The Ministry of Home Affairs recently issued a notification extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force from 15 km to a depth of 50 km along the international borders in three states — Punjab, Assam and West Bengal.
Background of the notification about jurisdiction of BSF
The last notification of the MHA (July 3, 2014), which defined the jurisdiction of the BSF, stated that the force could operate in the entire states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya without any restrictions whatsoever.
In Gujarat, it had jurisdiction up to a depth of 80 km and in Rajasthan up to 50 km.
In Punjab, Assam and West Bengal, the BSF jurisdiction was up to a depth of 15 km only.
Under the latest notification issued on October 11, 2021, there is no change in the northeastern states and Rajasthan.
In Gujarat, jurisdiction has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km.
The controversial change is in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab, where the BSF jurisdiction has been extended from 15 km to 50 km.
It is this part of the notification which has generated controversy, though the criticism has been made by leaders of Punjab and West Bengal.
Why the government of India decided to extend the jurisdiction of BSF?
Assam, West Bengal and Punjab have international borders.
Changed threat perception: The threat perception from across the international borders has undergone a sea change in the context of recent developments in the Af-Pak region.
Efforts to destabilise Punjab: Radical groups of different shades are feeling emboldened and are going to make a determined attempt to destabilise Punjab.
Pakistan-sponsored terrorist groups, particularly the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, will almost certainly renew their onslaught in the border states.
West Bengal has already undergone a huge demographic change.
Assam faces multiple problems of ethnic insurgencies, smuggling, counterfeit currency, drug trafficking, etc.
Police need assistance: The police across the country are in a state of atrophy and they need the assistance of central armed police forces even for maintaining normal law and order.
As such, their effectiveness against the emerging trans-border threats is suspect.
Implications for powers of police and federalism
The home ministry’s latest notification only seeks to reinforce the capabilities of the state police in securing the states under section 139 of the BSF Act, which empowers the members of the force to discharge certain powers and duties within local limits of the areas specified in the schedule.
The jurisdiction of the state police has neither been curtailed nor its powers reduced in any manner.
It is just that the BSF will also be exercising powers of search, seizure and arrest in respect of only the Passport Act 1967, Passport (Entry into India) Act 1920 and specified sections of the Criminal Procedure code.
The power to register FIR and investigate the case remains with the state police.
The Indian Constitution, no doubt, fulfils some conditions of a federation, but it leans towards a strong Centre.
Conclusion
National security is a paramount consideration. It is unfortunate that the BSF is being dragged into political controversy when it would actually be over-stretching itself to strengthen national security.
Failing to qualify Prelims does not mean that you give up! There have been top rankers in the history of UPSC who failed to qualify Prelims multiple times but learned from each mistake and kept improving themselves. Pranav Vijayvargiya (AIR Rank 65) 2020 is the biggest example of this. He failed consecutively in 2 prelims but he kept himself motivated and finally got (AIR Rank 65) under the guidance of Sajal sir.
Fear of failure keeps you from learning and this is not the time to lose hope! It may be a tough situation but there’s still a lot you can learn from it.
Sajal Sir has helped over 400 aspirants secure ranks in the last 6 years. He has helped 30 students secure ranks in the top 100 in UPSC 2020. He knows about success but he also knowshow success is built from lessons of failure. He knows how bad the situation may become if you don’t qualify for Prelims but he also knows how to use that learning to crack the exam. And that’s the secret he will share with you in an absolutely free webinar.
With rising power demands in the domestic sector, Indian utilities are facing a severe shortage of coal, which is the primary fuel powering 70 percent of India’s energy consumption. More than half of the country’s 135 coal-fired power plants are running on fumes – as coal stocks run critically low. India’s thermal power plants currently have an average of four days worth of coal stock against a recommended level of 15-30 days, with a number of states highlighting concerns about blackouts as a result of the coal shortage.
Coal has become a priceless commodity of late in a white-hot market with an over 100 percent jump in prices, which is driven mainly by China and India – the two largest consumers of thermal coal globally.
What is the extent of the current coal crisis?
A number of states including Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan have raised concerns about potential blackouts as a result of low coal inventory at thermal power plants and have already reported load shedding. India is the world’s second-largest importer of coal despite also being home to the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world.
Increase in power demand
The shortage in coal is a result of a sharp uptick in power demand as the economy recovered from the effects of the pandemic.
Global factors
A sharp increase in the international prices of coal due to a shortage in China have also contributed to the coal shortage.
Unseasonal rains in Indonesia, Covid-induced production cuts in Australia have ensured a once-in-a-lifetime bull run in coal prices.
A balance is possible if and when the global supply chain – both in terms of prices as well as availability – improves.
China consumes nearly half of the coal produced globally and Indonesia and Australia happen to be two of the largest exporters.
India sources 43 per cent of its imported coal from Indonesia and 26 per cent from Australia.
Low accumulation of stocks by Thermal power plants
Low accumulation of stock by thermal power plants has contributed to the coal shortage in India.
Heavy rains in coal bearing areas had also led to a slowdown in the supply of coal to thermal plants.
Coal and lignite fired thermal power plants account for about 54 per cent of India’s installed power generation capacity but currently account for about 70 per cent of power generated in the country.
Increase in the price of the other fuels
Incidentally, the demand for coal has also gone up because other sources of generating power – natural gas, for instance – have become even costlier.
The price of natural gas, too, has increased nearly 100 per cent in 2021 alone.
This has hampered the plan to grow the share of renewable energy as well.
Legacy issues
Legacy issues of heavy dues of coal companies from certain states viz., Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also contributed to this coal shortage.
Power plants that usually rely on imports are now heavily dependent on Indian coal, adding further pressure to already stretched domestic supplies.
Why is the demand for natural gas surging?
Nations across the world are committed to reducing carbon emissions. China has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060.
To reduce its emissions, China needs to give up coal, reduce consumption of other dirty fossil fuels and adopt cleaner energy such as natural gas and renewables.
The country is also taking harsh measures to reduce pollution in Beijing before the February 2022 Winter Olympics and thus display its commitment to decarburization.
The targets China has set for itself is seen to have escalated the current energy crisis in the nation where two-thirds of the electricity was generated from burning coal.
European Union has targeted to become carbon neutral by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.
Why are prices between domestic and global coal widening?
Domestic coal prices in India are largely decided by Coal India. An increase in coal prices generally has a knock on effect on power prices and inflation..
Coal India has kept prices steady over the last year despite global coal prices rising steeply in the same period.
Meanwhile, Asia’s coal price benchmarks have hit record highs in the recent times, buoyed by global demand for power generation fuels as economies open up.
A major power crisis in China is the latest event driving global demand for the fuel.
Why are utilities unable to pass on higher costs?
India’s power tariffs, set by the respective states, are among the lowest in the world as state-run distribution companies have absorbed higher input costs to keep tariffs steady.
This has left many of these companies deeply indebted, with cumulative liabilities running into billions of dollars.
This triggered delayed payments to power producers, often affecting cash flows and disincentivising further investment in the electricity generation sector.
Indian power producers locked in long-term agreements with distribution utilities often cannot pass on higher input costs unless clauses are included in their contracts.
What does the deepening energy crisis mean for India?
The sharp rise in global coal prices came as a boon for domestic suppliers such as Coal India.
As the supply crunch in the key overseas markets grew and prices soared, the demand for coal from domestic sources climbed. Coal India and other producers increased output, yet supply remains quite tight.
Over 70% of India’s power is generated from burning coal while the share of natural gas is just about 5%. Thus, rising natural gas prices had a limited impact on the cost of power generation in India.
India, however, suffered a scare when the inventory of coal with power plants reached critically low levels, as demand surged about 11%. The situation was resolved by diverting coal away from non-power uses.
The power demand is set to climb higher when more restrictions are eased, including those on cinema halls and multiplexes.
While efforts are on to provide an uninterrupted supply of coal to power plants, non-power users are likely to suffer.
Indian households were more affected by the rise in prices of petroleum products as consumption of cooking gas, petrol and diesel grew.
What does it mean for global recovery?
Higher fuel prices are only one part of the problem. Temporary closures of factories in China will slow the repair of global value chains that broke down last year when countries locked down their economies.
These shutdowns will lead to another round of disruption in the supply of parts to makers of various goods across the globe.
The temporary shutdowns also mean missed deadlines for delivery of merchandise ahead of the November-January holiday season sales in many parts of the world.
When power rationing was ordered, factories in China were racing to meet the global and domestic demand for everything from apparel to mobile phones and other gadgets.
Higher fuel prices and shortages will add to inflationary pressures in the global economy and hurt the recovery of demand in lower-income economies.
What are the recent Reforms in Coal Sector?
Commercial mining of coal allowed, with 50 blocks to be offered to the private sector.
Entry norms will be liberalized as it has done away with the regulation requiring power plants to use “washed” coal.
Coal blocks to be offered to private companies on revenue sharing basis in place of fixed cost.
Coal gasification/liquefaction to be incentivized through rebate in revenue share.
Coal bed methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India’s coal mines.
Challenges posed
The desire to cut its reliance on heavily polluting coal burning power plants has been a major challenge for the government in recent years.
The question of how India can achieve a balance between meeting demand for electricity from its almost 1.4bn people has to be answered.
Way Forward
Ramp-up domestic coal production
The efforts are being taken to fill the shortage of coal from domestic mines and to do so the government is working closely with coal producing companies to ramp up domestic production of coal.
Reduce demand-supply mismatches
Load shading is not new to India. Rationing of power supply in rural and semi-urban areas will be the immediate solution for the power distress in industrial areas.
Rationalize the coal imports
India will need to amplify its imports despite the financial cost. The gap in the coal demand after domestic production has to be filled by the imports from Indonesia and Australia.
Focus on Hydro-power generation and natural gal
India has the immense potential in the Hydro-power generation and is among the most important sector for generating electricity after thermal power plants.
The sector performs at its peak around the rainy season which typically extends from June to October.
There could be a larger role for natural gas to play, even with global prices currently surging.
Increasing the share of Renewable energy
Experts advocate a mix of coal and clean sources of energy as a possible long-term solution.
It’s not completely possible to transition and it’s never a good strategy to transition 100% to renewables without a backup.
Long term investment in multiple power sources aside a crisis like the current one can be averted with better planning.
Increased coordination
There is need for closer coordination between Coal India Limited – the largest supplier of coal in the country and other stakeholders.
For now, the government is working with state-run enterprises to ramp up production and mining to reduce the gap between supply and demand.
Decentralized power generation
The main issue is that we are dependent on large, centralized power generation.
The only way our power sector can absorb shocks better is if large power plants are augmented by decentralized generation sources at village level.
This can be a template for better resilience to future power crises.
Coal stocking norms
To avoid such a crisis situation in future, the Ministry of Power has worked out a strategy which includes tweaking the coal stocking norms. If the power plants do not follow them, then there will be a penal provision.
To overcome the storage issue in the generation of electricity from renewable sources, the government is working on a provision for creating more storage facilities in the grid.
Conclusion
India can learn a lesson from Europe’s power crisis. While Europe has gas power plants to stand in, India doesn’t have similar options. As we move more towards greening our power sources, we need to provision for paying for standby thermal generation to avoid a mega-crisis. Adequate liquidity for backup reserve capacity needs to be planned and provisioned for.
Probably, the present situation is a good opportunity to rethink and fine-tune the energy policy without further delay. Bits and pieces reforms will not work anymore, as the chain has to been broken and a complete overhaul is required.
The Pandora Papers, published on October 3, once again expose the illegal activities of the rich and the mighty across the world.
About the Pandora Papers investigation
It is “the world’s largest-ever journalistic collaboration, involving more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries”.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has researched and analysed the approximately 12 million documents in order to unravel the functioning of the global financial architecture.
The Pandora Papers, unlike the previous cases, are not from any one tax haven; they are leaked records from 14 offshore services firms. The data pertains to an estimated 29,000 beneficiaries.
The 2.94 terabytes of data have exposed the financial secrets of over 330 politicians and public officials, from more than 90 countries and territories.
These include 35 current and former country leaders.
Role of financial centres and banks
A large extent of the illicit financial flows have a link to New York City and London, the biggest financial centres in the world that allow financial institutions such as big banks to operate with ease.
The big financial entities operating from these cities have been prosecuted for committing illegalities.
In 2012, an investigation into the London Interbank Offered Rate or LIBOR — crucial in calculating interest rates — led to the fining of leading banks such as Barclays, UBS, Rabobank and the Royal Bank of Scotland for manipulation.
These banks also operate a large number of subsidiaries in tax havens to help illicit financial flows.
Modus operandi
Tax havens enable the rich to hide the true ownership of assets by using: trusts, shell companies and the process of ‘layering’.
Financial firms offer their services to work this out for the rich.
They provide ready-made shell companies with directors, create trusts and ‘layer’ the movement of funds.
The process of layering involves moving funds from one shell-company in one tax haven to another in another tax haven and liquidating the previous company.
This way, money is moved through several tax havens to the ultimate destination.
Since the trail is erased at each step, it becomes difficult for authorities to track the flow of funds.
It appears that most of the rich in the world use such manipulations to lower their tax liability even if their income is legally earned.
Why funds are moved to the tax havens?
Even citizens of countries with low tax rates use tax havens.
Over the three decades, tax havens have enabled capital to become highly mobile, forcing nations to lower tax rates to attract capital.
This has led to the ‘race to the bottom’, resulting in a shortage of resources with governments to provide public goods, etc., in turn adversely impacting the poor.
Lowering tax liability: It appears that most of the rich in the world use such manipulations to lower their tax liability even if their income is legally earned.
Moving funds out of reach of creditors: Revelations suggest that funds are moved out of national jurisdiction to spirit them away from the reach of creditors and not just governments.
Many fraudsters are in jail but have not paid their creditors even though they have funds abroad.
Challenges in checking the illicit financial flows
The very powerful who need to be onboard to curb illicit financial flows (as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or the OECD is trying) are the beneficiaries of the system and would not want a foolproof system to be put in place to check it.
Strictly speaking, not all the activity being exposed by the Pandora Papers may be illegal due to tax evasion or the hiding of proceeds of crime.
The authorities will have to prove if the law of the land has been violated.
Operators outside the purview of tax authorities: Many Indians have become non-resident Indians or have made some relative into an NRI who can operate shell companies and trusts outside the purview of Indian tax authorities.
That is why prosecution has been difficult in the earlier cases of data leakage from tax havens.
The Supreme Court of India-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in 2014 has not been able to make a dent.
Role of organised sector: The Government’s focus on the unorganised sector as the source of black income generation is also misplaced since data indicate that it is the organised sector that has been the real culprit and also spirits out a part of its black incomes.
Way forward
Global minimum tax: Recent development has been the agreement among almost 140 countries to levy a 15% minimum tax rate on corporates.
Though it is a long shot, this may dent the international financial architecture.
Ending banking secrecy: Other steps needed to tackle the curse of illicit financial flows are ending banking secrecy and a Tobin tax on transactions; neither of which the OECD countries are likely to agree to.
Consider the question “How illicits financial flows affect the economies of the nations? What are the challenges in curbing it?”
Conclusion
To curb the illicit financial flows, the global community needs to reach a consensus on several issues and tackle the challege collectively.
Failing to qualify Prelims does not mean that you give up! There have been top rankers in the history of UPSC who failed to qualify Prelims multiple times but learned from each mistake and kept improving themselves. Pranav Vijayvargiya (AIR Rank 65) 2020 is the biggest example of this. He failed consecutively in 2 prelims but he kept himself motivated and finally got (AIR Rank 65) under the guidance of Sajal sir.
Fear of failure keeps you from learning and this is not the time to lose hope! It may be a tough situation but there’s still a lot you can learn from it.
Sajal Sir has helped over 400 aspirants secure ranks in the last 6 years. He has helped 30 students secure ranks in the top 100 in UPSC 2020. He knows about success but he also knowshow success is built from lessons of failure. He knows how bad the situation may become if you don’t qualify for Prelims but he also knows how to use that learning to crack the exam. And that’s the secret he will share with you in an absolutely free webinar.
During his second year of college, Dilpreet started to spare time for civil services. He followed the current affairs from CivilsDaily website and prepared his own small notes. It was only his dedication that made him to also seek institutional guidance from CivilsDaily.
He opted for Prelims test series and Samachar Manthan for detailed current affairs guidance cum strategy. What he specifically admires about the program was the personal guidance he received from Sajal sir, who himself was the topper in GS 2017 papers.
In addition to his moments of success, Dilpreet also attempts to address some of the most common and sought after questions by many aspirants. Lets hear him out in our “Unheard” Toppers Talk series for UPSC 2020.
Heartiest congratulations to Dilpreet Singh AIR 237 UPSC Civil Services 2020
The bureaucracy that took India through the last 75 years can’t be the one to take it through the next 75 — we need a proactive, imaginative, technology-savvy, enabling bureaucracy.
Role of bureaucracy and challenges it faces
The civil services, and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in particular played important role in holding India together post-Independence.
Much of the impressive nation-building across sectors happened because of their dedication and commitment.
It is also forgotten that the bureaucracy, unlike the private sector, is a creature of the Constitution and is bound by multiple rules, laws, and procedures.
Understaffed: As per estimates compiled by the Institute of Conflict Management, the government of India (GOI) has about 364 government servants for every 1,00,000 residents, with 45 per cent in the railways alone.
About 60 per cent and 30 per cent are in Groups C and D, respectively, leaving a skeletal skilled staff of just about 7 per cent to man critical positions.
We are grossly understaffed.
Inaction: Further, faced with extensive judicial overreach reporting to an often rapacious, short-sighted political executive, and a media ever ready to play the role of judge, jury and executioner, the bureaucracy has in large part found comfort in inaction and ensuring audit-proof file work.
Suggestions
Get out of business: That we need not be in many sectors is well-recognised — leave them to the markets — and politicians must get bureaucrats out of business, in more ways than one.
Prevent punitive actions: To increase the officers’ willingness to take decisions, one possible solution is to legally prevent enforcement agencies from taking punitive action, like arrest for purely economic decisions without any direct evidence of kickbacks.
Lateral entry: The toughest challenge is to change an inactive bureaucracy to one that feels safe in taking genuine risks.
Lateral entry needs to expand to up to 15 per cent of Joint/Additional and Secretary-level positions in GOI.
Recruitment process: Changes in recruitment procedures, like the interview group spending considerable time with the candidates, along with psychometric tests, will improve the incoming pool of civil servants.
Evaluation: Most importantly, after 15 years of service, all officers must undergo a thorough evaluation to enable them to move further, and those who do not make it should be put out to pasture.
Adoption of technology: Every modern bureaucracy in the world works on technology-enabled productivity and collaboration tools.
India procures about $600 billion worth of goods and services annually — can’t all payments be done electronically?
Consider this question ” The civil services held India together after Independence, but if the country’s potential is to be realised, existing problems of inefficiency and inaction must be fixed. In light of this, examine the factors reasponsible for inefficiency and suggest the reforms.”
Conclusion
India cannot hope to get to a $5-trillion economy without a modern, progressive, results-oriented bureaucracy, one which says “why not?” instead of “why?” when confronted with problems.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) up to 50 km inside the international borders in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.
Do you know?
BSF currently stands as the world’s largest border guarding force. It has been termed as the First Line of Defence of Indian Territories.
About Border Security Force (BSF)
The BSF is India’s border guarding organization on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
It comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
It was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965 for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected therewith.
The BSF has its own cadre of officers but its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service (IPS).
What are the new modifications?
The MHA has exercised the powers under the Border Security Force Act of 1968.
It has thus outlined the area of BSF’s jurisdiction.
While the places marked here are within 50 km of the respective borders, this is not meant to represent the BSF’s jurisdiction.
At the same time, the Ministry has reduced BSF’s area of operation in Gujarat from 80 km from the border, to 50 km.
Powers exercised by BSF in its jurisdiction
BSFs jurisdiction has been extended only in respect of the powers it enjoys under:
Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)
Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and
Passport Act, 1967
Arrest and search
BSF currently has powers to arrest and search under these laws.
It also has powers to arrest, search and seize under the NDPS Act, Arms Act, Customs Act and certain other laws.
Its powers under these will continue to be only up to 15 km inside the border in Punjab, Assam and West Bengal, and will remain as far as 80 km in Gujarat.
Sanctions behind such powers
Scarcely populated borders: At that time, border areas were sparsely populated and there were hardly any police stations for miles.
Trans-border crimes: To prevent trans-border crimes, it was felt necessary that BSF is given powers to arrest.
Manpower crunch: While police stations have now come up near the border, they continue to be short-staffed.
Various issues at Borders
Encroachment
Illegal incursion
Drug and cattle smuggling
Why has the government extended the jurisdiction?
The objective of the move is to bring in uniformity and also to increase operational efficiency. Earlier BSF had different jurisdictions in different states.
BSF often gets information relating to crime scenes that may be out of their jurisdiction.
The move was also necessitated due to increasing instances of drone-dropping of weapons and drugs.
Impact on State Police jurisdiction
This move will complement the efforts of the local police. Thus, it is an enabling provision.
It’s not that the local police can’t act within the jurisdiction of the BSF.
The state police have better knowledge of the ground. Hence BSF and local Police can act in cooperation.
Criticism of the move
At a basic level, the states can argue that law and order is a state subject and enhancing BSF’s jurisdiction infringes upon powers of the state government.
In 2012, then Gujarat CM and the present PM had opposed a central government moves to expand BSF’s jurisdiction.
India is planning to use surplus rice, besides sugarcane, to meet its biofuel target of blending 20% ethanol with petrol.
Could this impede India’s crop diversification goals or worsen nutritional indicators? Let us see!
Govt’s plan to promote ethanol
India is estimated to achieve about 8.5% blending with petrol by this year, which it plans to increase to a mandatory 20% blending by 2025.
Sources for ethanol
The plan is to divert its excess sugar production to produce ethanol, 3.5 million tonnes in 2021-22 and 6 million tonnes the next year, in addition to grains like rice, corn, and barley.
Using surplus rice: The government’s food department revealed its plans to divert 17 million tonnes of surplus rice from its food stocks of 90 million tonnes to produce ethanol.
Sugarcane: This is in addition to the 2 million tonnes of sugar which is already being diverted to produce ethanol.
How would this benefit the country?
Cost saving: A successful biofuels programme can save India $4 billion or about ₹30,000 crore every year by lowering import of petroleum products.
Emission cut: Ethanol is also less polluting and offers equivalent efficiency at a lower cost than petrol.
Biofuel’s policy boost: Rising production of grains and sugarcane and feasibility of making vehicles compliant to ethanol-blended fuel makes its biofuels policy a strategic requirement.
Early rollout: Towards this, govt has put in place interest subsidies for distilleries to expand capacity while auto firms have agreed to make compatible vehicles.
What are the unintended effects of the policy?
Unsustainability of cash-crops: Increasing reliance on biofuels can push farmers to grow more water-intensive crops like sugarcane and rice.
Huge water requirement: Currently use 70% of the available irrigation water, negating some positive impact on the environment of using more ethanol.
Food and nutrition security: The move could impact India’s hunger situation by limiting the coverage of the food security schemes.
Food inflation: Diversion of mass consumption grains can also push food prices up.
How will it impact crop diversification?
Monotonous crops: Although the biofuels policy stresses on using less water-consuming crops, farmers prefer to grow more sugarcane and rice due to price support schemes.
Water stress: Growing more of them can lead to an adverse impact in water-stressed areas in states.
What about food security?
It is unethical to use edible grains to produce ethanol in a country where hunger is rampant.
India is already a poor performer in Global Hunger Index.
Although about 80 crore people are now receiving subsidized food grains, calculations show that over 10 crore eligible households are still excluded.
