India has acknowledged a malfunction led to accidental firing of a missile, which Pakistan says landed in its territory.
Conducting Missile Tests: NOTAM and NAVAREA Warnings
Under the pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles agreement signed in 2005, a country must provide the other an advance notification on flight test it intends to take for any land or sea launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missile.
Before the test, the country must issue Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) or Navigational Warning (NAVAREA) to alert aviation pilots and seafarers, respectively.
Also, the testing country must ensure that the launch site is not within 40 km, and the planned impact area is not within 75 km of either the International Boundary (IB) or the Line of Control (LoC).
The planned trajectory should not cross the IB or the LoC and must maintain a horizontal distance of at least 40 km from the border.
Pre-notifications to the neighbours
The testing country must notify the other nation “no less than three days in advance of the commencement of a five day launch window within which it intends to undertake flight tests.
The pre-notification has to be conveyed through the respective Foreign Offices and the High Commissions, as per the format annexed to this Agreement.
What is the recent case of misfire?
Neither country has spelt this out; Pakistan has only called it a “supersonic” missile.
Some experts have speculated that it was a test of one of India’s top missiles, BrahMos, jointly developed with Russia.
Their assessment is based on information that it travelled 200 km, manoeuvred mid-air and travelled at 2.5 times to 3 times the speed of sound at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
Note: BrahMos has a top speed of Mach 3, a range of around 290 km, and a cruising altitude of 15 km (around 50,000 feet). It can be fired from anywhere, is nuclear-capable, and can carry warheads of 200-300 kg.
This article takes the stock of the Indian economy using the EFGHIJ framework.
Export
The $400-billion target of goods exports in FY22 appears achievable:
This is a structural break from ~$300-330 billion per year over the last decade.
Note that in calendar year 2021, India exported almost $400 billion worth of goods.
This export growth comes at a time when global shipping and freight markets have been in a tizzy over the last few months as Covid-related supply chain disruptions across commodities and final products reverberated across the globe.
Fiscal growth
India has significant fiscal headroom in FY23 with a 6.4% fiscal deficit pencilled in.
The revenue buoyancy, assumed at less than 1, is conservative as is the overall assumption on nominal growth at 11%.
In as volatile a world as this, the conservatism in forecasting should come to India’s advantage.
India saw healthy direct and indirect tax receipts in FY22: the GST collections have consistently remained above the `1 trillion-a-month mark for many months now.
Two aspects need a close watch:
(a) as the prices of various commodities rise, there can be calls for softening the blow on the final consumer via tax cuts or direct support, and
(b) the disinvestment programme of the government which could face a market where investor appetite is uncertain.
Growth challenges and opportunities for India
India’s GDP growth in FY23 is projected to be 7.6-8.5%, making it one of the fastest-growing economies.
With the newly changed circumstances, it is possible that this tight range and the absolute number may require revision.
It is, however, too early to say in which direction and by what amounts.
Opportunities for India: Global dislocations of supply chain or the creation of new supply sources could create divergent challenges and opportunities for India.
The post Covid rebound in high frequency indicators (air and rail passengers, toll collections, UPI payments, etc.) suggests that the internal consumption economy is currently back on track.
It is important to note that India continues to be the fastest-growing nation of its size in the world.
Health
India has now completed almost 1.8 billion doses.
The Omicron wave, thankfully both due to the inherent nature of the virus and the large vaccination drive, did not cause significant economic upheaval.
It may be time to think of Covid as endemic and plan accordingly.
Inflation
The inflation in 2021 was based on a sudden bout of fiscal-support-driven spending meeting with tight supply chain bottlenecks.
It was expected that as spending normalises and supply chains open, prices will stabilise.
However, the sharp uptick in the prices of crude, coal, commodities, and chips has created a more sustained scare for inflation.
Many measures may be taken across the world to curb the impact for the common man: from opening of oil reserves, to cutting of taxes, to direct support, etc—all of which could impact the fiscal.
Capital
Denoted by K by economists, expect to see a lot of ebb-and-flow here as investors react to evolving, volatile trends.
Higher public investment in the last two years has supported economic recovery: India has planned for a record `10 lakh crore plus public capex.
Net FDI has been strong at $25.3 billion up to December in FY2022.
While FPIs have withdrawn $9.5 billion in FY22, DIIs and retail investors have supported the markets.
Conclusion
With two waves of COVID-19 largely behind us, many macroeconomic factors have changed dramatically, especially in the last fortnight.
HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?
Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.
A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.
You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.
Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.
Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.
If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th February is uploaded on 11th February then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis
If you are writing answers late, for example, 11th February is uploaded on 13th February , then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.
We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Staff so that the mentor is notified about your answer.
*In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*.
Smash Prelims Super-25 Program is back after a thumping success in Prelims 2021. Out of 25 students Santosh sir has mentored, 15 have cleared prelims this time.
How was Mentorship for UPSC Prelims Conducted in our Recent Super-25 Session by Birendra Sir
Birendra sir sat down with a student and mentored him for 1 1/2 hours after he had given his test. We were able to get a 3 minute video of him explaining a revision technique that could have helped the student remember important facts in polity. The student says he understands the importance of inter-linking due to sir.
Birendra sir then highlighted the situations when one has to do revision. A wrong method of revision is to read the entire book. The correct method of revision is to revise only those topics the aspirant was confused with or could not remember the facts. Birendra sir suggested that he would help the student prepare a list of topics he should revise before the next test. During the mock test, he advised the student to analyse if he remembered the topic or not. If he did not, then the student had to make a note of the topic on the side and revise it after test.
Mentorship of Birendra sir helped solve the student’s persistent problem of how he could revise in limited time.
From this, you can understand there is no specific format for mentorship. It is conducted atleast 5 times a month and depends on your test performance and your doubts. After mentorship, you will get a fresh direction to improvise your preparation with less confusion and stress.
Why Your Focus for Next 3 Months Must be About Scoring Above Cut-Off Marks in UPSC-CSE Prelims? Isn’t the last 1 Month Enough for This?
Every year, the competition for UPSC-CSE is increasing while vacancies are decreasing drastically. This year there are only 712 vacancies as against 2019 which had 927 vacancies. However, atleast 10 lakh students will attempt the prelims exam. This is why right now, it’s important to start having an Olympic Athlete mindset. You need to daily focus on scoring above the cut-off marks in your test series.
Civilsdaily Student and 2019 UPSC-CSE AIR 8 Topper Abhishek Saraf had practiced nearly 6000+ MCQs under us to clear prelims!
What makes prelims tough? It’s because the paper is unpredictable. If this year, science questions are a breeze then the next year you will have to answer advanced concept-based questions. Unlike Mains, Prelims has negative markings.
Toppers like Pranav Vijayvergiya (AIR 65) andSwati Sharma(AIR 17) have found Prelims to be tougher than Mains. In fact, Pranav failed to clear Prelims thrice. But, in his fourth attempt he took Civilsdaily mentorship and cleared Prelims, Mains and Interview in one shot!
Are you feeling low that you are unable to get the required cut-off marks in your test series. Worry not, for about 65% of the UPSC toppers have said that they scored below cut-off marks till December. But by June, they were able to boost their marks to get through the prelims hurdle. It’s time to be like them now. The two mentors alloted to you at Civilsdaily will discuss notes, sources, test scores and even counsel you on your mental health.
How will Super-25 Program be structured?
We have neither diluted the criteria for selecting aspirants nor the core strategy. Infact, this year Super-25 will be a more effective version of last year.
Four Pillars of Super- 25 Program
It is mentorship led test series and value addition program over 90 days.
Two-Tier Mentorship: You will have one dedicated mentor during the entire journey, while Santosh Gupta sir will be strategic mentor. Santosh sir will take strategic mentoring calls twice in a week. It would ensure that you do not fall back at any cost and benefit from the experience of two mentors who have cleared the exam 6 times. We will ensure that you achieve not your weekly targets but the target of clearing prelims.
Number of tests: 60 practice tests (50 questions) + 40 Full length tests ( 12 Basic + 6 advanced + 10 Current affairs test + 8 FLTs+ 4 CSATs) . It means everyday you can give a test. With this, we will ensure that you revise your syllabus 3 times in three months at least.
Current affairs: Entire Current affairs of 1.5 years ( Jan 2021 – April 2022) will be covered by Core faculty, comprising of Santosh sir, Sajal sir, Sudhanshu sir, Birendra sir and Sukanya Ma’am. You will learn how to link current affairs with static topics on the go.
Strategic Value Addition Sessions: They say that a woodcutter sharpens his axe for 8 hours to cut 1 tree. This is the most popular session aroun taken by Santosh Gupta sir to enrich your knowledge base and analytical ability.
Approach of Super-25
1. Keyword approach to revise syllabus of 1 subject in 2-3 hours.
2. Focus on FCE approach ( Factual, Conceptual and Elimination ) to enhance your score.
3. Critical gap filling sessions and notes, learning to link static with current affairs and vice versa.
4. Evidence based questions to ensure 360 degree testing.
5. Weekly monitoring of targets by dedicated mentor and your strategic mentor Santosh Gupta.
How Super- 25 will help you
1. Setting a clear strategy for the next 90 days to get 120+ score in Prelims.
2. Revising the whole syllabus in an effective manner.
2. Filling critical gaps in preparation.
4. Practice tests to enhance your chances of qualifying prelims.
5. Covering the entire current affairs from a prelims perspective.
Who can be part of Super-25?
1. Only those who are struck in the range of 80-90 marks in last 2-3 attempts and are desperate to write mains.
2. Those who have given prelims at least once.
3. Those willing to give 100% or nothing less.
There are no secrets to success, it is a result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. Are you willing to learn from failures? Let’s start together.
Self Preparation with Mentorship: What do Civilsdaily Students think of Santosh Sir’s Mentorship for UPSC-CSE Prelims?
Santhosh Sir, Core Civilsdaily Mentor. He has attended Interview Thrice & Cleared Prelims 6/6 times with above 145 marks.
We asked Santosh sir’s students about their opinion on mentorship — if it was something that saved their time or wasted their time in studies and this is what they had to say:
Kamini: “If I can say in one word, then Santosh sir’s mentorship is unique. Before I joined his program, I used to score 90 marks in Full Length Test Series. Santhosh sir had done in depth analysis of my test papers and suggested ways to reduce the negatives. Right now I am able to score 100+ in advanced test series of not only Civilsdaily but other institutes. He is always available to clear my doubts and solve my issues on call or phone. No issue is too big enough for Santosh sir. He has always told me after you finish a test series, read the same topics again and take another test series the same day to see if your marks improve. From Santosh sir’s polity and economic survey notes, we got questions in 2021 Prelims. I always feel its better to do self studies with mentorship than join coaching institutes and get spoon fed with information.”
Sweetie Raj: “I am a banking professional, living with a joint family. Attending coaching classes is out of question because I won’t have time to read the books myself. Santosh sir helps me self-study by providing me mentorship daily. I study daily from 9PM to 3AM. Santosh sir has been available for 1 hour strategy calls even during this time. No other teacher would have wanted me to succeed as much as he wants me to. I can understand concepts by myself and don’t need help in that. I want someone who pushes me to complete the target modules, checks if I did my mains answer writing for the day and analyses the previous year question papers with me. Because of Santosh sir, I understood that its just not enough reading one book but at the same time I dont have to waste time reading many books. He tells me the topic-wise sources to refer. Also he has designed a study plan for me that I can follow every week. Once, I told Santhosh sir I was missing test series discussion classes as it was conducted at 7PM. Immediately, he provided me recorded videos and kept the session at 8.30PM.”
Toppers’ Speak: How Civilsdaily Mentorship Helped Me Clear UPSC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwO38weHAA
About Santosh Gupta Sir
Santosh sir has scored above 140 twice in UPSC prelims and 120 plus in all 6 attempts. He has written all 6 mains and has appeared for Interviews 3 times. He has qualified UPSC EPFO and BPSC 56-59th also. As the Prelims coordinator at Civilsdaily, he has helped 15 out of 25 students clear the prelims examination this year.
This Spotlight is a part of our Mission Nikaalo Prelims-2022.
You can check the broad timetable of Nikaalo Prelims here
Session Details
Morning 12 PM – Prelims Spotlight Session
Evening 06 PM – TIKDAM/MCQs Session
Evening 08 PM – Tests on Alternate Days
Join our Official telegram channel for Study material and Daily Sessions Here
11th Mar 2022
Executive
Titbits
President, VP both elected indirectly by proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and voting is by secret ballot
Electoral college of president contains elected MPs and elected MLAs (including that of UTs of Delhi and Puducherry) while that of VP includes all MPs (nominated MPs and nominated MLAs not included in presidential electoral college where as nominated MPs are included in Vice presidential but none of the MLAs )
MLCs not included in electoral college of either president or VP
Value of votes of all elected MPs = Value of votes of all elected MLAs
Min age 35 years for both president and VP (LS, MLA = 25, RS, MLC = 30, local bodies =21)
Oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution to president by CJI while by president to VP
Impeachment for violation of constitution by ⅔ absolute majority
Vacancy in presidential office, VP and in his absence CJI
President acts in accordance with aid and advice of CoM except where situational discretion is necessary (govt losing no confidence motion, no clear majority)
President appoints judges of supreme court as well as high court
Issue
President
Governor
Head
Head of the country, head of govt is PM
Head of a state, head of govt is CM
Executive power
All executive action in his name
Same
Oath
Preserve, protect and defend the constitution
Same
Appointment
Indirect election
Nominated by president; representative of union in states
Removal
Impeachment
President can remove him any time/ pleasure principle
Grounds of removal
Violation of constitution
No grounds mentioned
Advice of council of minister
Binding (42nd amendment), can return the advice once (44th amendment)
binding save for exceptional circumstances (various supreme court judgements)
Ordinance
Art 123, when either house is not in session, not for CAB
Art 213, same
Ordinary bill
Can be sent for reconsideration once to parliament, bound to give assent after that
same
Money bill
Can’t send for reconsideration (after all president himself recommends the bill)
same
Constitution amendment bill
Has to give his assent (24th amendment)
No role
if governor reserves the bill for president (article 200)
Can assent/ withhold assent or send the bill for reconsideration (except money bill which can’t be resent) (article 201)
No further role of governor
If house sends the bill back in the same form
Not bound to give assent <governor is bound to give assent after repassage>
No role
Clemency power
Can pardon death sentence and court martial sentences
Can’t pardon death sentence, no role in military matters
Bills which must be reserved for President’s consideration
bills derogating the powers of the High Court (art 200)
imposition of taxes on water or electricity in certain cases (Article 288)
during a Financial Emergency (art 360)
Bills which may be reserved for President’s consideration and assent for specific purposes
a). To secure immunity from operation of Articles 14 and 19. These are Bills for
acquisition of estates, etc. (Article 31A(I (b))
giving effect to Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 31C)
(b) A Bill relating to a subject enumerated in the Concurrent List, to ensure operation of its provisions despite their repugnancy to a Union law or an existing law, by securing President’s assent in terms of Article 254(2)
(c) Legislation imposing restrictions on trade and commerce
Titbits
President (governor) appoints the leader of the majority party as PM (CM). Discretion in case of no clear majority.
Ministers are appointed on the advice of PM or CM (no discretion)
CM of UTs is appointed by President not Lt. Governor
Ministers hold office during pleasure of president (governor) and are collectively responsible to house of people
Total strength of CoM including PM (CM) not to exceed 15% of membership of LS (91st CAA)
Ministers can be appointed w/o being part of LS or RS but have to get elected w/i 6 months
Ministers/ Attorney general who are not member of a house/ committee can attend the meetings but can’t vote
The cabinet is a subset of CoM and includes only ministers of cabinet rank (article 352)
Governor of state v/s LG of Delhi
Governor/ state
LG/ Delhi
Appointment of CM/ ministers
By governor
By president
Ministers hold office till pleasure of
Governor
President
Discretion
Very limited
Can refer any matter to president if not satisfied
Who can make Laws on state list
Only state legislature ordinarily
Parliament as well as state legislature
Civil services
While ministers are political executives, civil servants are permanent executives as they don’t have to seek the mandate of people every five years.
All India Services: Common to both centre and states
Recruitment by the centre, serve under states
3 all India services – IAS, IPS and Indian forest services <created in 1968>
Parliament can create a new IAS if RS passes a resolution by ⅔ majority
Central govt makes service rules in consultation with state govt
Work under the pleasure of the president with safeguards
As per the Economic Survey 2021-22, India has become the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China.
Start-up ecosystem in India
India attracted huge investment in startups in 2021: Private equity investment was $77 billion, of which $42 billion went to early-stage ventures.
Every startup where salaries are paid by investors rather than customers is breathlessly rethinking business plans.
How do startups benefit society?
1] Innovation, productivity and job creation:
The high failure rate of startups is not a problem per se — society only needs a few successes to harness the gains of innovation, productivity and job creation.
A new book, The Power Law makes the case that startup investing is unlike public market investing.
He suggests public markets follow a “normal” distribution like human height — most people cluster around the average with a few exceptionally low or high.
But venture investments follow a “power law” of distribution, that is, most go to zero but the tiny number that succeeds more than compensate for the losses or mediocrity of the many.
2] Losses caused by startups are not passed on to society
Startups don’t socialise their losses, Corporate bank loans expanded from Rs 18 lakh crore in 2008 to Rs 54 lakh crore in 2014.
Such high corporate bank loans created bad loans that needed many lakh crores of government money to recapitalise nationalised banks.
This money was diverted from government spending on healthcare, education and defence.
The current venture capital binge will also create many write-offs but this cost will fall on consenting adults with broad shoulders — foreign institutions, angel investors and entrepreneurs with successful previous exits.
A modern state is a welfare state that does less commercially so it can do more socially.
It needs allies in reimagining financial inclusion, supply chains, distribution logistics, employability, retail, transport, media, healthcare, agriculture and much else.
Many of our startups shall redeem their pledge to solve these problems “not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially”.
Three issues related to startups
1] Fiscal and monetary policy normalisation: The global capital supply fuelling startup funding faces challenges from fiscal and monetary policy normalisation: The rate-sensitive two-year US government bond recently touched a 1.6 per cent yield after being at 0.4 per cent as recently as November — because the risk-free return cannot be return-free-risk forever.
Investors are returning to weighing financial sustainability and capital efficiency along with addressable markets.
2] Excesses: This explosive startup funding has created excesses.
3] A different approach of public markets: Private markets are not only delaying IPOs — Amazon went public within three years of starting with less than half the value of a unicorn — but unicorn IPOs’ underperformance suggests that public markets have a different calibration.
Conclusion
The few startups that survive will raise India’s soft power and prosperity by using improbable ideas to solve impossible problems. What we need is to ensure the policy environment for the startups to boom.
The Global Water System Project, which was launched in 2003 as a joint initiative of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) and Global Environmental Change (GEC) programme, epitomises global concern about the human-induced transformation of fresh water and its impact on the earth system and society.
Valuation of water
It is globally estimated that the gap between demand for and supply of fresh water may reach up to 40% by 2030 if present practices continue.
SDG 6: The formation of the 2030 Water Resource Group in 2008, at the instance of the World Economic Forum, and the World Bank’s promotion of the group’s activity since 2018, is in recognition of this problem and to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water availability and sanitation for all by 2030 (SDG 6).
The latest UN World Water Development Report, 2021, titled ‘Valuing Water’, has laid stress on the proper valuation of water by considering five interrelated perspectives: water sources; water infrastructure; water services; water as an input to production and socio-economic development, and socio-cultural values of water.
Need for hydro-social cycle approach
Designing a comprehensive mix of divergent views about water along with ecological and environmental issues held by stakeholder groups is necessary.
In this context, a hydro-social cycle approach provides an appropriate framework.
It repositions the natural hydrological cycle in a human-nature interactive structure and considers water and society as part of a historical and relational-dialectical process.
The anthropogenic factors directly influencing a freshwater system are the engineering of river channels, irrigation and other consumptive use of water, widespread land use/land cover change, change in an aquatic habitat, and point and non-point source pollution affecting water quality.
The intra- and inter-basin transfer (IBT) of water
IBT is a major hydrological intervention to rectify the imbalance in water availability due to naturally prevailing unequal distribution of water resources within a given territory.
There are several IBT initiatives across the world.
The National River Linking Project of India is one of those under construction.
Based on a multi-country case study analysis, the World Wildlife Fund/World Wide Fund for Nature (2009) has suggested a cautious approach and the necessity to adhere to sustainability principles set out by the World Commission on Dams while taking up IBT projects.
Issues with assumptions, use and management of freshwater resources in India
1] Contestation on concept of the surplus and deficit basin
The basic premise of IBT is to export water from the surplus basin to a deficit basin.
However, there is contestation on the concept of the surplus and deficit basin itself as the exercise is substantially hydrological.
Besides this, rainfall in many surplus basins has been reported as declining.
The status of the surplus basin may alter if these issues are considered.
2] Low capacity utilisation
There is concern about the present capacity utilisation of water resources created in the country.
By 2016, India created an irrigation potential for 112 million hectares, but the gross irrigated area was 93 million hectares.
There is a 19% gap, which is more in the case of canal irrigation.
In 1950-51, canal irrigation used to contribute 40% of net irrigated area, but by 2014-15, the net irrigated area under canal irrigation came down to less than 24%.
Groundwater irrigation now covers 62.8% of net irrigated area.
Low efficiency of irrigation projects: The average water use efficiency of irrigation projects in India is only 38% against 50%-60% in the case of developed countries.
More water consumption for crops: Even at the crop level we consume more water than the global average.
Rice and wheat, the two principal crops accounting for more than 75% of agricultural production use 2,850 m 3/tonnes and 1,654 m 3/tonnes of water, respectively, against the global average of 2,291m 3/tonnes and 1,334m 3/ tonnes in the same order.
The agriculture sector uses a little over 90% of total water use in India.
And in industrial plants, consumption is 2 times to 3.5 times higher per unit of production of similar plants in other countries.
Similarly, the domestic sector experiences a 30% to 40% loss of water due to leakage.
3] Low use of greywater
Grey water is hardly used in our country.
It is estimated that 55% to 75% of domestic water use turns into greywater depending on its nature of use, people’s habits, climatic conditions, etc.
At present, the average water consumption in the domestic sector in urban areas is 135 litres to 196 litres a head a day.
If grey water production in the rural areas is considered it will be a huge amount.
The discharge of untreated grey water and industrial effluents into freshwater bodies is cause for concern.
The situation will be further complicated if groundwater is affected.
4] Other issues
Apart from the inefficient use of water in all sectors, there is also a reduction in natural storage capacity and deterioration in catchment efficiency.
Way forward
The issues are source sustainability, renovation and maintenance of traditional water harvesting structures, grey water management infrastructure, groundwater recharge, increasing water use efficiency, and reuse of water.
The axiom that today’s water system is co-evolving and the challenges are mainly management and governance has been globally well accepted.
It is important to include less predictable variables, revise binary ways of thinking of ‘either or’, and involve non-state actors in decision-making processes.
Conclusion
A hybrid water management system is necessary, where along with professionals and policy makers the individual, a community and society have definite roles in the value chain. The challenge is not to be techno-centric but anthropogenic.
