections has actually slowed down since 1991 reforms.
- Increased consumerism: The poor today also spend on things which appear to be luxuries; cellphones and data-packs are two such examples which are shown as signs of India’s increased affluence.
- Necessity: For migrant workers, the mobile phone helps them keep in touch with their families back home, or do a quick video-call to see how their infant is learning to sit up or crawl.
Can Freebies be compared with Welfare Politics?
- These freebies are not bad. It is a part of social welfare.
- Using freebies to lure voters is not good.
- Voter’s greediness may lead to a problem in choosing a good leader.
- When we don’t have a good leader then democracy will be a mockery.
Impact of such policies
- Never ending trail: The continuity of freebies is another major disadvantage as parties keep on coming up with lucrative offers to lure more number of votes to minimize the risk of losing in the elections.
- Burden on exchequer: People forget that such benefits are been given at the cost of exchequer and from the tax paid.
- Ultimate loss of poors: The politicians and middlemen wipe away the benefits and the poor have to suffer as they are deprived from their share of benefits which was to be achieved out of the money.
- Inflationary practice: Such distribution freebie commodity largely disrupts demand-supply dynamics.
- Lethargy in population: Freebies actually have the tendency to turn the nation’s population into: Lethargy and devoid of entrepreneurship.
- Money becomes only remedy: Everyone at the slightest sign of distress starts demanding some kind of freebies from the Govt.
- Popular politics: This is psychology driving sections of the population expecting and the government promptly responds with immediate monetary relief or compensation.
What cannot be accounted to a freebie?
- MGNREGA scheme (rural employment guarantee scheme)
- Right to Education (RTE)
- Food Security through fair price shops ( under National Food Security Act)
- Prime Minister Kisan Samman Yojana (PM-KISAN)
Arguments in favour
- Social investment: Aid to the poor is seen as a wasteful expenditure. But low interest rates for corporates to get cheap loans or the ‘sop’ of cutting corporate taxes are never criticized.
- Socialistic policy: This attitude comes from decades of operating within the dominant discourse of market capitalism.
- Election manifesto: Proponents of such policies would argue that poll promises are essential for voters to know what the party would do if it comes to power and have the chance to weigh options.
- Welfare: Economists opine that as long as any State has the capacity and ability to finance freebies then its fine; if not then freebies are the burden on economy.
- Other wasteful expenditure: When the Centre gives incentives like free land to big companies and announce multi-year tax holidays, questions are not asked as to where the money will come from.
Conclusion
- There is nothing wrong in having a policy-led elaborate social security programme that seeks to help the poor get out of poverty.
- But such a programme needs well thought out preparation and cannot be conjured up just before an election.
Also read:

[Sansad TV] Mudda Aapla: Culture of Freebies

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Indian Navy Updates

INS Vikrant: All about India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier

| Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Indigenization Of Technology
The nation’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) , INS Vikrant is set to be commissioned on September 2, the Indian Navy has announced.

About INS Vikrant
- The name ‘INS Vikrant’ originally belonged to India’s much-loved first aircraft carrier, a source of immense national pride over several decades of service before it was decommissioned in 1997.
- The original ‘Vikrant’, a Majestic-class 19,500-tonne warship, which was acquired from the UK in 1961, played a stellar role in the 1971 War with Pakistan.
- The IAC-1 is 262 m long and 62 m wide ‘Vikrant’ displaces approximately 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded, and has a maximum designed speed of 28 knots (about 52 km/h) with an endurance of 7500 NM.
- It has around 2,200 compartments designed for a crew of around 1,600, including specialised cabins to accommodate women officers and sailors.
Why is it important for India to have an aircraft carrier?
- An aircraft carrier is one of the most potent marine assets for any nation.
- It enhances a Navy’s capability to travel far from its home shores to carry out air domination operations.
- Having an aircraft carrier as essential to be considered a “blue water” navy — that is, a navy that has the capacity to project a nation’s strength and power across the high seas.
- An aircraft carrier generally leads as the capital ship of a carrier strike/ battle group.
Why is it a big deal that this warship has been Made in India?
- Only five or six nations currently have the capability of manufacturing an aircraft carrier, and India has joined this prestigious club now.
- India has demonstrated the capacity and self-reliance to build what is considered to be one of the most advanced and complex battleships in the world.
- India has had aircraft carriers earlier too — but those were built either by the British or the Russians.
- The ‘INS Vikramaditya’, which was commissioned in 2013 and which is currently the Navy’s only aircraft carrier, started out as the Soviet-Russian warship ‘Admiral Gorshkov’.
- India’s two earlier carriers, the ‘INS Vikrant’ and the ‘INS Viraat’, were originally the British-built ‘HMS Hercules’ and ‘HMS Hermes’.
- These two warships were commissioned into the Navy in 1961 and 1987 respectively.
What indigenous components does the new ‘Vikrant’ have?
- The indigenous content of the project is approximately 76%.
- The warship-grade steel was indigenised through Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in collaboration with Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL).
- It includes 23,000 tonnes of steel, 2,500 km of electric cables, 150 km of pipes, and 2,000 valves.
- It also includes a wide range of finished products including rigid hull boats, galley equipment, air-conditioning and refrigeration plants, and steering gear.
What weapons and equipment will the new ‘Vikrant’ have?
- The new warship can carry up to 34 aircraft, including both fighter jets and helicopters.
- It will be capable of operating 30 aircraft including MiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 Air Early Warning Helicopters, MH-60R Seahawk multi-role helicopters, as well as the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH).
- Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR), the IAC is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft.
What else will be there on the new INS Vikrant?
- The carrier is designed with a very high degree of automation for machinery operations, ship navigation and survivability.
- The carrier is equipped with the latest state of the art equipment and systems.
- It boasts a fully-fledged state of the art medical complex with the latest medical equipment facilities..
Now that India has shown the capability, will it build more carriers?
- Since 2015, the Navy has been seeking approval to build a third aircraft carrier for the country, which, if approved, will become India’s second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-2).
- This proposed carrier, to be named ‘INS Vishal’, is intended to be a giant 65,000-tonne vessel, much bigger than both IAC-1 and the ‘INS Vikramaditya’.
- The Navy has been trying to convince the government of the “operational necessity” of having a third carrier.
- Also, it is argued that now that India has developed the capability to build such vessels, it should not be whittled away.
- The expertise gained by the Navy and the country over the past 60 years in the art of maritime aviation should not be wasted either.
Significance of the induction
- Vikrant is the largest warship to have ever been built in India, and the first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy.
- It puts India in an elite club of nations that have the capability to design and build these giant, powerful warships.
- The indigenisation efforts led to the development of ancillary industries, and generated employment opportunities for 2,000 CSL personnel and about 13,000 employees in ancillary industries.
- This bolstered plough-back effect on the nation’s economy. That is, it pushed all money back that it consumed.
UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
Indian Army Updates

Why Nepal postponed Gorkhas’ recruitment under the Agnipath scheme?

Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates
Nepal has postponed the recruitment rallies which were to be held in that country to recruit Gorkha soldiers for the Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme.

Why has Nepal postponed Agnipath recruitment rallies?
- Nepal is of the opinion that this new form of entry into the Indian military is not covered under the Tripartite Agreement signed between Nepal, Indian and UK governments in 1947, soon after Indian independence.
- The government feels that the Agnipath scheme must be approved by it and for that political consultations with all parties in Nepal must take place.
- This is move is visibly ‘inspired’ with inputs from China.
What was the Tripartite Agreement between India, Nepal and UK?
- Soon after Indian Independence on August 15, 1947, an agreement was reached by the governments of India, Nepal and the UK regarding the future of the Gorkha soldiers who were serving in the Indian Army.
- As per the terms of this agreement four regiments of Gorkha soldiers – 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th – were transferred to the British Army while the rest – 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th – remained with the Indian Army.
- A new Gorkha Regiment, the 11th Gorkha Rifles, was raised by India soon after Independence.
- The agreement also provides for the terms and conditions of the Nepal-domiciled Gorkha soldiers in the Indian Army and for their post-retirement benefits and pensions.
Significance of Gorkha Soldiers
- Legend has it that Hitler’s very words were, “If I had Gurkhas, no army in the world could defeat me.”
- An interesting historical aspect of Gorkha troops is that Pakistan, at the time of Independence, and China, soon after the 1962 war, had also requested Nepal for Gorkha soldiers.
- However, this request was turned down by the Nepal government.
- The largest body of Gorkha troops serves in the Indian Army while in the UK their presence has been reduced from four regiments to just two.
Can Nepalese Gorkhas in foreign Armies be called mercenaries?
- Mercenaries are understood as fighters who take part in a conflict for financial gain and usually are not parties to that conflict.
- As per the definition of the 1949 Geneva Convention, gives the officially agreed definition of a mercenary.
- It says that soldiers serving in sovereign armies are not considered mercenaries, and Gorkha soldiers cannot be called mercenaries.
- In addition, Gorkha soldiers from Nepal serve side-by-side with Gorkha soldiers who are born and brought up in India.
Have any changes been made in Gorkha unit recruitments over the years?
- There have been attempts to reduce the dependence on Nepal for the Gorkha soldiers in the Indian Army,
- To this effect, the composition has increasingly been attempted to be balanced between Indian and Nepal-domiciled troops.
- Also, a pure Indian Gorkha battalion was raised in 2016.
- This unit, 6th Battalion of the 1st Gorkha Rifles (6/1 GR), was raised in Subathu, in Himachal Pradesh.
- Otherwise, the ratio of Nepalese-domiciled soldiers and Indian-domiciled soldiers in a Gorkha battalion ranges from 60:40 to 70:30, though this will change further in future.
- A change was made in the recruitment rules for Gorkha Rifles recently when the Army decided that soldiers hailing from the Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand will also be eligible for serving in Gorkha Rifles.
What is the socio-economic impact on Nepal of Gorkha soldiers serving in the Indian Army?
- A major economic and social impact is felt in Nepal due to the Nepal-domiciled Gorkha soldiers serving in the Indian Army and much of it has to do with the remittances that they send home.
- Kathmandu receives a sustainable source of remittances from Gorkhas working in foreign armies.
- This has significantly contributed to social modernization in the isolated villages, while the financial remittances spurred entrepreneurship development thereby contributing to regional development.
Why induct Gorkha soldiers?
- Gorkha soldiers are tough. Living in the hills of Nepal makes them strong and resilient and they can stand war, climate and terrain better than most.
- No one can match their swift movement in the mountainous terrain.
- They are cheerful in disposition and nothing disturbs their equanimity.
- They are loyal to the core and fearless in battle.
- All this makes them amongst the best soldiers in the world and they are much sought after.
- Historically, they have deep rooted connection and affinity for India definitely due to cultural assimilations.
UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor
e-Commerce: The New Boom

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) eyes procurement of ₹2 lakh crore

Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters
Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a national procurement portal, is eyeing annual procurement worth ₹2 lakh crore during FY23. Such a huge amount it is!

Government e-Marketplace
- GeM is an online platform for public procurement in India by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
- The initiative was launched on August 9, 2016 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with the objective to create an open and transparent procurement platform for government buyers.
- It is owned by GeM SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) which is a 100 per cent Government-owned, non-profit company under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries
- GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
- It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users achieve the best value for their money.
- The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by Ministry of Finance.
Note: The government has made it mandatory for sellers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to clarify the country of origin of their goods when registering new products.

Advantages for Buyers
- Offers rich listing of products for individual categories of Goods/Services
- Makes available search, compare, select and buy facility
- Enables buying Goods and Services online, as and when required.
- Provides transparency and ease of buying
- Ensures continuous vendor rating system
- Up-to-date user-friendly dashboard for buying, monitoring supplies and payments
- Provision of easy return policy
Advantages for Sellers
- Direct access to all Government departments.
- One-stop shop for marketing with minimal efforts
- One-stop shop for bids / reverse auction on products / services
- New Product Suggestion facility available to Sellers
- Dynamic pricing: Price can be changed based on market conditions
- Seller friendly dashboard for selling, and monitoring of supplies and payments
- Consistent and uniform purchase procedures
UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor