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Type: Explained

  • NPA Crisis

    Need for a Bad Bank

    Explained | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Bad Banks

    Mains level: Asset reconstructions post NPA buzz

    The idea of setting up a bad bank often comes up for debate, especially when stress in the banking sector is projected to rise in the near term.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. What is a Bad Bank? Discuss how it can rescue the covid induced bad loans in India.

    COVID induced NPAs

    • Several economists and agencies project a recession in the Indian economy this year, due to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on economic activity.
    • This will hit the banking and financial sector in particular, as a slump in earnings of companies and individuals could lead to a jump in NPAs, reversing the early trends.
    • Various analysts suggest that in a couple of years, the proportion of stressed assets in the banking system could jump to as high as 18 per cent from around 11 per cent at present.
    • To tackle this upcoming challenge, the banking industry has proposed the setting up of a government-backed bad bank.

    What is the Bad Bank?

    • A bad bank is a bank set up to buy the bad loans and other illiquid holdings of another financial institution.
    • The entity holding significant NPAs will sell these holdings to the bad bank at market price.
    • By transferring such assets to the bad bank, the original institution may clear its balance sheet—although it will still be forced to take write-downs.
    • A bad bank structure may also assume the risky assets of a group of financial institutions, instead of a single bank.

    What is the recent proposal of a bad bank?

    • The banking sector, led by the Indian Banks Association (IBA), had in May submitted a proposal for setting up a bad bank to the finance ministry and the RBI.
    • The IBA proposed for having equity contribution from the government and the banks.
    • This was based on an idea proposed by a panel on faster resolution of stressed assets in public sector banks headed by former PNB Chairman Sunil Mehta.
    • This panel had proposed an asset management company (AMC), ‘Sashakt India Asset Management’, for resolving large bad loans two years ago.
    • There were talks about creating a bad bank in 2018 too, but it never took shape.

    What kind of NPA spike is expected during this outbreak?

    • The impact of Covid-19 and the associated policy response is likely to result in an additional Rs 1,67,000 crore of debt from the top 500 debt-heavy private sector borrowers turning delinquent between FY21 and FY22.
    • Given that 11.57 per cent of the outstanding debt is already stressed, the proportion of stressed debt is likely to increase to 18.21 per cent of the outstanding quantum.

    What is the government’s view over Bad Banks?

    • While the finance ministry has not formally submitted its view on the proposal, senior officials have indicated that it is not keen to infuse equity capital into a bad bank.
    • The government’s view is that bad loan resolution should happen in a market-led way, as there are many asset reconstruction companies already operating in the private space.
    • The government has significantly capitalized state-owned banks in recent years and pursued consolidation in the PSU banking space.
    • In the last three financial years, the government has infused equity of Rs 2.65 lakh crore into state-owned banks.
    • These steps, along with insolvency resolution under the IBC, are seen as adequate to tackle the challenge of bad loans.

    What is the RBI view?

    • The RBI has so far never come out favourably about the creation of a bad bank with other commercial banks as main promoters.
    • Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had opposed the idea of setting up a bad bank with a majority stake by banks, arguing it would solve nothing.
    • Rajan argued that a government-funded bad bank would just shift loans “from one government pocket (the public sector banks) to another (the bad bank) and did not see how it would improve matters”.
    • Indeed, if the bad bank were in the public sector, the reluctance to act would merely be shifted to the bad bank.
    • Alternatively, if the bad bank were to be in the private sector, the reluctance of public sector banks to sell loans to the bad bank at a significant haircut would still prevail.

    Alternatives to a bad bank

    • Many experts argue that the enactment of IBC has reduced the need for having a bad bank, as a transparent and open process is available for all lenders to attempt insolvency resolution.
    • The view is that an IBC-led resolution, or sale of bad loans to ARCs already existing, is a better approach to tackle the NPA problem rather than a government-funded bad bank.

    Former RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has proposed two models:

    1) Private Asset Management Company

    • The first model is a Private Asset Management Company (PAMC) which would be suitable for sectors where the stress is such that assets are likely to have economic value in the short run, with moderate levels of debt forgiveness.

    2) Setting up National Asset Management Company (NAMC)

    • The second model is a NAMC for sectors where the problem is not just of excess capacity, but possibly also of economically unviable assets in the short- to medium-term, such as in the power sector.
    • The NAMC would raise debt for its financing needs, keep a minority equity stake for the government, and bring in asset managers such as ARCs and private equity to manage and turn around the assets.

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Postal Ballots in Elections

    Explained | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Representation Of People’s Act

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Postal ballot

    Mains level: Ensuring transparency in elections

    The Election Commission has announced that it will allow those above the age of 65 as well as those under home or institutional quarantine to vote using postal ballots during the Bihar elections. Opposition parties are unhappy with the move and termed it unconstitutional.

    Try this question from CSP 2017:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
    2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
    3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognized political parties.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

    What is Postal Voting?

    • A restricted set of voters can exercise postal voting.
    • Through this facility, a voter can cast her vote remotely by recording her preference on the ballot paper and sending it back to the election officer before counting.

    Who can avail of this facility?

    • Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post.
    • In other words, they can’t vote in person. Voters under preventive detention can also vote only by post.
    • Special voters such as the President of India, Vice President, Governors, Union Cabinet ministers, Speaker of the House and government officers on poll duty have the option to vote by post.
    • But they have to apply through a prescribed form to avail this facility.

    What about absentee voters?

    • Recently, the Law Ministry, at the Election Commission’s behest, introduced a new category of ‘absentee voters’, who can now also opt for postal voting.
    • These are voters employed in essential services and unable to cast their vote due to their service conditions.
    • Currently, officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Northern Railway (Passenger and Freight) Services and media persons are notified as absentee voters.
    • Last month, senior citizens above the age of 65 and voters who test positive for COVID19 or are suspected to be COVID-affected were allowed to cast their vote by post.

    How are votes recorded by post?

    • The Returning Officer is supposed to print ballot papers within 24 hours of the last date of nomination withdrawal and dispatch them within a day.
    • This is done so that the ballot papers reach the concerned voter well before the polling date and she has enough time to send it back before the counting day.
    • Postal ballot papers for members of the Armed Forces are sent through their record offices.
    • For members of the armed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside India and their spouses, the ballot paper can be sent through post or electronically.
    • For remaining categories ballot papers can be delivered personally or through the post.

    Why political parties are divided over postal ballots?

    • Opposition parties are not against postal ballots.
    • They have objected to the EC’s decision to allow voters aged 65 and above and those infected or suspected to be infected with COVID19 to vote via postal ballots.
    • This change was effected without consulting political parties.
    • They fear that the move will lead to malpractices and foul play by those parties which are in power and having resources.

    Issues with the recent move

    • Allowing those aged 65 and above to vote by postal ballot violates secrecy in voting as a large segment of the population is uneducated and they might seek assistance from others.
    • This will end up disclosing their preferred candidate.
    • This also exposes them to “administrative influence or influence by the Government or the ruling party”.

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    What is Raman Spectroscopy?

    Explained | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Achievements Of Indians In S&T,Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Scattering of light

    Mains level: Paper 3- Raman spectroscopy

    Mumbai-based researchers have turned to Raman Spectroscopy to detect RNA viruses present in saliva samples.

    Try this question from CSP 2017
    Q.Which Indian astrophysicist and Nobel laureate predicted rapidly rotating stars emit polarized light?
    (a) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
    (b) CV Raman
    (c) Ramanujan
    (d) Amartya Sen

    The Raman Spectroscopy

    • Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique where scattered light is used to measure the vibrational energy modes of a sample.
    • In 1928, Raman discovered that when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
    • While Raman was returning from London in a 15-day voyage, he started thinking about the colour of the deep blue Mediterranean.
    • He wasn’t convinced by the explanation that the colour of the sea was blue due to the reflection of the sky.
    • As the ship docked in Bombay, he sent a letter to the editor of the journal Nature, in which he penned down his thoughts on this.
      Subsequently, Raman was able to show that the blue colour of the water was due to the scattering of the sunlight by water molecules.
    • By this time he was obsessed with the phenomenon of light scattering.

    How does it work?

    • The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.
    • Significantly, it notes that the Raman effect is “very weak” — this is because when the object in question is small (smaller than a few nanometres), the light will pass through it undisturbed.
    • But a few times in a billion, light waves may interact with the particle. This could also explain why it was not discovered before.
    • In general, when light interacts with an object, it can either be reflected, refracted or transmitted.
    • One of the things that scientists look at when light is scattered is if the particle it interacts with is able to change its energy.

    Applications

    • Raman spectroscopy is used in many varied fields – in fact, any application where non-destructive, microscopic, chemical analysis and imaging is required.
    • Whether the goal is qualitative or quantitative data, Raman analysis can provide key information easily and quickly.
    • It can be used to rapidly characterize the chemical composition and structure of a sample, whether solid, liquid, gas, gel, slurry or powder.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Russia

    Explained: In India-China, the Russia role

    Explained | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: RIC

    Mains level: India-China border skirmishes and its de-escalation

    Russia has emerged, all of a sudden, as a key diplomatic player amid the tension between India and China. It is set to host the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. In pursuit of a ‘Special Strategic Partnership’ with the US, India has compromised its ties with Russia. Discuss.

    Raksha Mantri stepping in at RIC

    • Tensions being at the peak, India will discuss supply and purchase of new defence systems — like the S-400 missile defence system — with the Russian top brass in the military and government.
    • India has made this decision to reach out to Russia not just out of choice, but also out of necessity.
    • Moscow has leverage and influence to shape and change Beijing’s hard stance on the border issue.

    Russia: A mediator for both

    • While India and China have been talking at each other — and not to each other — the outreach to Moscow is noteworthy.
    • It is widely known that Russia and China have grown their relationship in the past few years.
    • The Moscow-Beijing axis is crucial, especially since Washington has been at loggerheads with China in recent months and Russia much more calibrated, even in its response on the Covid-19 outbreak.

    Sino-Russian ties: A response to US

    • Russia and China have had a rocky start to their relationship after Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China.
    • When Mao made his first visit to Moscow after winning control of China, in 1949, he was made to wait for weeks for a meeting with the Soviet leader.
    • During the Cold War, China and the USSR were rivals after the Sino-Soviet split in 1961, competing for control of the worldwide Communist movement.
    • There was a serious possibility of a major war in the early 1960s and a brief border war took place in 1969.
    • This enmity began to reduce following Mao’s death in 1976, but relations were not very good until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

    India and Russia

    • India has a historical relationship with Russia, spanning over seven decades.
    • While the relationship has grown in some areas and atrophied in some others, the strongest pillar of the strategic partnership is of the defence basket.
    • Although New Delhi has consciously diversified its new purchases from other countries, the bulk of its defence equipment is from Russia.
    • Estimates say 60 to 70 per cent of India’s supplies are from Russia, and New Delhi needs a regular and reliable supply of spare parts from the Russian defence industry.
    • In fact, Prime Minister Modi has held informal summits with only two leaders — Xi and Putin.

    Russia position: then & now

    • During the Doklam crisis in 2017, Russian diplomats in Beijing were among the few briefed by the Chinese government.
    • While Russia’s position during the 1962 war was not particularly supportive of India, New Delhi takes comfort in Moscow’s support during the 1971 war.
    • On the events in Galwan, Moscow responded in a much-calibrated manner.
    • Kremlin has expressed its concerns over a clash between the military on the border between China and India but believes that the two countries could resolve this conflict themselves.

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Explained: How are elections to the Rajya Sabha held?

    Explained | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Federalism

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Rajya Sabha and associated facts

    Mains level: Significance of the Rajya Sabha

    Another round of Rajya Sabha elections has been completed. There are several features that distinguish elections to the Council of States, or the Upper House of Parliament, from the general elections.

    Do you know?

    • Only two UTs elect members to the Rajya Sabha, not all.
    • Polling is held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
    • Independent members can also be elected etc.

    Read this newscard for all such interesting facts which can be directly asked in the prelims.

    What is so peculiar about the Rajya Sabha polls?

    • A third of MPs in the Rajya Sabha (which is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution), from each State, retire once in two years and polls are held to fill up the vacancies.
    • Only elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies can vote in a Rajya Sabha election.
    • The legislators send a batch of new members to the Upper House every two years for a six-year term.
    • In addition, vacancies that arise due to resignation, death or disqualification are filled up through by-polls after which those elected serve out the remainder of their predecessors’ term.

    Composition of Rajya Sabha

    • A bloc of MPs belonging to one or more parties can elect a member of their choice if they have the requisite numbers.
    • This is to avoid the principle of majority, which would mean that only candidates put up by ruling parties in the respective States will be elected.
    • The Delhi and Puducherry Assemblies elect members to the Rajya Sabha to represent the two UTs.

    What is the election process?

    • Polling for a Rajya Sabha election will be held only if the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies.
    • Since the strength of each party in the Assembly is known, it is not difficult to estimate the number of seats a party would win in the Rajya Sabha poll.
    • In many states, parties avoid a contest by fielding candidates only in respect to their strength. Where an extra candidate enters the fray, voting becomes necessary.
    • Candidates fielded by political parties have to be proposed by at least 10 members of the Assembly or 10% of the party’s strength in the House, whichever is less.
    • For independents, there should be 10 proposers, all of whom should be members of the Assembly.

    Voting procedure

    • Voting is by single transferable vote, as the election is held on the principle of proportional representation.
    • A single transferable vote means electors can vote for any number of candidates in order of their preference.
    • A candidate requires a specified number of first preference votes to win. Each first choice vote has a value of 100 in the first round.
    • To qualify, a candidate needs one point more than the quotient obtained by dividing the total value of the number of seats for which elections are taking place plus one.

    Example: If there are four seats and 180 MLAs voting, the qualifying number will be 180/5= 36 votes or value of 3,600.

    Why do not the Rajya Sabha polls have a secret ballot?

    • The Rajya Sabha polls have a system of the open ballot, but it is a limited form of openness.
    • As a measure to check rampant cross-voting, which was taken to mean that the vote had been purchased by corrupt means.
    • There is a system of each party MLA showing his or her marked ballots to the party’s authorised agent (called Whip), before they are put into the ballot box.
    • Showing a marked ballot to anyone other than one’s own party’s authorised agent will render the vote invalid.
    • Not showing the ballot to the authorised agent will also mean that the vote cannot be counted.
    • And independent candidates are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.

    Is there any NOTA option in voting?

    • The ECI issued two circulars, on January 24, 2014, and November 12, 2015, giving Rajya Sabha members the option to press the NOTA button in the Upper House polls.
    • However, in 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the provision, holding that the ‘none of the above’ option is only for general elections.
    • It cannot be applied to indirect elections based on proportional representation.

    Does cross-voting attract disqualification?

    • The Supreme Court, while declining to interfere with the open ballot system, ruled that not voting for the party candidate will not attract disqualification under the anti-defection law.
    • As voters, MLAs retain their freedom to vote for a candidate of their choice.
    • However, the Court observed that since the party would know who voted against its own candidate, it is free to take disciplinary action against the legislator concerned.

    Can a legislator vote without taking oath as a member of the Assembly?

    • While taking oath as a member is for anyone to function as a legislator, the Supreme Court has ruled that a member can vote in a Rajya Sabha election even before taking oath as a legislator.
    • It ruled that voting at the Rajya Sabha polls, being a non-legislative activity, can be performed without taking the oath.
    • A person becomes a member as soon as the list of elected members is notified by the ECI, it said.
    • Further, a member can also propose a candidate before taking the oath.

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    Permafrost and the hazards of its Thawing

    Explained | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Permafrost

    Mains level: Paper 1-Permafrost thaw.

    The principal reason that led to the recent 20,000-tonne oil leak at an Arctic region power plant in Russia that is now being recognised is the sinking of ground surface due to permafrost thaw.

    Try this question from Mains 2017:
    Q. What is Cryosphere? How does the Cryosphere affect global climate?

    What is Permafrost?

    • Permafrost is ground that remains completely frozen at 0 degrees Celsius or below for at least two years.
    • It is defined solely based on temperature and duration.
    • The permanently frozen ground, consisting of soil, sand, and rock held together by ice, is believed to have formed during glacial periods dating several millennia.

    Where are they found?

    • These grounds are known to be below 22 per cent of the land surface on Earth, mostly in polar zones and regions with high mountains.
    • They are spread across 55 per cent of the landmass in Russia and Canada, 85 per cent in the US state of Alaska, and possibly the entirety of Antarctica.
    • In northern Siberia, it forms a layer that is 1,500 m thick; 740 m in northern Alaska.
    • At lower latitudes, permafrost is found at high altitude locations such as the Alps and the Tibetian plateau.

    How climate change is eating away at these grounds?

    • The Earth’s polar and high altitude regions — its principal permafrost reservoirs — are the most threatened by climate change.
    • Arctic regions are warming twice as fast compared to the rest of the planet, its current rate of temperature change being the highest in 2,000 years.
    • In 2016, Arctic permafrost temperatures were 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than at the beginning of the 20th century.
    • A study has shown that every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature can degrade up to 39 lakh square kilometre due to thawing.
    • This degradation is expected to further aggravate as the climate gets warmer, putting at risk 40 per cent of the world’s permafrost towards the end of the century– causing disastrous effects.

    The threat to infrastructure

    • Thawing permafrost is also ominous for man-made structures overhead.
    • The Russian oil leak occurred recorded temperatures in Siberia at more than 10 degrees Celsius above average, and called them “highly anomalous” for the region where the power plant is located.
    • As temperatures rise, the binding ice in permafrost melts, making the ground unstable and leading to massive potholes, landslides, and floods.
    • The sinking effect causes damage to key infrastructure such as roads, railway lines, buildings, power lines and pipelines.
    • These changes also threaten the survival of indigenous people, as well as Arctic animals.

    A ticking time bomb

    • Beneath its surface, permafrost contains large quantities of organic leftover from thousands of years prior — dead remains of plants, animals, and microorganisms that got frozen before they could rot.
    • It also holds a massive trove of pathogens.
    • When permafrost thaws, microbes start decomposing this carbon matter, releasing greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide.
    • Researchers have estimated that for every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature, these grounds could release GHGs to the tune of 4-6 years’ of emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas.
    • Along with greenhouse houses, these grounds could also release ancient bacteria and viruses into the atmosphere as they unfreeze.

    Back2Basics
    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/thawing-of-permafrost/

    Also read:

    Ambarnaya River Oil spill in Russia

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  • Labour, Jobs and Employment – Harmonization of labour laws, gender gap, unemployment, etc.

    Explained: How can Inter-State workers be protected?

    Explained | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not Much

    Mains level: Inter-state workers migration

    Context

    • Following the novel coronavirus pandemic, the nationwide lockdown announced on March 24 at short notice has caused immense distress to migrant workers around the country.
    • Hundreds have been seen trying to walk home to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha from their places of work in Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat and so forth.

    Try a mains question on this issue:

    Inter state migrants face social, economic and cultural shocks. Discuss some steps taken by center and state governments. Also suggest further reforms.

    Inter-State workers: Where is their almighty?

    • Recently, 16 migrant labourers who were trying to return to Madhya Pradesh, their home State, on foot were killed when a goods train ran over them.
    • Questions are being raised about their welfare and the lack of legal protection for their rights.
    • Those working in the field of labour welfare have recalled a 1979 law to regulate the employment and working conditions of inter-State migrants.
    • The lack of serious implementation has led to their rights being ignored.

    What about occupational safety?

    • As part of the present regime’s efforts towards consolidating and reforming labour law, a Bill has been introduced in Parliament called the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019.
    • The proposed code seeks to merge 13 labour laws into a single piece of legislation.
    • The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, is one of them.
    • Activists fear that specific safeguards given to migrant workers may be lost as a result of this consolidation.

    Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979: What does the law envisage?

    • The Act seeks to regulate the employment of inter-State migrants and their conditions of service.
    • It is applicable to every establishment that employs five or more migrant workmen from other States; or if it had employed five or more such workmen on any day in the preceding 12 months.
    • It is also applicable to contractors who employed a similar number of inter-State workmen.
    • The Act would apply regardless of whether the five or more workmen were in addition to others employed in the establishment or by the contractors.
    • It envisages a system of registration of such establishments. The principal employer is prohibited from employing inter-State workmen without a certificate of registration from the relevant authority.
    • The law also lays down that every contractor who recruits workmen from one State for deployment in another State should obtain a licence to do so.

    What are the beneficial provisions for inter-State migrants in it?

    • The provision for registration of establishments employing inter-State workers creates a system of accountability and acts as the first layer of formalizing the utilization of their labour.
    • It helps the government keep track of the number of workers employed and provides a legal basis for regulating their conditions of service.
    • As part of the licensing process, contractors are bound by certain conditions.
    • These include committing them to provide terms and conditions of the agreement or any other arrangement on the basis of which they recruit workers.
    • In no case, shall the wages be lower than what is prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act.

    What does the proposed Code say on migrant workers?

    • The attempt to consolidate laws relating to occupational safety, health and working conditions means that many separate laws concerning various kinds of workers and labourers will have to be repealed.
    • The proposed law seeks to repeal 13 Acts such as the Factories Act, Mines Act, Dock Workers’ Act, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, and other enactments relating to those working in plantations, construction, cinema, beedi and cigarette manufacture, motor transport, and the media.

    What does the news law promise for migrant workers?

    • Regarding inter-State migrant workers, the Act includes them in the definition of ‘contract labour’.
    • At the same time, an inter-State migrant worker is also separately defined as a person recruited either by an employer or a contractor for an establishment situated in another State.
    • The Code has a chapter on ‘contract labour and inter-State migrant workers’, but the Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that the provisions relating to migrant workers be covered in a separate chapter.
    • The Code contains provisions similar to the 1979 Act regarding registration of establishments, licensing of contractors and the inclusion of terms and conditions on hours of work, wages and amenities.
    • Further, both the old Act and the proposed Code envisage the payment of a displacement allowance and a journey allowance to inter-State migrant workers.

    Trade Union’s response

    • Even though the Code seeks to preserve many of the protections and rights are given to inter-State workers, trade unions feel that it is always better to have a separate enactment.
    • The unprecedented distress and misery faced by migrant workers due to the current lockdown have drawn attention to beneficial legislation dedicated to their welfare.
    • The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has highlighted the fact that both the States where they work and home States have obligations cast upon them in the existing law.
    • Despite the fact that it has been poorly implemented at all, labour unions feel that preserving the separate enactment and enforcing it well is a better option than subsuming it under a larger code.

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  • Policy Wise: India’s Power Sector

    Explained: 9 minutes light-out and its impact on grids

    Explained | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Not Much

    Mains level: 9 minutes light-out and its impact on grids

    In his address to the nation, our PM has urged people across to turn off the lights in their homes for 9 minutes on April 5, starting at 9 pm. In response to this appeal, grid managers across states have flagged some risks.

    Why is the 9-minute exercise a problem?

    • India is one of the largest synchronous interconnected grids in the world, with an installed capacity of about 370 GW (3,70,000 MW), and a normal baseload power demand of roughly 150 GW.
    • The big worry is that just before 9 pm there may be unprecedented load reduction, followed by a sudden increase in load post at 9.09 pm.
    • The concern is that grid frequency should not swing beyond permissible limits and that all generators across the country must give frequency response as per the Grid Code.
    • During this 9-minute lights out exercise, up to 10,000-15,000 MW of power demand could to drop suddenly and then come on stream a few minutes later.

    How does grid function normally?

    • Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO), the national electricity grid operator, projects daily demand for power and regulates supply from power generators based on these projections.
    • Frequency reflects the load generation balance in the grid at a particular instant and is one of the most important parameters for assessment of the security of the country’s power system.
    • The nominal frequency is 50 hertz and POSOCO endeavours to maintain frequency within a permissible band (49.9- 50.5 hertz), primarily by balancing the demand-supply equation.

    Impacts of light-out

    • The frequency needs to be maintained within this range as all the electrical equipment and appliances at our homes are designed to perform safely and efficiently in a certain power supply band.
    • An increase in frequency results in an increase in the voltage and a decrease in frequency results in a decrease in voltage.
    • Exigency does occur during an outage at a power plant or the tripping of a transmission line or a sudden change in electrical demand.
    • The grid operator needs to ensure that there is an automatic corrective response manually by curtailing demand or ramping generation from another source within a really short period of time.
    • Handling imbalances are the most crucial function of the grid operator.

    What are the key areas of concern?

    While the possibility of the grid tripping on account of this is highly unlikely, operators expect a “jerk”. While the system is generally planned for an outage of the single largest unit outage, there are two riders:

    1) Lockdown has severed domestic consumption

    • One, the grid load is primarily on account of the domestic load now, especially since the lockdown implemented.
    • The normal baseload power demand of roughly 150 gigawatts has already dropped by 20 per cent since the lockdown announcement as most of the industry and commercial establishments are not operational.
    • With hotels and factories, malls, railway stations, airports closed, the domestic load is the predominant load.
    • So the lighting load as a percentage of total loads is much higher now and the impact of a sudden drop in lighting load could be more accentuated than during regular times.

    2) Fear of complete power-offs

    • The second concern is if housing clusters and societies switch off mains, or if overzealous discoms switch off street lighting or even feeders to show compliance.
    • During this part of the year, domestic load peaks at about 9 pm.
    • This load could then be impacted much more than what’s being anticipated in the normal course, a concern that grid operators are flagging.

    Why is this demand of significance in such a big grid?

    • The domestic load is about 30-32 per cent of total load during normal times.
    • Of India’s total electricity demand load pattern, industrial and agricultural consumption accounts for 40 per cent and 20 per cent load, while commercial electricity consumption accounts for 8 per cent of demand.
    • So, theoretically, if only lighting load goes off, it should not have a major impact on grid frequency during normal times.

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  • Disasters and Disaster Management – Sendai Framework, Floods, Cyclones, etc.

    Explained: Notified Disaster

    Explained | Enviro & Biodiversity | : Disaster Management

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: SDRF/NDRF

    Mains level: Coronovirus outbreak and its mitigation

    The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to treat COVID-19 as a notified disaster for the purpose of providing assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

    What is a Disaster?

    According to the Disaster Management Act, 2005 a disaster is defined as-

    • A catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or manmade causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.
    • The MHA has defined a disaster as an “extreme disruption of the functioning of a society that causes widespread human, material, or environmental losses that exceed the ability of the affected society to cope with its own resources.

    What is the State Disaster Response Fund?

    • The SDRF is constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and is the primary fund available with state governments for responses to notified disasters.
    • The Central government contributes 75 per cent towards the SDRF allocation for general category states and UTs, and over 90 per cent for special category states/UTs (which includes northeastern states, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand).
    • For SDRF, the Centre releases funds in two equal instalments as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission.
    • The disasters covered under the SDRF include cyclones, droughts, tsunamis, hailstorms, landslides, avalanches and pest attacks among others.

    The NDRF

    The National Disaster Response Fund, which is also constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 supplements the SDRF of a state, in case of a disaster of severe nature, provided adequate funds are not available in the SDRF.

    Categories of disaster

    • A High Power Committee on Disaster Management was constituted in 1999 to identify disaster categories.
    • It identified 31 disaster categories organised into five major subgroups, which are: water and climate-related disasters, geological related disasters, chemical, industrial and nuclear-related disasters and biological related disasters, which includes biological disasters and epidemics.

    Have there been such instances in the past?

    • In 2018, in view of the devastation caused by the Kerala floods, political leaders in Kerala demanded that the floods be declared a “national calamity”.
    • As of now, there is no executive or legal provision to declare a national calamity.
    • In 2001, the National Committee on Disaster Management under then PM was mandated to look into the parameters that should define a national calamity.
    • However, the committee did not suggest any fixed criterion.
    • In the past, there have been demands from states to declare certain events as natural disasters, such as the Uttarakhand flood in 2013, Cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh in 2014, and the Assam floods of 2015.

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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    Social Distancing and Flattening the Curve

    Explained | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    The last two days, a number of states in India have enforced measures aimed at reducing public gatherings. This is called “social distancing”.

    How does social distancing work?

    • To stem the speed of the coronavirus spread so that healthcare systems can handle the influx, experts are advising people to avoid mass gatherings.
    • Offices, schools, concerts, conferences, sports events, weddings, and the like have been shut or cancelled around the world, including in a number of Indian states.
    • An advisory by the US Centers for Disease Control recommends social distancing measures such as: reducing the frequency of large gatherings and limiting the number of attendees; limiting inter-school interactions; and considering distance or e-learning in some settings.

    What is the objective of such restrictions?

    • Compared to deadlier diseases such as bird flu, or H5N1, coronavirus is not as fatal —which ironically also makes it more difficult to contain.
    • With milder symptoms, the infected are more likely to be active and still spreading the virus.
    • For example, more than half the cases aboard a cruise ship that has docked in California did not exhibit any symptoms.
    • In a briefing on March 11, WHO officials said, “Action must be taken to prevent transmission at the community level to reduce the epidemic to manageable clusters.”
    • The main question for governments is to reduce the impact of the virus by flattening the trajectory of cases from a sharp bell curve to an elongated speed-bump-like curve.
    • This is being called “flattening the curve”. How does ‘flattening the curve’ help?
    • Limiting community transmission is the best way to flatten the curve.

    What was the curve like in China?

    • The numbers show that the virus spread within Hubei exponentially but plateaued in other provinces.
    • Some say it’s because many of these countries learnt from the 2003 SARS epidemic.
    • Just as Chinese provinces outside of Hubei effectively stemmed the spread in February, three other countries —South Korea, Italy, and Iran — were not able to flatten the curve.

    Flattening The Curve

    • In epidemiology, the idea of slowing a virus’ spread so that fewer people need to seek treatment at any given time is known as “flattening the curve.”
    • It explains why so many countries are implementing “social distancing” guidelines — including a “lockdown” order that affects 1.3 billion people in India, even though COVID-19 outbreaks in various places might not yet seem severe.

    What is the curve?

    • The “curve” researchers are talking about refers to the projected number of people who will contract COVID-19 over a period of time.
    • To be clear, this is not a hard prediction of how many people will definitely be infected, but a theoretical number that’s used to model the virus’ spread. Here’s what one looks like:

    • The curve takes on different shapes, depending on the virus’s infection rate.
    • It could be a steep curve, in which the virus spreads exponentially (that is, case counts keep doubling at a consistent rate), and the total number of cases skyrockets to its peak within a few weeks.
    • Infection curves with a steep rise also have a steep fall; after the virus infects pretty much everyone who can be infected, case numbers begin to drop exponentially, too.
    • The faster the infection curve rises, the quicker the local health care system gets overloaded beyond its capacity to treat people.
    • As we’re seeing in Maharashtra or Ahmedabad, more and more new patients may be forced to go without ICU beds, and more and more hospitals may run out of the basic supplies they need to respond to the outbreak.
    • A flatter curve, on the other hand, assumes the same number of people ultimately get infected, but over a longer period of time.
    • A slower infection rate means a less stressed health care system, fewer hospital visits on any given day and fewer sick people being turned away.

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