Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Crises in Pakistan and India's approach towards it
Context
Whether it can or should make a difference to Pakistanâs internal politics, India must pay greater attention to the internal dynamics of our most difficult neighbour and more purposefully engage a diverse set of actors in that polity.
India’s interventions in internal affairs of neighbours
- Except for Pakistan, in most other countries of the subcontinent, India is drawn quickly into their internal political arguments.
- Delhi has always exercised some influence on the outcomes of those contestations.
- It is enough to note that Indiaâs interventions are a recurring pattern in the subcontinentâs international relations.
- Even when Delhi is reluctant to get into the weeds of these conflicts, the competing parties in the neighbourhood demand Indiaâs intervention on their behalf.
- All of the contestants, of course, resolutely oppose Indiaâs meddling when it goes against them.
- But Delhi has rarely been a decisive player in Pakistanâs internal politics.
- Delhiâs hands-off attitude is surprising, given Indiaâs huge stakes in the nature of Pakistanâs policies and their massive impact on regional security.
Current crises in Pakistan
- Internal crises: Among the many challenges confronting Pakistan is the fresh breakdown in civil-military relations.
- Pakistanâs economy is in a tailspin as it struggles to negotiate a stabilisation package with the International Monetary Fund.
- The militant religious movement Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has mounted a fresh march against the capital demanding the release of its arrested leader.
- External crises: The internal crises are sharpened by worsening external conditions.
- In Afghanistan, Pakistan has succeeded in restoring the Taliban to power.
- The celebrations have not lasted too long; the long-awaited victory is turning sour.
- The Arab Gulf states that have been fast friends of Pakistan are now tilting towards India.
- Once a favourite partner of the West, Pakistan today faces tensions in its ties with the US and Europe.
- More broadly, nuclear weapons and a powerful army seem unable to stop Pakistanâs relative decline in relation to not just India but also Bangladesh.
- Pakistanâs economy is now 10 times smaller than that of India and is well behind Bangladesh.
Suggestions
- Whether it can or should make a difference to Pakistanâs internal politics, India must pay greater attention to the internal dynamics of our most difficult neighbour and more purposefully engage a diverse set of actors in that polity.
- For Delhi, it is always about narrow political arguments with Rawalpindi and Islamabad; it is as if the people of Pakistan do not exist.
- For India, the crises in Pakistan should be an occasion to reflect on the long-term regional consequences of Pakistanâs internal turbulence.
- It might be argued that that unlike elsewhere in the neighbourhood, Delhiâs leverage in Pakistanâs politics is limited. But it is by no means negligible.
Consider the question “For Delhi, it is always about narrow political arguments with Rawalpindi and Islamabad; it is as if the people of Pakistan do not exist. The depth of the current crises in Pakistan, however, should nudge India into overcoming this entrenched indifference. Comment.”
Conclusion
India looms so large in Pakistanâs mind space. For Delhi, it may be worth trying to turn that into influence over Pakistanâs policies if only at the tactical level and at the margins.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Issues with paddy cultivation
Mains level: Paper 3- Pathway to switch from paddy to maize cultivation
Context
As per the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) of agricultural households conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), an average Indian farmer earned Rs 10,218 per month in 2018-19 (July-June).
SAS analysis: Variation across the states and cause of concern for Punjab
- Across states, the highest income was received by a farming household in Meghalaya (Rs 29,348) followed by Punjab (Rs 26,701), Haryana (Rs 22,841), Arunachal Pradesh (19,225) and Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 18,918).
- While the lowest income levels were in West Bengal (Rs 6,762), Odisha (Rs 5,112) and Jharkhand (Rs 4,895).
- But this is not a fair comparison as holding sizes vary widely across states.
- After normalising these incomes of agri-households by their holding sizes, as in the SAS, Punjabâs ranking on per hectare income falls from 2nd to 11th and Haryana goes down from 3rd to 15th (see figure).
- The states that would do well on this score are Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
- In these states, people earn their income from cultivating fruits and vegetables, spices, and livestock.
- These are high value in nature, not linked to MSPs, and market and demand-driven.
- As per the SAS, the average operated area per holding for Punjab is 1.44 ha (we have used that in the figure), but the Census gives a much higher value of 3.62 ha of average operational holding.
- Â If we normalise incomes of agri-households using Census values of average holding sizes, Punjabâs rank would go further down to 21st (household monthly income Rs 7,376) out of 28 states.
How can farmers in Punjab and Haryana augment their incomes with more sustainable agriculture?
1) Swith from paddy to maize
- Punjabâs former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had approached the Centre with an idea to create a fund of around Rs 25,000 crore to help farmers switch from paddy to maize.
- The Centre should give this idea a serious thought with the following modifications:
- One, the fund should be under a five-year plan to shift at least a million hectares of paddy area (out of a total of 3.1 million hectares of paddy area in Punjab) to maize.
- Two, the corpus should have equal contributions from the Centre and state.
- Three, since Punjab wants that farmers be given MSP for maize, an agency, the Maize Corporation of Punjab (MCP), should be created to buy maize from farmers at MSP.
- Four, this agency should enter into contracts with ethanol companies, and much of this maize can be used to produce ethanol as the poultry and starch industries will not be able to absorb this surplus in maize once a million hectares of paddy area shifts to maize.
- Fifth, maize productivity must be as competitive as that of paddy in Punjab and the best seeds should be used for that purpose.
- This is to ensure that ethanol from maize is produced in a globally competitive manner.
- The GoIâs policy for 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol should come in handy for this purpose.
2) Diversification
- Other parts of the diversification strategy have to be along the lines of increasing the area under fruits and vegetables, and a more focused policy to build efficient value chains in not just fruits and vegetables but also livestock and fisheries.
- They are more nutritious and the SAS data shows that their profitability is much higher in these enterprises than in crop cultivation, especially cereals.
- The sector needs to be backed by proper processing, grading and packaging infrastructure to tap its full potential.
Benefits of switching to maize from paddy
- Punjab will arrest its depleting water table as maize needs less than one-fifth the water that paddy does for irrigation.
- Also, Punjab will save much on the power subsidy to agriculture, which was budgeted at Rs 8,275 crore in the FY2020-21 budget, as paddy irrigation consumes much of the power subsidy.
- This saving subsidy resulting from the switch from paddy to maize can be used to fund a part of the stateâs contribution to the Maize Corporation of Punjab.
- This could result in a win-win situation for all â farmers, the Government of Punjab and the country â as there will be lesser methane emissions and less stubble burning.
- Moreover, ethanol will also reduce GHG emissions in vehicular pollution.
Consider the question “Switching from paddy cultivation to maize can help the Punjab farmers deal with the several issues. In light of this, explain the issues with paddy cultivation and suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
Their income on a per hectare basis needs to increase more sustainably, protecting the stateâs land, water and air from further degradation, and producing more nutritious food. Punjab can then shine again on the nutritional security front with sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Medical Commission
Mains level: Paper 2- More LGBTQIA+ affirmative curriculum
Context
The National Medical Commission (NMC), the body responsible for regulating medical education in India, released an advisory regarding the LGBTQIA+ community and the necessary changes in the competencies of its competency-based medical education (CBME) curriculum.
Exclusion of LGBTQIA+ community in medication
- Medical education in India has focussed only on the binary of male and female, heterosexuality and cis-gendered lives, while excluding homosexuality and gender non-binary and transgender issues.
- This results in the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community.
- Even with the release of the competency-based medical curriculum in August 2019, the curriculum continues to include a queerphobic syllabus.
About the NMC notification
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the âreview of medical curriculum and research for doctors to address their [transgender] specific health issues,â but no action has been taken since then.
- In June 2021, in response to a case filed by a queer couple, the Madras High Court laid down a set of guidelines and directed the NMC to ban queerphobic practices such as conversion therapy which aims to forcibly change the sexual orientation of a person.
- In its notification, the NMC has advised medical colleges to teach gender in a way that is not derogatory to the queer community.
- The authors of medical textbooks have also been asked to amend the books to remove any harmful contents regarding virginity and the queer community.
Issues with the NMC notification
- While the NMC advisory title mentions necessary changes in the competencies of its CBME curriculum, there are no specifications on what these changes are.
- Â At the same time, the CBME curriculum itself mentions queerphobic things that are to be taught to students.
- Certain acts are called as sexual offences even though the Supreme Court has read down Section 377.Â
- Â Also, the competencies which will make a future Indian doctor respectful and empathetic in treating a queer patient are missing.
Way forward
- The NMC must start by recognising the flaws in its own CBME curriculum and explicitly state the changes required.
- Specific guidelines on how to make healthcare queer-affirmative are needed.
- The directive also needs to specify changes across several subjects and not just forensic medicine and psychiatry.
- Â For this, there needs to be a participatory stakeholder consultation towards the development of a queer-affirmative curriculum.
- Finally, there needs to be clarity on what the NMC plans to do for tackling queerphobia in the current set of health professionals.
Consider the question “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 mandates governments to take measures for the review of the medical curriculum. In light of this, discuss the changes needed in the medical curriculum regarding the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Conclusion
Without these changes, equitable access to healthcare for queer persons will remain a faraway dream.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: HELE power plants
Mains level: Paper 3- Clean energy transition plan
Context
India has a long way to go in providing electricity security to its people since its per capita electricity consumption is still only a third of the global average.
Ensuring energy security and role of coal
- Energy security warrants the uninterrupted supply of energy at affordable prices.
- Â Thanks to the Electricity Act of 2003, the installed coal-fired thermal power plant (TPP) generation capacity in India more than doubled from 94 GW to 192 GW between March 2011 and 2017.
- This sharp increase in the installed capacity has enabled the government to increase per capita electricity consumption by 37% while reducing peak demand deficit from 9.8% (2010-11) to 1.6% (2016-17).Â
- TPPs contributed 71% of the 1,382 billion units (BU) of electricity generated by utilities in India during FY 2020-21 though they accounted for only 55% of the total installed generation capacity of 382 GW (as of March 2021).
- Coal, therefore, plays a vital role in Indiaâs ongoing efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, which is âto ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allâ.
Renewable energy utilisation issue and implications for consumers
- While variable renewable energy (VRE) sources (primarily, wind and solar) account for 24.7% of the total installed generation capacity, as of March 2021, they contributed 10.7% of the electricity generated by utilities during FY 2020-21.
- However, the ramp-up of VRE generation capacity without commensurate growth in electricity demand has resulted in lower utilisation of TPPs whose fixed costs must be paid by the distribution companies (DISCOMs) and passed through to the final consumer.
- The current level of VRE in the national power grid is increasing the cost of power procurement for DISCOMs, leading to tariff increases for electricity consumers.Â
- Therefore, India must implement a plan to increase energy efficiency and reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and airborne pollutants from TPPs without making power unaffordable to industries that need low-cost 24×7 power to compete in the global market.
Way forward: time-bound transition plan
- Phasing out: The plan should involve the progressive retirement of TPPs(unit size 210 MW and below) based on key performance parameters such as efficiency, specific coal consumption, technological obsolescence, and age.
- Increasing utilisation: The resulting shortfall in baseload electricity generation can be made up by increasing the utilisation of existing High-Efficiency-Low-Emission (HELE) TPPs that are currently under-utilised to accommodate VRE and commissioning the 47 government-owned TPPs.
- In addition, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is also constructing 11 nuclear power plants with a total generation capacity of 8,700 MW that will supply 24×7 power without any CO2 emissions.
- The combined thermal (220 GW) and nuclear (15 GW) capacity of 235 GW can meet the baseload requirement (80% of peak demand) during the evening peak in FY 2029-30 without expensive battery storage.
- The optimal utilisation of existing and under-construction HELE TPPs with faster-ramping capabilities and lower technical minimums also facilitates VRE integration.
- Since HELE TPPs minimise emissions of particulate matter (PM), SO2, and NO2, the transition plan offers operational, economic, and environmental benefits including avoidance of sustenance Capex and FGD costs in the 211 obsolete TPPs to be retired besides savings in specific coal consumption and water requirement leading to reductions in electricity tariffs and PM pollution.
Conclusion
The implementation of transition plan will enable India to safeguard its energy security and ensure efficient grid operations with lower water consumption, PM pollution, and CO2 emissions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Internal democracy in political parties
Context
It is obvious that institutional intermediaries in a representative democracy must themselves be democratic. However, beyond the rhetoric, internal democracy in a political party is less straightforward.
How democratic accountability in a political party is different from that in a country
- Democratic accountability in a political party is qualitatively different from that in a country.
- A political party is a collaborative platform to capture state power to achieve a certain vision for society.Â
- In a country, there are sharp differences between citizens on the vision and values themselves and the role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.
- Thus, while democracy at the level of the country is a bottom-up opportunity to change direction altogether, democratic accountability in a political party exists within an ideological framework.
Is internal elections for party leadership a solution?
- Subversion of internal institutional process: Proponents underestimate the ability of existing repositories of power to subvert internal institutional processes to consolidate power and maintain the status quo.
- Independence of lower level: the assumption that the lower levels would be independent and hold the higher levels of leadership to account glosses over the many ways power asserts itself.
- Independence and quality of electorate: The outcome of internal elections is contingent on the independence and quality of the electorate.
- In indirect elections (through delegates), the electorate would likely mirror the existing balance of power.
- In direct elections, there is a concern of ideological dilution and/or capture through opportunistic membership.
- It is evident that internal elections may factionalise power but cannot establish normative accountability, which extends to all members of the party along three interconnected axes of ideology, organisation and competence.
- Normative accountability is thus rooted in a dynamic context and is necessarily a deliberative process.
Democratic functioning in political parties is not an end in itself
- Unlike for the state, democracy is not an end in itself for a political party.
- The highest possible attainment of individual well-being and individual self-will through a democratic state is an end in itself.
- The purpose of a political party is the acquisition of state power.
- Democratic functioning may be an ideological imperative, operational choice, or legitimising tactic but it is not an end in itself for a political party.
Way forward
- Instead of looking at internal party processes, one way to decentralise power is by getting rid of the anti-defection law.
- The need to canvass votes in the legislature will create room for negotiation in the party organisation too.
- Most importantly, this reform will impose a similar burden on all political parties and may create space to change the overall political culture.
Consider the question “Lack of internal democratic functioning in the political parties has bearing on the overall political functioning of the country. Examine the factors responsible for its lack in India and suggest measures to encourage it.”
Conclusion
The role of democracy is not just to create a framework to negotiate conflict but to ensure that the state is representative of the largest section of the electorate through periodic elections.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAPF, ITBP
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues faced by the police and paramilitary forces
Context
In memory of these and other colleagues killed, all the police forces of the State and Centre observe October 21 as Police Commemoration Day.
Casualties among the police forces
- As the CRPF is deployed in the highly disturbed areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and the Left-Wing Extremist-affected States, the highest casualties (82) were seen in this force.
- The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which guards the border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh at forbidding heights, lost 54 of its personnel.
- The Border Security Force lost 47 personnel.
- Among the State Police forces, Chhattisgarh, which is combating the Maoist menace, lost the most personnel (32) followed by J&K (17) and Karnataka (17).
Neglect of the police and paramilitary personnels
- They get paid low salaries, have a poor quality of life and are often deprived of basic facilities.
- The morale of the paramilitary personnel is not of the desired level.
- Those who cleared recruitment exams in 2003 but joined the force in 2004 or later are not eligible for pension under the old norms.
- Canteen and medical facilities are dismal.
- Items sold through the Central Police Canteens are not exempted from GST.
- There are notable variations in the ex-gratia amounts given to the next of kin of the police who are killed.
- The Centre and the States need to bring about uniformity in the amount paid.
- Care should be taken to ensure that the next of kin are not deprived of a decent living.
- Payments from the public exchequer need to be made judiciously.
Conclusion
It is high time the government takes note of the grievances of the police and paramilitary personnel and not let their sacrifices go in vain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GATT
Mains level: Paper 3- Rising trade protectionism
Context
India’s efforts for deepening Indiaâs trade ties with several countries could be scuttled by rising trade protectionism at home.
Increasing protectionism by India
- Increase in average tariffs: As Arvind Panagariya has argued, the simple average of Indiaâs tariffs that stood at 8.9 per cent in 2010-11 has increased by almost 25 per cent to 11.1 per cent in 2020-21.
- These increases in tariff rates have reversed the political consensus on tariff liberalisation that India followed since 1991.
- Initiator of anti-dumping measures: India is the highest initiator of anti-dumping measures aimed at shielding domestic industry from import competition.
- According to the WTO, from 2015 to 2019, India initiated 233 anti-dumping investigations, which is a sharp increase from 82 initiations between 2011 and 2014 (June).
- The anti-dumping initiations by India from 1995 (when the WTO was established) till 2020 stand at 1,071.
- Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f): India recently amended Section 11(2)(f) of the Customs Act of 1962, giving the government the power to ban the import or export of any good (not just gold and silver, as this provision applied earlier) if it is necessary to prevent injury to the economy.Â
- Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f) to cover any good is inconsistent with Indiaâs WTO obligations.
- WTO allows countries to impose restrictions on imports in case of injury to domestic industry, not to the âeconomyâ.
- Restrictive rules of origin: Finance Minister in her budget speech of 2020 said that undue claims of FTA benefits pose a threat to the domestic industry.
- Â Subsequently, India amended the rules of origin requirement under the Customs Act.
- Rules of origin determine the national source of a product.
- This helps in deciding whether to apply a preferential tariff rate (if the product originates from Indiaâs FTA partner country) or to apply the most favoured nation rate (if the product originates from a non-FTA country).
- But India has imposed onerous burdens on importers to ensure compliance with the rules of origin requirement.
- The intent appears to be to dissuade importers from importing goods from Indiaâs FTA partners.
- Impact of vocal for local: The clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be âvocal for localâ is creating an ecosystem where imports are looked at with disdain, upsetting competitive opportunities and trading partners.
What are the implications?
- Protectionist steps are justified on the ground that they would help domestic companies grow into viable competitors.
- But the fact is that protectionism does not benefit the domestic economy.
- It rather encourages inefficiency of domestic manufacturers.
- It is likely to hurt exports, make domestic goods costlier and reduce benefits to consumers from increased competition.
- So in the long term, protectionism is likely to have only a negative effect on industryâs ability to compete globally.
- For India to reap the benefits of the summits and partnerships like Quad, there needs to be a fundamental shift in policy.
- Amore pragmatic approach in line with the recent initiatives to reverse the retrospective tax legislation and provide support to the flailing telecom sector must be expanded.
Conclusion
India canât maximise its interests at the expense of others. Its experiment with trade protectionism in the decades before 1991 was disastrous. We should recall Winston Churchillâs warning: âThose who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.â
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BSF
Mains level: Paper 3- Issue of extending BSF's jurisdiction
Context
The Union home ministryâs order to extend the jurisdiction of the Border Security Forces (BSF) has caused furore.
Justification for the order
- Increased threats: The Talibanâs takeover in Afghanistan has revived serious threats of cross-border infiltration from Pakistan, while China, our other tense neighbour, has been increasingly aggressive over the past year.
- Change in the jurisdiction: The BSFâs powers have not altered, only its jurisdiction has changed from 15 to 50 kilometres and that is for the purposes of uniformity.
Issues raised by the order
- Lack of clarity: That India is facing heightened security threats is undeniable.
- What is unclear is how the BSFâs extended jurisdiction helps counter these threats.
- The recent drug seizures in Gujaratâs Adani port were successfully conducted by the customs department and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence â not by the BSF, despite their jurisdiction depth of 80 kilometres in the state.
- No need for uniformity: In the security context, arguments about uniformity are patently absurd.
- There is no uniformity between coastal smuggling in Gujarat, cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, smuggling and drone drops in Punjab.
- Risk of civilian resentment: The order raises the risk of civilian resentment, even clashes, given that the BSF is not trained to operate in residential and/or market areas, it will also undermine the state police forcesâ morale even further.
- Overstretching BSF: The BSF is likely to be overstretched by its new tasks.
- Once again, that could weaken rather than strengthen the BSFâs security capabilities.
Tackling illegal migration
- Curbing illegal migration requires coordinated action between India and its neighbours, first at the political and then at the security level.
- The administrationâs migration policies â the Citizenship Amendment Act, deporting Myanmar refugees even when they were locally welcomed, cancelling Afghan visas have made cooperation more difficult and impacting negatively on border security.
- To think that the BSF can plug what is a government-to-government policy gap is prone to failure.
Way forward
- Coordination: The underlying issue when it comes to tackling both smuggling and infiltration threats is coordination between our security agencies.
- Police reform: The state police forces have weakened, therefore, the solution lies in putting police reforms on an emergency footing, not in extending the BSFâs jurisdiction.
- That we have a grave policing problem across India is undeniable.
- But the answer is not to write them off; it is to insulate them from political misuse while holding them accountable for rule of law lapses.
- Moreover, to strengthen police capabilities it is vital that other security forces cooperate with local police forces, not bypass them.
- The BSF has had a relatively good record of local police cooperation thus far.
- When it comes to cross-border infiltration, intelligence is the key.
Conclusion
Strengthening police capabilities, improving coordination between security agencies and cooperation with state law enforcement are needed to address these issues.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Dimensions of national security policy in 21st century
Context
National security concepts have, in the two decades of the 21st century, undergone fundamental changes. Cyberwarfare has vastly reduced the deterrent value of conventional deterrents.
Emergence of cyberwarfare
- In the 21st century, after cybertechnology enters as an important variable in nationsâ defence policies.
- Geographical land size or GDP size will be irrelevant in war-making capacity or deterrence.
- These fundamental changes are entirely due to the earlier 20th century innovations in cybertechnology and software developments.
- Drones, robots, satellites and advanced computers as weapons are already in use.
- Some examples of further innovations are artificial intelligence and nanotechnology.
- Tracking those cyber warfare threat will need a new national security policy.
- By credible accounts, China, recently, publicly cautioned Indians to sit up and take notice by using cybertechnology to shut down Mumbaiâs electric supply in populated areas of the city, for a few hours.
Four dimensions of national security policy
- Objectives: the objective of the National Security Policy in the 21st century is to define what assets are required to be defended, the identity of opponents.
- Although the novel coronavirus is perhaps accidental, it has completely destabilised peoples globally and their governments in all nations of the world over.
- This is a preview of the kinds of threats that await us in the coming decades which a national security policy will have to address by choosing a nationâs priorities.
- Priorities: National security priorities will require new departments for supporting several frontiers of innovation and technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells, desalination of seawater, thorium for nuclear technology, anti-computer viruses, and new immunity-creating medicines.
- This focus on a new priority will require compulsory science and mathematics education, especially in applications for analytical subjects.
- Strategy: The strategy required for this new national security policy will be to anticipate our enemies in many dimensions and by demonstrative but limited pre-emptive strikes by developing a strategy of deterrence of the enemy.
- For India, it will be the China cyber capability factor which is the new threat for which it has to devise a new strategy.
- Resource mobilisation: The macroeconomics of resource mobilisation depends on whether a nation has âdemandâ as an economic deficit or not.
- If demand for a commodity or service is in deficit to clear the market of the available supply of the same, then liberal printing of currency and placing it in the hands of consumers is recommended for the economy to recover the demand-supply parity.
- A way to increase demand is by lowering the interest rate on bank loans or raising the rates in fixed deposits which will enable banks to obtain liquidity and lend liberally for enhancing investment for production.
- If it is âsupplyâ that is short or in deficit compared to demand, then special measures are required to incentivise to encourage an increase in supply.
Conclusion
National security at its root in the 21st century will depend on mind-boggling skills in the four dimensions mentioned above.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AUKUS
Mains level: Paper 2- Changing course of India foreign policy
Context
India plans to host an international conference on Afghanistan in the second week of November.
Is the Indian foreign policy changing course?
- All signs point towards a major calibration of the foreign-policy compass in recent weeks since the tumultuous events in Kabul two months ago culminated in the formation of an interim government by the Taliban.
- As regards the way forward in Afghanistan, India has opted to align with the Anglo-American camp in the international line-up arrayed against the Eurasian axis of Russia, China and Iran.
- While the US has an attitude of âYouâre either with us, or against usâ, vis-a-vis the Taliban, Russia, China, Iran and other neighbouring states give primacy to stability and security of Afghanistan.
- Being a discontented party, unsurprisingly, India would have more in common with the revisionist powers â the US and the UK.
- While the stated purpose of the participating countries is marking Afghanistan, it is the future that matters, being an epochal one that would transform the geopolitics of the region.
- Thus, Delhi has moved up to the centrestage of the Quad.
- In turn, the US accepts that the Quad ought to be âinclusiveâ. Global Britain is knocking at the door.
- On its part, Delhi has displayed its comfort level with the AUKUS.
- The historical Western experience of the EU and NATO moving in tandem to weaken a common enemy is being replicated with Asian characteristics.
- A dual containment strategy is unfolding against China and Russia.
- Thus, its short-lived dalliance with Iran is losing its gravitas and India has swung to the other extreme to identify with a new quadrilateral platform in West Asia, with Israel, UAE and the US.
- India shrugs its shoulders as its âtime-testedâ friend, Moscow, bemoans the Quad and AUKUS.
- This astonishing zigzagging in Indiaâs regional policy takes the breath away.
Challenges for India
- India lives in its region and the Quad and AUKUS are of no help when it comes to Afghanistan.
- Pakistan and China are riding high in the Hindu Kush; Moscow and Beijing have moved close in Central Asia which Washington is having a hard time in dealing with.
- Indiaâs much-touted âinfluenceâ in Kabul has turned out to be delusional.
- Its own capacity to shape future events is virtually nil. These are the hard realities.
Conclusion
With the conference where India hopes to create an equivalent of the vajrayudha of the ancient Vedas which would allow India to reclaim its rightful place in the Afghan pantheon of gods and demi-gods.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Types of technologies in PV cells
Mains level: Paper 3- Adoption of new technologies in solar power sector
Context
Large-scale solar projects in Tamil Nadu have seen rapid growth in recent years. By embracing advances in solar technologies, India can continue to lead in this sector.
Factors driving growth
- In the past five years, the cumulative installed capacity witnessed a four-fold increase in Tamil Nadu to 4.4 GW, as of March 2021.
- High insolation level: Aiding this capacity addition is the Stateâs reasonably high insolation levels and matching solar potential, estimated at 279GW.
- Decline in price: The sharp decline in the prices for solar and resulting cost competitiveness is another factor.
- National target: Additionally, in response to the ambitious national targets and to spur sector specific development, Tamil Nadu released the Solar Policy of 2019, aiming for 9GW of solar installations by 2023.
Type of technology use for solar panel
- 1) Mono-crystalline Vs multi-crystalline panels: âFirst-generationâ solar cells use mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline silicon wafers.
- The efficiency of mono-crystalline panels is about 24%, while for multi-crystalline panels it is about 20%.
- Mono-crystalline cells are dominant today.
- Although mono-crystalline panels are priced higher than multi-crystalline ones, the difference is diminishing and will soon attain parity.
- This would result in mono panels being preferred over multi due to their higher efficiency, greater energy yield and lower cost of energy.
- 2) Bifacial solar cells: Newer technologies incorporating crystalline silicon focus on bifacial solar cells, capable of harvesting energy from both sides of the panel.
- Bifacials can augment the power output by 10-20%.
- Within this, the Passive Emitter and Rear Contact technology is predicted to gain popularity. However, it is yet to achieve price parity for large-scale deployment.
- 3) Thin-film technologies: It is classified as the âsecond generation of solar PVs.
- In addition to being used in solar farms and rooftops, thin films with their low thickness, light weight and flexibility are also placed on electronic devices and vehicles, power streetlights and traffic signals.
- Mainstream thin films utilise semiconductor chemistries like Cadmium Telluride with module efficiencies of around 19%.
- Other technologies include Amorphous Silicon and Copper Indium Gallium Di-Selenide.
- Nanocrystal and dye-sensitised solar cells are variants of the thin film technology. These are in early stages for large-scale commercial deployment
- However, the efficiency of thin films is lower than that of crystalline silicon.
- 4) Perovskite: These are grouped as âthird generationâ and contain technologies such as perovskite, nanocrystal and dye-sensitised solar cells.
- Perovskites have seen rapid advances in recent years, achieving cell efficiency of 18%.
- They have the highest potential to replace silicon and disrupt the solar PV market, due to factors such as ease of manufacture, low production costs and potential for higher efficiencies.
- 5) Use of Graphene Quantum-dots: Graphene is made of a single layer of carbon atoms bonded together as hexagons.
- Solar cells made of graphene are of interest due to high theoretical efficiency of 60% and its super capacitating nature.
- Â Quantum-dot PVs use semiconductor nanocrystals exhibiting quantum mechanical properties capable of high efficiency of about 66%.
- However, both these are in the early stages of research.
Technologies to better integrate solar PVs into the grid
- These technologies include weather forecasting and power output prediction systems; operation monitoring and control systems; and scheduling and optimisation systems.
- Additionally, automatic systems have been developed for the smooth resolution of output fluctuations.
Way forward
- A portion of the budget for renewable energy targets should be set aside exclusively for new technologies.
- Grants and subsidies can also be provided for their adoption.
- Efforts must be taken to address gaps in research, development, and manufacturing capabilities in the solar sector through sector-specific investment and incentives.
- There must also be greater industry-academia collaborations and funding opportunities for startups.
- A comprehensive sector-specific skilling programme is also required for workers.
Conclusion
All these efforts would help the country become a global player in the solar power sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: EU
Mains level: Paper 2- EU Indo-Pacific strategy
Context
Last month, the EU released it âEU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacificâ. This document is very rich and needs to be analysed in the context of the rapprochement between the EU and India, which culminated in the June EU-India summit, a âturning pointâ according to some analysts.
Important takeaways from EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy
- The EU strategy in the Indo-Pacific appears to be over-determined by Chinaâs expansionism.
- âThe display of force and increasing tensions in regional hotspots such as in the South and East China Sea and in the Taiwan Strait may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity,â the document says.
- If security interests are highlighted in the beginning, they are rather low in the list of the objectives of the EU Indo-Pacific strategy, which are listed as: âSustainable and inclusive prosperity; green transition; ocean governance; digital governance and partnerships; connectivity; security and defence; human securityâ.
- Many paragraphs of the document are dedicated to values, including human rights.
India does not figure prominently in the policy document
- In terms of partnerships, India does not figure very prominently.
- By contrast, ASEAN is presented as âan increasingly important partner for the EUâ.
- However, India appears in the list of the countries which already have an Indo-Pacific strategy and with which the EU is interested in a deeper âengagementâ, a list made of ASEAN, Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the UK and US.
- However, the document does not mention the role India could play in value-chain diversification, a top priority of the EU since the Covid-19 pandemic in particular.
- Yet, India is mentioned few pages later in a similar perspective when it is said that the EU will help âlow and middle-income Indo-Pacific partners to secure access to the Covid-19 vaccine through the Covax facility and through other meansâ.
- What the French see as Indiaâs main asset, its strategic dimension, is not central in the EU document.
- Â India is listed as the EUâs first partner only in one area: âunder the project Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia (ESIWA), which covers counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, maritime security and crisis management.
- The pilot partners are India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, with EU military experts already operating in Indonesia and in Vietnam.â
Understanding the German influence on the policy document
- Thus, the EU strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is more in tune with the German vision of the Indo-Pacific than with the French one.
- The fact that the German approach prevails in the EU document is a reflection of the influence of Berlinâs weltanschauung (worldview) in Europe â something Brexit has accentuated, Great Britainâs Indo-Pacific strategy being similar to Franceâs.
- But Chinaâs attitude may force Germany â and the EU â to change their mind in the near future.
Conclusion
By and large, the Indo-Pacific strategy of the EU remains driven by economic considerations and India, whose main asset is geopolitical and even geostrategic, does not figure prominently in it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Alternative foreign policy
Context
A document has emerged from the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in the nature of an alternative to the present foreign and defence policies named âIndiaâs Path to Power: Strategy in a world adriftâ. It is authored by eight well-known strategists and thinkers.
Background of the document
- In 2012, many of the same authors had produced another document, âNon-alignment 2.0â, in the light of the global changes at that time, as a contribution to policymaking, without criticising the policies of the government.
- The present document, however, is in the nature of an alternative to the foreign and defence policies of the government, as some of its tenets are not considered conducive to finding a path to power for India in the post-pandemic world.
Change in foreign policy
- The first term of the Modi government was remarkable for its innovative, bold and assertive foreign policy, which received general approbation.
- After his unconventional peace initiatives with Pakistan failed, he took a firm stand and gained popularity at home.
- His wish to have close relations with the other neighbours did not materialise, but his helpful attitude to them even in difficult situations averted any crisis.
- He brought a new symphony into India-U.S. relations and engaged China continuously to find a new equation with it. Indiaâs relations with Israel and the Arab countries became productive.
- In its second term, the government dealt with some of the sensitive matters, which were essentially of a domestic nature such as Article 370, citizenship issues and farming regulation.
- The external dimensions of these matters led to a challenge to the government’s foreign policy.
Suggestions in the Centre for Policy Research report
- Impact of domestic issues on foreign policy: The finding of the report is that domestic issues have impacted foreign policy and, therefore, India should set its house in order to stem the tide of international reaction.
- This assertion at the beginning of the report is the heart of the report and it is repeated in different forms.
- Importance of globalisation: The report rightly points out that âit would be incorrect and counterproductive for India to turn its back on globalisation…â
- Revival of SAARC: The report also suggests that SAARC should be revived and that India should rejoin the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and continue its long-standing quest for membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
- Strategic autonomy: The report also stresses the importance of strategic autonomy in todayâs world where change is the only certainty.
- Relations with the US and China: As for the India-U.S.- China triangle, the report makes the unusual suggestion that India should have better relations individually with both the U.S. and China than they have with each other.
- The report concludes that since China will influence Indiaâs external environment politically, economically and infrastructurally, there is no feasible alternative to a combination of engagement and competition with China.
- Pakistan policy: The report asserts, âas long as our objectives of policy towards Pakistan are modest, resumption of dialogue and a gradual revival of trade, transport and other links are worth pursuing.â
Conclusion
The significance of the report is that it reveals the end of the era of consensus foreign policy and presents a shadow foreign policy for the first time in India. It remains to be seen whether any of the opposition parties will adopt it and fight the next election on the platform provided by the report.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NLM
Mains level: Paper 3- Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM)
Context
The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development and breed improvement in cattle, buffalo, poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery.
Livestock breeding and challenges
- Unorganised in nature: Livestock breeding in India has been largely unorganised.
- Lack of linkages: Because of this unorganised nature there have been gaps in forward and backward integration across the value chain.
- Impact on quality: The above scenario impacts the quality of livestock that is produced and in turn negatively impacts the return on investment for livestock farmers.
- Roughly 80% bovines in the country are low on productivity and are reared by small and marginal farmers.
Entrepreneurship development through NLM and Rashtriya Gokul Mission
- The revised version of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Mission (NLM) proposes to bring focus on entrepreneurship development.
- Breed improvement infrastructure: It seeks to provide incentives to individual entrepreneurs, farmer producer organisations, farmer cooperatives, joint liability groups, self-help groups, Section 8 companies for entrepreneurship development and State governments for breed improvement infrastructure.
- The breed multiplication farm component of the Rashtriya Gokul Mission is going to provide for capital subsidy up to âš200 lakh for setting up breeding farm with at least 200 milch cows/ buffalo using latest breeding technology.Â
- Â Moreover, the strategy of incentivising breed multiplication farm will result in the employment of 1 lakh farmers.
- The grassroots initiatives in this sphere will be further amplified by web applications like e-Gopala that provide real-time information to livestock farmers.
- Poultry: The poultry entrepreneurship programme of the NLM will provide for capital subsidy up to âš25 lakh for the setting up of a parent farm with a capacity to rear 1,000 chicks.
- Under this model, the rural entrepreneur running the hatchery will be supplying chicks to the farmers.
- This is expected to provide employment to at least 14 lakh people.
- Sheep and goat entrepreneurship: In the context of sheep and goat entrepreneurship, there is a provision of capital subsidy of 50% up to 50 lakh.
- An entrepreneur under this model shall set up a breeder farm, develop the whole chain will eventually sell the animals to the farmers or in the open market.
- This model is projected to generate a net profit of more than âš33 lakh for the entrepreneur per year.
- Piggery: For piggery, the NLM will provide 50% capital subsidy of up to âš30 lakh.
- Â Each entrepreneur will be aided with establishment of breeder farms with 100 sows and 10 boars, expected to produce 2,400 piglets in a year.
- This model is expected to generate a profit of âš1.37 crore after 16 months and 1.5 lakh jobs.
Conclusion
The revised scheme of NLM coupled with the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund has the potential to dramatically enhance the productivity and traceability standards of our livestock.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Coal Mines Nationalisation Act (CMNA)
Mains level: Paper 3- Coal crisis
Context
In India, coal-based power plants have witnessed rapid depletion of coal stocks from a comfortable 28 days at the end of March to a precarious level of four days by the end of September. Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been unfairly attacked, even as it gears up to play a crucial role in fighting the power crisis.
Reasons for crisis
- The reasons for the crisis are structural as well as operational.
- The Coal Mines Nationalisation Act (CMNA) in 1993Â enabled the government to take away 200 coal blocks of 28 billion tons from CIL and allocate them to end-users for the captive mining of coal.
- These end-users, mostly in the private sector, failed to produce any significant quantity of coal.
- The cancellation of 214 blocks by the Supreme Court added to the problem.
- Commensurate to the captive mines allocated to the end-user industries, the coal production today should have been at least 500 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
- In reality, this has never exceeded 60 mtpa.
- On the operational side, power plants are required by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to maintain a minimum stock of 15 to 30 days of normative coal consumption.
- The compliance with this directive by power plants has been severely lacking.
- This enhances the vulnerability of power plants.
- The persistent non-payment of coal sale dues by power plants to coal companies has created a serious strain on their working capital position.
- A spurt in imported coal prices, mainly due to a major increase in coal imports by China, acted as a brake on imports of coal.
- This escalated the demand for domestic coal.
- The spurt in demand for coal is being linked to the post-Covid economic recovery.
CIL’s role in mitigating the shortage crisis
- Growth in production in short duration: Despite many constraining factors, it is to the credit of CIL that it has achieved a growth of 14 million tonnes (mt) or 5.8 per cent in coal production during the first half of 2021-22.
- Yet, the offtake was higher than the preceding year by 52 mt or 20.6 per cent.
- This was possible by drawing down on the opening inventory of coal from 100 mt to 42 mt during April to September.
- With the monsoons behind us and the onset of a good productive season, CIL has already stepped up coal offtake to more than 1.5 mt per day.
- With efforts on the part of the railways in moving the coal, the crisis should dissipate in the near future, at least for power plants that pay timely for coal supplies.
- Besides meeting the growing coal demand of power plants, CIL has been able to significantly replace the import of highly expensive thermal coal.
- Cheaper coal: Even after bearing the highest tax and transport cost globally, the landed cost of CIL coal continues to be much cheaper than imported coal at almost all destinations.
- Saving of foreign exchange: The resultant benefits are savings of foreign exchange, and generation of power at affordable tariffs.
- The coal price charged by CIL, expressed in energy units, is at a deep discount of 60-70 per cent of imported coal.
Conclusion
In brief, CIL has been unfairly blamed for the coal crisis. It has played a stellar role, standing like a solid rock between light and darkness. It is striving to build comfortable stocks at the power plants, not in default of payment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHI and its components
Mains level: Paper 2- Low ranking of India on GHI
Context
This yearâs Global Hunger Index (GHI) ranks India 101 out of 116 countries for which reliable and comparable data exist.
Government’s stand
- Is Indiaâs performance on hunger as dismal as denoted by the index or is it partly a statistical artefact?
- This question assumes immediacy, especially since the government has questioned the methodology and claimed that the ranking does not represent the ground reality.
- This calls for careful scrutiny of the methodology, especially of the GHIâs components.
Understanding the GHI methodology
- The GHI has four components.
- The first â insufficient calorie intake â is applicable for all age groups.
- The data on deficiency in calorie intake, accorded 33% weight, is sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organizationâs Suite of Food Security Indicators (2021).
- The remaining three â wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age) and mortality â are confined to children under five years.
- The data on child wasting and stunting (2016-2020), each accounting for 16.6% of weight, are from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and World Bank, complemented with the latest data from the Demographic and Health Surveys.
- Under-five mortality data are for 2019 from the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.
Issues with GHI
- The GHI is largely children-oriented with a higher emphasis on undernutrition than on hunger and its hidden forms, including micronutrient deficiencies.
- The first component â calorie insufficiency â is problematic for many reasons.
- The lower calorie intake, which does not necessarily mean deficiency, may also stem from reduced physical activity, better social infrastructure (road, transport and healthcare) and access to energy-saving appliances at home, among others.
- For a vast and diverse country like India, using a uniform calorie norm to arrive at deficiency prevalence means failing to recognise the huge regional imbalances in factors that may lead to differentiated calorie requirements at the State level.
Understanding the connection between stunting and wasting and ways to tackling them
- Indiaâs wasting prevalence (17.3%) is one among the highest in the world.
- Â Its performance in stunting, when compared to wasting, is not that dismal, though.
- Child stunting in India declined from 54.2% in 1998â2002 to 34.7% in 2016-2020, whereas child wasting remains around 17% throughout the two decades of the 21st century.
- Stunting is a chronic, long-term measure of undernutrition, while wasting is an acute, short-term measure.
- Quite possibly, several episodes of wasting without much time to recoup can translate into stunting.
- Effectively countering episodes of wasting resulting from such sporadic adversities is key to making sustained and quick progress in child nutrition.
- Way forward: If India can tackle wasting by effectively monitoring regions that are more vulnerable to socioeconomic and environmental crises, it can possibly improve wasting and stunting simultaneously.
Low child mortality
- Indiaâs relatively better performance in the other component of GHI â child mortality â merits a mention.
- Studies suggest that child undernutrition and mortality are usually closely related, as child undernutrition plays an important facilitating role in child mortality.
- However, India appears to be an exception in this regard.
- This implies that though India was not able to ensure better nutritional security for all children under five years, it was able to save many lives due to the availability of and access to better health facilities.
Conclusion
The low ranking does not mean that India fares uniformly poor in every aspect. This ranking should prompt us to look at our policy focus and interventions and ensure that they can effectively address the concerns raised by the GHI, especially against pandemic-induced nutrition insecurity.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AT and C losses
Mains level: Paper 3- Salient features of Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020
Context
Most discoms are deep into the red as high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses are chipping into their revenues. Against this backdrop, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform.
Why the Electricity (Amendment) Bill of 2020 is a game-changing reform
- De-licensing power distribution:Â This will provide the consumers with an option of choosing the service provider, switch their power supplier and enable the entry of private companies in distribution, thereby resulting in increased competition.
- In fact, privatisation of discoms in Delhi has reduced AT&C losses significantly from 55% in 2002 to 9% in 2020.
- Open access for purchasing power: Open access for purchasing power from the open market should be implemented across States and barriers in the form of cross-subsidy surcharge, additional surcharge and electricity duty being applied by States should be reviewed.
- Issue of tariff revision: The question of tariffs needs to be revisited if the power sector is to be strengthened.
- Tariffs ought to be reflective of the average cost of supply to begin with and eventually move to customer category-wise cost of supply in a defined time frame.
- This will facilitate a reduction in cross-subsidies.
- Inclusion in GST: Electrical energy should be covered under GST, with a lower rate of GST, as this will make it possible for power generator/transmission/distribution utilities to get a refund of input credit, which in turn will reduce the cost of power.
- Use of smart meters: Technology solutions such as installation of smart meters and smart grids which will reduce AT&C losses and restore financial viability of the sector.
- The impetus to renewable energy: The impetus to renewable energy, which will help us mitigate the impact of climate change, is much needed.
- Despite its inherent benefits, the segment has shown relatively slow progress with an estimated installed capacity of 5-6 GW as on date, well short of the 2022 target.
- The Bill also underpins the importance of green energy by proposing a penalty for non-compliance with the renewable energy purchase obligations which mandate States and power distribution companies to purchase a specified quantity of electricity from renewable and hydro sources
- Strengthening the regulatory architecture: This will be done by appointing a member with a legal background in every electricity regulatory commission and strengthening the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.
- This will ensure faster resolution of long-pending issues and reduce legal hassles.
- Authority for contractual obligation: Provision in the Bill such as the creation of an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority to supervise the fulfillment of contractual obligations under power purchase agreement, cost reflective tariffs and provision of subsidy through DBT are commendable.
Conclusion
Early passage of the Bill is critical as it will help unleash a path-breaking reform for bringing efficiency and profitability to the distribution sector.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with NEET
Context
The Tamil Nadu government has passed an Act seeking an exemption from treating NEET as the sole and mandatory requirement for medical admission in the state. The Act, which is yet to get approval from the President.
NEET issue in Tamil Nadu
- The Justice A K Rajan committee was appointed by the state government of Tamil Nadu to examine whether NEET is an equitable method of selection.
- Its report lends credence to the belief that NEET tends to give an advantage to students from privileged backgrounds.
- It also observed that NEET, in terms of orientation, is biased towards the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
- In the section titled âSize of coaching marketâ, the report brings out two poignant facts.
- One, by inadvertently creating a âmarket for coachingâ, NEET has helped to create an âextractive industry of coachingâ as an essential condition for clearing it.
- Two, the coaching fees are not only high, but are beyond the reach of many, especially the poor and marginalised.
- Acting upon the committeeâs recommendation, the Tamil Nadu government has passed an Act seeking an exemption from treating NEET.
- The Act, which is yet to get approval from the President.
- Â An educational intervention which was introduced as a solution to foster equality of opportunity has turned out to be the primary cause of deepening inequality of participation and opportunity.
Important questions
- There are at least two important questions.
- Equality of opportunity: First, does NEET help foster equality of opportunity for everyone without unduly advantaging or disadvantaging anyone?
- Second, is NEETâs bias towards CBSE justifiable in an immensely diverse country like ours, where varied school curricula coexist with a highly unequal access to financial and educational resources and opportunities?
- The question here is: How can NEET promote parity of participation when aspiring first-generation students from marginalised and poor households participate from a highly unequal position in the first place?
- NEET disregards the fact that the terms and conditions of participation are highly unequal and biased.
Way forward
- The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) envisions a curriculum and pedagogy which will promote holistic learning, social responsibility and multilingualism, among other things.
- It is important, therefore, to significantly restructure the focus of NEET keeping in mind the spirit of NEP and varied school curricula in regional languages.
Conclusion
A restructured NEET, which does not require intensive and repeated coaching as a prerequisite and is not biased towards any board, can go a long way in promoting the parity of participation and nourishing the capacity to aspire, especially of the poor and marginalised.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Section 139 of the BSF Act
Mains level: Paper 3- BSF powers
Context
The Ministry of Home Affairs recently issued a notification extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force from 15 km to a depth of 50 km along the international borders in three states â Punjab, Assam and West Bengal.
Background of the notification about jurisdiction of BSF
- The last notification of the MHA (July 3, 2014), which defined the jurisdiction of the BSF, stated that the force could operate in the entire states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya without any restrictions whatsoever.
- In Gujarat, it had jurisdiction up to a depth of 80 km and in Rajasthan up to 50 km.
- In Punjab, Assam and West Bengal, the BSF jurisdiction was up to a depth of 15 km only.
- Under the latest notification issued on October 11, 2021, there is no change in the northeastern states and Rajasthan.
- In Gujarat, jurisdiction has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km.
- The controversial change is in Assam, West Bengal and Punjab, where the BSF jurisdiction has been extended from 15 km to 50 km.
- It is this part of the notification which has generated controversy, though the criticism has been made by leaders of Punjab and West Bengal.
Why the government of India decided to extend the jurisdiction of BSF?
- Assam, West Bengal and Punjab have international borders.
- Changed threat perception: The threat perception from across the international borders has undergone a sea change in the context of recent developments in the Af-Pak region.
- Efforts to destabilise Punjab: Radical groups of different shades are feeling emboldened and are going to make a determined attempt to destabilise Punjab.
- Pakistan-sponsored terrorist groups, particularly the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, will almost certainly renew their onslaught in the border states.
- West Bengal has already undergone a huge demographic change.
- Assam faces multiple problems of ethnic insurgencies, smuggling, counterfeit currency, drug trafficking, etc.
- Police need assistance: The police across the country are in a state of atrophy and they need the assistance of central armed police forces even for maintaining normal law and order.
- As such, their effectiveness against the emerging trans-border threats is suspect.
Implications for powers of police and federalism
- The home ministryâs latest notification only seeks to reinforce the capabilities of the state police in securing the states under section 139 of the BSF Act, which empowers the members of the force to discharge certain powers and duties within local limits of the areas specified in the schedule.
- Â The jurisdiction of the state police has neither been curtailed nor its powers reduced in any manner.
- It is just that the BSF will also be exercising powers of search, seizure and arrest in respect of only the Passport Act 1967, Passport (Entry into India) Act 1920 and specified sections of the Criminal Procedure code.
- The power to register FIR and investigate the case remains with the state police.
- The Indian Constitution, no doubt, fulfils some conditions of a federation, but it leans towards a strong Centre.
Conclusion
National security is a paramount consideration. It is unfortunate that the BSF is being dragged into political controversy when it would actually be over-stretching itself to strengthen national security.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pandora papers
Mains level: Paper 3- Tax evasion and tax avoidance
Context
The Pandora Papers, published on October 3, once again expose the illegal activities of the rich and the mighty across the world.
About the Pandora Papers investigation
- It is âthe worldâs largest-ever journalistic collaboration, involving more than 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countriesâ.
- The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has researched and analysed the approximately 12 million documents in order to unravel the functioning of the global financial architecture.
- The Pandora Papers, unlike the previous cases, are not from any one tax haven; they are leaked records from 14 offshore services firms. The data pertains to an estimated 29,000 beneficiaries.
- The 2.94 terabytes of data have exposed the financial secrets of over 330 politicians and public officials, from more than 90 countries and territories.
- These include 35 current and former country leaders.
Role of financial centres and banks
- A large extent of the illicit financial flows have a link to New York City and London, the biggest financial centres in the world that allow financial institutions such as big banks to operate with ease.
- The big financial entities operating from these cities have been prosecuted for committing illegalities.
- In 2012, an investigation into the London Interbank Offered Rate or LIBOR â crucial in calculating interest rates â led to the fining of leading banks such as Barclays, UBS, Rabobank and the Royal Bank of Scotland for manipulation.
- These banks also operate a large number of subsidiaries in tax havens to help illicit financial flows.
Modus operandi
- Tax havens enable the rich to hide the true ownership of assets by using: trusts, shell companies and the process of âlayeringâ.
- Financial firms offer their services to work this out for the rich.
- They provide ready-made shell companies with directors, create trusts and âlayerâ the movement of funds.
- The process of layering involves moving funds from one shell-company in one tax haven to another in another tax haven and liquidating the previous company.
- This way, money is moved through several tax havens to the ultimate destination.
- Since the trail is erased at each step, it becomes difficult for authorities to track the flow of funds.
- It appears that most of the rich in the world use such manipulations to lower their tax liability even if their income is legally earned.
Why funds are moved to the tax havens?
- Even citizens of countries with low tax rates use tax havens.
- Over the three decades, tax havens have enabled capital to become highly mobile, forcing nations to lower tax rates to attract capital.
- This has led to the ârace to the bottomâ, resulting in a shortage of resources with governments to provide public goods, etc., in turn adversely impacting the poor.
- Lowering tax liability: It appears that most of the rich in the world use such manipulations to lower their tax liability even if their income is legally earned.
- Moving funds out of reach of creditors: Revelations suggest that funds are moved out of national jurisdiction to spirit them away from the reach of creditors and not just governments.
- Many fraudsters are in jail but have not paid their creditors even though they have funds abroad.
Challenges in checking the illicit financial flows
- The very powerful who need to be onboard to curb illicit financial flows (as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or the OECD is trying) are the beneficiaries of the system and would not want a foolproof system to be put in place to check it.
- Strictly speaking, not all the activity being exposed by the Pandora Papers may be illegal due to tax evasion or the hiding of proceeds of crime.
- The authorities will have to prove if the law of the land has been violated.
- Operators outside the purview of tax authorities: Many Indians have become non-resident Indians or have made some relative into an NRI who can operate shell companies and trusts outside the purview of Indian tax authorities.
- That is why prosecution has been difficult in the earlier cases of data leakage from tax havens.
- The Supreme Court of India-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up in 2014 has not been able to make a dent.
- Role of organised sector: The Governmentâs focus on the unorganised sector as the source of black income generation is also misplaced since data indicate that it is the organised sector that has been the real culprit and also spirits out a part of its black incomes.
Way forward
- Global minimum tax: Recent development has been the agreement among almost 140 countries to levy a 15% minimum tax rate on corporates.
- Though it is a long shot, this may dent the international financial architecture.
- Ending banking secrecy: Other steps needed to tackle the curse of illicit financial flows are ending banking secrecy and a Tobin tax on transactions; neither of which the OECD countries are likely to agree to.
Consider the question “How illicits financial flows affect the economies of the nations? What are the challenges in curbing it?”Â
Conclusion
To curb the illicit financial flows, the global community needs to reach a consensus on several issues and tackle the challege collectively.
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