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  • Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

    Oil and Dollar, Rising Prices and Impact on India

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Rising oil prices and its effects on Economy

    dollar

    Context

    • The two major irritants for India this year have been oil and the dollar. The two are a heady cocktail that has distorted all economic forecasts creating volatility that has never been witnessed earlier. Their impact is being felt across bond and stock markets, affecting the entire system. As a result, the RBI and the government have had to work overtime to mitigate the adverse effects on the economy.

    dollar

    What is the current oil prices situation?

    • Unpredictable Prices: When the Ukraine war broke out, oil crossed the $120 mark (in April and again in June). It was expected that $150 was not far off. However, the range of $100-110 was restored and soon enough the price was back to the Nineties as all global commodity prices cooled off, even as the Ukraine war continued.
    • Rising requirement of Europe: With the winter months approaching and Europe dependent on natural gas for heating, which now appears to be in jeopardy due to Russia turning off the taps, oil has received a boost even though the continent is looking more at coal.
    • Reduction in production by OPEC: Add to this the fact that OPEC and its allies have decided to lower production by 2 million barrels a day and there is panic again. This shock is external over which neither the government nor RBI have any control.
    • Growing Import Bills: High oil prices mean many things. Crude has a share of 30-33 per cent in total imports and any hike in prices increases the import bill. With exports declining due to the slowdown in global growth and imports increasing due to oil, the trade deficit and current account deficit will widen further. The trade deficit for the first half is $150 billion and can touch $300 billion this year at this strike rate.
    • Possibility of Balance of Payment: This creates a problem for the current account deficit with components like software and remittances slowing down due to the recession in the west. Therefore, a balance of payments problem will surface. Ultimately it depends on how high oil will go. The RBI has assumed a $100/barrel. This looks reasonable at this point, but anything higher can create problems on the currency front.
    • Increasing Inflation: Inflation per se will be an issue when prices are left to the market like ATF or LPG. But in the case of petrol and diesel, it will be a conundrum for the government. If the status quo prevails on price transmission, then oil marketing companies will have to bear the losses. If the government allows the market to correct, inflation will increase as it will also feed into intermediary costs such as freight.
    • Higher input cost: User industries of oil like chemicals, plastics and fertilizers will face a problem again. Higher input costs will put pressure on profit margins and any pass through will be inflationary.
    • Windfall tax may increase: The government would probably once again revisit the windfall tax on crude (as has been recently done) to examine if there is any additional revenue to be garnered. Such an environment always tends to spook markets.
    • Rising bond yields: Bond yields move up every time oil prices rise while stock markets turn volatile normally in the downward direction.

    dollar

    How rising dollar prices affects India?

    • Rupee is weakening: There is the dollar conundrum which should be seen in conjunction with the oil. The dollar has been strengthening against all currencies. As the Fed tightens rates, which will carry on through 2023, the dollar will become stronger. Other countries are already in a weak economic zone and are tightening rates with a lag. The rupee is bearing the brunt of this development. There is no escape as the RBI intervention in any form can only temporarily support the decline in the rupee. In the last month or so, since the rupee crossed the 80 mark and gone past 83.
    • Negative sentiment of market: Another factor that will complicate matters is expectations. The recent news, for example, of global players deciding not to include Indian bonds in global indices might add to the negative sentiment in the market and exert pressure on the rupee.
    • Imported inflation: The rupee depreciation also leads to importing inflation. All goods imported will come in at a higher rupee cost which will in turn push the RBI to act further.
    • Less possibility of high export: The weak rupee may not quite help exports because the competitive advantage that normally comes along with such depreciation would be low given that other currencies are also declining.
    • Trade deficit will rise: Imports are unlikely to slow down as a growing economy requires inputs and raw materials. This will mean further pressure on the trade deficit. The government will gain at the margin as customs collections increase.
    • Volatile investors: The critical reaction will be that of investors. If foreign portfolio investors withdraw then there will be further pressure on the rupee while inflows would help to cushion the rupee.
    • Centre may lose on revenue: State governments will be better off as their VAT collections would increase automatically. However, the Centre may not gain as the excise duty is a fixed rate.

    Conclusion

    • One can never tell as almost all forecasters have been proved wrong this year. The theory that RBI can intervene and protect certain levels of currency has its limitations. These travails have to be responded to as they cannot be controlled.

    Mains Question

    Q. How rising dollar and oil prices affects the macroeconomic stability in India? What are the steps taken by RBI and GOI to manage the macroeconomic stability?

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  • Air Pollution

    CBG: Renewable energy revolution

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: CBG

    Mains level: Stubble burning, air pollution and solutions, CBG

    cbg

    Context

    • The beginnings of a renewable energy revolution rooted in agriculture are taking shape in India with the first bio-energy plant of a private company in Sangrur district of Punjab having commenced commercial operations on October 18. It will produce Compressed Biogas (CBG) from paddy straw, thus converting agricultural waste into wealth.

    Background

    • Stubble burning every year in north and northwest: It has become common practice among farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh to dispose of paddy stubble and the biomass by setting it on fire to prepare fields for the next crop, which has to be sown in a window of three to four weeks. This is spread over millions of hectares.
    • Resultant smog polluting environment: The resultant clouds of smoke engulf the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi and neighbouring States for several weeks between October to December. This plays havoc with the environment and affects human and livestock health.
    • Stubble burning practice spreading rapidly across the country: Though paddy stubble burning in northwest India has received a lot of attention because of its severity of pollution, the reality is that crop residue burning is spreading even to rabi crops and the rest of the country. Unless these practices are stopped, the problem will assume catastrophic proportions.

     What is Stubble Burning?

    • Stubble (parali) burning is a method of removing paddy crop residues from the field to sow wheat from the last week of September to November.
    • It is usually required in areas that use the combined harvesting method which leaves crop residue behind.
    • This practice mostly carried out in Punjab, Haryana and UP contributes solely to the grave winter pollution in the national capital.

    cbg

    How stubble burning impacts environment and Human health?

    • Deteriorates air quality: The process of burning farm residue is one of the major causes of air pollution in parts of north India, deteriorating the air quality.
    • Source of various harmful gases: Stubble burning is a significant source of carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC).
    • Air Pollution: Stubble burning emits toxic pollutants in the atmosphere containing harmful gases like Carbon Monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC). These pollutants disperse in the surroundings and eventually affect air quality and people’s health by forming a thick blanket of smog. Along with vehicular emissions, it affects the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital and NCR.
    • Soil degradation: Soil becomes less fertile and its nutrients are destroyed when the husk is burned on the ground. Organic content of soil is completely destroyed. Stubble burning generates heat that penetrates into the soil, causing an increase in erosion, loss of useful microbes and moisture.

    cbg

    Some of the measures taken by Government for the effective prevention and control of stubble burning

    • The Commission for Air Quality Management: The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had developed a framework and action plan for the effective prevention and control of stubble burning,
    • In-situ management: The framework/action plan includes in-situ management, i.e., incorporation of paddy straw and stubble in the soil using heavily subsidized machinery (supported by crop residue management (CRM) Scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare).
    • Ex-situ management: Ex-situ CRM efforts include the use of paddy straw for biomass power projects and co-firing in thermal power plants, and as feedstock for 2G ethanol plants, feed stock in CBG plants, fuel in industrial boilers, waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, and in packaging materials, etc.
    • Awareness generation programme: Additionally, measures are in place to ban stubble burning, to monitor and enforce this, and initiating awareness generation.
    • Project by NITI Aayog along with FAO: NITI Aayog approached FAO India in 2019 to explore converting paddy straw and stubble into energy and identify possible ex-situ uses of rice straw to complement the in-situ programme.
    • Rice straw for producing CBG: A techno-economic assessment of energy technologies suggested that rice straw can be cost-effective for producing CBG and pellets. Pellets can be used in thermal power plants as a substitute of coal and CBG as a transport fuel.
    • SATAT initiative: With 30% of the rice straw produced in Punjab, a 5% CBG production target set by the Government of India scheme, “Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT)” can be met. It could also increase local entrepreneurship, increase farmers’ income and reduce open burning of rice straw.
    • Encouraging private players to produce CBG more and reduce CO2 emissions: Verbio India Private Limited, a 100% subsidiary of the German Verbio AG, got approval from the Punjab government in April 2018 to set up a bio-CNG project that will utilise about 2.1 lakh tonnes of a total of 18.32 million tonnes of paddy straw annually. The plant will use one lakh tonnes of paddy straw produced from approximately 16,000 hectares of paddy fields. Paddy residue will be collected from this year to produce 33 tons of CBG and 600-650 tonnes of fermented organic manure/slurry per day this will reduce up to 1.5 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

    FAO Study on developing crop residue supply chain

    • Use of Rice straw: In technical consultations with the public and private sectors, the FAO published its study on developing a crop residue supply chain in Punjab that can allow the collection, storage and final use of rice straw for other productive services, specifically for the production of renewable energy.
    • Required Investment and benefits farmers: The results suggest that to mobilise 30% of the rice straw produced in Punjab, an investment of around ₹2,201 crore ($309 million) would be needed to collect, transport and store it within a 20-day period. This would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 9.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and around 66,000 tonnes of PM2.5. Further, depending on market conditions, farmers can expect to earn between ₹550 and ₹1,500 per ton of rice straw sold, depending on market conditions.

    cbg

    Interesting to read: Compressed Bio Gas (CBG)

    • Biogas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic decomposition from waste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.
    • After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has a pure methane content of over 95%.
    • CBG is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential.
    • With calorific value (~52,000 KJ/kg) and other properties similar to CNG, CBG can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel.
    • Given the abundance of biomass in the country, CBG has the potential to replace CNG in automotive, industrial and commercial uses in the coming years.

    Conclusion

    • Encouraging private players for producing CBG appears to be a first win-win initiative in the form of environmental benefits, renewable energy, value addition to the economy, farmers’ income and sustainability. This initiative is replicable and scalable across the country and can be a game changer for the rural economy.

    Mains Question

    Q. What is Stubble burning? Discuss the measures taken by Government for the effective prevention and control of stubble burning and producing CBG could be a win-win situation.

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  • Cyber Security – CERTs, Policy, etc

    Cyber ​​threats as a challenge to Internal Security

    op-ed snap | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Cyber Security

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Cyber Threats and Cyber security measures

    Cyber

    Context

    • As the 21st century advances, a new danger the cyber threat is becoming a daily monster. It is hardly confined to any one domain though the military is the one most often touted. Rather, it is the civilian sphere where the cyber threat is becoming more all-pervading today and, in turn, a serious menace.

    What is mean by Cyber threat?

    • A cyber threat or cyber security threat is defined as a malicious act intended to steal or damage data or disrupt the digital wellbeing and stability of an enterprise.
    • Cyber threats include a wide range of attacks ranging from data breaches, computer viruses, denial of service, and numerous other attack vectors.

    Cyber

    How Cyber threat is ever increasing?

    • Increasing Grey Zone Operations: Grey zone Operations which fall outside traditional concepts of conflicts have become the new battleground, especially in regard to cyber warfare. ‘Grey Zone Operations’ are already beginning to be employed to undermine the vital of a state’s functioning, a trend likely to grow. The convergence of emerging technologies alongside new hybrid usages, pose several challenges to nations and institutions.
    • Attack on examination: The recent arrest in India, of a Russian for hacking into computers involved in the conduct of examinations for entry into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), is a reflection of how cybercriminals are significantly amplifying their Grey Zone Warfare’ tactics
    • Pervasive nature of cyber threat: What is most unfortunate is that not enough attention is being bestowed on the all-encompassing nature of the cyber threat. In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the world seems awash with papers on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven military innovations and potential crisis hot zones, along with stray references to new forms of hybrid warfare.
    • Weaponization of everything: There is very little about the threat posed by cyber-attacks. Ignored also is the new reality of the weaponization of everything’ which has entered the vocabulary of threats. The latter clearly demands a ‘proto-revolutionary’ outlook on the part of policymakers, which is evidently lacking.
    • Becoming a Multi-dimensional threat: Lost in translation is also the nature of today’s weapon of choice, viz., cyber. This lack of awareness is unfortunate at a time when states clearly lack the necessary resilience to face a variety of multi-vector threats.
    • Cyber weapon as symbol of national Power: Cyber space has been described by Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant (retired), India’s current national cyber security coordinator, as a “superset of interconnected information and communication technology, hardware, software processes, services, data and systems”. Viewed from this perspective, it constitutes a critical aspect of our national power.
    • Simultaneous attacks in multiple dimensions: Cyber threats are not confined to merely one set of conflicts such as Ukraine, where no doubt cyber tools are being extensively employed extending well beyond this and other conflicts of a varied nature. The cyber threat is in this sense all-pervading, embracing many regions and operating on different planes.

    Cyber

    Challenges to India’s cyber security infrastructure

    • Structural:

    1. Absence of any geographical constraints.

    2.Lack of uniformity in devices used for internet access.

    • Administrative:
    1. Lack of national-level architecture for cybersecurity
    2. Security audit does not occur periodically, nor does it adhere to the international standards.
    3. The appointment of the National Cyber Security Coordinator in 2014 has not been supplemented by creating liaison officers in states.
    • Procedural
    1. Lack of awareness in local police of various provisions of IT Act, 2000, and also of IPSC related to cybercrime.
    2. Lack of data protection regime.
    • Human Resource Related
    1. Inadequate awareness among people about the security of devices and online transactions.

    Cyber

    What are the Steps taken by India to strengthen cyber security?

    • Section 66F of ITA: Specific provision dealing with the issue of cyber terrorism that covers denial of access, unauthorized access, introduction of computer contaminant leading to harm to persons, property, critical infrastructure, disruption of supplies, ‘sensitive data’ thefts. Provides for punishment which may extend to life imprisonment.
    • National Cyber Security Policy 2013: Policy document drafted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology. Established National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) to improve the protection and resilience of the country’s critical infrastructure information; Create a workforce of 5 lakh professionals skilled in cybersecurity in the next 5 years.
    • National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC): It has been setup to enhance the protection and resilience of Nation’s Critical information infrastructure. It functions under the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO).
    • Computer Security through CERT-IN: Organization under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with an objective of securing Indian cyberspace. The purpose of CERT-In is to respond to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices throughout the country. According to the provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, CERT-In is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Act.
    • Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative: It was launched in 2018 with an aim to spread awareness about cybercrime and build capacity for safety measures for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and frontline IT staff across all government departments.
    • Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP): It aims at countering cyber threats and cyber-terrorism.
    • National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC): It seeks to generate necessary situational awareness of existing and potential cyber security threats and enable timely information sharing for proactive, preventive and protective actions by individual entities. National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) coordinates with different agencies at the national level for cyber security matters.
    • Cyber Swachhta Kendra: This platform was introduced for internet users to clean their computers and devices by wiping out viruses and malware.
    • Information Security Education and Awareness Project (ISEA): Training of personnel to raise awareness and to provide research, education, and training in the field of Information Security.

    Conclusion

    • With several non-state actors engaging in hybrid warfare and distorting day-to-day practices, including examinations, these pose legal, ethical and real dilemmas. Left unchecked, the world may have to confront a new kind of Wild West, before states find a common denominator for regulating cyber space and lay down proper rules and practices to prevent anarchy and chaos.

    Mains Question

    Q. Cyber threat is intruding the daily life of citizens and making the internal security more challenging task. Comment what are the policy loopholes in India’s fight against the cyber threat?

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  • Child Rights – POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

    Online Child Sexual Abuse Material

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Laws, Institutions & Bodies Constituted For The Vulnerable Sections

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: online child abuse and protection

    child

    Context

    • Last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches across States and Union Territories as part of a pan-India operation, “Megh Chakra”. The operation, against the online circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abusive Material (CSAM) using cloud-based storage, was supposedly based on inputs received from Interpol’s Singapore special unit, in turn based on the information received from New Zealand.

    Current system of detecting CSAM

    • Help of foreign agencies: As the public reporting of circulation of online CSAM is very low and there is no system of automatic electronic monitoring, India’s enforcement agencies are largely dependent on foreign agencies for the requisite information.
    • Operation carbon: In November 2021, a similar exercise code-named “Operation Carbon” was launched by the CBI, with many being booked under the IT Act, 2000.

    American Model of fighting CSAM

    • Cyber tipline programme under NCMEC: The National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a non-profit organization in the United States, operates a programme called Cyber Tipline, for public and electronic service providers (ESPs) to report instances of suspected child sexual exploitation. In 2021, the Cyber Tipline received more than 29.3 million reports (99% from ESPs) of U.S. hosted and suspected CSAM.
    • Mandatory reporting for Internet service providers (ISPs): ISPs are mandated to report the identity and the location of individuals suspected of violating the law. Also, NCMEC may notify ISPs to block transmission of online CSAM.

    UK Model of fighting CSAM

    • Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to ensure safe online environment: In the United Kingdom, the mission of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a non-profit organisation established by the United Kingdom’s Internet industry to ensure a safe online environment for users with a particular focus on CSAM, includes disrupting the availability of CSAM and deleting such content hosted in the U.K.
    • ISPs may be held responsible: The IWF engages the analysts to actively search for criminal content and not just rely on reports from external sources. Though the U.K. does not explicitly mandate the reporting of suspected CSAM, ISPs may be held responsible for third party content if they host or caches such content on their servers. In 2021, the IWF assessed 3,61,062 reports, (about 70% reports had CSAM) and seven in 10 reports contained “self-generated” CSAM.

    child

    Efforts of Global community

    • Global network for secure IT infrastructure: A global network of 50 hotlines (46 member countries), provides the public with a way to anonymously report CSAM. It provides secure IT infrastructure, ICCAM (I- “See” (c)-Child-Abuse-Material) hosted by Interpol and facilitates the exchange of CSAM reports between hotlines and law enforcement agencies. ICCAM is a tool to facilitate image/video hashing/finger printing and reduce the number of duplicate investigations.
    • Removal of illegal URLs: In 2021, the number of exchanged content URLs stood at 9,28,278, of which 4,43,705 contained illegal content. About 72% of all illegal content URLs were removed from the Internet within three days of a notice and takedown order.

    child

    India’s Efforts so far

    • Internet service providers are exempted from the liability: In India, the Supreme Court of India, in Shreya Singhal (2015), read down Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to mean that the ISP, only upon receiving actual knowledge of the court order or on being notified by the appropriate government, shall remove or disable access to illegal contents. Thus, ISPs are exempted from the liability of any third-party information.
    • In the Kamlesh Vaswani (WP(C) 177/2013) case: The petitioner sought a complete ban on pornography. After the Court’s intervention, the advisory committee (constituted under Section 88 of the IT Act) issued orders in March 2015 to ISPs to disable nine (domain) URLs which hosted contents in violation of the morality and decency clause of Article 19(2) of the Constitution. The petition is still pending in the Supreme Court.
    • Aarambh India portal: a Mumbai-based non-governmental organization, partnered with the IWF, and launched India’s first online reporting portal in September 2016 to report images and videos of child abuse. These reports are assessed by the expert team of IWF analysts and offending URLs are added to its blocking list. Till 2018, out of 1,182 reports received at the portal, only 122 were found to contain CSAM.
    • National cybercrime reporting portal: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) launched a national cybercrime reporting portal in September 2018 for filing online complaints pertaining to child pornography and rape-gang rape. This facility was developed in compliance with Supreme Court directions with regard to a public interest litigation filed by Prajwala, a Hyderabad-based NGO that rescues and rehabilitates sex trafficking survivors. As not many cases of child porn and rape were reported, the portal was later extended to all types of cybercrime.
    • National Crime Records Bureau (MHA): The National Crime Records Bureau (MHA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the NCMEC in April 2019 to receive Cyber Tipline reports to facilitate action against those who upload or share CSAM in India. The NCRB has received more than two million Cyber Tipline reports which have been forwarded to the States for legal action.
    • The ad hoc Committee of the Rajya Sabha: In its report of January 2020, made wide-ranging recommendations on ‘the alarming issue of pornography on social media and its effect on children and society as whole’.
    • Widening of the definition of ‘child pornography’: On the legislative front, the committee not only recommended the widening of the definition of ‘child pornography’ but also proactive monitoring, mandatory reporting and taking down or blocking CSAM by ISPs.
    • Breaking of end-to-end encryption: On the technical front, the committee recommended permitting the breaking of end-to-end encryption, building partnership with industry to develop tools using artificial intelligence for dark-web investigations, tracing identity of users engaged in crypto currency transactions to purchase child pornography online and liasoning with financial service companies to prevent online payments for purchasing child pornography.

    child

    What needs to be done?

    • Mandatory reporting of CSAM by ISP, s: According to the ninth edition (2018) report of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children on “Child Sexual Abusive Material: Model Legislation & Global Review”, more than 30 countries now require mandatory reporting of CSAM by ISPs. Surprisingly, India also figures in this list, though, the law does not provide for such mandatory reporting.
    • Establish liability of legal persons: The Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that addresses child sexual exploitation encourages state parties to establish liability of legal persons.
    • Convention on The Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse: The Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime and Convention on The Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse also requires member states to address the issue of corporate liability.
    • India should join INHOPE: It is time India joins INHOPE and establishes its hotline to utilize Interpol’s secure IT infrastructure or collaborate with ISPs and financial companies by establishing an independent facility such as the IWF or NCMEC.

    Conclusion

    • India needs to explore all options and adopt an appropriate strategy to fight the production and the spread of online CSAM. Children need to be saved.

    Mains Question

    Q. How children are Vulnerable against child sexual abuse material (CSAM)? What legal remedies available in India against CSAM?

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  • Languages and Eighth Schedule

    Promoting Hindi language rationally

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Official language, Eighth schedule

    Mains level: Hindi imposition row

    Hindi

    Context

    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on English in a recent campaign rally, the controversy over medical education in Hindi and the parliamentary report on promoting Hindi, will give new life to Hindi vs non-Hindi debate.

    The status of Hindi language in India

    • The 2011 linguistic census: Accounts for 121 mother tongues, including 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
    • Widely spoken language: Hindi is the most widely spoken, with 52.8 crore individuals, or 43.6% of the population, declaring it as their mother tongue. The next highest is Bengali, mother tongue for 97 lakh (8%) less than one-fifth of Hindi’s count. In terms of the number of people who know Hindi, the count crosses more than half the country.
    • Hindi as second language: Nearly 13.9 crore (over 11%) reported Hindi as their second language, which makes it either the mother tongue or second language for nearly 55% of the population.

    Hindi

    What does constitution say about Hindi?

    • What is the Eighth Schedule?
    1. The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages.
    2. There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule.
    • Constitutional position of Eighth Schedule

    There are only two references to these languages in the text of the Constitution.

    (i) Article 344(1):

    1. It provides for the formation of a Commission by the President, which should have a chairman and members representing these scheduled languages.
    2. The purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union and for restricting the use of English.

    (ii) Article 351:

    1. It says it is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India”.
    2. It also aims to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

    Hindi

    What are challenges for promotion of Hindi Language?

    • Higher knowledge is not available in Hindi: The challenge of Hindi is that inhabiting the world of Hindi is seen as closing off access to the frontiers of knowledge, not just in science but in civic knowledge, like higher echelons of law.
    • Perceived as inferior language: It is also treated as a marker of parochialism and inferior status.
    • Hindi as language of Identity not as knowledge: The problem may be less acute with other languages like Tamil, Kannada or Bengali, but it exists. The anomaly of the India experiment is not diversity: It is the claim that the language of self, identity and culture be different from the language of knowledge, privilege and access. This is the experiment India is conducting on a large scale. Is it a sustainable one?
    • Cultural assertion through language: It is the untapped resentment of a Hindi culture that often is made conscious of its own second-class status in global hierarchies. Millions of vernacular speakers feel disenfranchised in the worlds of knowledge and prestige.
    • Poor translation mechanism: Our translation missions are so meagre that except for literature, they do not grow the language by translating knowledge into it. So, the division of the function of languages has also become a division of persons, between those whose fluency in English is greater than their fluency in a vernacular, and those who might know English but struggle with it.
    • English transition is not easy in mid high school: There was also a generation that was taught in a vernacular language very well. They found it easy to switch to English later. Now the education system does not prepare you for either trajectory, not at least on a mass scale, leaving the Hindi speaker relatively stranded.

    Hindi

    What should be the way forward?

    • Hindi should be used for knowledge sharing and communication: The discussion of the language issue ought to be pedagogical rather than political. It will be, for instance, important for doctors to have English to easily access a continually evolving world of research; just translating a few textbooks into vernaculars will not solve the challenge. But it is equally true that the ability to communicate fluently in vernacular languages will be a great asset.
    • Higher Education in Hindi should be made available: It is also possibly true that for those who did not get an English education, continuing vernacular education should be a medium of expanding their opportunities.
    • Government has to do its homework: Our education system will have to do the homework to make any language strategy work fully. The skepticism of teaching medicine or engineering in the vernaculars (and not just Hindi) is that our knowledge eco system is not prepared for it; the skepticism of English is that it has left so many people behind.

    Conclusion

    • The genius of India is that it has, historically, not locked itself into binaries over language choice. With creative pedagogies, we can reclaim that heritage. But raising the political pitch on language serves neither the cause of knowledge or national unity.

    Mains Question

    Q. Why government indulges in promotion of Hindi? Does it right in Indian context to promote only one language nationally?

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    Rejuvenating the Indian coffee industry

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Food Processing & Related Industries In India,Major Crops & Cropping Patterns

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Coffee crop

    Mains level: coffee Industry potential, issues and reforms

    coffee

    Context

    • Coffee cultivation is becoming an increasingly loss-making proposition in India. Already weighed down by the high cost of inputs and production as well as labor shortage, the industry is now also affected by changes in climate patterns, reports from Karnataka’s coffee heartland.

    All you need to know about Coffee plantation

    • Coffee is a tropical plantation crop.
    • 16° – 28°C temperature, 150-250cm rainfall and well-drained slopes are essential for its growth.
    • It grows on hilly slopes at the height of 900-1800m.
    • Low temperature, frost, dry weather for a long time and harsh sunshine are harmful for its plant.

    The status Coffee in India

    • India contributes about 4% of the world’s total coffee production. It ranks 6thin the world in coffee production.
    • At present, more than half of the total coffee production in India is produced by Karnataka alone, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
    • Coffee plants grow better in the laterite soils of Karnataka in India.
    • The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country.
    • Indian coffee is highly rated and commands premium prices in the global coffee markets.
    • Indian coffee offering innumerable flavors, aromas and blends. The commodity, for several decades, enjoyed a special position in India’s export lists.
    • Coffee has high value and high imagery potential at home and overseas market. From being handled and sold as a berry, a green bean, a processed bean, a roasted bean and now a roasted and ground offering, coffee has climbed the hierarchy of value-addition.
    • Coffee was an important export item for the Union government, when the commodity’s exports were in the range of ₹4,000-₹5,000 crore annually.

    coffee

    Do you know the history of Coffee in India?

    • The history of Indian coffee dates back to around 1600 AD with the planting of Seven Seeds of Mocha by legendary saint Baba Budan in the courtyard of his hermitage in Chikmangalur, Karnataka. The coffee plants remained a garden curiosity before they gradually spread as backyard plantings, and later on to the hills of what is now known as Baba Budan Hills.
    • However, it wasn’t until the 18th century the British entrepreneurs started taking coffee cultivation properly and turned forests in Southern India into commercial coffee plantations

    What are Challenges faced by Coffee cultivation in India?

    • Impact of Climate Change: Drastic changes in climate patterns over the last few years have adversely impacted India’s coffee production and the quality of the crop. There were dry spells between 2015 and 2017 and unseasonal heavy rains, floods and landslides between 2018 and 2022. According to the Coffee Board of India’s post-blossom estimate, production for the 2022 crop is anticipated to be some 30% lower than the estimated production due to the extreme climatic conditions.
    • Impact of heavy rains: Destruction caused by heavy rains between July and September. The impact of the rains continues, with diseases affecting plants, and estate infrastructure suffering long-term damage. Plantations in Wayanad in Kerala and Palani in Tamil Nadu have also suffered similar losses. fruit rot, stalk rot and root rot and other irreparable damage due to heavy rainfall and landslides, berries turned black and dropped.
    • Emergence of New diseases: Erratic weather conditions are helping pests to breed and new diseases to emerge, further stressing coffee plantation.

    coffee

    Crisis in Coffee Industry of India

    • No adequate fund support by government: Sturdy and weather-resistant varieties of coffee may help and stand against climate change, but sadly the government is not providing adequate funds to coffee research stations to develop these.
    • The volatility in market prices marginalizing producers: The volatility in market prices and the reduced influence of producers in the value chain render coffee cultivation an increasingly loss-making proposition. Producers are getting marginalized. This is rapidly turning out to be a buyer-driven commodity market.
    • Impact of Exports on cost competitiveness: More than 75% of Indian coffee production is exported. This has an impact on the cost competitiveness of Indian coffee vis-à-vis the coffee that is exported from other producer regions, especially since those growers get their finances at very low interest rates.
    • High Cost of financing: Most private banks insist that growers provide collateral for financing. Since small and medium-size growers are invariably not in a position to provide collateral, the interest rates are high, at around 12%. International interest rates, on the other hand, are negligible, mostly in single digits. This is an advantage for competing coffee-producing region.
    • Increasing cost of Inputs: Due to the rise in the cost of inputs year on year and the increase in the cost of labor and benefits, which constitute 60% to 70% of total plantation expenditure, coffee growers are left with very little money in hand which is not adequate to repay loans. The cost of inputs around coffee such as fertilizers and agrochemicals has increased by almost 20% in a year.
    • No pricing mechanism: There is no official price setting mechanism even in the domestic market. So, traders and curers are calling the shots and fixing prices, and growers are at their mercy.
    • Identity crisis for Indian coffee: On the brand front, Indian coffee is still facing an identity crisis in global markets, although the country started exporting coffee actively before the 19th century. The fact that India sells Robusta and Arabic at a price higher than the hugely advertised Colombia is an indication of the brand building done by the Indian exporter and the quality of Indian coffee. Yet, Indian coffee does not have an individual brand identity in the international markets, Indian coffee was never considered a separate origin coffee. It was always used as filler.

    What are the reasons behind the High cost of production?

    • Rising labor charges: In India, production of coffee is low while the cost of production is on the rise compared to other coffee countries such as Vietnam and Brazil. In Brazil, labour charges account for 25% of the entire production cost, but in India, planters say they account for about 65%
    • Hard terrain and topography: It is possible to bring down the cost of production to some extent through mechanization, but India’s coffee terrains and topography limit this possibility. At the same time, Indian coffee has a unique positioning as it is shade-grown and grown at elevations, while other major producing countries grow coffee in flat lands.
    • High cost of Irrigation: Power cuts makes irrigation expensive as the cost of diesel is high. The high cost of inputs leads to the high cost of production which is the main problem for coffee growers. It makes coffee cultivation unviable. Earlier, the cost of production would go up by 4% to 5% annually, but now it goes up at least 20% annually.
    • Unskilled migrant labour and wage costs: There is increasingly a shortage of labor while the cost of labour is on the rise in the coffee sector. The children of workers in all the three coffee-growing States Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala prefer to move to urban areas. This means plantations are forced to depend heavily on migrant labours who are unskilled. A lot of effort, time and energy has to be invested in training migrant labours. As wage costs are not linked to productivity, growers are mandated to pay the usual wage along with other social costs such as housing and medicines, which adds up some 30% more to the wages. Most plantations simply don’t find skilled labour, especially for tasks such as shade-lopping, pruning, and borer tracing.

    coffee

    Way forward

    • Alternative source of revenue: Finding alternative sources of revenue and increasing domestic consumption on the one hand and branding and promoting Indian coffee better in the global market on the other.
    • Creating in addition revenue streams: Growers should create additional revenue streams through inter-cropping or through innovative measures. In addition to traditional inter-cropping of pepper and cardamom, coffee growers could try planting exotic fruit-bearing trees, food crops, or getting into fish farming, dairy farming, apiary or green tourism to increase incomes from their coffee gardens. For instance, progressive farmers from Thandikudi in Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu, and from Sakleshpur in Chikkamagaluru district, are growing avocados, mangosteens, oranges, guavas and other fruit bearing trees, amid their coffee plants. In some seasons they say they have even earned more money from these than from coffee and pepper.
    • Government should permit to plant alternate crops: Considering the change in land use, the government could permit growers to plant alternate crops in a land not suitable for coffee cultivation. Timely conversion will prevent growers from going financially sick.
    • Coffee Act and the new Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022: India’s share in the global coffee market may be less than 5%, but the coffee sector is hopeful that the Coffee Act and the new Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022, will do away the 80-year-old coffee regulation and usher in change.

    Conclusion

    • The coffee community in India, comprising close to 4 lakh coffee growers, hundreds of large planters, associations that represent growers, planters, curers and exporters, and over a dozen Fair Trade Organizations, hopes to boost coffee in the domestic and international markets and counter the problems the industry faces.

    Mains Question

    Q. Even after getting out of the shackles of the pooling system in 1996, the bean maintained a special status as a valuable export commodity for a long time. Discuss the problems of coffee industry taking a back seat in India and suggest solutions.

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

    Physical Inactivity, Neglected Burden on Economy

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

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: NA

    Mains level: Physical and mental health and economy

    physical

    Context

    • Global status report on physical activity is WHO’s first dedicated global assessment of global progress on country implementation of policy recommendations of the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) 2018-2030.

    What are the findings of the report?

    • Poor physical activity standards: Over 80 per cent adolescents and 27 per cent adults do not meet the physical activity standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a new report.
    • developing non-communicable diseases: This will lead to 500 million additional people developing non-communicable diseases from 2020-2030 and cost the global economy $27 billion annually, it added.

    How physical Inactivity impacts health and Economy?

    • Changing lifestyles: Sedentary lifestyle of a large share of the global population has been linked to rising prevalence of heart diseases, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases.
    • Increasing Hypertension and depression: Of the 500 million new cases projected, nearly half will be attributed to hypertension and 43 per cent to depression, the authors of the report said.
    • A strain on the health systems: The report quantified the economic burden of not being able to meet the GAPPA target. The sharp rise in non-communicable diseases will also put a strain on the health systems in every country.
    • Rising cost of treatment: If the current prevalence of physical inactivity doesn’t change, the world will incur treatment costs of just over $300 billion till 2030, the report mentioned.
    • 70 per cent of health-care expenditure: The largest economic cost is set to occur among high-income countries, according to the analysis. This will account for 70 per cent of health-care expenditure on treating illness resulting from physical inactivity, it showed. Around 75 per cent of the cases will occur in low- and middle-income countries, it added.

    What are the government efforts to address the physical inactivity menace?

    • National physical activity policy: Less than half the countries in the world have any national physical activity policy, showed the analysis of 194 countries by WHO published October 19, 2022.
    • National policies are in operation: Less than 40 per cent of the existing national policies are in operation, the United Nations health agency noted in the Global status report on physical activity 2022.
    • Monitor physical activity among adolescents: As many as 75 per cent of countries monitor physical activity among adolescents, and less than 30 per cent monitor physical activity in children under 5 years.
    • Addressing lack of public Infrastructure: The report highlighted that data regarding progress on certain policy actions is missing. These include provision of public open space, provision of walking and cycling infrastructure, provision of sport and physical education in schools.
    • National physical activity guidelines: only 30 per cent of countries have national physical activity guidelines for all age groups, according to the findings of the report.

    physical

    What are the Recommendations of WHO?

    • Exercise benefits mental and physical health: Light exercise and even walking has proven benefits for mental and physical health, studies have shown.
    • Infrastructural changes by governments: Citizens cannot make healthier lifestyle choices without infrastructural changes by governments such as safe walking and cycling lanes. “In policy areas that could encourage active and sustainable transport, only just over 40% of countries have road design standards that make walking and cycling safer,” the WHO analysts found.
    • Five ways to address the policy gaps: 
    1. Strengthen whole-of-government ownership and political leadership
    2. Integrate physical activity into relevant policies and support policy implementation with practical tools and guidance
    3. Strengthen partnerships, engage communities and build capacity in people
    4. Reinforce data systems, monitoring, and knowledge translation
    5. Secure sustainable funding and align with national policy commitments
    • Four areas of policy intervention:
    1. Active societies,
    2. active environments,
    3. active people and
    4. active systems.

    physical

    Government of India’s efforts to promote physical activity

    • FIT India Movement: FIT INDIA Movement was launched on 29th August 2019 by Honorable Prime Minister with a view to make fitness an integral part of our daily lives. The mission of the Movement is to bring about behavioral changes and move towards a more physically active lifestyle.
    • Objectives of Fit India: Fit India proposes to undertake various initiatives and conduct events to achieve the following objectives:
    1. To promote fitness as easy, fun and free.
    2. To spread awareness on fitness and various physical activities that promote fitness through focused campaigns.
    3. To encourage indigenous sports.
    4. To make fitness reach every school, college/university, panchayat/village, etc.
    5. To create a platform for citizens of India to share information, drive awareness and encourage sharing of personal fitness stories.

    physical

    Conclusion

    • Physical inactivity is silent poison, killing the future of the citizens. Work from home, remote working has increased the physical inactivity among the working populations. Indoor games, mobile addictions, e-learning have reduced the physical activity of children. It’s a collective responsibility of parents, society and government to promote and encourage the physical activity among citizens.

    Mains Question Q.

    What are the ill effects of physical inactivity on health and economy? What are the policies of government India to promote healthy life style?

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Efforts for Vulture Conservation

    op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Indian vulture

    Mains level: Efforts for Vulture Conservation, Role of vultures in the ecosystem, threats to vulture population

    Vulture

    Context

    • The Tamil Nadu government formed a committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures. The State is home to four species of vultures the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vultures (Gyps indicus), the Asian king vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).

    Are the vulture population decreasing?

    • Absolute numbers are low: While the population of the vultures in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts has remained largely stable, experts state that the numbers are still extremely low, and that even a single poisoning event could lead to several of the species going locally extinct, especially the long-billed and Asian king vulture.
    • Fewer hatchings of vultures: Over the last few years, breeding seasons have also seen fewer hatchings than is the norm, with experts attributing the cause to lesser availability of prey as well as erratic weather.

    Vulture

    The status of Vultures in Tamilnadu

    • Sighting of vultures in Nilgiris, erode and Coimbatore: While there have been reported sightings of vultures in other districts including Dharmapuri; essentially the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts are believed to form one of the largest contiguous expanses where vultures are spotted.
    • In the Tiger reserves and forest areas: Home to the nesting sites of three of the four species of vultures seen in the State, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, parts of the Nilgiris forest division and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are crucial strongholds for the vultures in southern India.
    • Sighting of Himalayan griffon vulture: Occasional migrants such as the Himalayan griffon vulture and the Cinerous vulture are also spotted each year.
    • Larger population of vultures in the South of Vindhiya mountain range: Tamil Nadu boasts the largest population of vultures south of the Vindhiya Mountain Range. In the Nilgiris, researchers and forest department officials estimate that there are between 100 and 120 white-rumped vultures, 10 and 15 long-billed vultures and less than 10 Asian king vultures.
    • Spotted at Sigur plateau: Though Egyptian vultures are spotted in the Sigur plateau, encompassing the Nilgiris and Erode districts, they are not believed to use the landscape to breed, while researchers still remain unsuccessful in tracing the breeding sites of the critically endangered Asian king vulture.

    Vulture

    Role of vultures in the Ecosystem

    • As scavengers: vultures help prevent the spread of many diseases and can remove toxins from entering the environment by consuming carcasses of dead cattle/wildlife before they decompose.

    What are the Threats to the Vulture population?

    • Temple Tourism and increased activities around the temple: There are multiple. For one, temple tourism in the Sigur plateau is centered primarily around vulture habitats, such as Siriyur, Anaikatty and Bokkapuram. Over the last few years, there have been recorded instances of vultures abandoning nesting sites located too close to temples inside these reserves, with activists calling for strict controls on the amount of people allowed to attend these festivals.
    • Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs): Experts also agree that the use of some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) to treat cattle, such as diclofenac, nimesulide, ketoprofen among others, has led to the crash in vulture populations across India.
    • Spread of invasive weeds: Another threat is the spread of invasive weeds such as the Lantana camara in vulture landscapes, which hinder the birds from scavenging as their large wingspans require plenty of open area to safely land and to take to the skies in case of any major threats.
    • Vulnerable to even natural drugs: Unfortunately, their tolerance for harmful substances does not extend to manmade drugs.
    • Climate change and forest fires: Finally, due to the illegal tapping of water along the streams running through these areas, possible climate change, and forest fires, the Terminalia arjuna trees, that many vultures use as nesting sites are disappearing.

    Vulture

    Steps taken to protect the vultures

    • Banning the harmful drugs: The State government has banned the use of diclofenac, a drug, to treat cattle, while there are strict restrictions for the sale of other NSAIDs in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts.
    • Vulture census: Additionally, as the vultures in the Sigur plateau utilize landscapes in neighboring Karnataka and Kerala, experts have called for a synchronous vulture census to accurately identify vulture populations and nesting sites.

    Conclusion

    • Only through a multipronged approach of increasing the amount of food available to the birds and managing invasive species can vulture numbers start rebounding.

    Mains Question

    Q. What important role does vulture plays in ecosystem? What are the efforts taken by central government for conservation of vultures in India?

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Election Commission can not breach Fundamental Rights

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Constitutional Bodies,Representation Of People’s Act

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ECI

    Mains level: Election Commission , Electoral reforms and related issues

    Election

    Context

    • Preparations are going on in full swing for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. Election Commission had signed MoUs with over 1,000 corporate houses undertaking to monitor electoral participation of their workforce and publish on their websites and notice boards those who do not vote.

    Background

    • In June, the EC had asked central and state government departments, public sector units and corporate entities with over 500 employees to appoint nodal officers to identify employees who take leave on polling day but do not vote, The Indian Express reported.
    • The Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat has said that the employees of state public sector units and government departments who don’t vote will also be tracked.
    • The report also mentioned that on a recent visit to Gujarat, the CEC himself had said that though the commission cannot enforce compulsory voting, it “wanted to identify workers in big industries who don’t vote despite availing the holiday”.

    All you need to know about Election Commission of India

    • The ECI is a constitutional authority whose responsibilities and powers are prescribed in the Constitution of India under Article 324.
    • In the performance of its functions, the Election Commission is insulated from executive interference.
    • It is the Commission that decides the election schedules for the conduct of elections, whether general elections or by-elections.
    • ECI decides on the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centers, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centers and all allied matters.

    Importance of Election Commission of India

    • Conduction of Election: The ECI has been successfully conducting national as well as state elections since 1952.
    • Electoral participation: In recent years, however, the Commission has started to play a more active role to ensure greater participation of people.
    • Discipline of political parties: It had gone to the extent of disciplining the political parties with a threat of derecognizing if the parties failed in maintaining inner-party democracy.
    • Upholds federalism: It upholds the values enshrined in the Constitution viz, equality,
      equity, impartiality, independence; and rule of law in superintendence, direction, and control over electoral governance.
    • Free and fair elections: It conducts elections with the highest standard of credibility, freeness, fairness, transparency, integrity, accountability, autonomy and professionalism.

    What is the criticism over the EC’s move to track who do not vote?

    • Unethical and against the democracy: Any coercion particularly coercion of the kind being proposed by the EC in this case betrays an authoritarian approach that is not only antithetical to democracy but is directly violative of the Constitution and the laws of the land.
    • Against the freedom of Expression: Constitution provides a fundamental right of freedom of expression. (Article 19). It is individual’s choice to cast their Right to vote or not to vote.
    • Revealing Identity would be violative of Article 14: Protection of elector’s identity and affording secrecy is therefore integral to free and fair elections and an arbitrary distinction between a voter who casts and a voter who does not cast his vote is violative of Article 14. Thus, secrecy is to be maintained for both categories of persons.” the list of non-voters be put up on a company’s notice board or website? It will clearly be contempt of court.
    • Supreme Court’s judgement on NOTA and mandatory voting: The Supreme Court, in PUCL vs Union of India, 2013, (popularly known as the NOTA judgment) has held that abstention from voting and negative voting are protected as freedom of expression a fundamental right. Earlier, in April 2009, the Court had taken the same view while dismissing a plea that sought to make voting mandatory on grounds of governments not representing the majority because of low turnouts.
    • No of circumstances that one can’t vote on the day: In every election, there will be those who do not vote out of conviction or for ideological reasons. More importantly, there are millions of daily wage workers, and many homeless and ill.

    Election

    What are the legal and constitutional provisions for a citizen?

    • Section 79 D of RPA Act: Section 79 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 defines “electoral right” to mean the right of a person to vote or refrain from vote at an election”. The law completely enables, but does not force, citizens to vote. The same provision exists in the Indian Penal Code, vide Section 171A (b).
    • Section135B of the RPA Act: Section135B of the Representation of People Act, 1951, grants a paid holiday to every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment.
    • A compulsory paid Holiday: Even a daily wage worker shall be paid for the day.The only exception is essential services Contravention of the law carries a fine for the employer which may extend to Rs 500, which was fixed over 25 years ago.

    Rulings of the supreme court on the matter of voting rights

    • Free and fair election is a basic structure: In PUCL vs Union of India, the Court said: “free and fair election is a basic structure of the Constitution and necessarily includes within its ambit the right of an elector to cast his vote without fear of reprisal, duress or coercion.

    Election

    What does the Election Commission say over this new development?

    • Clarification by Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat: MoU’s are signed in the form of appeal for increasing registration and voter turnout, establish voter awareness forum in their organizations.
    • To track electoral participation: Election Commission said that it will help to track electoral participation of their workforce.
    • Less voting percentage: Out of seven least voting percentage districts during 2019 general elections, four were metropolitan cities. Voting percentage in urban areas is generally less, pulling down the overall voting percentage.
    • Purpose is to educate voters: CEC clarified MoU’s are only for voter education and facilitation and not for compelling them to vote.

    Election

    How to address the issue of less participation of voters?

    • Systematic voter education programme: The noble objective of enhanced voter participation can be best achieved through systematic voter education, amply demonstrated by the ECI in elections in all the states and Union territories since 2010 when a voter education division was set up. This soon evolved into its SVEEP programme. This has led to all elections ever since seeing the highest-ever turnouts.
    • Through Motivation and facilitation: The EC’s consistent efforts should be towards motivation and facilitation, rather than compulsion, are the best ways to address the issue.
    • The voter education programme: The voter education programme has sought to motivate the youth to participate in democracy by registering as voters, voting in every election and voting ethically that is, without inducement. It has involved schools and colleges to take the registration facility to the doorstep by introducing voter clubs, and youth icons and placing drop boxes in the public locations and online drop boxes.
    • Awareness in the corporate setup: Employers have been encouraged to create similar facilities in their offices. They are legally obliged to close their establishments on poll day, but this is seldom enforced.

    Conclusion

    • The noble objective of enhanced voter participation can be best achieved through systematic voter education, and awareness programs and not the cost of fundamental rights of the citizen which is enshrined the fundamental law of the land. Motivation and awareness could be the way for enhancing voter participation.

    Mains Question

    Q. What is the role of Election Commission of India? How do you see the compulsory voting in the light of the Constitution of India under the EC’s mandate of free and fair election? Discuss

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  • Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

    An Indian Pioneer of ORT

    op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Achievements Of Indians In S&T,S&T – Applications In Everyday Life

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ORT Everyday application

    Mains level: ORT, Diseases treated by ORT, Cholera outbreak

    ORT

    Context

    • In the demise of Dilip Mahalabnis on October 16 we lost a pioneering public health physician the ORS pioneer who helped save millions of lives. In 1978, a Lancet editorial termed ORS the most important medical advance in this century.

    Background

    • ORT was first introduced worldwide in the 1970s to treat millions of children suffering from severe dehydration in crisis-stricken and impoverished areas. At the time, the world’s leading general medical journal The Lancet called ORT “potentially the most important medical advance since penicillin.”
    • A Lancet editorial in 1978 termed it “potentially the most important medical advance this century”.

    Interesting story of Dilip Mahalabnis and invention of ORT

    • Mahalanabis was trained as a paediatrician and joined the Cholera Research Programme of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Medical Research and Training (JHCMRT) in Calcutta in 1966.
    • His team was treating cases of the cholera epidemic in a camp in Bangaon, West Bengal that housed 3,50,000 refugees but ran out of intravenous fluids. He thought that it would be opportune to use ORS. As no ORS packets were available, they mixed salt and sugar solution (ORS) in drums and administered it to the cholera patients in the camps.
    • The library of the JHCMRT was converted into a factory. This was not a mandated mode of treatment and at great personal risk, Mahalanabis chose to respond to the humanitarian crisis in this manner.
    • It was evident in two to three weeks’ time that not only was the therapy working but that it was possible to administer ORT through volunteers (in the absence of a sufficient number of trained workers).
    • It was subsequently analyzed that ORS reduced mortality due to cholera or acute diarrhoeal diseases in these camps from 40 per cent to 5 per cent. They coined the term “oral saline” and rest is the story.

    ORT

    What is Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)?

    • A fluid to correct dehydration: Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) entails drinking water with modest amounts of sugar and salts, specifically sodium and potassium to correct dehydration due to fluid losses from diarrhoea.
    • ORT ingredients: ORT combines three ingredients such as salts, sugars and water to quickly reverse the signs of dehydration. Through the process of osmosis, the salts and sugars pull water into your bloodstream and speed up rehydration.
    • Essential electrolytes which replenish Blood: ORT also replenishes your blood with essential electrolytes (minerals) that are lost due to intense exercise, exposure to extreme weather conditions, or diarrhea and other illnesses. Water doesn’t contain electrolytes and so, ironically, water alone cannot cure dehydration like ORT.
    • An effective electrolyte: Administration of fluids through the intravenous route used to be the mainstay of management of cholera till the results of a study demonstrated that an oral solution of glucose and electrolytes was effective for replacing water and electrolyte losses.
    • Quick and efficient: The translation of the basic science concept to quick and efficient practice was, however, not easy. And that is the fascinating story and sterling contribution of Mahalanabis and his co-workers on ORT.

    What is Dehydration?

    • Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don’t replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated.

    ORT

    What is Disease Cholera?

    • Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that can kill within hours if left untreated.
    • Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms and can be successfully treated with oral rehydration solution. Cholera affects both children and adults.
    • Provision of safe water and sanitation is critical to prevent and control the transmission of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
    • Cholera remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development.

    Recent outbreak of cholera In India

    • Cholera is said to be endemic in India. However, the reported cases in India tend to be much lesser than the actual numbers, say doctors and experts.
    • The number of cases is rising in India because we still lack the basic sanitation, hygiene and access to clean water in many communities,
    • The country reports nearly 20,000 to 30,000 cases of cholera every year, usually during the monsoon season of July to September.
    • Climate change adds up another layer to the cholera outbreak.

    Contribution of ORT to the world.

    • As a perfect alternative over the prevailing doctrine: ORT was in marked contrast to the then prevailing doctrine of patients being given only sips of water without food, euphemistically called “resting the stomach”, often worsening the underlying malnutrition.
    • For Diarrhoea: An estimated 54 million diarrhoeal deaths were averted by ORT alone between 1978 and 2008, such was the magnitude of its beneficial impacts. ORT for the management of severe diarrhea was developed in the latter half 1960s. WHO launched a worldwide campaign in 1978 to reduce mortality related to diarrhea, with ORT as one of the key elements.
    • For cholera: Administration of fluids through the intravenous route used to be the mainstay of management of cholera till the results of a study demonstrated that an oral solution of glucose and electrolytes was effective for replacing water and electrolyte losses
    • Cholera pandemic: This period coincided with the seventh cholera pandemic (El Tor biotype) that started in Indonesia in 1961 and spread to East Pakistan (Bangladesh) by 1963 and to India in 1964. Though experiments with ORS were underway, the WHO responded in 1970 by distributing large amounts of intravenous fluids – a move marked by high transportation costs and limited utilization on account of a shortage of a trained health workforce. The focus of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), through the Cholera Research Laboratory in Dhaka, was to find a vaccine to protect the US troops from cholera attacks in Southeast Asia.
    • One solution for everyone: Athletes; people with illnesses, especially babies and toddlers; seniors; military personnel stationed in extreme climates; air travelers who lose electrolytes every time they fly: They all stand to dramatically improve their health and well-being with ORT.

    ORT

    Conclusion

    • Dilip Mahalanabis pioneered a simple and effective solution for diarrhoea that saves millions of lives which can be considered as one of the greatest contributions of Indian in medical sciences. To carry the carry legacy forward young scientists should step in.

    Mains Question

    Q. What do you Understand by Oral Rehydration Therapy? How it could be effective in tackling the yearly outbreaks of Cholera in India and the world. Discuss.

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