In the intro, mention the steep decline in India foreing exchange in the last few months.
In the body, mention reasons a developing economy needs foreign exchange reserves for the settlement of capital and current account settlement. In the next part mention the factors responsible for the decline in India’s foreign exchange reserves.
Conclude by mentioning the steps taken by the RBI to deal with the challenge.
In the intro, mention the recent ruling of the Supreme Court upholding the Act.
In the body, mention issues such as vague definition of the terms, stringent conditions for granting bail, use of money bill route for enacting law, disproportionality in punishment, misuse for settling political scores etc. In the way forward mention amendment to remove the vague definition, receiving the conditions for bail etc.
Conclude by mentioning the need for satisfying the test of proportionality in enacting the laws.
As US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived upsetting China, India was keenly watching the developments, although it has not yet commented on it.
What is the ‘One China’ policy?
It is the diplomatic acknowledgment of China’s position that there is only one Chinese government.
Taiwan’s government was set up by the Kuomintang, whose party logo is reflected in Taiwan’s flag
Initially, many governments including the US recognised Taiwan as they shied away from Communist China.
But the diplomatic winds shifted as China and the United States saw a mutual need to develop relations beginning in the 1970s, with the US and other countries cutting ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing.
Why is China obsessed with Taiwan?
Taiwan is the largest producer of electronic chips, which are supplied to almost all the industries, from phones to laptops, watches to game consoles, industrial equipment to automotive, and aircraft and fighter jets.
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is the largest foundry in the world and holds around 65 percent of the global production of chips.
Any potential conflict with China would completely disrupt the entire supply chain of TSMC and labor availability, and could cause major shortage of electronic chips.
Additionally, China controls five percent of the global production of chips, which could also be affected.
This could further impact the already existing supply-demand gap for electronic components.
India- Taiwan Relations
Background
India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan yet, as it follows the One-China policy.
However, during then Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in December 2010, India did not mention support for the One-China policy in the joint communique.
In 2014, when PM Modi came to power, he invited Taiwan’s Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien, along with Lobsang Sangay, president of the Central Tibetan Administration to his swearing-in.
Diplomatic ties
While following the One-China policy, India has an office in Taipei for diplomatic functions — India-Taipei Association (ITA) is headed by a senior diplomat.
Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. Both were established in 1995.
Their ties focus on commerce, culture and education.
Now in their third decade, these have been deliberately kept low-profile, owing to China’s sensitivities.
For example, parliamentary delegation visits and legislature-level dialogues have stopped since 2017, around the time the India-China border standoff happened in Doklam.
The new push
Any significant development in India-Taiwan relations runs the risk of meeting with a likely stern reaction from Beijing.
This explains India’s steady, albeit slow, outreach to Taiwan.
Given that India-China relations are not likely to witness a return to normalcy in the near future, India should consider adopting a bold, comprehensive and long-term approach to engage Taiwan.
Russia is ready for talks with the United States on nuclear arms control even as Moscow and Washington have remained locked in a tense stand-off over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The New START, INF and the Open Skies …. Be clear about the differences of these treaties. For example- to check if their inception was during cold war era etc.
New START Treaty
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) pact limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers and is due to expire in 2021 unless renewed.
The treaty limits the US and Russia to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, well below Cold War caps.
It was signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
It is one of the key controls on the superpower deployment of nuclear weapons.
Background of US-Russia Nuclear Relations
The US formally QUIT the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)
The agreement obliged the two countries to eliminate all ground-based missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 km.
When did nuclear disarmament begin?
In 1985, the two countries entered into arms control negotiations on three tracks.
The first dealt with strategic weapons with ranges of over 5,500 km, leading to the START agreement in 1991.
It limited both sides to 1,600 strategic delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads.
A second track dealt with intermediate-range missiles and this led to the INFTreaty in 1987.
A third track, Nuclear, and Space Talks was intended to address Soviet concerns regarding the U.S.’s Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) but this did not yield any outcome.
Success of INF
The INF Treaty was hailed as a great disarmament pact even though no nuclear warheads were dismantled.
As it is a bilateral agreement, it did not restrict other countries.
By 1991, the INF was implemented. USSR destroyed 1,846 and the US destroyed 846 Pershing and cruise missiles.
Associated production facilities were also closed down.
INF Treaty was the first pact to include intensive verification measures, including on-site inspections.
How has the nuclear behavior been?
With the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the USSR in end-1991, former Soviet allies were joining NATO and becoming EU members.
The U.S. was investing in missile defense and conventional global precision strike capabilities to expand its technological lead.
In 2001, the U.S. announced its unilateral withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty).
The US also blamed Russia for not complying with the ‘zero-yield’ standard imposed by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). This may indicate the beginning of a new nuclear arms race.
Implications of the New Start
The 2011 New START lapsed in 2021. It may meet the fate of the INF Treaty.
The 2018 NPR envisaged the development of new nuclear weapons, including low-yield weapons.
China is preparing to operate its test site year-round with its goals for its nuclear force.
CTBT requires ratification by U.S., China, and Iran, Israel and Egypt and adherence by India, Pakistan and North Korea. It is unlikely to ever enter into force.
Conclusion
A new nuclear arms race could just be the beginning. It may be more complicated because of multiple countries being involved.
Technological changes are bringing cyber and space domains into contention. It raises the risks of escalation.
The Lok Sabha passed the Wildlife (Protection), Amendment Bill, with no significant modifications to the version of the Bill presented in the House for discussion.
What is the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972?
WPA provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security.
It provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
It provides for various types of protected areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks etc.
The act is also against Taxidermy, which is the preservation of a dead wild animal as a trophy, or in the form of rugs, preserved skins, antlers, horns, eggs, teeth, and nails.
In the case of wild birds and reptiles, the act also forbids disturbing or damaging their eggs.
The act was amended in the year 2006 and its purpose is to strengthen the conservation of tigers and other endangered species by combating crimes against them through the special Crime Control Bureau.
There are six schedules provided in the WPA for protection of wildlife species which can be concisely summarized as under:
Schedule I:
These species need rigorous protection and therefore, the harshest penalties for violation of the law are for species under this Schedule.
Schedule II:
Animals under this list are accorded high protection. They cannot be hunted except under threat to human life.
Schedule III & IV:
This list is for species that are not endangered. This includes protected species but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules.
Schedule V:
This schedule contains animals which can be hunted.
Schedule VI:
This list contains plants that are forbidden from cultivation.
Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill: Key Features
(1) CITES
CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
Under CITES, plant and animal specimens are classified into three categories (Appendices) based on the threat to their extinction.
The Convention requires countries to regulate the trade of all listed specimens through permits.
It also seeks to regulate the possession of live animal specimens. The Bill seeks to implement these provisions of CITES.
(2) Obligations under CITES:
The Bill provides for the central government to designate a: (i) Management Authority, which grants export or import permits for trade of specimens, and (iii) Scientific Authority, which gives advice on aspects related to impact on the survival of the specimens being traded.
Every person engaging in trade of a scheduled specimen must report the details of the transaction to the Management Authority.
As per CITES, the Management Authority may use an identification mark for a specimen.
The Bill prohibits any person from modifying or removing the identification mark of the specimen.
Additionally, every person possessing live specimens of scheduled animals must obtain a registration certificate from the Management Authority.
(3) Rationalising schedules
Currently, the Act has six schedules for specially protected plants (one), specially protected animals (four), and vermin species (one).
Vermin refers to small animals that carry disease and destroy food.
The Bill reduces the total number of schedules to four by:
Reducing the number of schedules for specially protected animals to two (one for greater protection level)
Removes the schedule for vermin species
Inserts a new schedule for specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES (scheduled specimens)
(4) Invasive alien species
The Bills empowers the central government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of invasive alien species.
Invasive alien species refers to plant or animal species which are not native to India and whose introduction may adversely impact wild life or its habitat.
The central government may authorise an officer to seize and dispose the invasive species.
(5) Control of sanctuaries
The Act entrusts the Chief Wild Life Warden to control, manage and maintain all sanctuaries in a state.
The Chief Wild Life Warden is appointed by the state government.
The Bill specifies that actions of the Chief Warden must be in accordance with the management plans for the sanctuary.
These plans will be prepared as per guidelines of the central government, and as approved by the Chief Warden.
For sanctuaries falling under special areas, the management plan must be prepared after due consultation with the concerned Gram Sabha.
Special areas include a Scheduled Area or areas where the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is applicable.
Scheduled Areas are economically backward areas with a predominantly tribal population, notified under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution.
(6) Conservation reserves
Under the Act, state governments may declare areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries as a conservation reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and their habitat.
The Bill empowers the central government to also notify a conservation reserve.
(7) Surrender of captive animals
The Bill provides for any person to voluntarily surrender any captive animals or animal products to the Chief Wild Life Warden.
No compensation will be paid to the person for surrendering such items.
The surrendered items become property of the state government.
Back2Basics: CITES
CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
It is as an international agreement aimed at ensuring “that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival”.
It was drafted after a resolution was adopted at a meeting of the members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1963.
It entered into force on July 1, 1975, and now has 183 parties.
The Convention is legally binding on the Parties in the sense that they are committed to implementing it; however, it does not take the place of national laws.
India is a signatory to and has also ratified CITES convention in 1976.
CITES Appendices
CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls.
All import, export, re-exports and introduction from the sea of species covered by the convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
It has three appendices:
Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade-in specimens of these species are permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
Appendix II provides a lower level of protection.
Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2022:
Q. With reference to Indian laws about wildlife protection, consider the following statements:
Wild animals are the sole property of the government.
When a wild animal is declared protected, such animal is entitled for equal protection whether it is found in protected areas or outside.
Apprehension of a protected wild animal becoming a danger to human life is sufficient ground for its capture or killing.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The US military used its ‘secret weapon’ — the Hellfire R9X missile – to kill Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri on the balcony of a safehouse in Kabul.
What is the Hellfire R9X missile?
Better known in military circles as the AGM-114 R9X, the Hellfire R9X is a US-origin missile known to cause minimum collateral damage while engaging individual targets.
Also known as the ‘Ninja Missile’, this weapon does not carry a warhead and instead deploys razor-sharp blades at the terminal stage of its attack trajectory.
This helps it to break through even thick steel sheets and cut down the target using the kinetic energy of its propulsion without causing any damage to the persons in the general vicinity or to the structure of the building.
The blades pop out of the missile and cut down the intended target without causing the massive damage to the surroundings which would be the case with a missile carrying an explosive warhead.
When did the Hellfire missile enter active service?
The Hellfire 9RX missile is known to have been in active service since 2017.
However, its existence became public knowledge two years later in 2019.
It is a variant of the original Hellfire missile family which is used in conventional form with warheads and is traditionally used from helicopters, ground-based vehicles, and sometimes small ships and fast moving vessels.
For several years now, the Hellfire family of missiles, including the ‘Ninja Missile’, are armed on Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones.
What is known about the other Hellfire missile variants?
Hellfire is actually an acronym for Heliborne, Laser, Fire and Forget Missile and it was developed in the US initially to target tanks from the Apache AH-64 attack helicopters.
Later, the usage of these missiles spread to several other variants of helicopters and also ground and sea-based systems and drones.
Developed by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, the Hellfire missile has other variants such as ‘Longbow’ and ‘Romeo’ apart from the ‘Ninja’.
Work from Home – which became a common feature for almost everyone during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, is here to stay.
The Department of Commerce has notified an amendment to the 2006 Special Economic Zone rules, allowing up to 50 percent of total employees of IT and IT-enabled Services to work from home.
Why did the Centre intervene for WFH?
The new rules came after there were calls from the industry to make a provision for a countrywide uniform WFH policy for all SEZs.
Incidentally, the work from home rules come shortly after the Netherlands passed a law to establish home working as a legal right, in the process becoming one of the first countries to enshrine such flexibility in the law.
So what do the new rules say? Why is work from home in demand? And is it going to be the future? Let’s find:
What is Work from Home (WFH)?
Employees work from home by using a dedicated laptop/PC connected to the internet and business applications to collaborate and communicate with their team members.
While some employees work primarily from their homes, others work occasionally from home and travel to their office half of the time.
WFH means employees can set up their workspace in their homes and manage their entire work right from inside their houses, without the need to necessarily go to the office.
What are the new guidelines?
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released new guidelines under Rule 43A for work from home (WFH) for employees.
According to the notice issued by the Commerce Ministry, there is flexibility granted to the Development Commissioner (DC) of SEZs to approve a higher number of employees (more than 50%) for any bona-fide reason to be recorded in writing.
Furthermore, this fresh rule provides a transition period of 90 days to SEZ units to seek approval, whose employees are already working from home.
Who all are covered under the new rule?
The new rule 43A provides work from home for the following category of employees of a unit in SEZ:
Employees of IT/ITeS SEZ units
Employees, who are temporarily incapacitated
Employees, who are traveling
Employees, who are working offsite
Major challenges of working from home
[A] For employers
Remote collaboration: Collaboration is one of the biggest work-from-home challenges for companies as employees no longer work from the same physical office space.
Employees working from different locations and time zones: The big downside of this perk is that companies end up with a completely distributed workforce with employees working from different locations and time zones.
Building and maintaining trust: When employees don’t have face-to-face interactions, there are some obvious trust issues that can arise because of it. Continuous mistrust from team members can often end up demotivating employees and making them feel left out.
[B] For employees
Working too much: With no excessive breaks or long commutes to the office, remote employees are 20-25 percent more productive than their office counterparts.
Loneliness and depression: With no informal social interactions with colleagues, employees can feel isolated and even develop communication issues with the rest of the team.
A lack of community: When you only have face-to-face interactions with your team members on weekly or monthly video calls only, it can be rather challenging to create a sense of camaraderie and bonding within the team.
WFH benefits both employers and employees
Here is some work-from-home benefits for both employees and employers:
Cost savings: When there are fewer employees coming to the office than usual, organizations need fewer equipment, desks, and space to accommodate them which will directly lead to lowered infrastructure and rental costs. For employees too, working from home can lead to a lot of cost savings. No morning commute means no extra costs to travel to the office every day. Also, employees no longer need to pay high rents just to stay close to their offices.
Flexible schedule and more freedom: When employees work from home, they get the freedom to create their own schedule, according to their productivity levels and personal commitments. They can work in the early mornings or through the nights if that’s when they feel most productive.
Hire and retain global talent: Retaining talent becomes easier when companies offer work-from-home perks. For 83 percent of employees, the ability to work from home is a big deciding factor when they consider a new job offer. For companies, that means, allowing employees to work from home can make it easier for them to hire and retain top talent without any kind of location limitations.
Better work-life balance: When employees work from home, they no longer have to spend hours driving in the traffic every day, chatting with coworkers near the watercooler, or organizing dinner parties with team members which directly saves them a lot of time that they can in turn use to spend with their friends, family, or just to do things that they like. With more downtime, enough rest, and better work-life balance, employees are able to better focus on the work which leads to higher efficiency and productivity.
Positive employee experience: With more flexibility, no everyday bumper-to-bumper commute traffic, and better work-life balance, work from home ends up improving the overall employee experience within the organization. This in turn creates a company culture of high performance where employees want to perform at their best and continuously improve at work.
Increase in productivity: When employees get the freedom to create their own work schedule and workspace, they feel more positive and productive. Moreover, with no excessive breaks or disruptions from co-workers, work-from-home employees end up being more productive than their in-office counterparts as well.
Conclusion
Work from home is truly the future of work and it is here to stay.
Even though there are some challenges to it, the pros of working from home easily outweigh the cons.
Of course, incorporating a work-from-home strategy for the first time can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.
A draft law to replace the 1940 Drugs and Cosmetics Act with a Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill 2022 was uploaded by the Union health ministry in early July, seeking public comments and objections.
Major provisions of the Bill
1] E-commerce for medical drugs
Presently, online sales of medicines account for a fraction of the total pharma sales in India but are forecast to grow exponentially.
The first major feature in the new Bill that affects consumers relates to e-commerce.
Like all online shopping, the consumer gets the advantage of discounts and the comfort of shopping from home.
In normal times, e-commerce can surmount three uniquely Indian disadvantages.
Storage condition: The first relates to climatic conditions, which require medicines to be stored at below 30 degrees Celsius and 70 per cent relative humidity — unattainable in most of India.
It can mandate establishing a back-end brick and mortar store for drug supply having good storage conditions.
Compliance with regal provision: The second advantage of e-commerce could be fulfilling a legal requirement — providing a bill to the consumer and retaining one copy bearing the batch numbers and expiry dates of the drugs.
In addition, the practice of accessing prescription drugs over-the-counter would reduce.
In the case of e-commerce, registration of a pharmacy can require enrollment with the central and state drug control organisations and the practice of uploading a prescription from a registered medical practitioner can be enforced.
Concern: Shopping for medical drugs on the internet could encourage overuse or incomplete use of drugs, increase dependency on habit-forming medicine — for example, sleep-inducing drugs or self-medication with products for weight loss, male enhancement, even treating mental illness — which is fraught with dangerous consequences.
A greater focus on medical devices: The draft law also proposes according a greater focus on medical devices, which include thousands of engineered apparatuses like stents, joint implants, pacemakers, catheters, etc, which require quality regulation.
Provision for advisory board: Rules for medical devices were notified in 2017 but now it is proposed to establish a statutory Medical Device Technical Advisory Board, with experts from the fields of atomic energy, science and technology, electronics, and related fields like biomedical technology to guide the process.
This is a welcome move that will bring in the required expertise.
Issues not addressed in the Bill
Mismanagement of trade: What the Bill does not address is the need to stop the continued mismanagement of the wholesale and retail drugs trade in India.
Requirements for drug license not changed: Rule 64 (2) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 lays down that a wholesale drug licence can be given to a qualified pharmacist or one who has passed the matriculation examination or its equivalent or a graduate with one year’s experience in dealing with drug sale.
This is a relic from 80 years ago.
When the country is reported to have over 7,00,000 pharmacists, this anachronism must be discarded.
It is essential to introduce a binding and enabling provision to only licence qualified pharmacists and put the safety of millions of citizens before the self-preservation of a few thousand wholesalers and stockists.
Way forward
There is need for ensuring digitisation of procurement, inventory control and accountability for dispensing drugs into a digital trail.
Conclusion
The debate should not be between e-commerce and retail sale. It should be between being compliant and non-compliant.
The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was concluded recently. A cursory examination of the outcomes of the meeting leaves us in no doubt that the European Union (EU) and some other developed countries are the overwhelming winners, while India finds itself on the losing side.
Background of TRIPS waiver for Covid related treatment
On October 2020, India and South Africa put forth a proposal seeking to temporarily suspend the protection of intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, industrial designs and trade secrets, so that the production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics could be ramped up to help overcome the crisis and fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opponents of the proposal, i.e,. Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and the United States, found themselves on the wrong side of the global opinion on this issue.
In June-July 2021, the U.S. gave its support to the proposal, but limited it to vaccines.
Pushed into a corner, the European Union (EU) made a counter-proposal to undermine the proposal made by India and South Africa.
This counter proposal provided a cosmetic simplification in certain procedural aspects of compulsory licensing in patent rules.
By March 2022, India and South Africa were corralled into accepting the EU’s proposal.
This formed the basis of the final outcome at the MC12.
Gain for EU at MC12
The ministerial outcome on the so-called TRIPS waiver represents the biggest gain for the EU.
The ministerial outcome adds very little to what already exists in the WTO rulebook.
The final outcome is almost unworkable; a big public relations victory for the EU.
Change in institutional architecture: In the name of WTO reform, the EU sought to make fundamental changes to the institutional architecture of the WTO.
It also sought to give a formal role to the private sector in WTO.
Environmental issues: The EU has also managed to create a window to pursue negotiations on issues related to trade and environment at the WTO, an issue of concern for many developing countries.
Disappointments for India
No solution to public stockholding issue: India, the issue of a permanent solution to public stockholding was identified by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry as being its top most priority.
Despite having the support of more than 80 developing countries, this issue has not found mention anywhere in the ministerial outcome.
Instead, the WTO members have succeeded in diverting attention from India’s interest by agreeing that food security is multi-dimensional, requiring a comprehensive solution.
No taxing electronic transmission: India has also failed in many of its other objectives, such as securing the right to raise revenues by taxing electronic transmissions.
In the area of fisheries subsidies, it gets two years to have suitable regulatory mechanisms in place to monitor fish catch and reporting.
Although it has secured a temporary reprieve to provide subsidies for enhancing its fishing fleets, it will have to fight an uphill battle on this issue in future negotiations.
Conclusion
Overall, the path ahead for India at the WTO is difficult. India’s negotiators need to undertake soul searching to learn lessons from the dynamics at the MC12, and make course corrections.
Under the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture, government procurement for public stockholding programs is exempt from discipline if stocks are procured at current market prices.
If procured at pre-announced administered prices, however, those outlays would potentially be counted toward a country’s overall limits on trade-distorting support.
Some developing countries are concerned that their procurement of food at fixed prices under these programs may push outlays to exceed allowed limits, thus depriving them of the necessary policy space to meet domestic food security requirements.
In this context, India and other members of the G33 developing country coalition have called for WTO members to agree to a “permanent solution,” following the 2013 Bali decision to exempt these programs from legal challenge under certain conditions.
The much-awaited auction for telecom spectrum, including for 5G airwaves, will begin tomorrow.
Spectrums for auctions
A total of 72,097.85 MHz (or 72 Ghz) of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put on the block.
Airwaves across low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands, valued at ₹4,316 billion ($56 billion) at least, will be put up for bidding.
What is (Electromagnetic) Spectrum?
Devices such as cellphones and wireline telephones require signals to connect from one end to another.
These signals are carried on airwaves, which must be sent at designated frequencies to avoid any kind of interference.
The Union government owns all the publicly available assets within the geographical boundaries of the country, which also include airwaves.
With the expansion in the number of cellphones, wireline telephone and internet users, the need to provide more space for the signals arise from time to time.
Spectrum allocations
Spectrum refers to the invisible radio frequencies that wireless signals travel over. The frequencies we use for wireless are only a portion of what is called the electromagnetic spectrum.
To sell these assets to companies willing to set up the required infrastructure to transport these waves from one end to another, the central government through the DoT auctions these airwaves from time to time.
These airwaves called spectrum is subdivided into bands which have varying frequencies.
All these airwaves are sold for a certain period of time, after which their validity lapses, which is generally set at 20 years.
What is 5G technology?
5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
It mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
Three bands of 5G
(1) Low band spectrum
It has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
This means that while telcos can use and install it for commercial cellphones users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for the specialized needs of the industry.
(2) Mid-band spectrum
It offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
Telcos and companies, which have taken the lead on 5G, have indicated that this band may be used by industries and specialized factory units for building captive networks that can be molded into the needs of that particular industry.
(3) High-band spectrum
It offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
Where does India stand in the 5G technology race?
On par with the global players, India had, in 2018, planned to start 5G services as soon as possible, with an aim to capitalize on the better network speeds and strength that the technology promised.
Indian private telecom players have been urging the DoT to lay out a clear road map of spectrum allocation and 5G frequency bands so that they would be able to plan the rollout of their services accordingly.
One big hurdle, however, is the lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with some companies due to their AGR dues.
Global progress on 5G
More than governments, global telecom companies have started building 5G networks and rolling it out to their customers on a trial basis.
In countries like the US, some companies have taken the lead when it comes to rolling out commercial 5G for their users.
A South Korean company, which had started researching on 5G technology way back in 2011, has, on the other hand, take the lead when it comes to building the hardware for 5G networks for several companies.
GS-1 Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone. etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
GS-2 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests
GS-3 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices
GS-4 Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance
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In the intro, mention India’s demand for waiver to export wheat procured at subsidised price.
In the body, mention rules that prohibit subsidised procurement due to its potential for disruption. The rules are cause of concern for India as the MSP given by the Indian government goes against the rule.
Conclude by mentioning the need for a permanent solution to the public stockholding of food issue.
In the intro, mention the recent launch of the INSTC.
In the body, mention the financial and geopolitical significance of the corridor for India and the region.
It can be concluded by mentioning that as a transcontinental multi-modal corridor that aims to bring Eurasia closer together, the INSTC is a laudable initiative in its own right.
“Our Mind is Not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled”.
It’s a success story of a staunch IAS aspirant who even dared to reject a package of Rs 55 lakh to become an IAS and prepared for the UPSC exam with all might and main.
About Bhavishya Desai – His UPSC journey and hobbies
Name
Bhavishya Desai
Age
–
Resident
Ajmer, Rajasthan
Exam
UPSC 2021
All India Rank
29
Attempts
1st
Optional Subject
–
Reaching the top was not easy. One has to struggle hard and make many sacrifices for success. Bhavishya Desai from Rajasthan has achieved great success by making such sacrifices and secured 29th rank in UPSC. To reach this stage, Future has faced many struggles and sacrifices. To join the civil services, he rejected a package of 55 lakhs from a stock marketing company. For two years he locked himself in the room. He did not take the mobile phone. Studying was accompanied by eating and drinking. Read future success stories..
Goparam Desai. an assistant in Ajmer’s MDS University.
Mother
Lalita Desai. a teacher in a government school.
Sister
Himakshi Desai, MBBS doctor
Bhavishya hails from Ajmer in Rajasthan and has a family of four consisting of his parents, and younger sister.
Bhavishya’s Educational Background:
Desai did his schooling in Ajmer and Kota. He passed classes XI and XII from Shiv Jyoti School.
He then cleared the IIT-JEE exam and graduated from IIT Kanpur with a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science.
Desai left his lucrative job with a stock market firm with a salary package of Rs 55 lakh.
3. UPSC Strategy
Bhavishya has been very fond of reading books since childhood. He took advantage of this hobby in the UPSC exam. He focused a lot on UPSC studies. He had decided what to read. Along with this, there was a constant focus on UPSC studies. As a result, got 29th rank in All India. The special thing is that he studied UPSC by staying at home without joining coaching classes and achieved great success with his own understanding. Internship at QUADEYE Stock Marketing Company, Gurgaon in July 2020. The company offered him a package of 55 lakhs, but Bhavisya rejected the package of lakhs and opted for civil services.
Focus on small important things like a weekly timetable, and strategy.
For prelims he practiced a lot.
For mains he consistently delivered some extra effort to make answer structure better.
He started UPSC preparation 4 years ago by studying NCERTs.
Since current affairs are possibly the most significant part of the IAS exam he backed his preparation with day-to-day newspaper readings to give sufficient focus to the happenings nationally and internationally.
he joined a few online mock test series for Prelims and mains.
He was meticulous about study materials. he consolidated his study materials and revised them as many times as he could.
Be patient and stay focused all the time.
Always tried to improve his performance.
made his own notes.
From the very starting, he carried his preparation under senior teachers and mentors.
He didn’t follow any super different strategy of planning. he executed the same strategy differently.
4. Bhavishya Desai’s Notes & Booklist
Polity:
M. Laxmikant
Indian Economy:
Nitin Singhania
Modern Indian History:
Indian struggles for Independence by Bipin Chandra
Art & Culture:
Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
Ancient India:
RS Sharma
Ethics:
Ethics and integrity by Subba Rao and PN Rao Chaudhary
Geography:
Certificate Physical and human geography by GC Leong
Indian Geography by Majid Hussain
Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
Desai looks up to and is inspired by India’s current foreign minister, S Jaishankar, a decorated former civil servant. Topping the UPSC with an all-India rank below 100, he aimed to qualify to join the Indian Foreign Services.
In India, there are fewer people employed in agriculture today, but the transformation has been weak. Those moving out of farms are working more in construction sites and the informal economy than in factories.
What is the news?
India has too many people in agriculture and the inability to move surplus labour from farms constitutes a major policy failure of successive governments.
In 1993-94, agriculture accounted for close to 62% of the country’s employed labour force.
Overall, between 1993-94 and 2018-19, agriculture’s share in India’s workforce came down from 61.9% to 41.4%.
In other words, roughly a third in 25 years. That isn’t insignificant.
The declining trend continued, albeit at a slower pace, in the subsequent seven as well.
What is our point of analysis?
Even the movement of workforce from agriculture that India has witnessed over the past three decades or more does not qualify as what economists call “structural transformation”.
Such transformation would involve the transfer of labour from farming to others sectors – particularly manufacturing and modern services – where productivity, value-addition and average incomes are higher.
The surplus labour pulled out from the farms is being largely absorbed in construction and services.
The bulk of the jobs are in petty sectorssuch as retailing, small eateries, domestic help, sanitation, security staffing, transport and similar other informal economic activities.
This is also evident from the low, if not declining, share of employment in organised enterprises, defined as those engaging 10 or more workers.
What is the crux of the story?
Simply put, the structural transformation process in India has been weak and deficient.
Yes, there is movement of labour taking place away from farms – even if stalled, possibly temporarily.
But that surplus labour isn’t moving to higher value-added non-farm activities, specifically manufacturing and modern services.
This is familiar to the ‘Kuznets Process’ named after the American economist and 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize winner, Simon Kuznets.
What is Kuznets’ Hypothesis?
In the 1950s and 1960s, Simon Kuznets hypothesized that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease the overall economic inequality of the society.
This is illustrated by the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve.
For instance, the hypothesis holds that in the early development of an economy, new investment opportunities increase for those who already have the capital to invest.
These new investment opportunities mean that those who already hold the wealth have the opportunity to increase that wealth.
Conversely, the influx of inexpensive rural labor to the cities keeps wages down for the working class thus widening the income gap and escalating economic inequality.
Basis of this hypothesis
The Kuznets curve implies that as a society industrializes, the center of the economy shifts from rural areas to the cities as rural laborers, such as farmers, begin to migrate seeking better-paying jobs.
This migration, however, results in a large rural-urban income gap and rural populations decrease as urban populations increase.
But according to Kuznets’ hypothesis, that same economic inequality is expected to decrease when a certain level of average income is reached.
This process is triggered by the processes associated with industrialization, such as democratization and the development of a welfare state, take hold.
It is at this point in economic development that society is meant to benefit from trickle-down effect and an increase in per-capita income that effectively decreases economic inequality.
What does the inverted Kuznets Curve mean?
The inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve illustrates the basic elements of the Kuznets’ hypothesis with income per capita graphed on the horizontal x-axis and economic inequality on the vertical y-axis.
The graph shows income inequality following the curve, first increasing before decreasing after hitting a peak as per-capita income increases over the course of economic development.
Criticism of the theory
Critics say that the Kuznets curve does not reflect an average progression of economic development for an individual country.
Rather it is a representation of historical differences in economic development and inequality between countries in the dataset.
It suits to the countries that have had histories of high levels of economic inequality as compared to their counterparts in terms of similar economic development.
The critics hold that when controlling for this variable, the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve begins to diminish.
Three private school teachers in Pune have been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act over allegedly thrashing three Class 10 students, and threatening to grade them poorly in internal assessments
What is Corporal Punishment?
By definition, corporal punishment means punishment that is physical in nature.
There is NO statutory definition of ‘corporal punishment’ targeting children in the Indian law.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2).
Identifying corporal punishments
According to the Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), physical punishment is understood as any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light.
Examples include hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling the hair, boxing ears, smacking, slapping, spanking, hitting with any implement (cane, stick, shoe, chalk, dusters, belt, whip), giving electric shock and so on.
It includes making children assume an uncomfortable position (standing on bench, standing against the wall in a chair-like position, standing with school bag on head, holding ears through legs, kneeling, forced ingestion of anything, detention in the classroom, library, toilet or any closed space in the school.
What else is included?
Mental harassment is understood as any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child.
This includes sarcasm, calling names and scolding using humiliating adjectives, intimidation, using derogatory remarks for the child, ridiculing or belittling a child, shaming the child and more.
Safeguards against corporal punishment
Section 17 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, imposes an absolute bar on corporal punishment.
Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act prescribes punishment for cruelty to children.
Violation would invite punishment of rigorous imprisonment upto five years and fine up to Rs 5 lakh.
If the child is physically incapacitated or develops a mental illness or is rendered mentally unfit to perform regular tasks or has risk to life or limb, then imprisonment may extend upto ten years.
Exceptions
The RTE Act does not preclude the application of other legislation that relates to the violations of the rights of the child.
For example, booking the offenses under the IPC and the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989.
In theory, corporal punishment is covered by all the provisions under Indian law that punish perpetrators of physical harm.
What do NCPCR guidelines say about eliminating corporal punishment?
The NCPCR guidelines for eliminating corporal punishment against children require every school to develop a mechanism and frame clear-cut protocols to address the grievances of students.
Drop boxes are to be placed where the aggrieved person may drop his complaint and anonymity is to be maintained to protect privacy.
Every school has to constitute a ‘Corporal Punishment Monitoring Cell’ consisting of two teachers, two parents, one doctor, and one lawyer (nominated by DLSA).
Who is entrusted with the responsibility to ensure children are protected?
There are relevant authorities earmarked to ensure the protection of children in schools.
Under Section 31 of the RTE Act, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have been entrusted with the task of monitoring children’s right to education.
The state governments under their RTE rules have also notified block/district level grievance redressal agencies under the RTE Act.
