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  • Top 10 Tips on UPSC-CSE Mains Pro-Preparation Free Live Webinar by Swatantra, Civilsdaily Mentor | Get CD’s economics and environment notes on registration | Joining link

    Top 10 Tips on UPSC-CSE Mains Pro-Preparation Free Live Webinar by Swatantra, Civilsdaily Mentor | Get CD’s economics and environment notes on registration | Joining link

    Feel Free to Join the amazing Ask Me Anything open book session & consult your UPSC Mains’ trial for more satisfactory performance. 
    DISCUSS YOUR MAINS PREPARATION WITH SWATANTRA REGISTER (FREE) FOR THE WEBINAR

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    Webinar Details:

    Grasp the opportunity to get exceptional tips on ‘what is the best strategy for UPSC-Mains’, and ‘how to write fantastic or above-average answers by presenting with a clear structure. This entire webinar is free. All aspirants are wholeheartedly welcome to attend.

    Date: 5th May 2022 (Thursday)

    Time: 7 PM to 8 PM

    DISCUSS YOUR MAINS PREPARATION WITH SWATANTRA REGISTER (FREE) FOR THE WEBINAR

    Strategies & Approaches, in This Free Live Webinar by Swatantra Sir!

    1. Best, authentic, minimum materials for UPSC-CSE Mains Preparation. Do’s & Dont’s, How to remake ‘Recognition of information’ into ‘recall, analyse & express’.
    1. Whether your answers ought to reflect the editorial standards of The Hindu! What should be the foolproof strategy? What subject to pick up first to start your Mains Preparation!
    1. How toppers prioritize speed over content, and content over structure. How to fix your answer writing structure, improve the content
    2. How to create a basic conceptual framework of the answer before committing anything to paper. Implications of overstretching your imagination.
    3. How to fetch maximum score in both ‘Essay’ & ‘Ethics’ papers to enhance your marks in total.
    1. What is the difference between ‘Opinion-based’ & ‘Fact-based’ questions will also be discussed thoroughly in this webinar?
    1. How & where to present the answer, replete with a Map/diagram/flowchart/, It will help to get extra 0.25-0.5 marks across 80 questions of GS papers.
    2. If the question is in two parts, sticking to the word limit, how to address the demand of each part. What is the way to enclose also any critical analysis you should have within the subheading?
    3. How to enhance writing patterns, where to take mock regularly, how many mock tests are fit, Etc. will be discussed in this live webinar.
    4.  The untold secret of coverage of the Mains syllabus is that the syllabus can be covered 100%. The most brilliant of candidates will testify that even their own coverage of the syllabus was not completely 100%. 

    About Swatantra Sir:

    Swatantra sir is a mentor with CivilsDaily for nearly 2+ years and is now working with Sukanya Rana Ma’am in the Civilsdaily Mains Guidance Program. His experience of scoring 110+ in all the 6 Prelims exams, coupled with scoring 135+ marks in ethics and essay papers and attending the interview twice, makes him an appropriate guide to address this compulsory matter.

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  • Inflation control needs another model

    Context

    At the conclusion of the April meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee had already warned that the focus will henceforth be on inflation. Yesterday it raised the repo rate somewhat sooner than was expected by the market.

     Discourse on inflation engaged in by the western central banks

    • Inflation reflects an excess of output over its ‘natural’ level.
    • Inflation targeting refers to the policy of controlling inflation by raising the interest rate over which the central bank has control, i.e. the rate at which it lends to commercial banks, the ‘repo rate’.
    • This, it is argued, will induce firms to stay their investment plans and reduce inventories, lowering production.
    • As economy-wide output declines, becoming equal to the natural level of output, inflation will cease.
    • This story does not just legitimise a policy of output contraction for inflation but sees it as optimal.
    • The natural level of output itself is the productive counterpart of the natural level of employment, the level that obtains in a freely functioning labour market.
    • So, at the natural level of output, the economy is deemed to be at full employment.
    • Salient in the context is the fact that the natural level of output is unobservable.
    • Hence inflation as a reflection of an “overheating” economy is something that must be taken on trust.

    Inflation control in India

    • Not surprisingly for a theory based on an unobservable variable, the proposition that inflation is due to an overheating economy fares poorly when put to a statistical test for India. 
    • There is not a single demonstration of the empirical validity of the model of inflation presented in the RBI report of 2014, which recommended a move to inflation targeting.
    • On the other hand inflation in India can be explained in terms of the movement of the prices of agricultural goods and, to a lesser extent, imported oil.
    • How effective is monetary policy in controlling inflation: The implication of this finding is damaging for the claim that monetary policy can control inflation, for neither the price of agricultural goods nor that of imported oil is under the central bank’s control.
    • The only route by which monetary policy can, in principle, control inflation is by curbing the growth of non-agricultural output, which would in turn lower the growth of demand for agricultural goods.
    • As the demand for agricultural goods slows, so will inflation, but this comes at the cost of output and employment.
    • At least, this is the theory.
    • Whether this takes place in practice depends upon the extent to which changes in the repo rate are transmitted to commercial bank lending rates.

    Way forward

    • Focus on supply of agricultural goods: The implication for the policymaker that inflation is driven by agricultural goods prices, as is the case in India presently, is that the focus should be on increasing the supply of these goods.
    • Growing per capita income in India has shifted the average consumption basket towards foods rich in minerals, such as fruits and vegetables, and protein, such as milk and meat.
    • But the expansion of the supply of these foods has been lower than the growth in demand for them.
    • So a concerted drive to increase the supply of food other than rice and wheat holds the key.
    • Costly food threatens the health of the population, as people economise on their food intake, and holds back the economy, as only a small part of a household’s budget can be spent on non-agricultural goods.

    Conclusion

    Monetary policy manoeuvres, typified by the RBI’s raising of the repo rate is not an efficient solution for agricultural price-driven inflation. Any lasting inflation control would require placing agricultural production on a steady footing, with continuously rising productivity.

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  • With repo rate hike, RBI has done what’s necessary

    Context

    The RBI has decided to take the bull by the horns. It has raised the repo rate by 40 basis points and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to fight inflation.

    Why major central banks across the world are hiking rates?

    • Across the world, major central banks have of late gone on a rate hike spree, waking up to the realisation of inflationary pressures not being transitory in nature.
    • Record high inflation in the US: The US Fed has been on the offensive battling a 40-year high surge in prices.
    • It has tapered its bond purchase programme drastically while suggesting in no uncertain terms the pace of rate hikes needed to combat inflation.
    • The European Union has been slow to respond but voices are growing to correct the path at the earliest.
    • Banks like the Central Bank of Brazil or the Russian Central Bank have increased the interest rate to double digits.
    • Emerging economies have been doubly hit — the days of easy liquidity are well behind them even as their economic resources remain constrained to support an uneven proportion of population hit by pandemic.
    • Including the RBI’s decision today to push the benchmark rate to align with the current market realities, 21 countries have increased interest rates so far.

    Analysing the RBI’s decision to hike interest rates

    • To this extent, the decision by the RBI to frontload the rate hikes ahead of the Fed decision is again an attempt to stem capital outflows.
    • Accommodative policy stance; The most interesting aspect of the rate hike today is the continuation of the accommodative policy stance.
    • The CRR hike may be just an attempt to build up a war chest on the liquidity front.
    • Liquidity inflows to the financial system could be either policy induced by the central bank for example changes in reserves, open market operations etc or non-policy induced such as foreign exchange reserves, government cash balances, and currency in circulation.
    • Given that non-policy induced liquidity inflows have been recently impacted (outflows of portfolio capital) and given the huge size of the government borrowing programme, the RBI also needs to support the market through some means.
    • Impounding bank reserves through the CRR (Rs 87,000 crore) could give some space to the central bank to conduct open market purchases of bonds from banks and thus inject concomitant liquidity some time in the future if the need so arises.
    •  The CRR rate hike is thus an important tool to possibly manage G-sec yields.

    Inflation dynamics in India

    • The inflationary pressures can be attributed mainly to adverse cost-push factors, coming from supply-side shocks in food and fuel prices.
    • The RBI statement thus cites food inflation as a major source of discomfort.
    • Additionally, nominal rural wages for both agricultural and non-agricultural labourers picked up during the second half 2021-22.
    • However, such wage growth has remained soft.
    • Measures to ameliorate supply-side cost pressures would be thus critical at this juncture, especially in terms of a calibrated reduction of taxes on petrol and diesel.
    • On the policy side, however, it would mean that even after rate hikes, inflation may continue to remain high for some time.
    • The MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate) linked loans have a share of around 53 per cent in the overall loan kitty.
    • With the rise in CRR and expected future hikes in the benchmark rates, there would be an increase in MCLR due to a negative carry.

    Conclusion

    The RBI has acted prudently in responding to market forces that could impact India’s growth prospects if inflationary concerns were not addressed now. At the same time, by pledging to remain accommodative to spur, and reinvigorate growth, it has reaffirmed its commitment to being a trusted partner in the growth of the country.

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  • 5th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 993]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 993]

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  • President has no role to play in Perarivalan’s plea: SC

    The Supreme Court has disagreed with the Central government’s suggestion that the court should wait till the President took a call on former PM’s assassination case convict A.G. Perarivalan’s mercy plea referred to him by the Tamil Nadu Governor for a decision.

    Why in news now?

    • The Bench of the Supreme Court said that the Centre had missed the obvious question posed by the court by a mile.
    • The pertinent question was whether the Governor had, in the first place, the authority to refer the mercy plea to the President.
    • Under Article 161 of the Constitution, the Governor was bound by the aid and advice given by the TN Council of Ministers in September 2018.
    • The Governor prima facie had no authority to transfer the mercy plea to the President.

    What does Pardon mean?

    • A pardon is a government/executive decision to allow a person to be absolved of guilt for an alleged crime or other legal offense as if the act never occurred.

    Why need a Pardon?

    • Pardons can be granted when individuals are deemed to have demonstrated that they have “paid their debt to society”, or are otherwise considered to be deserving of them.
    • Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who were either wrongfully convicted or who claim that they were wrongfully convicted.
    • Pardons are sometimes seen as a mechanism for combating corruption, allowing a particular authority to circumvent a flawed judicial process to free someone that is seen as wrongly convicted.

    What does Article 161 say?

    • Article 161 of the Constitution provides the Governor with the power to remit or commute the sentence of any prisoner.
    • The Governor’s decision will be subject to judicial review by the constitutional courts.

    Supreme court’s observations

    • The Constitution Bench in 2015, in a majority decision, had held that the States cannot unilaterally remit the sentences of life convicts in cases investigated by a Central agency under a Central law.
    • The assassination case was probed by the CBI.
    • In compliance with the 2015 verdict, the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the Centre in 2016, proposing the grant of remission to the convicts. The State wanted the Centre to concur.
    • After a wait of over two years, the Centre rejected the State’s proposal, saying this was an unparalleled act in the annals of crimes committed in this country.

    Arguments in Perarivalan’s petition seeking pardon

    • Perarivalan had been pleading for release citing that he was 19 when he was arrested.
    • He was the only male child of his parents, there were no records of criminal antecedents, and that he had excellent conduct in his entire prison life.
    • His petition also cited UG and PG degrees, and that he was the university topper, Gold medalist in diploma in DTP, and that he completed more than eight diploma and certificate courses during his prison term.
    • His probation officer gave a report about lapses in recording his confession statement that handed out maximum punishment in his case.

    Basis of his innocence

    • Perarivalan cannot be called innocent before the law as he continues to be a convicted prisoner serving imprisonment.
    • He was accused of having bought two battery cells for the LTTE man who masterminded the conspiracy.
    • He was sentenced to death based on this crucial confession statement.

    Significance of the convicts’ release

    • The release of seven convicts is a demand raised by not only the ruling party of TN but the main opposition too.
    • All TN politicians voiced that the judiciary should be able to reform and let them live as good citizens to uphold the high values of reformatory justice and restitution.

    Back2Basics: Pardoning Powers in India

    • Under the Constitution of India (Article 72), the President of India can grant a pardon or reduce the sentence of a convicted person, particularly in cases involving capital punishment.
    • A similar and parallel power vests in the governors of each state under Article 161.

    (1) President

    • Article 72 says that the president shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.
    • The pardoning powers of the Indian President are elucidated in Art 72 of the Indian Constitution. There are five different types of pardoning which are mandated by law.
    1. Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
    2. Commutation: means changing the type of punishment given to the guilty into a less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life sentence.
    3. Reprieve: means a delay allowed in the execution of a sentence, usually a death sentence, for a guilty person to allow him some time to apply for a Presidential Pardon or some other legal remedy to prove his innocence or successful rehabilitation.
    4. Respite: means reducing the quantum or degree of the punishment to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental condition etc.
    5. Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without changing its nature, for example reducing twenty-year rigorous imprisonment to ten years.

    (2) Governor

    • As per Article 161, the Governor of a State has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law.
    • It must be relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
    • Please note that President can grant pardon to a person awarded death sentence. But a governor of a state does not enjoy this power.

     

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  • Tamil Nadu NEET Exemption Bill sent to Home Ministry

    The CM informed the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly that Governor has forwarded the NEET exemption Bill to the Union Home Ministry to be sent to the President of India for his assent.

    What is the TN Bill about?

    • The Bill exempts medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu from taking NEET examination for admission to UG degree courses in Indian medicine, dentistry and homeopathy.
    • Instead, it seeks to provide admission to such courses on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, through “Normalization methods”.
    • The aim of the Bill is to ensure “social justice, uphold equality and equal opportunity, protect all vulnerable student communities from being discriminated”.
    • It seeks to bring vulnerable student communities to the “mainstream of medical and dental education and in turn ensure a robust public health care across the state, particularly the rural areas”.

    Why TN is against NEET?

    • Non-representative: TN opposes because NEET undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies.
    • Disfavors the poor: It has favored mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society and thwarting the dreams of underprivileged social groups.
    • Exams for the elite: It considers NEET not a fair or equitable method of admission since it favored the rich and elite sections of society.
    • Healthcare concerns: If continued, the rural and urban poor may not be able to pursue medical courses.

    Can any state legislate against NEET?

    • Admissions to medical courses are traceable to entry 25 of Concurrent List, Schedule VII of the Constitution.
    • Therefore, the State can also enact a law regarding admission and amend any Central law on admission procedures.

    Why is it going for President’s assent?

    • The question is not whether the State government can amend a law falling under the Concurrent List.
    • The question is whether the State government can exempt Section 10D of the IMC Act, which is a parliamentary law that falls under the Central List (Entry 66).
    • Moreover, the Supreme Court has also upheld NEET as a requirement.
    • Mere statistics highlighting that a majority of the stakeholders do not want NEET in Tamil Nadu is not an answer for exempting the examination.

    Again, it is State and Centre are at crossroads

    • Normally, a Bill requires assent from the Governor to become a law. Stalin’s contention is that this Bill deals with education, which is a Concurrent List subject.
    • Admissions to medical courses fall under Entry 25 of List III, Schedule VII of the Constitution, and therefore the state is competent to regulate the same.
    • Yet, as far as matters relating to the determination of standards for higher education are concerned, the central government has the power to amend a clause or repeal an Act.
    • So, just the passing of the Bill doesn’t enable the students to get exempted from writing NEET.
    • Already, Union Higher Education Secretary has held that if any State wants to opt out of the exam, it has to seek permission from the Supreme Court.

    Options for Tamil Nadu

    • Data is necessary only when there is power to legislate on the subject concerned.
    • Since the Bill, which will become an Act only after the President’s nod, will come into effect only from the next academic year, the battle for and against the NEET requirement will continue in courts.
    • Hopefully, the courts will determine the legality and have a definite solution to the question of medical admissions within the next year.
    • Till such time, students who wrote NEET will fill the seats under the State quota.

     

    Also read:

    Bill assent, a delay and the Governor’s options

     

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  • GST Compensation dues

    The West Bengal CM has said that slashing State levies on petrol and diesel will be possible only if the Centre clears its outstanding dues of over ₹97,000 crore, which includes compensation for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

    What is GST?

    • GST launched in India on 1 July 2017 is a comprehensive indirect tax for the entire country.
    • It is charged at the time of supply and depends on the destination of consumption.
    • For instance, if a good is manufactured in state A but consumed in state B, then the revenue generated through GST collection is credited to the state of consumption (state B) and not to the state of production (state A).
    • GST, being a consumption-based tax, resulted in loss of revenue for manufacturing-heavy states.

    Compensation under GST regime

    • Due to the consumption-based nature of GST, manufacturing states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu feared a revenue loss.
    • Thus, GST Compensation Cess or GST Cess was introduced by the government to compensate for the possible revenue losses suffered by such manufacturing states.
    • However, under existing rules, this compensation cess will be levied only for the first 5 years of the GST regime – from July 1st, 2017 to July 1st, 2022.
    • Compensation cess is levied on five products considered to be ‘sin’ or luxury as mentioned in the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 and includes items such as- Pan Masala, Tobacco, and Automobiles etc.

    Distributing GST compensation

    • The compensation cess payable to states is calculated based on the methodology specified in the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.
    • The compensation fund so collected is released to the states every 2 months.
    • Any unused money from the compensation fund at the end of the transition period shall be distributed between the states and the centre as per any applicable formula.

    Significance of GST compensation

    • States no longer possess taxation rights after most taxes, barring those on petroleum, alcohol, and stamp duty were subsumed under GST.
    • GST accounts for almost 42% of states’ own tax revenues, and tax revenues account for around 60% of states’ total revenues.
    • Finances of over a dozen states are under severe strain, resulting in delays in salary payments and sharp cuts in capital expenditure outlay amid the pandemic-induced lockdowns and the need to spend on healthcare.

    What is the status of the outstanding GST compensation due to the States?

    • The Finance Ministry said that outstanding GST compensation dues to States for 2021-22 stood at ₹78,704 crore.
    • This means that dues have been remitted to States for the eight-month period of April 2021 till November 2021.
    • Normally, compensation for 10 months from April-January of any financial year is released during that year and the compensation for February-March is released only in the next financial year.
    • The pending amount will also be released as and when the amount from cess accrues in the compensation fund.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] GST Compensation

     

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  • RBI surprises with 40 bps rate increase in Repo Rate

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a sudden move, raised the repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.4% citing inflation that was globally rising alarmingly and spreading fast.

    Why in news?

    • The repo rate increase was the first since August 2018.
    • The MPC retained its ‘accommodative’ policy stance even as it focuses on withdrawal of accommodation to keep inflation within the target range while supporting growth.
    • Due to Ukraine War, persistent and spreading inflationary pressures are becoming more acute with every passing day.

    Hues over the REPO spike

    • The move — to have such a meeting and to raise the interest rates — is, at two different levels, both surprising and obvious.
    • It is surprising because the RBI’s MPC meets once every two months — and the meeting this week was not scheduled.

    What is Repo Rate?

    • Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country (Reserve Bank of India in case of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds.
    • It is used by monetary authorities to control inflation.
    • In the event of inflation, central banks increase repo rate as this acts as a disincentive for banks to borrow from the central bank.
    • This ultimately reduces the money supply in the economy and thus helps in arresting inflation.

    How does the repo dynamics work?

    • When there is a shortage of funds, commercial banks borrow money from the central bank which is repaid according to the repo rate applicable.
    • The central bank provides these short terms loans against securities such as treasury bills or government bonds.
    • This monetary policy is used by the central bank to control inflation or increase the liquidity of banks.
    • The government increases the repo rate when they need to control prices and restrict borrowings.
    • An increase in repo rate means commercial banks have to pay more interest for the money lent to them and therefore, a change in repo rate eventually affects public borrowings such as home loan, EMIs, etc.
    • From interest charged by commercial banks on loans to the returns from deposits, various financial and investment instruments are indirectly dependent on the repo rate.

    What is accommodative stance of policy?

    • Accommodative monetary policy is when central banks expand the money supply to boost the economy. Monetary policies that are considered accommodative include lowering the Federal funds rate.
    • These measures are meant to make money less expensive to borrow and encourage more spending.

    What triggered the RBI to take sudden decision?

    • Inflation has been rising for over two years: By law, the RBI is supposed to target retail inflation at 4%. Inflation constantly above 4% since last year.
    • Inflation has not been “transitory”: The reasons for high inflation have tended to change over the months due to wide range of reasons like war, crude oil prices rise, taxes on fuels etc.
    • Spike in crude oil prices is not new: The RBI has pointed to high crude oil prices in the wake of the Ukraine war, as one of the key reasons for high inflation in India.
    • High core inflation: The core inflation which is essentially the inflation rate stripped of the effect of fuel and food prices has been rising up. This is more worrisome for RBI since it cannot be altered overnight.
    • Monetary policy has lags. RBI waited too long: If the RBI wanted to contain inflation in May, it should have acted in February or at least in April. Raising rates right now may not bring down the inflation rate immediately.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

    Q.If the RBI decides to adopt an expansionist monetary policy, which of the following it would NOT do?

    1. Cut and optimize the statutory liquidity ratio
    2. Increase the Marginal Standing Facility Rate
    3. Cut the Bank Rate and Repo Rate

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    Post your answers here:

     

     

     

    Back2Basics: Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)

    • The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the RBI, which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level.
    • The RBI Act, 1934 was amended by Finance Act (India), 2016 to constitute MPC to bring more transparency and accountability in fixing India’s Monetary Policy.
    • The policy is published after every meeting with each member explaining his opinions.
    • The committee is answerable to the Government of India if the inflation exceeds the range prescribed for three consecutive months.
    • Suggestions for setting up a MPC is not new and goes back to 2002 when YV Reddy committee proposed to establish an MPC, then Tarapore committee in 2006, Percy Mistry committee in 2007, Raghuram Rajan committee in 2009 and then Urjit Patel Committee in 2013.

    Composition and Working

    • The committee comprises six members – three officials of the RBI and three external members nominated by the Government of India.
    • The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year and it publishes its decisions after each such meeting.
    • The Governor of RBI is the chairperson ex officio of the committee.
    • Decisions are taken by a majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie.
    • They need to observe a “silent period” seven days before and after the rate decision for “utmost confidentiality”.

     

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  • Civil Registration System Report, 2020

    The Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 was released at least a month before its schedule.

    What is Civil Registration System (CRS)?

    • The CRS collates data on all births and deaths registered with local authorities across India.
    • The CRS report is released by the Registrar-General of India.
    • It releases its report around 18 months after a year ends.

    Significance of the 2020 Report

    • The 2020 report was released at least a month before schedule.
    • Such data can be of significance during a pandemic as possible covid-19 deaths may not have been categorized as such in official records.
    • The CRS can help us reach an estimate by using the “excess deaths” approach.
    • It is the difference between the total number of deaths registered in a pandemic year and the number of deaths that normally take place in a year.

    Why was the data released ahead of schedule?

    • India and the WHO are locked in a tussle over the latter’s excess death estimates that would give a sense of pandemic-linked fatalities globally in 2020-21.
    • India has reportedly stalled WHO’s efforts to release the data, claiming flawed methodology.
    • WHO is set to release its estimates today, a possible reason that India released CRS data early.

    Why is India contesting the WHO approach?

    • One key objection by India is that WHO has classified it as a Tier 2 country and hence used a different modelling process to estimate excess deaths from that used for Tier 1 countries.
    • WHO says all countries that made available their full all-cause mortality data for the pandemic period were classified as Tier 1.
    • India is in Tier 2 because it didn’t share official data with WHO.
    • Hence, alternative data and modelling methods had to be adopted, adjusting for factors such as income levels, covid-19 reporting rates, and test positivity rates.

    What does the 2020 data show?

    (a) Covid deaths

    • The CRS report for 2020 has recorded deaths of 8.12 million Indians, 6.2% more than 2019.
    • Normally, an unusual increase in deaths would be linked to the pandemic. However, in India, not all deaths are registered.
    • Thus, a rise could simply be because of more families getting deaths registered.
    • The CRS for 2021, which saw more Covid deaths, may not be out until next year.

    (b) Improvements in sex ratio

    • Highest Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) based on registered events has been reported by Ladakh (1,104) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,011), A&N Islands (984), Tripura (974), and Kerala (969).
    • The lowest sex ratio was reported by Manipur (880), followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (898), Gujarat (909), Haryana (916) and Madhya Pradesh (921).

     

     

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  • Most Important Keywords from Ancient Indian History for Prelims 2022

    It is a part of our Nikaalo Prelims 2022 Initiative. You can join our official space on habitat to ask your doubts with the mentors and decode Prelims.

    These keywords are taken from Upinder Singh book which is a very high relevant source for Prelims but bulky for an Aspirant to cover.

    Agrahara: Land or village gifted by a king 

    Ahimsa: Non-injury, non-violence 

    Ajivikas: An ancient religious sect, associated with Makkhali Gosala 

    Akam: Sangam love poems 

    Alvars: The Vaishnava saint-poets of early medieval South India

    Anekantavada: The Jaina doctrine of the manifold nature of reality

    Antarala: The vestibule or antechamber of a temple

    Araghatta: The Persian wheel, or a similar contrivance

    Aranyakas: literally ‘forest books’; part of the Vedic corpus

    Ardhamandapa: The hall preceding the sanctum in a temple

    Ariya-sachchani: The Four Noble Truths related to suffering; an important part of the Buddha’s teaching

    Ayyavole: A powerful merchant guild of early medieval South India 

    Bands: Small and usually nomadic communities, usually related to each other through kinship

    Brahmadeya: Land gifted to Brahmanas, generally by kings.

    ​​Charana: School of Vedic study 

    Charvaka: An atheistic materialism philosophical school, also known as Lokayata

    Dhamma: A Pali word (Sanskrit, dharma), referring to the ideal conduct of an individual living in society.

    Dhammachakka-pavattana: Pali, literally ‘turning the wheel of dhamma’; the Buddha’s first sermon in the deer park near Benaras 

    Dhamma-mahamatas: A new cadre of officials created by Ashoka to propagate dhamma.

    Dvija: literally ‘twice born’: Those entitled to the performance of the upanayana (sacred thread) ceremony, which is considered analogous to a second birth, viz., the upper three varnas, namely the Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas.

    Four Noble Truths(Ariya-sachchani): An important part of the Buddha’s teaching, viz., there is suffering; it has a cause; it can be eliminated; and the way to eliminate it is to follow the Eight-fold Path

    Gahapati: Pali for Sanskrit grihapati, i.e., householder; a wealthy property-owner 

    Gaja-Lakshmi: A popular representation of the goddess Lakshmi, flanked by two elephants, sometimes holding jars in their trunks gana: a word which has many meanings, including an oligarchy 

    Garbha-griha: The inner sanctum of a temple, where the image of the main deity is placed and worshipped.

    Hundikas: Bills of exchange used by traders in early medieval India

    Kani rights: Rights over land in early medieval South India, sometimes also associated with certain duties and obligations 

    Kara-shasanas: Tax-paying agraharas

    kottam: Settlement clusters in the Pallava kingdom, similar to the nadus 

    Kraya-shasana: A secular land-sale deed 

    Kshatra: Secular power kshatrapa: a viceroy or subordinate ruler of the Scytho-Parthians; a title assumed by kings of the Kshaharata and Kardamaka dynasties

    Madhayamaka: A major Mahayana school founded by Nagarjuna, in which the idea of shunyata (emptiness) is of great importance.

    Mandapika: A local centre of exchange, in between small periodic markets and larger trade centres Manigramam: a powerful merchant guild of early medieval South India.

    Mahakshatrapa: Viceroy, subordinate ruler; a title assumed by some kings of the Kshaharata and Kardamaka dynasties

    Menhir: A type of megalithic burial, marked by a single, large, standing stone.

    Nagarakkani: Land owned and managed by the nagaram 

    Nagarams: Market or commercial centres in early medieval South India N

    Agarattar: The corporate organization of the nagaram

    Nattar: The leading men of the nadu (locality) in early medieval South India.

    Nibbana: A term used often in the Buddhist tradition for liberation from the cycle of birth and death

    Niyoga: levirate; the ancient custom of a widow cohabiting with her brother-in-law or another man in order to produce sons.

    Paramitas: Perfections whose attainment led to the bodhisattva path; a Mahayana idea Paribbajaka: Pali, literally, ‘wanderer’, renunciant pariharas: exemptions and privileges granted to donees in royal land grants parinibbana: the passing away of the Buddha Patichcha-samuppada: Pali, the law of dependent origination; a part of the Buddha’s teaching

    Periyapuranam: A 12th century work containing hagiographies of the Nayanmar saints

    Pramanas: grounds of knowledge 

    Prashasti: Panegyric 

    Pravara: The names of one, two, three, or five supposed ancestral rishis, connected with the gotra system of the Brahmanas

    Puram: War poems of the Sangam corpus 

    Purva Mimamsa: A school of Vedic exegesis

    Samana: A Pali word (Sanskrit shramana); literally, ‘one who strives’, a renunciant 

    Samanta: Subordinate ruler; feudatory 

    Samhita: A collection of hymns, associated with the Vedas 

    Samkhya: A very ancient philosophical school which views the world as consisting of two fundamental categories of purusha (the spiritual principle) and prakriti (matter or nature)

    Sandhara: A temple style with an enclosed passage for circumambulation

    Sangam literature: Texts in old Tamil, comprising the earliest parts of the Ettutokai, Pattuppattu, and Tolkappiyam.

    Sapindas: People who are held to be related to each other, an important category in Dharmashastra discussions on rules of marriage, inheritance, and rules of purity and impurity to be observed among relatives when a person died 

    Saptanga rajya: Literally ‘the seven-limbed state’, the Arthashastra concept of the state as consisting of seven elements.

    Setthi: Pali (Sanskrit sreshthin); a high-level businessman associated with trade and money-lending 

    Shakha: A recension of a Veda

    Siddhamatrika: An ancient script, known from the 6th century CE; also known as Kutila

    Syadavada: Literally ‘doctrine of maybe’; the Jaina doctrine of the partial nature of all statements about reality

    Taniyur: A special status given to certain brahmadeyas in early medieval South India, making them independent of the nadu wherein they were located

    Tevaram: A collection of hymns, part of the canon of South Indian Shaiva bhakti

    Tipitaka: Pali, literally ‘the three baskets’ or ‘three collections’, Buddhist canonical texts; the Pali Tipitaka is the canon of the Theravada school 

    Tirthankara: Literally, ‘ford builder’; a Jaina saint 

    Tirumurai: The canon of South Indian Shaiva bhakti 

    Tiruttondar-Tiruvantai: A work by Nambi Andar Nambi, which gives a short hagiography of the Nayanmar saints 

    Tiruttondar-Tokai: A work by Sundarar, which lists 62 Nayanmar saints torana: the gateway of a shrine

    Vatteluttu: An ancient South Indian script used for writing Tamil

    Vellala/vellalar: Cultivating groups of South India 

    Vellanvagai: Non-brahmadeya villages of early medieval South India; same as ur 

    Vendar: The three ‘crowned kings’ of early historical South India, i.e., the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas

    Viragal: The word for a ‘hero stone’ in the Tamil Nadu area

    Yajamana: The person for whom the yajna (sacrifice) is performed and who bears its expenses Yajna: sacrifice 

    Yakshas: Deities associated with water, fertility, trees, forests, and the wilderness 

    Yakshis: Female deities associated with fertility, consorts of yakshas 

    Yavana: Greeks, foreigners from the West 

    Yoga: A philosophical school which aimed at focusing the mind to achieve complete tranquility and control 

    Yogachara: A major Mahayana school which attached great importance to meditation as a means of attaining the highest goal
    Yupa: Sacrificial post

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