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  • Democracy Report 2022

    democracyContext

    • G7 nations and partner countries including India recently signed “2022 Resilient democracies statement”-We, the Leaders of Germany, Argentina, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Senegal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union, affirm our commitment to strengthening the resilience of our democracies and to working towards equitable, inclusive and sustainable solutions to global challenges, including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, and reaffirm our commitment to the rules-based international order.

    How we define Democracy?

    • “Government of the people, by the people and for the people” the words used by Abraham Lincoln in the year 1863 while talking about democracy.

    Purpose of democracy

    • Cornerstones of democracy include freedom of assembly, association, property rights, freedom of religion and speech, inclusiveness and equality, citizenship, consent of the governed, voting rights, freedom from unwarranted governmental deprivation of the right to life and liberty, and minority rights.

    Democracy Report 2022

    • The study, titled ‘Democracy Report 2022: Autocratisation Changing Nature?’ states that more than twice as many countries are undergoing Autocratisation as are witnessing democratization.
    • The conceptual scheme takes into account not only the electoral dimension (free and fair elections) but also the liberal principle that democracy must protect “individual and minority rights”
    • The V-Dem report classifies countries into four regime types based on their score in the Liberal Democratic Index (LDI): a)Liberal Democracy b)Electoral Democracy c)Electoral Autocracy and d)Closed Autocracy

    democracyWhere do the Reports and Indices put India?

    • Sweden based Sweden-based V-Dem Institute was harsher in its latest report on democracy. It said India had become an “electoral autocracy”
    • US-based non-profit Freedom House downgraded India from a free democracy to a “partially free democracy”.
    • India, described as a “flawed democracy”, slipped two places to 53rd position in the latest Democracy Index published by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

    Status of Supporters of Democracy

    • Decolonised African Countries:
    • The number of African countries that have adopted democratic systems of government has grown since decolonisation, the collapse of communism and the ending of a number of civil wars.
    • Some countries, such as Ghana, are seen as resilient democracies, while for others the democratic transition is more fragile, after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 in Sudan, a civilian-led transitional government is now paving the way for democracy after decades of military rule.
    • India as example:
    • India is the world’s largest democracy. India is staying as one unit despite having vast no of cultures, languages and religions. This is possible because of the democracy in India.
    • Minorities and disadvantaged sections are represented in parliament which enabled inclusive growth.
    • When India got independence, its economy was in shambles. Extreme poverty, unemployment, food insecurity were the major problems before Indian government. But India’s democratic constitution successfully balanced development and welfare of the country.
    • Now, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

    What critics arguing?

    • Democracy in crisis: Democracy is more in crisis than ever before, with the onset of centralisation of power, with a foreign policy defying public opinion, with the media centralised, and with corporate control of the economy tighter than ever.
    • Increasing polarity: Threatening world order is emerging, which seeks to abrogate all individual rights and divide us along the extremist polarities that we thought had been neutralised.
    • Global Crisis: We move into this new stage of conflict carrying the risk of a nuclear tragedy, further exacerbated by the collective buttressing of a global crisis of the novel coronavirus pandemic, uncontrollable ecological disasters, and food and water deficiency.
    • Populism: Blatant fascist leanings of the so-called “democracies”, and escalating hunger and disease in Africa and other parts of the under-developed world give enough evidence that democracy faces serious issues of populism.
    • Other global problems: Growing economic discrimination, overpopulation and environmental degradation, Misgivings about moral progress, about mutual understanding, exacerbate the dismal situation that faces humanity.

    democracyWhat can be done to strengthen the democracies further?

    • Strengthening public support: To protect freedom domestically and build support for a foreign policy that protects democratic rights and values abroad, it is essential to foster a stronger public understanding of democratic principles, especially among young people. civic education is necessary.
    • Rule of law: In order to maintain trust in public institutions, the principles of legality, legal certainty and prohibition of arbitrariness of the executive powers, judicial independence, impartiality, and equality before the law need to be respected.
    • Individual rights: Democracy entails the right of individuals to participate in and influence the development of society, with free and fair elections at its core. Without an active turnout in elections and proper mechanisms for participation, the essence of democracy can be lost.
    • Free speech: Free speech guard the freedom of expression and opinion, and affirmation of commitment to the very idea of democracy and a move towards opposing oppression and violence

    Conclusion

    • Democracy is always a work in progress. The key ingredients of democracy are effective and accountable institutions, and leadership. Institutions build resilience by embedding norms and standards and bridging periods of weak leadership.

    Mains Question

    Q.Do you think Democracy is the best solution to tackle the growing fault lines between the communities? What makes India as the best example of Democracy to the world? Discuss.

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  • In news: Attorney-General (A-G) of India

    Attorney General of India (AGI)

    • The AGI is the Indian government’s chief legal advisor and is a primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
    • They can be said to be the advocate from the government’s side.
    • They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
    • They must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court ( i.e. a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India.).

    Functions and duties

    • The AGI is necessary for advising the Government of India on legal matters referred to them.
    • They also perform other legal duties assigned to them by the President.
    • The AGI has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote.
    • The AGI appears on behalf of the Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which GoI is concerned.
    • They also represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
    • The AG is assisted by a Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitors General.

    Powers of AG

    • The AG can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government.
    • They cannot defend an accused in criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government.
    • The AG is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted.
    • All references to the AG are made by the Law Ministry.

    Term of Attorney General’s office

    • There is no fixed term for the Attorney General of India. The Constitution mentions no specified tenure of Attorney General. Similarly, the Constitution also does not mention the procedure and ground of his removal.

    Facts about his office:

    • He can be removed by the President at any time.
    • He can quit by submitting his resignation only to the President.
    • Since he is appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers, conventionally he is removed when the council is dissolved or replaced.

    Limitations to his powers

    The AG:

    • should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India
    • should not defend accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India
    • should not accept appointment as a director in any company without the permission of the government

    Office of AG across the world

    • Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the AGI does not have any executive authority.
    • Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.
    • Also, the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.

     

     

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  • Rohini RH-200: ISRO eyeing 200th successful launch of Rohini RH-200

    rohini

    In a few weeks’ time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to achieve a remarkable feat — the 200th successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket in a row.

    Rohini RH-200

    • RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
    • The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors. The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
    • Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
    • For years, the RH-200 rocket had used a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based propellant.
    • The first RH-200 to use a new propellant based on hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) was successfully flown from the TERLS in September 2020.
    • The first and second stages of RH200 rocket are powered by solid motors.
    • Since inception of RH200 rocket, both solid stages are processed using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based propellant.
    • As compared to PVC based propellants, HTPB based propellant is more energetic, higher mechanical & interface properties and has less defects due to lower processing temperature.

    What basically is a Sounding Rocket?

    • A sounding rocket is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight.
    • The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites.
    • The maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km.

    History of sounding rockets in India

    • Sounding rockets have an important place in the ISRO story.
    • The first sounding rocket to be launched from Thumba was the American Nike-Apache — on November 21, 1963.
    • After that, two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure) were flown. The ISRO launched its own version — Rohini RH-75 — in 1967.
    • The ISRO has launched more than 1,600 RH-200 rockets so far.
    • Currently, the RH200, RH300 MkII and RH560 Mk-III rockets are operational which were developed during the early phase of our journey in rocketry.

     

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  • Odisha offering cash incentive for PVTGs Marriages

    Keeping the rampant child marriages among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Odisha in mind, the State government is providing an incentive of ₹20,000 to the couples marrying after the age of 18 years.

    Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

    • There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
    • They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
    • These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development.
    • 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

    Origin of the concept

    • The Dhebar Commission (1960-1961) stated that within Scheduled Tribes there existed an inequality in the rate of development.
    • During the fourth Five Year Plan a sub-category was created within Scheduled Tribes to identify groups that considered to be at a lower level of development.
    • This was created based on the Dhebar Commission report and other studies.
    • This sub-category was named “Primitive tribal group”.

    Features of PVTGs

    • The features of such a group include a:
    1. Pre-agricultural system of existence
    2. Practice of hunting and gathering
    3. Zero or negative population growth
    4. Extremely low level of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups
    • Groups that satisfied any one of the criterion were considered as PTG.
    • In 2006 the government of India proposed to rename “Primitive tribal group” as Particularly vulnerable tribal group”.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:

    1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
    2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
    3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
    4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.

    Which of the statements given above are correct? (CSP 2019)

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 2, 3 and 4

    (c) 1, 2 and 4

    (d) 1, 3 and 4

     

    Post your answers here.

     

     

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  • In news: Sittanavasal Rock Cave Temple

    Sittanavasal

    The Sittanavasal Rock Cave Temple, a major centre of Jain influence for 1,000 years just before the Christian era, is in need of better upkeep.

    Sittanavasal

    • Sittanavasal is a small hamlet in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, India.
    • It is known for the Sittanavasal Cave, a 2nd-century Jain cave complex. From the 7th to the 9th century A.D., the village flourished as a Jain centre.
    • Sittanavasal is the name used synonymously for the hamlet and the hillock that houses the:
    1. Arivar Kovil (temple of Arihants — Jains who conquered their senses)
    2. Ezhadipattam (a cavern with 17 polished rock beds), megalithic burial sites and the
    3. Navachunai tarn (small mountain lake) with a submerged shrine

    What makes it special?

    • The artwork on the ceiling of the sanctum and the ardha mandapam of Arivar Kovil is an early example of post-Ajanta cave paintings of the fourth to sixth centuries.
    • It was also done using the fresco-secco technique (a process that dispenses with preparation of the wall with wet plaster).

    Features of the cave paintings

    • The ceiling paintings show ‘bhavyas’ (exalted souls who work to achieve moksha or spiritual liberation) enjoying themselves in a pool, full of lotuses; today much of it is obscured by patchy plastering.
    • Faint outlines linger of dancing girls on the ‘ardha mandapam’ pillars.
    • The colours are a mixture of plant dyes and mineral elements such as lime, lamp black, and clay pigments such as ochre for yellow and terre verte for the greyish-green tints.

    Why in news now?

    • Unrestricted public access and general exposure to the elements have led to a gradual fading away of these paintings.
    • At the Ezhadipattam, inscriptions have been vandalised beyond recognition.

    Also try this PYQ:

    Q.There are only two known examples of cave paintings of the Gupta period in ancient India. One of these is paintings of Ajanta caves. Where is the other surviving example of Gupta paintings?

    (a) Bagh caves

    (b) Ellora caves

    (c) Lomas Rishi cave

    (d) Nasik caves

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • Here is how HDI has performed in last 3 decades

    HDIContext

    • India, belonging to the medium HDI category, shows dimensional inequalities similar to or slightly below the average figures in the category, except in the case of education where it is high and closer to the low HDI countries. The inequalities in health and education are more than twice that of the very high and high HDI categories.

    Why in news?

    What is the meaning of human development?

    • Human development is defined as the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their well-being. Human development is about the real freedom ordinary people have to decide who to be, what to do, and how to live.

    What is meant by Human Development Index?

    • The HDI is a summary measure of human development. The HDI is a summary composite measure of a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge and standard of living.

    Who publishes HDI?

    • The Human Development Report (HDR) is an annual Human Development Index report published by the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

    HDIDimensions of the Human Development Index

    • Long and healthy life: The long and healthy life dimension is measured by life expectancy at birth. The life expectancy at birth is a statistical measure that an average individual is expected to live based on certain demographic factors such as the year of birth and current age.
    • Education: This is a second dimension in the HDI. The indicators of education are the expected years of schooling and the mean years of schooling. According to the UN, the average maximum years of schooling is 18 years, while the mean maximum years of schooling is 15 years.
    • Standard of living: The standard of living is usually measured by the gross national income (GNI) per capita. The GNI indicates the total domestic and foreign output created by the residents of a certain country.

    What are the 4 indicators of HDI?

    • Mean years of schooling
    • Expected years of schooling
    • Life expectancy at birth
    • Gross national income (GNI) per capita

    Which Countries Have the Highest HDI?

    In the latest HDI ranking, from 2022, Switzerland finished first with an HDI value of 0.962.

    HDI

    Issues in HDI

    (1) An incomplete indicator

    • Human development is incomplete without human freedom and that while the need for qualities judgement is clear; there is no simple quantitative measure available yet to capture the many aspects of human freedom.
    • HDI also does not specifically reflect quality of life factors, such as empowerment movements or overall feelings of security or happiness.

    (2) Limited idea of development

    • The HDI is not reflecting the human development idea accurately.
    • It is an index restricted to the socio-economic sphere of life; the political and civil spheres are in the most part kept separate.
    • Hence there is a sub-estimation of inequality among countries, which means that this dimension is not being taken into consideration appropriately.

    (3) A vague concept

    • Concerning data quality and the exact construction of the index HDI is conceptually weak and empirically unsound.
    • This strong critic comes from the idea that both components of HDI are problematic. The GNP in developing countries suffers from incomplete coverage, measurement errors and biases.
    • The definition and measurement of literacy are different among countries and also, this data has not been available since 1970 in a significant number of countries.

    (4) Data quality issues

    • The HDI, as a combination of only four relatively simple indicators, doesn’t only raise a questions what other indicators should be included, but also how to ensure quality and comparable input data.
    • It is logical that the UNDP try to collect their data from international organizations concentrating in collecting data in specific fields.
    • Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members, as for example Cuba or China.

    (5) A tool for mere comparison

    • The concept of HDI was set up mainly for relative comparison of countries in one particular time.
    • HDI is much better when distinguishing between countries with low and middle human development, instead of countries at the top of the ranking.
    • Therefore, the original notion was not to set up an absolute ranking, but let’s quite free hands in comparison of the results.

    (6) Development has to be greener

    • The human development approach has not adequately incorporated environmental conditions which may threaten long-term achievements on human development. The most pervasive failure was on environmental sustainability.
    • However, for the first time in 2020, the UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
    • This is Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI or PHDI. It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.

    (7) Wealth can never equate welfare

    • Higher national wealth does not indicate welfare. GNI may not necessarily increase economic welfare; it depends on how it is spent.
    • For example, if a country spends more on military spending – this is reflected in higher GNI, but welfare could actually be lower.

    Importance of HDI

    • Multidimensionality: It is one of the few multidimensional indices as it includes indicators such as literacy rate, enrolment ratio, life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate, etc.
    • True yardstick: It acts as a true yardstick to measure development in real sense.
    • Helps in measuring a nation’s well-being: Unlike per capital income, which only indicates that a rise in per capital income implies economic development; HDI considers many other vital social indicators and helps in measuring a nation’s well-being.

    Value addition line

    People are the real wealth of a nation. The basic objective of development should be to create an enabling environment for people to live long, healthy and creative lives. This may appear to be a simple truth.

    Conclusion

    • To sum up, the introduction of the HDI three decades ago was an early attempt to address the shortcomings in conventional measures of wellbeing.
    • The HDI has continued to attract widespread attention and motivates the work of activists, scholars and political leaders around the world.
    • The HDI compels us to ask what matters more, the quantitative expansion of an economy, or the qualitative improvement in the capabilities of society.
    • Indeed the revival of interest in this subject at the highest levels of government is the need of the hour.

    Mains question

    Q. What do you understand by human development? Critically analyse the human development index given by UNDP.

     

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  • The great Indian thirst: The story of India’s water stress

    water stressContext

    • United Nations World Water Development Report of 2022 has expressed global concern over the sharp rise in freshwater withdrawal from streams, lakes, aquifers and human made reservoirs, significant water stress and also water scarcity being experienced in different parts of the world.

    Who publishes the UNs world water development report?

    • The United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR) is published by UNESCO, on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Program (WWAP).

    What is the level of water stress in India?

    • The Global Drought Risk and Water Stress map (2019): It shows that major parts of India, particularly west, central and parts of peninsular India are highly water stressed and experience water scarcity.
    • Composite Water Management Index (2018): Released by Niti Aayog indicates that more than 600 million people are facing acute water stress.
    • India is the world’s largest extractor of groundwater: Accounting for 25 per cent of the total. 70 percent of our water sources are contaminated and our major rivers are dying because of pollution.

    water stressWhy is Rural to Urban transfer of water becoming an issue in India?

    • Rising urban population: According to Census 2011, the urban population in India accounted for 34% of total population. It is estimated that the urban population component in India will cross the 40% mark by 2030 and the 50% mark by 2050 according to World Urbanization Prospects, 2018.
    • Water use in the urban areas: Water use in the urban sector has increased as more and more people shift to urban areas. Per capita use of water in these centers rises, which will continue to grow with improved standards of living.
    • Shifting of water source in Urban areas: As the city grows and water management infrastructures develop, dependence shifts to surface water from groundwater. For example: In Ahmedabad, more than 80% of water supply used to be met from groundwater sources till the mid-1980s. Due to such overexploitation of groundwater the depth to groundwater level reached 67 meters in confined aquifers. The city now depends on the Narmada canal for the bulk of its water supply.
    • Dependence of urban areas on rural areas for water source and rural-urban disputes over water: Cities largely depend on rural areas for raw water supply, which has the potential to ignite the rural-urban dispute. For example: Nagpur and Chennai face the problem of rural-urban water disputes.

     

    water stressReasons for disputes

    • Diversion of resource: Water is transported to urban areas at the expense of rural areas. Due to the high population in urban areas the water requirement for daily use is very high.
    • High demand of water for industrial purposes: In urban areas the water is heavily used in industries creating water stress.
    • High Agriculture dependence: In the rural areas water is used mainly for irrigation purposes and due to heavy dependence on agriculture the water is very essential in rural areas.
    • Water pollution: In cities, most of this water is in the form of grey water with little recovery or reuse, eventually contributing to water pollution.
    • Bad governance: Politicization of water for vote bank and skewed distribution of water particular regions For example: Andhra and Telangana.

    water stress Climate change exacerbate the rural-urban disputes 

    • Affecting rainfall pattern: Climate change affects the amount of rainfall in the region which is the prime source of both surface water and groundwater.
    • Increase rate of evaporation over surface water: because of high temperature the surface waters of lakes, rivers, canals etc. face high evaporation water loss.
    • Melting of glaciers: glaciers are the sources for perennial rivers of India. Due to global warming, glaciers are melting and hence affecting the perennial nature of rivers.
    • Frequent droughts: It affects the groundwater recharge process and drying of surface waters which creates shortage of water. It exacerbate the rural-urban conflict.

    .

      

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  • What is India’s current policy of multi alignment? Advantages and challenges

    Multi alignmentContext

    • Forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is leading India to multi alignment.

    Background

    • India’s journey of foreign policy from being the founder of non-alignment to the multi-alignment. In his book The India Way, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar offers a critique of India’s traditional policy of “non-alignment”, where he distinguishes between the “optimistic  non- alignment ” of the past, which he feels has failed, that must give way to more realistic “multiple engagements of the future”.

    Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO)

    • SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization.
    • It is the world’s largest regional organization,
    • 40% of the world population
    • More than 30% of global GDP.
    • Members: 8-China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

    Multi alignmentSCO SUMIIT, 2022

    • Host- Uzbekistan,
    • Uzbekistan will host a full house: 15 leaders including eight member states from four Central Asian States, China, India, Pakistan and Russia,
    • The observer states: Belarus, Mongolia and Iran (which will become member this year) —
    • Afghanistan is not invited
    • Leaders of guest countries -Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan

    What is non- alignment?

    • It’s a policy, a brainchild of Nehru. Non-alignment movement emerged after second world war.
    • Non-alignment means not having an alliance with any of superpower, either USSR or USA.  Decolonized nations of Asia and Africa was largely a part of this group.

    Multi alignmentIndia’s policy of non-alignment

    • At bandung conference in 1955 non-alignment movement started with India as one of the founding member.
    • With policy of non-alignment India refused to gravitate towards USA or USSR.
    • India was the leader of non-alignment.

    What is India’s current policy of multi- alignment? Advantages and challenges.

    • Since the start of his tenure from 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi have not attended any conference of non-alignment.
    • External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in his book, The Indian way have criticized the non-alignment.
    • In the words of Former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale India is no longer the non-align nation.

    How it is a Multi alignment policy?

    • India to truly multi aligned or all aligned by being a part of every major grouping.
    • India is a part of BRICS and Prime Minister Modi is attending the SCO SUMMIT in Samarkand.
    • On parallel to rival groups India is also the part of Quad and Indo pacific economic framework.
    • India is buying the discounted Russian oil and reusing to buckle under pressure from west and USA.
    • S-400 purchase is happening and India have dodged the bullet of sanctions from USA.
    • India is choosing the bilateral Free trade agreement like with Australia and UAE and withdrew from groupings like RCEP and Most recently IPEF. This policy are is said to be in the economic interest of India.

    Advantages of Multi alignment

    • India no longer wants to repeat the mistake of missing out of P5 Security council (“Permanent membership in the Security Council was granted to five states based on their importance in the aftermath of World War II).
    • If any group work against your interest it is better to be part of group rather than remain outside and do nothing
    • With retreating USA and its collapsing hegemony world is moving towards multiple polar world order.

    Disadvantages

    • Major disadvantage of non-alignment is you no longer have influence over adverse policy of friendly country.
    • For example. Russia sells S-400 to India but it also sold the same weapon to china.
    • USA and India are strategically getting closer day by day but USA recently approved the sale of $450 million F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

    Conclusion

    • Multi alignment will serve India its best national interest.
    • So far India has managed the rival parties at world stage to secure its foreign policy objectives but with Russian aggression and Chinese assertion and divided world will pose a significant challenge to India’s multi alignment policy.

     

    Mains question

    Q. What do you understand by non-alignment and multi-alignment? Analyze the shift In India’s foreign policy from non-alignment to multi-alignment.

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  • Teachers with a passion for the profession are foundational to the positive educational change

    teacherContext

    • Success of new education policy depends on how we recruit and assesss teachers.

    What is the issue?

    • Recruitment of well-qualified teachers into the schooling system is the first prerequisite to ensure that students receive quality education.
    • However, teacher recruitment processes in the country are not adequately streamlined. There are diverse recruitment processes across regions, school stages, and school types central, state, and private schools.
    • This, in turn, leads to multiple criteria and processes for hiring teachers, thereby bringing a wide disparity in teacher quality across institutions and regions.
    • Many of the processes are also sub-optimal in measuring the competency of a candidate.

    Teacher hiring mechanism in place

    • One of the most common and widely-taken tests to ensure eligibility for recruitment is the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), conducted at both the state (STET) and central levels (CTET).
    • TET is the equivalent of the licensure tests that are undertaken by teacher candidates in various countries.
    • However, in India, the test is required only for government school teacher recruitment at the elementary stage (Class 1-8).

    teacherIssues in hiring mechanism

    • TET has been critiqued time and again for various reasons. These include low pass percentages, poor test quality, lengthy test papers and a serious lack of alignment with teacher preparation programmes.
    • The test was in the news recently because of the teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.

    teacherWhat we need?

    • A coherent strategy: to tie together the various tests and processes such as TET, teacher recruitment tests, classroom demonstrations and teacher interviews. This will enable a holistic assessment of teacher competence.
    • Understanding what is competence: Framing a common understanding of what qualifies as teacher competence. Simply speaking, teacher competence can be understood as the core knowledge, skills, and dispositions expected of a teacher to effectively contribute to the teaching-learning process.
    • Multiple methods of assessment: To evaluate several other skills and dispositions, one requires multiple methods of assessment including classroom demonstrations and teacher interviews. These assessments could help gauge skills like effective dissemination of a concept and selection of appropriate resources and learning materials.
    • Teacher’s aptitude: Most importantly, such processes should help evaluate a teacher’s empathy towards students. Respecting learner diversity and skills in building a participative/democratic classroom culture are crucial requisites of a teacher. The recruitment process should assess the teacher’s aptitude in this respect.
    • A comprehensive competency framework: That details the skills a teacher should have. This could be derived from a teacher education curriculum rooted in policy perspectives of the day. For instance, in the case of the NEP, the curriculum could be geared towards imparting training in classroom practices that make learning joyful.

    Long-term benefits to adopting such a holistic model of teacher recruitment

    • Better parity: It will ensure better parity in the quality of teachers recruited across the country.
    • Equitable education: Will contribute to equitable education for students from diverse sections of society.
    • Credibility is ensured: The recruitment process will also become credible if it is rooted in a framework that outlines the core competencies of becoming a teacher.
    • Reduction in coaching centres: At the systemic level, this may also lead to a reduction in coaching centres as the assessment processes will be non-standardised and cannot be easily gleaned from coaching materials and guidebooks.

    Conclusion

    • Teachers with a passion for the profession are foundational to the positive educational change envisaged by the NEP. Setting up clear benchmarks of quality and well-designed recruitment processes hold the key to ensuring better teaching-learning outcomes.

    Mains question

    Q. What do you think on teacher’s quality today? Explain how dynamic teacher recruitment process will enhance teacher’s quality.

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  • Centre’s push for NavIC System  

    navic

    The Union government is pushing tech giants to make smartphones compatible with its home-grown navigation system ‘NavIC’.

    What is NavIC?

    • NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
    • NavIC was originally approved in 2006 at a cost of $174 million.
    • It was expected to be completed by late 2011, but only became operational in 2018.
    • NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km (930 miles) from its boundaries.

    Note: The numbers of satellites in this constellation is disputed. It is given as 7 and 8 on different sources. Total Nine satellites were launched out of which the very first (IRNSS-1A) is partially failed because of some issue in its Atomic Clock. Another and the last satellite had a launch failure. Hence the number 7/8.

    Why is the Centre pushing for NavIC?

    • Currently, NavIC’s use is limited.
    • It is being used in public vehicle tracking in India.
    • It helps providing emergency warning alerts to fishermen venturing into the deep sea where there is no terrestrial network connectivity, and for tracking and providing information related to natural disasters.
    • Enabling it in smartphones is the next step India is pushing for.
    • India’s 2021 satellite navigation draft policy stated the government will work towards expanding the coverage from regional to global to ensure availability of NavIC signal in any part of the world.

    How does NavIC compare?

    • The main difference is the serviceable area covered by these systems.
    • GPS caters to users across the globe and its satellites circle the earth twice a day, while NavIC is currently for use in India and adjacent areas.
    • Like GPS, there are three more navigation systems that have global coverage – Galileo from the European Union, Russia-owned GLONASS and China’s Beidou.
    • QZSS, operated by Japan, is another regional navigation system covering Asia-Oceania region, with a focus on Japan.

    Strategic significance of NavIC

    • India says NavIC is conceived with the aim of removing dependence on foreign satellite systems for navigation service requirements, particularly for “strategic sectors.”
    • Relying on systems like GPS and GLONASS may not always be reliable, India says, as those are operated by the defence agencies of respective nations.
    • It is possible that civilian services can be degraded or denied.
    • NavIC is an indigenous positioning system that is under Indian control.
    • There is no risk of the service being withdrawn or denied in a given situation.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. With reference to the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), consider the following statements:

    1. IRNSS has three Satellites in geostationary and four satellites the geosynchronous orbits.
    2. IRNSS covers entire India and about 5500 sq. km beyond its borders.
    3. India will have its own satellite navigation system with full global coverage by the middle of 2019.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 1 and 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) None

     

    Answer: (Post it here.)

     

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