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13th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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Sagittarius A*: Black Hole at the Centre of our Galaxy imaged
Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) facility revealed the first image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy i.e. the Milky Way.
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy that contains at least 100 billion stars. Viewed from above or below it resembles a spinning pinwheel, with our sun situated on one of the spiral arms and Sagittarius A* located at the centre.
What is Sagittarius A*?
- Pronounced Sagittarius ‘A’ star, it refers to the believed location of the supermassive black hole in the centre of our galaxy.
- About 50 years ago, astronomers identified an area within the constellation of Sagittarius that was the strongest region of radio emission – thus making it the likely centre of the Milky Way.
- It possesses 4 million times the mass of our sun and is located about 26,000 light-years—the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km)—from Earth.
What is an event horizon?
- Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, making viewing them extremely challenging.
- A black hole’s event horizon is the point of no return beyond which anything—stars, planets, gas, dust and all forms of electromagnetic radiation—gets dragged into oblivion.
- The closer someone came to a black hole, the greater the speed they would need to escape that massive gravity.
- The event horizon is the threshold around the black hole where the escape velocity surpasses the speed of light.
What are the recent observations?
- The image of Sagittarius A* (SgrA*) gave support to the idea that the compact object at the centre of our galaxy is indeed a black hole, strengthening Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
- The image was obtained using the EHT’s global network of observatories working collectively to observe radio sources associated with black holes.
- It showed a ring of light —super-heated disrupted matter and radiation circling at tremendous speed at the edge of the event horizon—around a region of darkness representing the actual black hole.
- This is called the black hole’s shadow or silhouette.
How did Einstein’s theory found its proof here?
- According to Einstein’s theory, nothing can travel faster through space than the speed of light.
- This means a black hole’s event horizon is essentially the point from which nothing can return.
- The name refers to the impossibility of witnessing any event taking place inside that border, the horizon beyond which one cannot see.
About EHT Facility
- EHT project is a large telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes.
- It combines data from several very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around Earth, which form a combined array.
- It provides an angular resolution sufficient to observe objects the size of a supermassive black hole’s event horizon.
- In 2019, the eHT facility made history by releasing the first-ever image of a black hole, M87* — the black hole at the centre of a galaxy Messier 87, which is a supergiant elliptic galaxy.
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US to host ASEAN leaders
US President Joe Biden will host leaders and top officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington DC.
About ASEAN
- ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia.
- It brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.
- It was established on 8th August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by the founding fathers of the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines.
- The preceding organisation was the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) comprising of Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
- Five other nations joined the ASEAN in subsequent years making the current membership to ten countries.
Why in news?
(A) Political purpose
- ASEAN’s ‘Five Point Consensus’ to end the turmoil in Myanmar has not progressed since it was released in April last year.
- In addition to discussing Myanmar, leaders are also expected to discuss Ukraine as well as regional issues.
(B) Economic purpose
- It is expected to discuss his administration’s economic plan for the region — the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) — during this week’s summit.
- The framework will structure cooperation across several pillars from infrastructure and supply chains to taxation.
What is Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)?
- The proposed IPEF is the Biden administration’s answer to questions about the United States’ economic commitment to the vital Indo-Pacific region.
- IPEF will consist of four “pillars” of work:
- Fair and resilient trade (encompassing seven subtopics, including labor, environmental, and digital standards)
- Supply chain resilience
- Infrastructure, clean energy, and decarbonization
- Tax and anti-corruption
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India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)
A project called the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) finds that nearly 23% out of 2.1 million Indians have uncontrolled blood pressure.
What is the IHCI?
- Recognizing that hypertension is a serious, and growing, health issue in India, the Health Ministry, the ICMR, State Governments, and WHO-India began a five-year initiative to monitor and treat hypertension.
- The programme was launched in November 2017.
- In the first year, IHCI covered 26 districts across five States — Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
- By December 2020, IHCI was expanded to 52 districts across ten States — Andhra Pradesh (1), Chhattisgarh (2), Karnataka (2), Kerala (4), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (13), Punjab (5), Tamil Nadu (1), Telangana (13) and West Bengal (5).
What is Hypertension?
- Hypertension is defined as having systolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure level greater than or equal to 90 mmHg.
- The definition also assumes taking anti-hypertensive medication to lower his/her blood pressure.
Why need IHCI?
- India has committed to a “25 by 25” goal, which aims to reduce premature mortality due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25% by 2025.
- To achieve India’s target of a 25%, approximately 4.5 crore additional people with hypertension need to get their BP under control by 2025.
What has the IHCI found so far?
- Its most important discovery so far is that nearly one-fourth of (23%) patients under the programme had uncontrolled blood pressure, and 27% did not return for a follow-up in the first quarter of 2021.
- There were an estimated 20 crore adults with hypertension in the country.
- There weren’t enough validated high-quality digital blood pressure monitors in several health facilities, which affected accuracy of hypertension diagnosis.
How prevalent is the problem of hypertension?
- About one-fourth of women and men aged 40 to 49 years have hypertension.
- Southern States have a higher prevalence of hypertension than the national average, according to the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey.
- While 21.3% of women and 24% of men aged above 15 have hypertension in the country, the prevalence is the highest in Kerala where 32.8% men and 30.9% women have been diagnosed with hypertension.
- Kerala is followed by Telangana where the prevalence is 31.4% in men and 26.1% in women.
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Ujjwala LPG Scheme: 90-lakh beneficiaries don’t take refills
In the financial year 2021-22, 90-lakh beneficiaries of the flagship welfare scheme, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), did not take refill gas cylinders. And over one crore beneficiaries got their refills only once.
About the PM Ujjwala Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
- he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
- In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.
Why was this scheme launched?
- Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
- Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.
- This measure has empowered women and protected their health. It reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
- It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.
Ujjwala 2.0
- Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
- Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.
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PAN, Aadhaar made mandatory for high-value cash deposits & withdrawals
The government has made requirement of a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or Aadhaar number for depositing or withdrawing Rs 20 lakh or more in a financial year or for opening a current account mandatory.
Regulating high-value transactions
- The Central Board of Direct Taxes, in a notification, said furnishing PAN or biometric Aadhaar will be mandatory for such high-value cash deposits or withdrawals from banks in a financial year.
- The same will be applied for opening of a current account or cash credit account with a bank or post office.
- Banks, post offices and co-operative societies would be required to report the transactions of deposits and withdrawals aggregating to Rs 20 lakh or more in a financial year.
- As of now, PAN is required to be furnished for cash deposits of Rs 50,000 or more in a day.
- With these rules, a threshold of Rs 20 lakh has been defined for the full financial year.
How will this help tax department?
- This move will help the government in tracing the movement of cash in the financial system.
- It is expected to help the income tax department monitor deposits/withdrawals where tax would not be getting paid by the individual otherwise on his or her income.
Why PAN-Aadhaar interoperability?
- The PAN-Aadhaar interoperability will help banks to record details for those who don’t have PAN.
- The interchangeable provision in the rules would allow a bank or financial institution to ask for Aadhaar in case an individual states that he or she doesn’t have PAN.
- The Finance Act, 2019, has provided for the interchangeability of PAN with Aadhaar.
- It has been provided that every person who is required to furnish or intimate or quote his PAN under the Income-tax Act.
- Those who, has not been allotted a PAN but possesses the Aadhaar number, may furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar in lieu of PAN.
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Citizenship and diversity of India
Context
Given the diversity and complexity of India, the only constitutionally valid common denominator is citizenship.
Social security
- An eminent sociologist and former president of the International Sociological Association, T.K. Oommen, has written extensively on the concept of social security.
- Evolution of nation: He says the principal challenges to the evolution of a nation lie in minimising disparity, eradicating discrimination, and avoiding alienation.
- Excluded groups in our society: He has listed nine categories of socially and/or politically and/or excluded groups in our society: “Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs, cultural minorities — both religious and linguistic, women, refugees-foreigners-outsiders, people [of] Northeast India, the poor and the disabled”.
- Sources of exclusion in India: He has suggested that “the three sources of exclusion in India — stratification, heterogeneity and hierarchy — create intersectionality.”
- This insecurity manifests itself in genocide, culturocide and ecocide and in its absence, a society may be conceptualised as secure.
- The Indian polity, he says, “has the most elaborate set of identities based on class, religion, gender, caste, region, language and their intersectionalities as well as consequent permutations and combinations.
- Citizenship as a common denominator: Given the diversity and complexity of India, the only constitutionally valid common denominator is citizenship.
- This is the point at which fraternity can and should be practiced among equals.
- Prof. Oommen opines that it is “only through the conflation of state and nation” can our Republic be considered a nation.
Conclusion
Cultural monoism and secularism are insufficient, Prof. Oommen says; instead, “the idea of conceptualizing India as a multicultural polity is more amenable than a secular India.” The sheet anchor of this has to be citizenship.
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MTP Act 2021
Context
The issue of abortion is in the news again, internationally.
Criminal law provisions related to termination of pregnancy
- Under the general criminal law of the country, i.e. the Indian Penal Code, voluntarily causing a woman with child to miscarry is an offence attracting a jail term of up to three years or fine or both, unless it was done in good faith where the purpose was to save the life of the pregnant woman.
- A pregnant woman causing herself to miscarry is also an offender under this provision apart from the person causing the miscarriage, which in most cases would be a medical practitioner.
Background of the MTP Act
- In 1971, after a lot of deliberation, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was enacted.
- This law is an exception to the IPC provisions above.
- Who, when, where, why and by whom? The law sets out the rules — of when, who, where, why and by whom — for accessing an MTP.
- This law has been amended twice since, the most recent set of amendments being in the year 2021 which has, to some extent, expanded the scope of the law.
- The law does not recognise and/or acknowledge the right of a pregnant person to decide on the discontinuation of a pregnancy.
- The law provides for a set of reasons based on which an MTP can be accessed.
Reasons allowed for MTP
- Reasons: The continuation of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or result in grave injury to her physical or mental health.
- The law explains that if the pregnancy is as a result of rape or failure of contraceptive used by the pregnant woman or her partner to limit the number of children or to prevent a pregnancy, the anguish caused by the continuation of such a pregnancy would be considered to be a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
- The other reason for seeking an MTP is the substantial risk that if the child was born, it would suffer from any serious physical or mental abnormality.
- A pregnant person cannot ask for a termination of pregnancy without fitting in one of the reasons set out in the law.
- Gestational age of pregnancy: The other set of limitations that the law provides is the gestational age of the pregnancy.
- The pregnancy can be terminated for any of the above reasons, on the opinion of a single registered medical practitioner up to 20 weeks of the gestational age.
- From 20 weeks up to 24 weeks, the opinion of two registered medical practitioners is required.
- Any decision for termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks gestational age, only on the ground of foetal abnormalities can be taken by a Medical Board as set up in each State, as per the law.
- The law, as an exception to all that is stated above, also provides that where it is immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, the pregnancy can be terminated at any time by a single registered medical practitioner.
Issues with the MTP Act provisions
- While India legalised access to abortion in certain circumstances much before most of the world did the same, unfortunately, even in 2020 we decided to remain in the logic of 1971.
- Right to health and right to life: By the time the amendments to the MTP Act were tabled before the Lok Sabha in 2020, a number of cases came before the courts.
- In these cases, the courts had articulated the right of a pregnant woman to decide on the continuation of her pregnancy as a part of her right to health and right to life, and therefore non-negotiable.
- Violation of right to privacy: In right to privacy judgment of the Supreme Court of India it was held that the decision making by a pregnant person on whether to continue a pregnancy or not is part of such a person’s right to privacy as well and, therefore, the right to life.
- The standards set out in this judgment were also not incorporated in the amendments being drafted.
- Not in sync with central laws: The new law is not in sync with other central laws such as the laws on persons with disabilities, on mental health and on transgender persons, to name a few.
- In conflict with other laws: The amendments also did not make any attempts to iron out the conflations between the MTP Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, to name a few.
Conclusion
While access to abortion has been available under the legal regime in the country, there is a long road ahead before it is recognised as a right of a person having the capacity to become pregnant to decide, unconditionally, whether a pregnancy is to be continued or not.
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Delhi HC gives split verdict on Marital Rape
Two judges of the Delhi High Court gave a split verdict on the question of criminalising rape within marriage, leaving the law unchanged.
Seems like the matter will now be referred to a larger bench.
What is Marital Rape?
- Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without her consent.
- It is no different manifestation of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
- It is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations.
What is the news?
- One of the Judge struck down as unconstitutional the exception to Section 375 of the IPC, which says that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife aged 18 and above is not rape even if it is without her consent.
- However, another Judge said that issue requires consideration of social, cultural and legal aspects.
Outcome of the split verdict: Preserving the institution of marriage
The Centre’s concern that criminalising marital rape may destabilise the institution of marriage is a “legitimate” one, said the HC.
- Spousal intimacy: In a marriage, conjugal expectation is a two-way street, where “consent is given as a part of spousal intimacy although the will to engage may be absent”.
- Need for written agreement: If every such case is treated as marital rape, then the only way partners in a marriage may survive would be by drawing up a detailed written agreement.
- Burden of evidentiary record: This would lead to creating a detailed evidentiary record of every act of intimacy and/or by inviting a third party to act as a witness.
- Defying marital obligations: The HC said that marriage was accompanied by obligations that the partners had to bear, including conjugal expectations, financial obligations and, finally, duty towards progeny.
- Sexual liberty of spouses: The bench also underlined the signs of injury on a partner need not necessarily mean there had been non-consensual sex as “in the age of sexual liberation”, injuries could be a sign of “passion”.
- Cruelty not rape: Forced sexual intercourse between a husband and wife cannot be treated as rape. At worst, it can be treated as sexual abuse found in Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act.
- Clash of ego: A wife cannot prescribe a particular punishment that can be imposed on the husband ‘to satisfy her ego’,” the judge said.
Then what is the remedy for such ‘Marital Rapes’?
- Section 3 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides a definition for domestic violence, which includes physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.
General reasons for disapproval of this concept
- The reluctance to define non-consensual sex between married couples as a crime and to prosecute has been attributed to:
- Traditional views of marriage
- Interpretations of religious doctrines
- Ideas about male and female sexuality
- Cultural expectations of subordination of a wife to her husband
- It is widely held that a husband cannot be guilty of any sexual act committed by himself upon his lawful wife their on account of their mutual matrimonial consent.
Why it must be a crime?
- Associated physical violence: Rape by a spouse, partner or ex-partner is more often associated with physical violence.
- Mental harassment: There is research showing that marital rape can be more emotionally and physically damaging than rape by a stranger.
- Compulsive relationship: Marital rape may occur as part of an abusive relationship.
- Revengeful nature: Furthermore, marital rape is rarely a one-time event, but a repeated if not frequent occurrence.
- Obligation on women: In the case of marital rape the victim often has no choice but to continue living with their spouse.
Violation of fundamental rights
- Marital rape is considered as the violation of FR guaranteed under Article 14 of the Indian constitution which guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons.
- By depriving married women of an effective penal remedy against forced sexual intercourse, it violates their right to privacy and bodily integrity, aspects of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
Global examples
- Marital rape immunity is known in several post-colonial common law countries.
- Australia (1981), Canada (1983), and South Africa (1993) have enacted laws that criminalise marital rape.
- The UK in 1991 arrived at a consensus that a rapist remains a rapist subject to the criminal law, irrespective of his relationship with his victim.
- However, in 2003 marital rape was outlawed by legislation in the UK.
Problems in prosecuting marital rape
- Lack of awareness: A lack of public awareness, as well as reluctance or outright refusal of authorities to prosecute is common globally.
- Gender norms: Additionally, gender norms that place wives in subservient positions to their husbands, make it more difficult for women to recognize such rape.
- Acceptability of the concept: Another problem results from prevailing social norms that exist.
Present regulations in India
- Indian Penal Code criminalizes rape in most cases, although marital rape is not illegal when the woman is over the age of 18.
- However, until 2017, men married to those between 15 and 18 could not be convicted of rape.
- Marital rape of an adult wife, who is unofficially or officially separated, is a criminal offence punishable by 2 to 7 year in prison; it is not dealt by normal rape laws which stipulate the possibility of a death sentence.
- According to the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act (2005), other married women subject to such crime by their husband may demand for financial compensation.
- They also have the right to continue to live in their marital household if they wish, or may approach shelter or aid homes.
However, marital rape is still not a criminal offence in this case and is only a misdemeanour.
Arguments against criminalization
- Subjective: It is very subjective and intricate to determine whether consent was acquired or not.
- Prone to Misuse: If marital rape is criminalized without adequate safeguards it could be misused like the current dowry law by the dissatisfied wives to harass and torture their Husbands.
- Burden on Judiciary: It will increase the burden of judiciary which otherwise may serve other more important causes.
Way forward
- Sanctioning marital rape is an acknowledgment of the woman’s right to self-determination (i.e., control) of all matters relating to her body.
- In the absence of any concrete law, the judiciary always finds it difficult to decide the matter of domestic rape in the absence of solid evidence.
- The main purpose of marriage is procreation, and sometimes divorce is sought on the ground of non-consummation of marriage.
- Before giving a final interpretation, the judiciary must balance the rights and duties of both partners.
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Green Manure and its productivity benefits
The Punjab agriculture department is promoting the cultivation of green manure these days.
What is the news?
- Punjab Agro is providing subsidy on the seed at the rate of Rs 2,000 per quintal, which costs Rs 6,300 per quintal without subsidy
- The farmers can avail its seed from the block level offices of the agriculture department as limited stock is available.
What is Green Manure?
- Green manures are crops grown specifically for maintaining soil fertility and structure.
- It is done by leaving uprooted or sown crops parts, allowing them to wither onto the field and serve as mulch and soil fertilizers.
- They are normally incorporated back into the soil, either directly, or after removal and composting.
- There are three main varieties of green manure, including
- Dhaincha
- Cowpea
- Sunhemp
- Also some crops such as summer moong, mash pulses and guar act as green manure.
- They can be sown after wheat cultivation
Characteristics of green manure
- Green manure must be leguminous in nature
- They must bear maximum nodules on its roots to fix large amount of atmospheric nitrogen in the soil.
Various policy initiatives
- Under Sub- Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP), the govt. provides 50% cost assistance for the distribution of green manure required for a one-acre area per farmer.
- The Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) promotes cluster-based organic farming with PGS (Participatory Guarantee System) certification.
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12th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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Places in news: Pantanal Wetlands
The world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal in South America, is at the risk of collapse due to legal land-use decisions and proposals.
About Pantanal
- The Pantanal is a natural region encompassing the world’s largest tropical wetland area, and the world’s largest flooded grasslands.
- It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay.
- It sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometres.
- Various subregional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological and ecological characteristics; up to 12 of them have been defined.
- Roughly 80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species.
Significance of Pantanal
- The Pantanal is a refuge for iconic wildlife. This massive wetland has the largest concentration of crocodiles in the world, with approximately 10 million caimans.
- Jaguars, the largest feline in the Americas, hunt caiman in the Pantanal, which has one of the highest density of jaguars anywhere the world.
Threats
- Around 95% of the Pantanal is under private ownership, the majority of which is used for cattle grazing.
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Marital Rape
Context
On May 10, 2022, a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court gave a split ruling on marital rape, thus ensuring a future hearing in the Supreme Court.
Why rape and marriage were seen as mutually exclusive
- The concepts of rape and marriage were seen as mutually exclusive – they could not be brought together.
- Across the world, and till very recently, marriage has been explicitly treated as being outside the purview of rape.
- Even in the Western countries that we associate with the more “advanced” practices of gender equality, marital rape was treated as an exception to the crime of rape till the early 1990s.
- In the absence of a universal definition, several scholars take marriage to be an institution where a man and a woman live together, have sexual relations and engage in cooperative economic activity.
- Link between marriage and property: Others have emphasised the link between marriage and property.
- The dominant form of marriage in the modern West became quite distinctly patriarchal, visible in late 18th-century British law, for instance, whereby a wife became the property of her husband upon marriage.
- Husbands, therefore, had the right to access their wives sexually, without the question of coercion or consent being on the horizon in the first place.
- As property, wives had to be protected from the (illegal) sexual access of other men, and here too, their consent was irrelevant.
Introduction of marital rape
- If what distinguishes the relationship of husband and wife from other relations between men and women is the legitimate expectation of sexual relations, then the introduction of marital rape signals the entry of a new and equally legitimate expectation: A wife’s consent to sexual relations is essential, and in this, she is no different from other women.
- Husbands no longer enjoy unquestioned rights over the bodies of their wives — this is what it means for a wife to be a person with bodily integrity.
Conclusion
It is strange, indeed, that most parts of the world, India included, became modern while continuing to believe that wives are the property of husbands.
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Mock Interview UPSC 2021: Paneled by former EC, Dy CAG, CEC, and Secretary level bureaucrats | On-demand session: book your slot
Book your slot for UPSC Mock interviews (paneled by ex UPSC members) and get a dedicated mentor, on-call DAF analysis, DAF-based personalized questionnaire, and Situational questionnaire (FREE)
To give you a real feel of the panel that you will be facing in your real UPSC interview 2021, CD has brought together a mix of the most experienced and valued panelists for your mock interview.
Panelists for Mock Interviews:
- Shri Shankar Aggarwal, IAS (retd.), former Secretary
- Dr. Noor Mohammad, IAS (retd.), former EC
- Dr. P.K. Agrawal, IAS (Retd.), former Ch. Secy
- Shri T. N. Thakur, IAAS (retd.), former Dy CAG
- Shri V. P. Singh, IRPS
- Mrs.Aditi Gupta, Corporate Leadership Specialist
- Prof. U.M. Amin, Jamia Milia University
- Mr. S. D. Singh, IFoS (Retd.)
- Mr. Kunal Aggarwal, IRS
- Mr. Debraj Das, IPS
Tentative: Shri S. Y. Quraishi (former CEC), Shri Harsh V. Pant (Observer Research Foundation), Shri SN Tripathi, IAS (Director IIPA), Shri Yogesh Narain (Retd. Defence Secretary), Shri Dipankar Gupta (Indian Sociologist), and others.
Upcoming Mock interview and session
This week’s mock interview dates have been fixed.
- Mock interview this week 12th May onwards – (Book your slot)
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Power crisis in India
Context
The power crisis has taken us by surprise. The question in everyone’s mind is: where did we go wrong? And who slipped up?
Responsibilities in supply chain
- Under the Electricity Act, it is the responsibility of the Distribution Licensee/Company (Discom) to provide reliable quality and round-the-clock electricity to all consumers to meet full demand.
- To do so, they enter into contracts with a number of generating companies in order to ensure adequate supply.
- These Discoms work under the oversight of the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.
Suggestions
1] Dealing with the challenge of demand prediction
- Qualitative transformation in demand: With higher incomes and the consequent increase in the use of air-conditioners and other electrical appliances, the nature of electricity demand is undergoing a qualitative transformation with rising daily and seasonal peaks, and spikes on very hot or cold days.
- While demand prediction is inherently uncertain, the questions to ask are whether Discoms have been making and updating their demand growth projections and scenarios over the medium term with adequate supply arrangements in a robust manner.
- This needs to become central to the regulatory process.
- Ensuring reliable supply to meet unanticipated peaks, as have occurred now, requires making supply arrangements with reserve margins that are adequate.
- The Regulatory Commissions need to provide for such expensive peaking power arrangements in the tariffs they approve.
- It is also time to move towards separate peaking power procurement contracts in addition to the present system of long-term thermal power contracts.
2] Demand-based time of day rates of electricity
- A transition to demand-based time of day rates of electricity for generators as well as consumers would help.
- These should be brought in by the Regulatory Commissions.
- Flattening of demand curve: Peak demand moderation and flattening of the demand curve through a change in consumer behaviour is feasible with smart meters.
- But this would take place only with a strong price signal, a large differential in peak and off-peak rates.
3] Subsidies and politics
- Free supply of electricity to farmers and households up to a specified level is not a problem as long as State governments pay for it as provided in the Act, and the Regulatory Commissions do not at the same time act from a political point of view and shy away from determining cost-reflective tariffs.
- While the problem of delayed payments by Discoms is getting highlighted and needs to be resolved with a sense of urgency, the coal supply problem is not due to this.
- Coal India needs to create capacities to rapidly ramp up production; and the Railways need to carry larger quantities of coal when demand surges, as has happened now.
- Imported coal and gas generated electricity: There is idle but expensive generating capacity available — about 15-20 GW of gas-based power plants which can run on imported liquefied natural gas, and 6 GW-8 GW of thermal plants which can run on imported coal.
- Consumers who are willing to pay more could be kept free of power cuts with purchase and supply of more expensive electricity generated from imported coal and gas.
- To improve reliability, Discoms, with the approval of the Regulatory Commissions, need to go in for bids for storage.
Conclusion
A lesson is that demand growth projections and supply arrangements need to become central to the regulatory process.
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Control inflation by acting on liquidity
Context
The recent action of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise the repo rate by 40 basis points and cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points is a recognition of the serious situation with respect to inflation in our country and the resolve to tackle inflation.
Inflation in India and role of government expenditure
- India’s CPI inflation has been fluctuating around a high level.
- As early as October 2020, it had hit a peak of 7.61%.
- It had remained at a high level of over 6% since April 2020.
- It did come down after December 2020 but has started rising significantly from January 2022.
- On the other hand, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation had remained in double digits since April 2021. The GDP implicit price deflator-based inflation rate for 2021-22 is 9.6%.
- Even though the RBI’s mandate is with respect to CPI inflation, policymakers cannot ignore the behaviour of other price indices.
- After the advent of COVID-19, the major concern of policymakers all over the world was to revive demand.
- Keynesian prescription: This was sought to be achieved by raising government expenditure.
- Thus, the expansion in government expenditure did not immediately result in increased production in countries where the lockdown was taken seriously.
- However, the Keynesian multiplier does not work when there are supply constraints as in developing countries.
- That is why the multiplier operates in nominal terms rather than in real terms in such countries.
- Something similar has happened in the present case where the supply constraint came from a non-mobility of factors of production.
- Nevertheless, the prescription of enhanced government expenditure is still valid under the present circumstances.
- Perhaps the increase in output could happen with a lag and also with the relaxation of restrictions.
Role of monetary policy
- Why lover money multiplier rate? Initially, the focus of monetary policy in India has been to keep the interest rate low and increase the availability of liquidity through various channels, some of which have been newly introduced.
- However, the growth rate of money was below the growth rate in reserve money.
- This is because of lower credit growth which also depends on business sentiment and investment climate.
- Thus the money multiplier is lower than usual.
- The Government’s borrowing programme which was larger went through smoothly, thanks to abundant liquidity.
- Even as the economy picked up steam in 2021-22, inflation also became an issue, this is a worldwide phenomenon.
- In India too there is a shift in monetary policy.
Analysing the cause of inflation
- While discussing inflation, analysts focus almost exclusively on the increases in the prices of individual commodities such as crude oil as the primary cause of inflation.
- General price level: Supply disruptions due to domestic or external factors may explain the behaviour of individual prices but not the general price level which is what inflation is about.
- Given a budget constraint, there will only be an adjustment of relative prices.
- Besides the fact that any cost-push increase in one commodity may get generalised, it is the adjustment that happens at the macro level which becomes critical.
- It is the adjustment in the macro level of liquidity that sustains inflation.
Inflation and growth
- The possible trade-off between inflation and growth has a long history in economic literature.
- The Phillip’s curve has been analysed theoretically and empirically.
- Tobin called the Phillip’s curve a ‘cruel dilemma’ because it suggested that full employment was not compatible with price stability.
- The critical question flowing from these discussions on trade-off is whether cost-push factors can by themselves generate inflation.
- In the current situation, it is sometimes argued that inflation will come down, if some part of the increase in crude prices is absorbed by the government.
- If the additional burden borne by the government (through loss of revenue) is not offset by expenditures, the overall deficit will widen.
- The borrowing programme will increase and additional liquidity support may be required.
Concomitant decisions on CRR and repo rate
- These are concomitant decisions. Central banks cannot order interest rates.
- For a rise in the interest rate to stick, appropriate actions must be taken to contract liquidity.
- That is what the rise in CRR will do.
- In the absence of a rise in CRR, liquidity will have to be sucked by open market operations.
Conclusion
Beyond a point, inflation itself can hinder growth. Negative real rates of interest on savings are not conducive to growth. If we want to control inflation, action on liquidity is very much needed with a concomitant rise in the interest rate on deposits and loans.
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11th May 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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UPSC PRELIMS 2022: 10 Question solving smart techniques to get 110+ score
Sajal Sir lecture on Smart question solving techniques Knowledge alone is not enough to clear UPSC Prelims. Elimination techniques alone are not enough to crack this exam. One needs both to clear UPSC Prelims from 2014 onwards. Since UPSC Prelims is the toughest exam out of Interview and Mains with over 9.5 lakh aspirants getting disqualified, it’s always better to think about increasing 20-30 marks with your existing knowledge using elimination techniques.
Why is that with the same syllabus, the same study materials and similar syllabus and similar study materials, most candidates score differently? For some, just a reading of the Spectrum book is enough to answer all the Modern History questions, but for others despite reading the same book they are not able to answer the questions
If it’s about prelims exam performance, then aspirants fall into either of these four categories. Which category are you in currently?
1) Prelims score 0-40: They need to work on improving their knowledge first and then learn answering tricks
2) Prelims score 50-70: They have decent knowledge and decent answering tricks.But this is not enough to clear Prelims, they need to be an above average performer. Hence, they must focus on preparing for the topics they have scored less in their mock tests.
3) Prelims score 80-100: They have good knowledge but they need to develop answering tricks. They can do without learning elimination techniques as well, but if they wish to be on the same time learning elimination techniques will guarantee them success.
4) Prelims score 120+: They have excellent knowledge and know all the answering tricks.Sajal Sir lecture on Smart question solving techniques Clearing Prelims is all about Knowledge + Answering Tricks (Tikdams).
These Techniques will be your last minute addition to prelims preparation.
Watch the video and let us know if you have any last minute query or doubt on prelims 2022.
