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  • Cabinet approves PLI Scheme for telecom

    The Union Cabinet has approved the production-linked incentive scheme for the telecom sector with an outlay of ₹12,195 crores over five years.

    Why such a scheme?

    • The scheme aims to make India a global hub for manufacturing telecom equipment.
    • The sector is expected to lead to an incremental production of about ₹2.4 lakh crore, with exports of about ₹2 lakh crore over five years and bring in investments of more than ₹3,000 crores.

    PLI Scheme

    • The PLI scheme aims to boost domestic manufacturing and cut down on imports by providing cash incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in the country.
    • Besides inviting foreign companies to set shop in India, the scheme aims to encourage local companies to set up or expand, existing manufacturing units.

    UPSC can directly as the sectors included in the PLI scheme. Earlier it was only meant for Electronics manufacturing (particularly mobile phones).

    Benefits for MSMEs

    • For inclusion of MSMEs in the scheme, the minimum investment threshold has been kept at ₹10 crores, while for others it is ₹100 crore.
    • For MSMEs, a 1% higher incentive is also proposed in the first three years.

    Employment generation

    • The scheme was also likely to generate 40,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities and generate tax revenue of ₹17,000 crores from telecom equipment manufacturing.

    Which equipments?

    • The telecom manufacturing would include core transmission equipment, 4G/5G Radio Access Network and wireless equipment, access and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), IoT access devices, other wireless equipment.

  • vaccine hesitancy

    Reluctance to take the vaccine has several implications. The misinformation around the vaccines needs to be fought through several measures. 

    Understanding vaccine hesitancy

    • According to the World Health Organization, vaccine hesitancy is defined as a reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccine services.
    • To date, two vaccines have been approved for inoculation in India: Pune-based Serum Institute’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
    • An adequate supply of vaccines is in place at least for the first phase, but the trickier part is to persuade the population for vaccination.
    • Like Western nations, vaccine hesitancy has been a cause of concern in the past in India as well.
    • Social media has seen a rising number of self-proclaimed experts who have been making unsubstantiated claims.
    • The debates around hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccines include concerns over safety, efficacy, and side effects due to the record-breaking timelines of the vaccines, competition among several companies, misinformation, and religious taboos.

    Need to adopt libertarian paternalism

    • It is suggested that we adopt the idea of libertarian paternalism, which says it is possible and legitimate to steer people’s behaviour towards vaccination while still respecting their freedom of choice.
    • Vaccine hesitancy has a different manifestation in India, unlike in the West.
    • According to the World Economic Forum/Ipsos global survey, COVID-19 vaccination intent in India, at 87%, exceeds the global 15-country average of 73%.

    Way forward

    • Instead of anti-vaxxers, the target audience must be the swing population i.e., people who are sceptical but can be persuaded through scientific facts and proper communication.
    • The second measure is to pause before you share any ‘news’ from social media.
    • It becomes crucial to inculcate the habit of inquisitive temper to fact-check any news related to COVID-19 vaccines.
    • The third measure is to use the celebrity effect — the ability of prominent personalities to influence others to take vaccines.
    • Celebrities can add glamour and an element of credibility to mass vaccinations both on the ground and on social media.

    Consider the question “What is vaccine hesitancy? Suggest the measures to deal with it”

    Conclusion

    The infodemic around vaccines can be tackled only by actively debunking myths, misinformation and fake news on COVID-19 vaccines.

  • Farm laws must reflect regional and crop diversities

    The article argues for consideration of the regional variation in the conditions of farmers and their concerns in the context of recently introduced farm laws.

    Argument against diversification

    • In Punjab, Haryana and western UP, minimum support price (MSP)-based agriculture has a logic.
    • Not all regions must diversify.
    • The region has great alluvial soil, good irrigation and almost a century-long tradition of the application of science to agriculture.
    • In south Punjab, with less irrigation, and parts of Haryana not covered by the Indira Gandhi Canal, some diversification to pulses, cotton etc. could work but the solid specialisation in this region remains.

    Issue of middlemen

    • Arhtiyas (middlemen) are important in Indian agricultural markets.
    • They are a part of the supply chain in north-west India.
    • Here they are not like the middlemen elsewhere.
    • They function simply as agents of the procurement agencies.
    • This was done by the past government to reduce overhead costs of procurement.

    Steps need to be taken

    • The e-markets, forwards and farmer-managed companies are not the dominant mode of rural organisations.
    • Agriculture is the one good sector in otherwise dismal year.
    • So, we need to strengthen it, not feed off on its glory, even outside north-west India.
    • We have the largest spread of agricultural markets in the world according to spatial maps.
    • But they are not APMCs.
    • With weak markets (outside of grains) and without first-stage processing and other infrastructure, the farmer knows he is at the mercy of the trader and comes out on the streets when that is not understood.

    Evolution of MSP

    • The MSP played a crucial role in the days of compulsory procurement and zonal restrictions.
    • Each crop had its own report then.
    • Later separate reports were replaced by two reports, one for kharif and another one for rabi, apart from one for sugarcane (an annual crop).
    • The 1982 rabi report stated that relative prices and, in that context, MSP had the role of an intervention mechanism when markets failed, outside the compulsory procurement area.
    • Later, the concept of transport costs and managerial costs became important.

    Way forward

    • The Essential Commodities Act should be ditched.
    • Good laws are good because progress starts with them, but not all laws are good everywhere.
    • A modified version of the laws with a roadmap can be on the agenda — not everywhere, but most places outside the lands of the five rivers.

    Conclusion

    The amended laws should be considered in the context of regional variation in the country and necessary changes should be made to address the concerns of the farmers.

  • Crack UPSC IAS exam in this attempt only | Fill Samanvaya for IAS 2021-22 (Free 1-to-1 mentorship)

    Crack UPSC IAS exam in this attempt only | Fill Samanvaya for IAS 2021-22 (Free 1-to-1 mentorship)

    IAS exam, by design, is such that it should take just one attempt to clear it. Any further attempt, if you’re taking, should only be to improve your rank.
    Samanvaya: FREE 1-ON-1 MENTORSHIP SESSION (click)

    UPSC IAS preparation is not just about memorizing and information gathering. Neither is it about mindlessly picking up random NCERTs, standard books or spending 5 hours on the Hindu.

    Last month we had a discussion with around 1900 students who were not able to clear prelims even after more than 2 attempts. Many were stuck on mains.

    But why? Even after taking multiple attempts, covering the full syllabus, or taking tests?

    Lack of direction, no guidance, inability to make required necessary changes in their preparation, and an absence of a well-defined strategy were issues common to all. (What issues are you facing? tell us)

    Fill the Samanvaya form for a free on-call mentorship session. We’ll call you within 24 hours.

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    How to prepare for upsc 2021? Strategy for upsc 2021? Answer writing for 2020 Abhishek Saraf rank 8 Civilsdaily
    Abhishek has benefited from Civilsdaily’s approach, so did 70+ candidates who cleared UPSC IAS 2019

    Did you pick up NCERT or a standard book and started reading it, mindlessly, without purpose or process? Is doing current taking you 4-5 hrs but still you aren’t able to make sense of it for the exam? Is UPSC preparation becoming unmanageable for you with a job?

    More than 10.5 lakh applied, but only 796 are going to clear UPSC IAS 2020. It is going to be much more challenging in 2021 and 2022.

    Just stop wherever you are. It is not just about walking. It is about walking in the right direction. Take a deep breath and answer this question – Do you have a strategy?

    Fill the Samanvaya form given above to discuss your strategy and issues that you are facing.

    Civilsdaily’s Hall of Fame.

    For 2021 aspirants, your preparation should be highly outcome-oriented (enabling you to fetch more marks). Every action of yours must be very objectively defined, every step as a part of your strategy. Whatever you are learning must be utilizable in the exam (both pre and mains). Your preparation should have an element of measurability.

    Moreover, you need to balance both Prelims and Mains on one hand and current-static-optional on the other. Fill Samanvaya form to know how it should be done.

    It’s about how ‘you’ should be doing it instead of how someone else did it. That is the ‘elephant in the room’.

    All this stands true for 2022 aspirants as well. This is the right time to start preparation.

    Fill Samanvaya form given at the bottom of this post.

    Broadly, six factors determine your success in cracking this prestigious IAS exam and the most important being understanding the expectations of UPSC and according to that planning and strategizing; other being, Learning – Knowledge and information; Analyzing – making linkages, connections, etc.; Executing and utilizing information; and Constant course correction – because mistakes are inevitable, need to rectify them asap.

    These are the areas where most of the aspirants fail to create a balance. Where are you facing an issue?

    Integrate them in your preparation. We’ll tell you how to do it

    To address the problems in your preparation, guidance and mentorship are the first steps. And here comes our three tiered mentorship.

    CLICK HERE FOR A FREE 1-ON-1 MENTORSHIP SESSION: Samanvaya

    Our 3 tier mentoring:

    1. First step starts with this Samanvaya call: Once you fill in the form, our senior mentors will have a 1-to-1 detailed discussion (on-call) with you to understand your prep level, working/ study constraints, current strategies, and create a step by step plan for next week, next month and so on.

    2. You are given access to our invite-only chat platform, Habitat where you can connect with mentors, ask your daily doubts, discuss your test-prep questions and have real-time live sessions on news and op-eds, and find your optional groups.

    How to prepare for upsc 2021? Strategy for upsc 2021? Answer writing for 2020
    Daily target monitoring.

    3. The third and the most personalized tier is the dedicated 1 on 1 mentor allotment who stays with you through the course of your UPSC preparation – always-on chat and on scheduled calls to help you assess, evaluate, and chart the next milestone of your IAS 2021/2022 journey.

    Daily target monitoring on Habitat
    Samanvaya: CLICK HERE FOR A FREE 1-ON-1 MENTORSHIP SESSION

    Who are you?

    1. Working Junta? If you are preparing for IAS 2021/2022 and working simultaneously, we can help you strategize and decipher the IAS exam and design a timetable that fits right in your hectic schedule.
    2. First-time prep? If you are in the last year of college or thinking of dropping a year and preparing for IAS 2021/2022 full time, we’ll help you pick the right books and craft a practical & personal strategy.
    3. Have appeared before? and weren’t successful. We’ll help you identify your mistakes, rectify them for the necessary course correction. Let this be your final and successful attempt.

    You just have to take 5 minutes out and fill this form: Samanvaya For IAS 2021/2022

    Talk to senior mentors from Civilsdaily: Fill Samanvaya form for IAS 2021 and IAS 2022. Once done, we will call you within 24 hours or so.

    Fill up the following details in Samanvaya form given below to schedule a free one-on-one mentorship session with senior mentors from Civilsdaily. We’ll call you within 24 hours.
    Samanvaya: click here for a free 1-on-1 mentorship session

  • 17th February 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement:  Topics to be covered on 18th February

    GS-1  The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country. 

    GS-4 Case Studies.

    Question 1)

    How were Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM) fundamentally different in their demands? Elucidate. 10 marks

    Question 2)

    As the government plans to privatise the most PSUs except a few strategic ones, how it is carried out will matter. In light of this, suggest the pathway government should follow in the privatisation of these PSUs. 10 marks

    Question 3)

    Examine the principles used by the fifteenth Finance Commission for the horizontal distribution of funds and for the distribution of grants-in-aid. 10 marks

    Question 4)  

    A judge of the Supreme Court has been part of a judgment. Now the matter has been referred to a five judge bench in which he is also a member. The judge is known for his honesty and integrity. But there is immense pressure on him to recuse himself as his presence brings potential conflict of interest. But he refuses to do so. In your view, what should be the most appropriate conduct in this situation? Give adequate reasons for the justification of your view. 10 marks

    home

    Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check  here: Click2Join

  • In difficult times, Fifteenth Finance Commission rose to the challenge

    The article analyses the various recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and their impact.

    Unique challenges

    • Many new and unique demands were placed on the 15th Finance Commission.
    • The major challenge being addressing the issue of the 2011 population census evoking a sharp response from the southern states.
    • Other issues include the non-lapsable defence fund and the use of certain parameters for performance incentives.
    • The Commission was also required to perform the task of assessing and projecting the fiscal roadmap for the Union and state amid an uncertain domestic environment due to shortfall in the GST collection, further accentuated in the year 2020 by the global pandemic.

    Key recommendations

    The Commission, in its final report, recommended vertical devolution at 41 per cent, adjusting 1 per cent for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

    1) Horizontal distribution

    • For horizontal distribution, the commission has tried to harmonise the principles of expenditure needs, equity and performance.
    • This is achieved by the introduction of efficiency criteria of tax and fiscal efforts and by assigning 12.5 per cent weight to demographic performance.
    • Consideration of demographic performance will help in resolving the demographic debate and incentivising states in moving towards the replacement rate of population growth.

    2) Principles governing grant-in-aid

    • Grants are important as they are more directly targeted and equalise the standards of basic social services to some extent.
    • The Commission has recommended a total grant of Rs 10,33,062 crore during 2021-26.
    • Grant is broadly characterised into: (a) revenue deficit grants (b) grants for local governments (c) grants for disaster management (d) sector-specific grants and (e) state-specific grants.
    • Many of these grants are linked with performance-based criteria, thereby promoting principles of transparency, accountability, and leading to better monitoring of expenditures.
    • However, the Commission was asked to examine whether revenue deficit grants should be provided at all to the states.
    • Some states stressed that revenue deficit grants have serious disincentives for tax efforts and prudence in expenditure and, hence, these should be discontinued.
    • Fiscally stressed states of Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab are regular recipients of these grants due to high debt legacy.

    3) Conditional grants to local bodies

    • This Commission’s grant for local government is different from that of its predecessors for the set of entry-level conditions:
    • (a) Constitution of State Finance Commissions.
    • (b) Timely auditing and online availability of accounts for rural local bodies coupled with
    • (c) Notifying consistent growth rate for property tax revenue for urban local bodies.
    • Secondly, the recommendations are in alignment with the national programmes of Swachch Bharat Mission and Jal Jeewan Mission.

    4) Incubation of new cities and urban grants

    • It is for the first time that a Finance Commission has recommended Rs 8,000 crore to states for incubation of new cities, granting Rs 1,000 crore each for eight new cities.
    • The focus of urban grants for million-plus cities is improvement in air quality and meeting the service level benchmark of solid waste management and sanitation.

    5) Grants for health and setting up of disaster mitigation fund

    • The commission recommended channelising the health grant of Rs 70,051 crore through local bodies, addressing the gaps in primary health infrastructure.
    • The Commission’s recommendation for setting up the state and national level Disaster Risk Mitigation Fund (SDRMF), in line with the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, is both well-timed and necessary.
    • For the first time, the Finance Commission has introduced a 10-25 per cent graded cost-sharing basis by the states for the NDRF and NDMF which has not been appreciated by the states.

    6) Non-lapsable fund for defence

    • The Commission has recommended setting up of a dedicated non-lapsable fund, the Modernisation Fund for Defence and Internal Security (MFDIS).
    • Objective of the fund is to bridge the gap between projected budgetary requirements and budget allocation for defence and internal security and to provide greater predictability for enabling critical defence capital expenditure.
    • The fund will have four specific sources: (a) Transfers from the Consolidated Fund of India, (b) disinvestment proceeds of DPSEs, (c) proceeds from the monetisation of surplus defence land and (d) proceeds of receipts from defence land likely to be transferred to state governments and for public projects in the future.
    • The total indicative size of the proposed MFDIS over the period 2021-26 is Rs 2,38,354 crore.
    • The Union government has accepted this recommendation in principle.

    Consider the question “Examine the various principles on which the Fifteenth Finance Commission based the horizontal distribution of states share.”

    Conclusion

    The report starts with the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi: “The future depends on what we do in the present”. It would be interesting to see the impact of these overarching and revolutionary recommendations in the times ahead.

  • New York Convention

    Cairn Energy has filed a case in a U.S. district court to enforce a $1.2 billion arbitration award it won in a tax dispute against India. Cairn aims to enforce the award under international arbitration rules, commonly called the New York Convention.

    New York Convention

    • The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is commonly known as the New York Convention.
    • It was adopted by a UN diplomatic conference on 10 June 1958 and entered into force on 7 June 1959.
    • It requires courts of contracting states to give effect to private agreements to arbitrate and to recognize and enforce arbitration awards made in other contracting states.
    • Widely considered the foundational instrument for international arbitration, it applies to arbitrations that are not considered domestic awards in the state where recognition and enforcement are sought.

    What was the case?

    • The Indian government has lost an international arbitration case to energy giant Cairn Plc over the retrospective levy of taxes and has been asked to pay damages worth $1.2 billion to the UK firm.
    • The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague has maintained that the Cairn tax issue is not a tax dispute but a tax-related investment dispute and, hence, it falls under its jurisdiction.
    • India’s demand in past taxes, it said, was in breach of fair treatment under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty.

  • Arjun: Main Battle Tank MK-1A

    PM has recently handed over the indigenously developed Arjun Main Battle Tank (MK-1A) to the Indian Army.

    Q.Discuss India’s preparedness for high-altitude warfare.

    Arjun Main Battle Tank

    • The Arjun Main Battle Tank project was initiated by DRDO in 1972 with the Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) as its lead laboratory.
    • The objective was to create a “state-of-the-art tank with superior firepower, high mobility, and excellent protection”.
    • During the development, the CVRDE achieved breakthroughs in the engine, transmission, hydro-pneumatic suspension, hull and turret as well as the gun control system.
    • Mass production began in 1996 at the Indian Ordnance Factory’s production facility in Avadi, Tamil Nadu.

    Features of the Arjun tank

    • The Arjun tanks stand out for their ‘Fin Stabilised Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FSAPDS)’ ammunition and 120-mm calibre rifled gun.
    • It also has a computer-controlled integrated fire control system with a stabilised sighting that works in all lighting conditions.
    • The secondary weapons include a co-axial 7.62-mm machine gun for anti-personnel and a 12.7-mm machine gun for anti-aircraft and ground targets.

    How is Mk-1A different?

    • The Mk-1A version has 14 major upgrades on the earlier version.
    • It is also supposed to have missile firing capability as per the design, but this feature will be added later as final testing of the capability is still on.
    • However, the biggest achievement with the latest version is 54.3 per cent indigenous content against the 41 per cent in the earlier model.

  • How to memorize things for UPSC IAS exams? Learn techniques with memory champion | Join Stashed club by Poorti ma’am (Link inside)

    enroll here for stashed club by poorti ma’am
    Join free preparatory sessions here

    UPSC IAS exam is an information-loaded exam and there is no way out to memorizing things both in GS and optional. Other than this you have to learn and remember a lot of things from current affairs as well that includes laws and provisions; data and facts; budget, economic survey, ARC and other reports, etc.

    https://youtu.be/wJJUVdTPdJE

    Retaining whatever you have studied and learned for a longer period of time in your memory and recalling it back effectively is crucial to your success in UPSC IAS exam. However, doing so is a challenge for many. Stashed program here will help you overcome this challenge.

    What is Stashed?

    Stashed is a unique program to help you learn memory techniques and their application for the UPSC IAS exam.

    Program starting from 22nd Feb 2021.

    It will be conducted as a 10 days workshop on Habitat where you will be learning, discussing with Poorti ma’am and peers, and practicing these techniques.

    You’ll also be covering important yet hard to memorize and complex topics in this program through memory techniques.

    Stashed program will start from 22nd Feb 2021 till then you must join free Stashed preparatory club and engage in discussions with Poorti ma’am.

    Join free preparatory sessions here

    Topics to be covered in Stashed program

    Important but hard to memorize topics from these subjects will be covered in this program. A detailed list will be shared in the Habitat group. These topics are important from both prelims and mains perspective but many students are prone to skipping them owing to the difficulty they face in learning these topics.

    • Art and culture
    • Modern history
    • Maps
    • Landforms
    • Ancient- dynasties, rulers and their specifics
    • Medieval- imp terms
    • Polity- articles, schedules, parts, bodies, etc
    • Environment- species, IUCN, etc
    • S&t- missiles, missions, etc
    • Budget
    • Economic survey

    How to attend these workshops?

    This program will start from 22nd Feb 2021. It is a 10 days course-cum-workshop.

    Video lecture by Poorti ma’am will be shared with you all before a session. These lectures will cover memory techniques and their application. You must watch them before every workshop.

    Workshops are going to take place on Habitat, our chat-based learning platform. On Habitat, you are going to discuss the techniques and their application with Poorti ma’am. Habitat sessions are going to be a mix of text and audio messages.

    You will also learn to apply the same techniques to topics other than those covered in the lecture.

    Students are encouraged to bring their topics as well and discuss with peers and Poorti ma’am as how to memorize them quickly and effectively. You’ll be receiving worksheets which to be attempted and discussed in Habitat sessions.

    Poorti ma’am is going to be there to guide and resolve all your doubts in the Habitat club.

    How to access the course?

    Habitat club’s link will be emailed to you as soon as you enroll in the program. You can also access the link in the Curriculum section above.

    All the discussions, video lectures, PDFs of notes, and worksheets will be shared in the Habitat club.

    Program inclusion

    1. 10+ Memory techniques and their application for UPSC IAS exam
    2. Video lectures
    3. 10 days Habitat workshop
    4. Worksheet and notes (PDF)
    5. Membership to the exclusive Stashed club on Habitat
    6. Support and mentorship by Poorti ma’am
    enroll here for stashed club by poorti ma’am
    Join free preparatory sessions here

     

  • [pib] Mahabahu-Brahmaputra

    PM will launch the ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’, lay the foundation stone of Dhubri Phulbari Bridge and perform Bhumi Pujan for construction of Majuli Bridge Assam.

    Click here to read all North-East related news.

    Mahabahu-Brahmaputra

    • The program is aimed at providing seamless connectivity to the Eastern parts of India and includes various development activities for the people living around River Brahmaputra and River Barak.
    • It will consist of the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neamati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari.
    • The Ro-Pax services will help in reducing the travel time by providing connectivity between banks and thus reducing the distance to be travelled by road.
    • PANI (Portal for Asset and Navigation Information) will act as a one-stop solution for providing information about river navigation and infrastructure.

    Dhubri Phulbari Bridge

    • PMwill lay the foundation stone for the four-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra between Dhubri (on North Bank) and Phulbari (on South Bank).
    • The proposed Bridge will be located on NH-127B, originating from Srirampur on NH-27 (East-West Corridor), and terminating at Nongstoin on NH-106 in the State of Meghalaya.
    • It will connect Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari, Tura, Rongram and Rongjeng in Meghalaya.
    • It will reduce the distance of 205 Km to be travelled by Road to 19 Km, which is the total length of the bridge.

    Majuli Bridge

    • PM will perform Bhumi Pujan for the two-lane Bridge on the Brahmaputra between Majuli (North Bank) and Jorhat (South Bank).
    • The bridge will be located on NH-715K and will connect Neematighat (on Jorhat side) and Kamalabari (on Majuli side).
    • The Construction of the bridge has been a long demand of the people of Majuli who for generations have been dependent on the ferry services to connect with the mainland of Assam.

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