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  • Indian Ocean Power Competition

    The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in IOR

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: SIDS, IOR, SLOC etc

    Mains level: SIDS, its importance, challenges and Way ahead, India role .

    Island

    Context

    • The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) serves as a connecting hub for global energy and commodity trade and comprises important Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) and major choke points. The IOR has become central to the geostrategic aspirations of large powers with vested interests in the region. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) located in the Western Indian Ocean such as Maldives, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, and Seychelles, are being dragged into the great power rivalry as a result.

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    Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

    • Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a distinct group of 38 UN Member States and 20 Non-UN Members/Associate Members of United Nations regional commissions that face unique social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities.
    • The three geographical regions in which SIDS are located are: the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS)
    • SIDS were recognized as a special case both for their environment and development at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Island

    Significance of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of IOR

    • SIDS are strategically important: The geographical location of SIDS islands is of strategic importance, ever since the Indo-Pacific architecture materialised.
    • Provides easy access and a base for replenishment: The islands provide easy access to the choke points, are located close to important SLOCs, and can serve as a base for the replenishment of resources for maritime powers conducting surveillance in the region.
    • Engagements boosts maritime expanse: The bigger powers have been engaging with the islands on a larger scale to boost their presence in this maritime expanse.

    Island

    Challenges faced by SIDS

    • Multiple challenges: The SIDS, by nature, face multiple challenges due to their remote locations, size, fragile ecosystems, small population, and limited resources and capabilities. Most of the SIDS are classified as middle-income states, but SIDS like Comoros are among the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
    • Economies are not diversified: The economies of these states are not diversified and are highly dependent on a few sectors like tourism and fisheries.
    • Climate change and losses due to natural disasters: Climate change exacerbates their challenges, adding an extra burden on their frail economies. The SIDS account for two-thirds of states that suffer the highest relative losses (1 percent to 9 percent of GDP per year) due to natural disasters.
    • Rising sea levels and impact on various economic sectors: Apart from the threat of the low-lying islands going underwater in the future, rising sea levels directly impact the economic sectors of the SIDS. For instance, saltwater intrusion affects freshwater resources and diminishes the quality of agricultural land.
    • Largely dependent on food imports: The SIDS are already largely dependent on food imports as 50 percent of the SIDS import more than 80 percent of their food. A further reduction in food production will increase their dependence on food imports. Self-sufficiency is a distant dream for SIDS in this aspect.
    • Fishery industry a major contributor of economy facing challenges of loss of EEZ: Fish exports account for a large share of the revenue for these states. The fishery industry faces challenges of loss of Exclusive Economic Zones due to shifting baselines, and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
    • Rising sea temperature: Additionally, rising sea temperatures also negatively affect marine biomass in the resource-rich zones of SIDS.
    • Tourism industry hampered by Pandemic: Almost 50 percent of the GDP of SIDS like the Maldives and Seychelles, depends on the tourism industry which was hampered by the pandemic. T

    Island

    Powerplay and China’s maritime development strategy in SIDS of IOR

    • Concerns about increasing influence China: Powers such as the US, Japan, Australia, and India are largely concerned with the increasing influence of China in the region.
    • China’s island development strategy: Islands play a major role in China’s maritime security policy, as is evident by its island development strategies in the contested South China Sea and cooperation initiatives with island states in various geographies.
    • Vulnerable SIDS welcomed Support initiatives from China: The SIDS have welcomed the development and support initiatives from China owing to their vulnerabilities. From a port development project in Madagascar and major infrastructure development projects in the Comoros islands to a Free Trade Agreement with Mauritius and development assistance to Maldives; China has firmly embedded its roots in the region.
    • Maldives in debt trap seeks India’s assistance: When Maldives owed a debt of nearly US$1.5 billion to China in 2018, it had to turn to its traditional partner, India, for assistance to prevent an economic crisis.
    • Madagascar worries about Chinese debt trap: Madagascar is also heavily surrounded by Chinese presence and involvement in its economy and is worried about being trapped in debt. Chinese-funded enterprises comprise 90 percent of the island’s economy. Chinese migrants left very few job opportunities for the locals, disrupted trade and commerce, and established a monopoly of Chinese products in the market. Such a heavy involvement of China in Madagascar puts it at a high risk of instability and political upheaval. This is a clear example of how the strategic interests of large powers can bring the SIDS to the brink of collapse.

    Opportunity to discuss and maintain stability through various forums

    • SAMOA pathway: SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway which is an international framework under the UN umbrella that has initiated a stronger action from the international community to support the vulnerable islands. It guides national, regional, and international development efforts to help these states achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    • Alliance of small Island states: Similarly, the Alliance of Small Island States is a representative body of 39 small island states that provides a platform to voice their grievances.
    • Indian ocean commission: The Indian Ocean Commission is yet another intergovernmental body that consists of the islands; Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Réunion (French overseas region).

    What SIDS must do?

    • The SIDS of IOR must strengthen their collaboration with each other.
    • They must make a collective effort to make their challenges and issues known to the other actors.
    • The SIDS should make use of the opportunity to ensure that the larger powers understand their security interests and include it in the larger security architecture

    Way ahead

    • In most cases, decisions regarding security in the region have been taken by the influential, and larger powers without the SIDS.
    • The SIDS of the IOR can leverage their strategic position and use it to their advantage to make the larger powers acknowledge their security interests and issues.
    • The need of the hour is for stronger alliances and regional groupings to emerge, with significant participation of the SIDS, so that other actors do not downplay or overlook their issues and interests.

    Conclusion

    • The SIDS have been advocating at various international forums for support and assistance to combat their challenges associated with resources, development, climate change, and most of all, survival. Rather than being viewed as pawns in the geopolitical competition, the SIDS must be viewed as important stakeholders in the region. This is the main change in the mindset, policies and approaches that are needed for secure and stable region.

    Mains Question

    Q. What is SIDS (Small Island Developing States). What is the significance of SIDS in IOR? Discuss the challenges faced by SIDS in the region and suggest a way ahead.

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  • Human Rights Issues

    Personal freedom and the panel on Intercaste/Interfaith Marriages

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Right to life, right to marriage, Associated Constitutional provisions

    Mains level: Intercaste/ Interfaith marriages, legislation and issues of freedom of choice and religion

    Interfaith

    Context

    • Following a report in this newspaper, the Maharashtra government has decided to limit the mandate of the recently constituted Intercaste/Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee (state level) to gathering information on interfaith marriages.

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    Intercaste/Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee

    • Work under Women and child development: The renamed Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee will be under the state Women and Child Development Ministry.
    • Will Track frauds: The committee besides providing support and rehabilitation, when necessary, ostensibly track fraud committed in the name of love jihad.
    • Development come after walker case: The development came after the Shraddha Walkar case came to light in November. Walkar, 26, was murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawalla in May, 2022
    • Other states with anti-conversion legislation: With states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand already having brought in anti-conversion legislation.

    What is love jihad?

    • “Love jihad” is a term often used by activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

    Interfaith

    How the initiative will work?

    • Will collect and keep details of interfaith marriages and ensure communication: This initiative will provide a platform for the women in intercaste/interfaith marriages and their families to access counselling, and communicate or resolve issues.
    • Committee will hold regular meetings: The committee has been assigned to hold meetings with district officials, and review work on seven parameters, including, gathering information about interfaith or inter-caste marriages from stamp duty and registrar offices, and collect information on such registered or unregistered marriages, among others.

    Interfaith

    What are the concerns raised?

    • Control over the lives of individual citizens: Such vigilance remains yet another indication of the State’s disproportionately burgeoning and utterly unacceptable interest in, and demand for, control over the lives of individual citizens.
    • Denial of women’s own choice: It is not just violative of one’s rights of freedom and equality, it also reeks of misogyny in its steadfast denial of a woman’s choice of partner as her own free will and not an act of coercion.
    • Committee can be armed: There is the IPC for all genuine complaints so the committee could be weaponised.
    • It will limit the freedoms of men and women: In every aspect, monitoring of a citizen’s life for her own supposed benefit is a cautionary tale, a limitation of the freedoms of men and women, designed to deter them from leading fuller, freer lives.

    Interfaith

    Basics: Right to Marriage

    • Comes under Right to life: The right to marry is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
    • As an integral part of Right to Life: Various courts across the country have also interpreted the right to marry as an integral part of the right to life under Article 21.
    • Stated under Human rights Charter: The right to marriage is also stated under Human Rights Charter within the meaning of the right to start a family.
    • Universal right: The right to marry is a universal right and it is available to everyone irrespective of their gender.
    • Forced marriage is illegal: A forced marriage is illegal in different personal laws on marriage in India, with the right to marry recognized under the Hindu laws as well as Muslim laws.

    How is religious freedom protected under the Constitution?

    • Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”.
    • It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.
    • However, like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.

    Conclusion

    • The marriage between politics and communalism is not a new phenomenon but to try to inhibit that idea of openness and possibility by casting communal aspersions on personal choice might be a travesty. There needs an innovative and inclusive approach to address the issues arise out of interfaith marriages.

    Mains question

    Q. Recently the Maharashtra government has set up a panel named “Intercaste/Interfaith marriage-family coordination committee (state level)” to gather information about couples in such marriages. Discuss the utility and concerns of such initiative?

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  • Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

    Private Member’s Bill for women’s reservation

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Private members bill, reservation seats for women

    Mains level: Women representation in legislatures

    Bill

    Context

    • As strong advocates of more representation of women in politics, looking at the number of women elected in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assemblies has been saddening. With just 14.9 per cent women elected to our Lok Sabha, India ranks 144 out of 193 countries in the representation of women in parliament according to Inter-Parliamentary Union’s latest report. Among our immediate neighbours, India falls behind Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.

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    Background: Recent elections and women’s participation

    • Gujrat: Gujarat elected just 8 per cent of women legislators in its 182-member assembly.
    • Himachal Pradesh: Himachal Pradesh, where every second voter is a female, has elected 67 men and only one woman.
    • National Average: The national average of women in all state assemblies remains around 8 per cent. The figure is grim
    • Representation of women in local governments increased: After the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, the representation of women in local governments increased from a mere 3-4 per cent to nearly 50 per cent now.

    Bill

    History of Women’s Reservation Bill

    • First introduced in 1996 but lapsed with the dissolution of Lok Sabha: The Women’s Reservation Bill was first introduced in 1996 by the Deve Gowda government. After the Bill failed to get approval in Lok Sabha, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee, which presented its report in December 1996. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and had to be reintroduced.
    • Bill reintroduced in 1998 but failed and lapsed: PM Vajpayee’s NDA government reintroduced the Bill in the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998. Yet again, it failed to get support and lapsed. In 1999, the NDA government reintroduced it in the 13th Lok Sabha.
    • One-third reservations for women: Subsequently, the Bill was introduced twice in Parliament in 2003. In 2004, the government included it in the Common Minimum Programme that said that the government will take the lead to introduce legislation for one-third reservations for women in Vidhan Sabhas and in the Lok Sabha.
    • The bill introduced and passed in Rajya Sabha: In 2008, the government tabled the Bill in the Rajya Sabha so that it does not lapse again. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended the passage of the Bill in December 2009. It was cleared by the Union Cabinet in February 2010. On March 9, 2010, the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 186-1 votes after immense debate. History was created.
    • Lapsed again in 2014: The Bill, then, reached the Lok Sabha where it never saw the light of day. When the House was dissolved in 2014, it lapsed. Now we are back to square one.
    • Renewed push: In the current Winter Session of Parliament, there is a renewed push from most Opposition parties to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill.

    Bill

    The case study: Political parties and Women representation

    • Political parties that reserved seats for women for election candidature: So far only two regional political parties in India, Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) have reserved seats for women for election candidatures.
    • Candidature and results of 2019 general elections: TMC and BJD fielded 40 per cent and 33 per cent women candidates respectively. Interestingly, 65 per cent of the TMC’s women candidates won in comparison to 44 per cent of their men, whereas 86 per cent of the BJD’s women candidates won in comparison to 43 per cent of their men.

    Private Member’s Bill for women’s reservation in all legislative bodies

    • Acknowledging the inequality and barriers: Women have historically suffered due to systemic inequality and barriers. Without a gender quota, women’s representation will continue to remain marginal causing a massive deficit in our democracy.
    • Reserved seats for women: Understanding this reality, there is a need to introduce a Private Member’s Bill demanding women’s reservation in all legislative bodies Lower and Upper Houses, and also reserved seats within that for women who come from historically marginalised communities.
    • Ensuring greater representation: It is a single step that will, if passed, immediately ensure at least 33 per cent representation of women.

    What is Private Member’s Bill?

    • Piloted by member other than minister: A private member’s Bill is different from a government Bill and is piloted by Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a minister. A Member of Parliament who is not a minister is a private member.
    • To draw governments attention: Individual MPs may introduce private member’s Bill to draw the government’s attention to what they might see as issues requiring legislative intervention.

    bill

    Way ahead

    • The case for women’s reservation emanates from their lack of representation in legislative bodies. We cannot rely on incremental changes.
    • We cannot let another generation fight for what is fundamental to participating in a democracy the right to be heard and make decisions.
    • Women’s reservation will jump-start the democratic process. It will allow a significant majority to have a say in how their lives must be governed.
    • Over the years, though, women’s vote share has increased significantly, but the number of women in positions of power has not.

    Conclusion

    • Victor Hugo famously said, “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”. Women’s reservation in legislatures is one idea which has been discussed, debated, and agreed upon by most political parties. It is now time to take it to fruition. With its massive women population, India has a huge reservoir of potential which, if unleashed, will take the country much ahead.

    Main Question

    Q. Women reservation bill has introduced and lapsed no of times. In this context discuss why it is necessary to have reserved seats for women in all legislative bodies?

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  • Climate Change Negotiations – UNFCCC, COP, Other Conventions and Protocols

    Disparities in Climate Change Financial Responsibility

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Updates on COP27 and climate finance

    Mains level: COP27, climate finance, role of developed and developing countries, and India's stand

    Financial

    Context

    • Extreme weather events are becoming more prevalent with each passing year and countries are increasingly taking cognizance of this. Yet, there remains a rift between developing and developed countries, largely on account of asymmetries between the incidence of and the financial responsibility assumed for climate change.

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    Background: Rift between developed and developing countries

    • Historical emission by developed countries: It is estimated that 92 per cent of excess historical emissions are attributable to developed countries.
    • Burden on developing countries: Yet the economic impact of climate change is disproportionately borne by vulnerable developing countries. The 58 vulnerable countries (or V20) account for 5 per cent of global emissions while the costs incurred are significant.
    • UNEP estimates that efforts on climate adaptation would require $160-340 billion by 2030. But, current financial flows are inadequate, with developing countries receiving only a third of what is required.
    • The dual costs of shifting away from fossil fuels and that of climate catastrophes are expected to further chip away at fiscal resilience as developing countries reel under the pressures of slowdown, inflation and excess sovereign debt.

    Financial

    COP27 decisions on accelerating finance

    • Recognized the need of transforming the financial system: In its draft decision, the UN highlighted that to meet the scale of funding will require a transformation of the financial systems, structures and processes. It will require engaging with all financial actors.
    • Recognized discontent of green climate fund: In the past there have been funding facilities such as the Green Climate Fund, which were meant to support adaptation and mitigation. But there is wide discontent with the pace and extent of access to such facilities.
    • Announcement of Loss and Damage (L&D) fund: The announcement of a Loss and Damage (L&D) fund stole the attention. However, reflections from past experiences are essential.

    Challenges on developing inclusive financial structure

    • Visible reluctance to contribute among big economies: The institutional architecture of multilateral funds has been demonstrably slow to deliver. Then there is the visible reluctance to contribute among the big economies. To restore its lost legitimacy, the US made several announcements at COP27 but its lack of support to the L&D fund and financing of the global shield meant to support vulnerable countries to address risks of climate change must be factored in.
    • Mismatch between financial expectations, regulations and society’s requirement: As the demands placed on economies dwarf public finances, it is intuitive to expect private capital to step up. For decades, developing countries have competed to attract private capital leading to frail legal and tax systems. Even as private capital shifts to the green sectors on account of regulatory action, it is reasonable to expect that its pace will be tempered by financial expectations.
    • National carbon tax is rarely discussed: Interestingly, experts are beginning to see climate actions connected with tax policy. This is evident from the revival of the repeatedly shelved Financial Transaction Tax in the EU. Every package announced involves a redistribution of incomes within and across countries. Therefore, a general overhaul of tax architecture is inevitable. Yet, a dedicated national carbon tax is rarely discussed.

    Financial

    Hypocrisy of developed countries and India’s call of Phase down

    • Policy makers discussed the inadequacies of the system: COP27 was a spectacle of distractions. Experts from around the world assembled in the comforts of their echo chambers, reciting the promise of the transition, as policy makers reiterated the inadequacies of the system.
    • Growing pressure on developing countries to abandon access to fossil fuel: There is also growing pressure on developing countries to abandon their access to fossil fuels, overlooking the view that a hastened transition can have adverse consequences for growth.
    • Systematically sidelined India’s Phase down Call: There have been repeated questions as to why India chooses to use the term “phase down” and its slow response. The hypocrisy of the developed countries was stark as countries chose to sideline India’s call to phase down all fossil fuels.

    Way ahead

    • While the release of the long-term low carbon development strategy is a fitting response from India, there needs to be better guidance on the pathway to net zero.
    • With India chairing the G-20 this year, the question of phasing down coal will be asked repeatedly.
    • There is already growing interest in signing a just energy transition partnership with India.

    Conclusion

    • The learnings from COP27 must inform the G-20 presidency. It is also important to remain conscious that dramatic shifts in policy are pursued domestically and not all change is pursued by consensus. The principle of common but differentiated responsibility should not be traded for the promise of finance.

    Mains question

    In the context of COP27, The principle of common but differentiated responsibility should not be traded for the promise of finance. Comment

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  • Nuclear Energy

    A milestone in fusion energy

    op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Basics- Fusion energy and applications

    Mains level: Read the attached article

    fusion

    Context

    • For more than nine decades scientists have tried to replicate the process that produces energy for the sun and the stars fusion. On Tuesday, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California, USA, announced a milestone in this endeavor.

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    fusion

    What is the research?

    • Merged two nuclei to produce a heavier nucleus: They merged two nuclei to produce a heavier nucleus. Their reactor produced about 1.5 times more energy than what was used in the process. In all the earlier attempts to harness the power of fusion, the reactors used up more energy than what was produced.
    • It will take at least two decades to be pioneered: But scientists say that it will be at least two decades before the process pioneered in the California laboratory can be scaled up.
    • Still a great leap where the world is in search of green technologies: Even then, in a world desperately searching for technologies that can power the developmental needs of nations without adding to the GHG load, the breakthrough at NIF has generated excitement.

    What is Fusion?

    • Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat.
    • This process occurs in our Sun and other stars.
    • Creating conditions for fusion on Earth involves generating and sustaining a plasma.
    • Plasmas are gases that are so hot that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei.

    fusion

    What is Fusion Energy?

    • The process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei.
    • The leftover mass becomes energy.

    Why is it perceived as energy of the future?

    • Carbon free: Fusion Reactions could one day produce nearly limitless, carbon-free energy, displacing fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources.
    • Efficient: Net energy gain has been an elusive goal because fusion happens at such high temperatures and pressures that it is incredibly difficult to control.
    • Clean: Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn’t create radioactive waste.

    fusion

    Why it is considered as significant research, though it will take at least two decades to be commercialized?

    • Countries are shifting towards renewable energies: Several countries are shifting to renewable energies to meet their international climate-related commitments. Yet, power generation currently is responsible for 25-30 per cent of global GHG emissions.
    • Unstable nature of renewables: The inherently unstable nature of renewables means that countries find it very difficult to jettison fossil-fuel energy sources.
    • Nuclear energy is relatively cleaner: Conventionally-produced nuclear energy that uses fission technology is relatively cleaner. But accidents at Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 have raised serious questions over the safety of fission-powered plants. According to the IEA’s best-case scenario, the world’s nuclear energy generation capacity is likely to double by 2050 compared to 2020.

    Conclusion

    • The global body has repeatedly flagged concerns about the efficacy of the nuclear reactors by and large in the US and Europe given that about two-thirds of them have been in operation for more than 30 years. It has also maintained that the realisation of the best-case scenario would require significant investments in innovative nuclear technologies.

    Mains question

    Q. Recently researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in USA tried to replicate the process that produces energy for the sun and the stars fusion, discuss the significance of this research.

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  • Telecom and Postal Sector – Spectrum Allocation, Call Drops, Predatory Pricing, etc

    Need to ensure that the digital gateways do not become gatekeepers of services

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 3: Social Media Networks & Internal Security

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Digital gateways, market dominance of big tech and government regulations

    digital

    Context

    • The ease of living enabled by digital technologies has turned digital innovations into essential services for the common public. Considered a novelty earlier, the internet has become a necessity for most day-to-day affairs.

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    Internet access and restrictions

    • To enable access to the internet, various gateways have come up in the last few decades in the form of telecom service providers, personal computers and smartphones, operating systems, etc.
    • However, when these gateways enable and restrict access to other gateways or networks, the openness of the internet is threatened.
    • They then shift roles from being a facilitator to a regulator, from being a gateway to a gatekeeper. Hence, the need for a code of conduct or regulation arises to keep the playing field level and accessible to all.

    digital

    Analysis: Telecoms and Government

    • Telecom service providers: Telecom companies have been instrumental in providing a gateway to essential communication services such as voice calls, internet data, and text messages.
    • Government measures to regulate telecoms: We have seen governments across the world take measures from time to time to regulate these entities to ensure democratic access for the public. If this code of conduct was not enforced on these gateway providers, the internet would not be what it is today. These providers would have turned into gatekeepers, and the internet would have been controlled by them, thwarting innovation and its democratic expansion.
    • Code of conduct cannot catch up the pace of emerging digital tech: With the rate at which digital technologies are evolving, the code of conduct and regulations can’t catch up with the new gateway providers that are emerging. One such example is distribution platforms for smartphone applications.
    • Benchmarks set by bigtechs helps to bring some hygiene in smartphone apps: The two prominent operating systems emerging for smartphones, Google and Apple, enjoy a lion’s share of the app store market. They brought in good practices to ensure basic hygiene for smartphone applications, maintained quality benchmarks for the content on their operating systems, and safeguarded the interests of their users.
    • Lack of full proof regulation would be a slippery slope: Though, without proper regulations to oversee how they decide on what should be weeded and whose interests should be guarded, it’s a slippery slope.

    Policy on Net Neutrality put forwarded by Indian Government 

    • Enforcing a code of conduct on telecoms: Closer home, another example of the enforcement of this code of conduct on providers was when the Indian government came out with the policy on Net Neutrality which, inter-alia, stipulates that telecom networks should be neutral to all the information being transmitted through it.
    • Meaning of Net Neutrality: Networks should treat all communication passing through them equally, independent of their content, application, service, device, sender, or recipient address. Adopting Net Neutrality ensured that we took a democratic stance against Big Tech.

    digital

    Questionable practices of distribution platforms

    • Practices without consent of its users: Various practices range from restrictions on payment gateways, advertising choices, app policies and various other aspects of an application or business that could be considered discriminatory in both principle and practice.
    1. For instance, a case of Goggle’s Update: Recently a report placed before the Competition Commission of India found Google Play Store’s payments policy “unfair and discriminatory”. As per an update in Google’s Play Store billing policy in September 2020, all applications on its platform were mandated to use its payment services for any kind of in-app payments or subscriptions.
    2. Similar case of Apple’s appstore: Similar concerns have been raised for Apple’s App Store, with both platforms said to be charging up to 30 per cent commission on payments processed.
    • Market dominance and unilateral control over smartphone apps by the bigtechs: Google and Apple dominate the global market share of smartphone operating systems (OS). This has enabled them to garner unilateral control over the publishing of smartphone applications on their OS.
    • Developers are forced to bend to the diktats of these bigtech gatekeepers: Bigtechs force developers to make changes to their applications or resort to using their proprietary advertising engines if they wish their applications to see the light of day. As is evident from the overnight change in Google’s billing policy, various smartphone application-dependent businesses and developers continue to remain vulnerable to such internal business policy changes on these platforms.

    European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) sets an example

    • Recognising these concerns: The European Union has recently enacted the Digital Markets Act; it is expected to be implemented by early 2023.
    • Aims to keep digimarket open for competition: The Digital Markets Act regulation aims to keep digital markets innovative and open to competition, through ex-ante regulation.
    • Prohibit anti-competitive practices: The DMA will prohibit the implementation of the most harmful anti-competitive practices by the largest digital platforms.
    • Objective is to maintain balance: The objective is to balance the relationship between these platforms that control access to digital markets and the companies that offer their services there.

    Conclusion

    • The Indian government has taken a huge leap forward in maintaining its sovereignty through the path-breaking and disruptive digital public goods it has created. Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, and CoWIN are just a few names that adorn this list. However, there is still a wide dependence on various digital offerings enabled by multinational Big Tech companies. It is the need of the hour for the government to devise appropriate regulations to ensure a level playing field and not let the innovating gateways turn into tyrannical gatekeepers.

    Mains Question

    Q. India is the largest consumer of wireless internet. Analyze the role of big tech service providers in this and the role of government in ensuring a level playing field for all.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Students suicides: A mismatch between rising aspirations, shrinking opportunities

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Addressing the issues of Students pressure, suicides, reasons and way ahead

    suicides

    Context

    • Three students committed suicide within 12 hours in Rajasthan’s Kota, which is regarded as the education and coaching hub of India. Known for producing IITians, doctors and engineers, Kota has been in the news for the last few years because of the students’ suicides and depression they suffer.

    What is Suicide?

    • Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death.
    • Mental and physical disorders, substance abuse, anxiety and depression are risk factors.
    • Some suicides are impulsive acts due to stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties), relationship problems (such as breakups or divorces), or harassment and bullying.
    • Despite being entirely preventable, India has been increasingly losing individuals to suicide.

    suicides

    The National Crime Records Bureau’s Accidental Deaths and Suicide in India report 2021.

    • The report released this year shows that the number of students’ deaths by suicide rose by 4.5 per cent in 2021.
    • Maharashtra bearing the highest toll with 1,834 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 1,308, and Tamil Nadu with 1,246.
    • According to the report, student suicides have been rising steadily for the last five years.
    • According to a 2012 Lancet report, suicide rates in India are highest in the 15-29 age group the youth population.
    • According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), in 2020, a student took their own life every 42 minutes; that is, every day, more than 34 students died by suicide.

    suicides

    What are the reasons behind these alarming stats of student’s suicide in India?

    • Education is for livelihood more than knowledge: Education in India has been viewed as a gateway to employment and livelihood rather than to knowledge.
    • Pressure to get into government jobs or highly paid private sector: Many students and their families dream of the coveted ‘sarkari naukri’ (government job) to escape the precarious social, caste and class predicaments they find themselves in.
    • Limited educational infrastructure: The failure of the Union government to improve the country’s educational infrastructure means that exam-oriented coaching had become the norm.
    • Coaching centres as prisons for many students: Cashing in on the ‘hope for a better future,’ coaching centres emerged as one of the predominant industries in the education sector. However, these centres are now being seen as prisons for the many youngsters who join them; where their bodies, souls and dreams are tamed.
    • Number of factors marginalising students who are already vulnerable: Students from marginalised sections are pushed further to the margins through a number of factors, such as the lack of English-medium education; private institutions charging high fees; poor quality education in government-run schools and institutes; ever-growing economic inequality; graduates not having the adequate skills to secure jobs; and caste discrimination.
    • Social ideology of success and failure: The rise of neoliberalism as an economic and social ideology has pushed the youth to blame themselves for their failure to secure their ‘dream job’ while the government continues to shirk its basic responsibility.
    • Flawed neoliberal agenda for failure and success: The neo-liberal agenda keeps propagating the belief that it is not that hard to find success if one works hard enough, normalising the notion that the youth should blame themselves for their ‘failures’.

    suicides

    What are various solutions have been proposed?

    • The myth of the Indian family being supportive also need to be called out: Family, being the primary social unit of the society, shapes the aspirations and dreams of the youth. Family should be supportive in true sense.
    • Deeper introspection is needed instead of make shift solutions: Deeper introspection on structural aspects of the education system is the need of the hour. Instead, we take pride in coming up with Jugaad (makeshift solutions) to manage affairs peripherally, without dealing with the root of problem.
    • Easing pressure in the students: Others have suggested like the guidelines issued by the Board of Intermediate Education in Andhra Pradesh in 2017 to ease the pressure on students, including yoga and physical exercise classes and maintaining a healthy student-teacher ratio.
    • Realising today’s realities and making changes: It is painfully evident that the failure to address the larger issue of a punishing education system that is simply not designed to support young minds or prepare them for today’s economic realities continues.
    • Collective responsibility: Not only family plays a significant role in students life, even the society has a huge influence. We as a society should realise true essence of life and not confine students into success and failure tags. Instead support them empathically in realising their true potential.

    Did you know this solution? What any sensitive person will think of this?

    • Some suggested bordering on the ludicrous, like the Indian Institute of Science’s reported move last year to replace ceiling fans in hostel rooms with those that are wall-mounted.

    Conclusion

    • Scholars have long linked farmers’ suicides to India’s agrarian crisis; it is time that civil society starts looking at students’ suicides as an indicator of a grave crisis of the country’s educational structure, including the institutional structure, curriculum, and the like. The combination of a large population of young people with rising aspirations and an economy with shrinking opportunities has created a public health crisis that requires urgent attention.

    Mains Question

    Q. There has been a steady increase in student suicides in India over the past few years. What are the reasons and suggest what should be done?

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  • Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

    India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) Strategy amidst the Global Uncertainty

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Concept of CAD

    Mains level: India's problem of CAD, effects and solutions

    Deficit

    Context

    • There seems to be considerable optimism about India’s near-term growth prospects now that the major global energy and commodity shocks have subsided. Even if these shocks have subsided, India still faces one big problem of its large current account deficit (CAD). How will this be managed? It turns out that the answer to both questions lies in one word exports.

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    Deficit

    What is Current Account Deficit (CAD)?

    • A current account is a key component of balance of payments, which is the account of transactions or exchanges made between entities in a country and the rest of the world.
    • This includes a nation’s net trade in products and services, its net earnings on cross border investments including interest and dividends, and its net transfer payments such as remittances and foreign aid.
    • A CAD arises when the value of goods and services imported exceeds the value of exports, while the trade balance refers to the net balance of export and import of goods or merchandise trade.
    • CAD = Trade Deficit + Net Income from Abroad + Net transfers

    What has been the recent trend?

    • Swelling CAD: Over the past year, the post-pandemic normalisation has caused the current account deficit to swell to exceptional proportions.
    • Decline in demand abroad: At home, normalisation has spurred a renewed demand for imported inputs. But abroad, it has had the opposite effect, leading to a decline in demand.
    • India’s import soared while exports fell: Foreign households are no longer demanding so many goods now that the lockdowns that kept them in their houses and the fiscal stimuli that gave them the money to spend have both ended. So, India’s imports have soared just at a time when its merchandise exports have started to fall.
    • Statistics for instance: The difference between the value of goods imported and exported fell to $54.48 million in Q4FY 2021-22 from $59.75 million in Q3 FY2021-22.
    • Service sector is saviour: However, based on robust performance by computer and business services, net service receipts rose both sequentially and, on a year, -on-year basis.

    Future projections

    • Looking ahead, the situation seems set to worsen: Foreign demand will slow further as advanced countries slip into what now seem like inevitable recessions.
    • In the backdrop of recession India’s CAD could widen further: In that case, India’s CAD could widen even further, possibly to four per cent of GDP in 2022-23, double the level that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) traditionally regards as “safe”.

    Deficit

    Analysis: How should India respond?

    1. Attracting foreign capital inflow: Attract foreign capital inflows worth at least four per cent of GDP.
    • Is this realistic in time of global uncertainty: The world is currently facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty. Two years of the pandemic, now a land war in Europe, inflation and energy crisis in Europe, interest rate hikes in the history of the US Federal Reserve, slowdown in china, etc. In such an uncertain environment, foreign investors prefer to invest in safe assets such as US government bonds rather than emerging markets like India. As a result, India has witnessed large outflows of foreign capital in 2022-23
    1. Deploying RBI’s Forex to pay for imports: If India cannot attract the required amount of capital inflows, the RBI’s foreign exchange reserves could be deployed to pay for imports.
    • Is this strategy sustainable: The country’s reserves are meant to tide the country over short-term problems, such as commodity price spikes. India’s merchandise exports have been structurally weak, stagnating for the past decade, until the pandemic induced a short-lived boom.

    Deficit

    How depreciating rupee could be helpful?

    • Price needs to be adjusted by depreciating rupee: This means that something fundamental needs to change. Ultimately, India’s CAD reflects a mismatch between the demand and supply of foreign exchange. To restore balance, first and foremost, the price needs to adjust, that is, the rupee needs to depreciate.
    • Exporting becomes more profitable: When this happens, exporting becomes more profitable, inducing more and more firms to explore foreign markets. Meanwhile, foreign demand improves, because the rupee depreciation makes India’s products more price-competitive. As a result, exports increase and the CAD falls.
    • Exchange rate depreciation is helpful in sustained growth: The recovery of the Indian economy from the pandemic was largely fuelled by exports. But with exports now declining, this crucial source of growth has now become uncertain for India. Strengthening the export sector is, therefore, critical for sustaining growth.

    Way forward

    1. Allow the rupee to depreciate,
    2. Encourage foreign firms to produce in India by letting them access their supply chains,
    3. Encourage domestic firms to step up to the competition, and
    4. Create a level playing field for all players.

    Conclusion

    • The large CAD, however, is not a short-term problem: It is a long-term problem requiring a long-term solution. By adopting the discussed strategy, India could potentially solve its two most important macroeconomic problems that are reducing the large CAD and securing rapid, sustained growth.

    Mains question

    Q. What is Current account deficit (CAD)? In a time of global uncertainty How India can reduce its large CAD and secure sustained growth. Analyze

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  • Right To Privacy

    Data protection bill in new Avatar: protecting privacy rights

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Important aspects of the Data protection bill

    Data protection

    Context

    • On November 18th Government released the fourth iteration of the data privacy legislation: The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 (Bill).

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    Background: Evolution of Demand for the data protection

    • The journey towards data protection legislation began in 2011 when the department of Personnel and Training initiated discussions on the Right to Privacy Bill, 2011.
    • The major fillip to the data protection case was given by the K. Puttuswamy judgment, 2017 where the supreme court held the “Right to privacy” as a fundamental right under Article 21- right to life and personal liberty.
    • After the Puttaswamy judgment, the government-appointed B.N Srikrishna committee the drafting of a law for data protection and privacy. This led to the Justice B.N. Srikrishna committee report which later on led to the Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019.

    Data Protection

    Two major stakeholders of the Legislation Data principles and data Fiduciary

    • Data Principle: Data principles refers to the subject whose data is being processed. While the Bill lists the “duties” of the Data Principals, these have no bearing on the realisation of the rights provided by the Bill.
    • Data Fiduciary: It is an entity that processes this data. The drafters of the Bill seem to be affirming that the Data Fiduciary is responsible for safeguarding the interests of Data Principals.
    • What is Data Fiduciary: The use of the term, “fiduciary” whilst referring to a data processor is significant. In different spheres of the law, when one party owes a “fiduciary” duty towards another a trustee, beneficiary, guardian or ward, the relationship between the two is guided by trust, assurance and good faith.
    • Obligations of data fiduciaries towards data principles: In line with this philosophy, the rest of the Bill describes the obligations of the Data Fiduciaries towards Data Principals, the rights and duties of the latter and the regulatory framework through which data will be processed.

    Two noteworthy aspects of the Bill

    1. Bill outlined the category of Data fiduciaries: In addition to the general obligations to prevent the misuse of the personal data of individuals, the Bill has outlined a category of Significant Data Fiduciaries, entities that are required to comply with additional measures to safeguard the personal data of individuals.
    • Why is this distinction being necessary: This distinction is essential as only companies that process vast amounts of data or have a potential impact on the country’s sovereignty and integrity need to take such stringent measures. Such measures reduce the compliance cost of companies that are at a nascent stage.
    1. Relaxing Data localisation norms: Onerous provisions on “data localisation” in the previous versions of the Bill, which mandated companies to store user data only within India, have been omitted.
    • How this move will maintain balance: The reworked Bill permits the government to notify countries to which data transfers may be permitted. This is a major respite for several tech companies, who have long talked about the infeasibility of the data localisation provisions. A balance has now been struck between the legitimate concerns of businesses and the protection of personal data of individuals.

    Data Protection

    Where else does this bill need attention?

    • Focus remains only on the nature and gravity of the violation: While the Bill is, by and large, comprehensive. Section 25 and Schedule I, that deal with penalties, require elaboration. Section 25 refers to the quantum of financial penalty that must be imposed on a person guilty of non-compliance in matters related to detail. The focus remains only on the nature and gravity of the violation. The proposed legislation does not consider the financial ranking of a company before imposing penalties.
    • The bill must take financial ranking of the company in consideration: The Bill must ensure that the penalties imposed are proportionate to the size and operations of a company, to be effective, fines must not drive companies into economic loss.
    • For instance: A leaf can be taken from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), amongst other similar regulations, which levies penalties in accordance with the total turnover of companies.

    Data Protection

    What makes this bill distinct and comprehensive?

    • Promoting cooperation: The Bill safeguards individual data, whilst also promoting cooperation between data fiduciaries and the government.
    • As per the India’s requirements: While it draws upon the best practices of foreign jurisdictions, such as Europe and Australia, it has been drafted in a manner that is tailor-made to India’s requirements.
    • Exemptions are restrictive: Even the exemptions granted to the Centre are extremely restrictive and in sync with past judicial precedents and Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
    • Significant shift in drafting legislation: The Bill marks a significant shift in the manner of drafting legislation. Historically, comprehending a piece of legislation in India has usually been akin to the membership of an exclusive club only legal practitioners, policy professionals and a handful of politicians are able to understand and interpret laws.
    • Ensures simplification and accessibility to ordinary citizens: This Bill marks a transition from legalese to legal simplification, it realises that it is in our best interests to ensure that all laws especially legislation that have a significant impact on citizens are made accessible to all individuals irrespective of their professional or educational standing.

    Conclusion

    • The Bill safeguards individual data, whilst also promoting cooperation between data fiduciaries and the government. While it draws upon the best practices of foreign jurisdictions, it has been drafted in a manner that is tailor-made to India’s requirements. Exemptions granted to the Centre are extremely restrictive.

    Mains Question

    Q. What are the salient aspects of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill? Discuss what makes it unique and inclusive.

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  • Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

    The silent revolution of “Nari Shakti”

    op-ed snap | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Women empowerment and Political Participation

    revolution

    Context

    • On the occasion of the 75th year of India’s independence, the Prime Minister articulated a bold vision that in the coming 25 years, “Nari Shakti” would play a vital role in India’s socio-economic developmental journey.

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    Background: Status of women In India

    • Elevated status in ancient texts and thoughts: Culturally and mythologically, women have enjoyed an elevated status in India. For example, it is mentioned in the Kena Upanishad that it was the goddess Uma who enlightened the three powerful but ignorant gods, Indra, Vayu, and Agni, to the profound mystery of Brahman.
    • Experience of women in modern era is far from ideal: Women have faced discrimination in the household and at jobs, and for a long time, they were victims of political indifference and neglect.
    • Recognizing the Nari Shakti: In recent decades, “Nari Shakti” has been reasserted through micro and silent revolutions. There are some silent women-led changes transforming our society politically and economically But there is need to highlight the challenges that remain in women fulfilling their true potential as modern nation-builders of India.

    revolution

    Nari Shakti The silent revolution: Role of Women in Indian democracy

    • Gender gap in voter turnout is diminishing rapidly as women often exceeds male voter turnout: Research on women voters using historical data has revealed that since 2010, the gender gap in voter turnout has diminished significantly and the recent trends show women voter turnout often exceeds male voter turnout. This massive increase is a nationwide phenomenon and is also observed in less developed regions of the country where traditionally, the status of women has been significantly lower.
    • Dramatic increase in women contesting election particularly in panchayat level: Since 2010, many more women have been contesting elections. To put this in perspective, in the 1950s, in the state assembly elections, women contested elections in approximately 7 per cent of the constituencies, but by the 2010s, women were competing in 54 per cent of the constituencies. This is particularly remarkable at the grass roots panchayat level where 50 per cent seats have been reserved for women for over a decade now.

    Results of this positive change

    • Women voters can no longer be neglected or marginalized: A key implication of this is that women voters can no longer be marginalised or neglected; they demand respect and command attention.
    • Political entrepreneurs compelled to address women issues: This silent revolution has compelled political entrepreneurs and grounded leaders to design policies addressing issues that women care about. It is not surprising that some of the most dramatic policy changes concerning poverty reduction since 2015-16 have been in the form of networking of households across the nation through amenities such as cooking fuel, sanitation, water, and electricity. These are also the key drivers of long-term economic growth.
    • Rising women voters compelled political parties to make law and order a critical issue: In less developed regions where women and children have been the biggest victims of lawlessness, the silent revolution of rising women voters has compelled political parties to make law and order a critical political issue.
    • Positive response by political parties: Political parties and leaders are now responding to this by improving access and affordability to basic needs of ordinary people like amenities and infrastructure rather than focusing on the rhetoric of caste and communalism. This is in sharp contrast to the “democratic recession” that is being experienced in the rest of the world.

    revolution

    Challenges ahead

    • Women employment a biggest challenge: According to World Bank data, the female labour force participation rate has declined from 32 per cent in 2005 to 19 per cent in 2022. Labour force participation does not consider unpaid domestic services, which include household services such as taking care of the children and the elderly.
    • More hours spent is in unpaid domestic services: Our research based on data from the time use surveys in India in 2018–19 reveals that women in the age group of 25 to 59 years spend approximately seven hours daily in unpaid domestic services.
    • Double burden of working is one of the reasons behind decline of women labour participation: Double burden of working women perhaps is one of the critical reasons for the decline in the women’s labour force participation rate. In sharp contrast, working or non-working men in the same age group spend less than 45 minutes on unpaid domestic or caregiving services.
    • Declined fertility rate: Fertility rates have declined dramatically below the replacement rate, the share of the ageing population has increased, and there is an alarming increase in the percentage of kinless elderly.

    Did you know Baumol Cost Disease?

    • The care industry is labour-intensive and, therefore, subject to Baumol Cost Disease, implying that the cost of providing care would keep rising over time.

    Way ahead

    • On labour force participation: It is essential to look at the experience of advanced countries, where increased participation of women in the labour force has come at the expense of family structure.
    • On dynamics of household and elderly care, sharing burden by men is a necessity: If we want more women to participate in the labour force, and at the same time preserve the family structure, then men would have to share the burden of unpaid domestic services. This would require a break from tradition and the creation of new modern narratives and myths.

    revolution

    Conclusion

    • As India takes over the presidency of G20, it is an occasion to celebrate “Nari Shakti” and political empowerment a stupendous increase in women voter turnout in the decade has strengthened and made our democracy more progressive. Women’s political empowerment has been a bottom-up revolution in India and holds lessons for other countries.

    Mains question

    Q. Culturally and mythologically, women hold a high position in India. However, there are still challenges in women fulfilling their true potential as India’s modern nation-builders. Discuss.

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