Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 246
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for review of the Seventh Schedule
Context
Without delegation of funds, functions and functionaries, local governments are unable to respond to pressure from citizens who demand greater efficiency.
Background of the Seventh Schedule
- Article 246 of the Constitution mentions three lists in the Seventh Schedule — union, state and concurrent lists.
- The present Seventh Schedule and union (at that time Federal) list, state (at that time Provincial) list and concurrent lists are inherited from that 1935 piece of legislation.
- It states that “Notwithstanding anything in the two next succeeding subsections, the Federal Legislature has, and a Provincial Legislature has not, power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule to this Act.”
Delivery of public goods
- Ignoring that narrow and technical definition of public good, loosely, we understand “public good” as something that must be delivered by the government.
- It cannot, or should not, be delivered by the private sector.
- Notwithstanding the use of private security guards, most people will agree “law and order” is a public good.
- Most public goods people will think of are efficiently delivered at the local government level, not Union or state level.
- There is a Seventh Schedule issue that is thus linked to the insertion of a local body list.
- Countervailing pressure by citizens increasingly demands efficient delivery of such public goods.
- But without delegation of funds, functions and functionaries, presently left to the whims of state governments, local governments are unable to respond.
Need for the review of the Seventh Schedule Lists
- No local body list: Most public goods people will think of are efficiently delivered at the local government level, not Union or state level.
- There is a Seventh Schedule issue that is thus linked to the insertion of a local body list.
- But without delegation of funds, functions and functionaries, presently left to the whims of state governments, local governments are unable to respond.
- The Rajamannar Committee — formally known as Centre-State Relations Inquiry Committee suggested constitution of a High Power Commission to examine the entries of Lists I and III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and suggest redistribution of the entries,”.
- Changes in the past led to greater centralisation: Items have moved from the state list to the concurrent list and from the concurrent list to the union list.
- Such limited movements have reflected greater centralisation, such as in 1976.
- N K Singh, Chairman of 15th Finance Commission has also often made this point, in addition to scrutiny of Article 282.
Conclusion
For the sake of better governance, it’s not an issue that should be ducked and the basic structure doctrine doesn’t stand in the way.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 324
Mains level: Paper 2- Need to change the selection process of Election Commissioners
Context
The attendance of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and his Election Commissioner (EC) colleagues at an “informal” meeting with the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister has brought renewed focus on the independence and impartiality of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Need for changes in the appointment process
- The changes in the appointment process for ECs can strengthen ECI’s independence, neutrality and transparency.
- The appointment of ECs falls within the purview of Article 324(2) of the Constitution, which establishes the institution.
- Article 324(2) contains a ‘subject to’ clause which provides that both the number and tenure of the ECs shall be “subject to provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.”
- Apart from enacting a law in 1989 enlarging the number of ECs from one to three, Parliament has so far not enacted any changes to the appointment process.
- In 1975 itself, the Justice Tarkunde Committee recommended that ECs be appointed on the advice of a Committee comprising the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader and the Chief Justice.
- This was reiterated by the Dinesh Goswami Committee in 1990 and the Law Commission in 2015.
- The 4th Report (2007) of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission additionally recommended that the Law Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha be included in such a Collegium.
- Violation of Article 14 and 324: Three Writ Petitions, with one pending since 2015, are urging the Supreme Court to declare that the current practice of appointment of ECs by the Centre violates Article 14, Article 324(2), and Democracy as a basic feature of the Constitution.
- Precedent does exist in the case of Rojer Mathew v South Indian Bank Ltd, to argue against the Executive being the sole appointer for a quasi-judicial body.
- The Supreme Court had recognised that “Election Commission is not only responsible for conducting free and fair elections but it also renders a quasi-judicial function between the various political parties including the ruling government and other parties.”
- In such circumstances, the executive cannot be a sole participant in the appointment of members of Election Commission as it gives unfettered discretion to the ruling party.
Way forward
- Establishing a multi-institutional, bipartisan committee for fair and transparent selection of ECs can enhance the perceived and actual independence of ECI.
- Such a procedure is already followed with regard to other Constitutional and Statutory Authorities such as the Chief Information Commissioner, Lokpal, Vigilance Commissioner, and the Director of the Central Bureau of Intelligence.
Consider the question “What is the procedure for the appointment of Election Commissioners? What are the issues with this procedure? Suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
ECI’s constitutional responsibilities require a fair and transparent appointment process that is beyond reproach, which will reaffirm our faith in this vital pillar of our polity.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 1- Demographic dividend
Context
Countries like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea have already shown us how demographic dividend can be reaped to achieve incredible economic growth by adopting forward-looking policies and programmes.
The window of demographic opportunity
- With falling fertility (currently 2.0), rising median age (from 24 years in 2011, 29 years now and expected to be 36 years by 2036), a falling dependency ratio (expected to decrease from 65% to 54% in the coming decade taking 15-59 years as the working age population), India is in the middle of a demographic transition.
- This provides a window of opportunity towards faster economic growth. India has already begun to get the dividend.
- As fertility declines, the share of the young population falls and that of the older, dependent population rises.
- If the fertility decline is rapid, the increase in the population of working ages is substantial yielding the ‘demographic dividend’.
- The smaller share of children in the population enables higher investment per child.
- Therefore, the future entrants in the labour force can have better productivity and thus boost income.
- With the passage of time, the share of the older population rises and that of the working age population begins to fall and hence the dividend is available for a period of time, ‘the window of demographic opportunity’.
Need for forward-looking policies
- Without proper policies, the increase in the working-age population may lead to rising unemployment, fueling economic and social risks.
- This calls for forward-looking policies incorporating population dynamics, education and skills, healthcare, gender sensitivity, and providing rights and choices to the younger generation.
Lessons for India
- Countries like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea have already shown us how demographic dividend can be reaped.
- There are important lessons from these countries for India.
- 1) NTA data: The first is to undertake an updated National Transfer Accounts (NTA) assessment.
- Using NTA methodologies, we find that India’s per capita consumption pattern is way lower than that of other Asian countries.
- A child in India consumes around 60% of the consumption by an adult aged between 20 and 64, while a child in China consumes about 85% of a prime-age adult’s consumption.
- The NTA data for India needs to be updated to capture the progress made on such investments since 2011-12.
- 2) Invest more in children and adolescents: India ranks poorly in Asia in terms of private and public human capital spending.
- It needs to invest more in children and adolescents, particularly in nutrition and learning during early childhood.
- 3) Make health investments: Health spending has not kept pace with India’s economic growth.
- The public spending on health has remained flat at around 1% of GDP.
- Evidence suggests that better health facilitates improved economic production.
- Hence, it is important to draft policies to promote health during the demographic dividend.
- 4) Make reproductive healthcare services accessible on a rights-based approach: We need to provide universal access to high-quality primary education and basic healthcare.
- The unmet need for family planning in India at 9.4% as per the latest National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) is high as compared to 3.3% in China and 6.6% in South Korea, which needs to be bridged.
- 5) Bridge gender differentials in education: The gender inequality of education is a concern.
- In India, boys are more likely to be enrolled in secondary and tertiary school than girls. This needs to be reversed.
- 6) Increase female workforce participation: As of 2019, 20.3% of women were working or looking for work, down from 34.1% in 2003-04.
- New skills and opportunities for women and girls befitting their participation in a $3 trillion economy is urgently needed.
- It is predicted that if all women engaged in domestic duties in India who are willing to work had a job, female labour force participation would increase by about 20%.
- 7) Address the diversity between StatesWhile India is a young country, the status and pace of population ageing vary among States.
- Southern States, which are advanced in demographic transition, already have a higher percentage of older people.
- These differences in age structure reflect differences in economic development and health – and remind us of States’ very different starting points at the outset of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda.
- But this also offers boundless opportunities for States to work together, especially on demographic transition, with the north-central region as the reservoir of India’s workforce.
- 8) Governance reform: A new federal approach to governance reforms for demographic dividend will need to be put in place for policy coordination between States on various emerging population issues such as migration, ageing, skiling, female workforce participation and urbanisation.
Conclusion
In India, the benefit to the GDP from demographic transition has been lower than its peers in Asia and is already tapering. Hence, there is an urgency to take appropriate policy measures.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tax buoyancy
Mains level: Paper 3- GST and issues
Context
In 2020-21, the compensation payment episode plunged the Union-State relationship to a new low, creating humongous mistrust.
Background of the compensation to the States
- To allay the fears of States of possible revenue loss by implementing GST in the short term, the Union government promised to pay compensation for any loss of revenue in the evolutionary phase of five years.
- This was estimated by taking the revenue from the merged taxes in 2015-16 as the base and applying the growth rate of 14% every year.
- To finance the compensation requirements, a GST compensation cess was levied on certain items such as tobacco products, automobiles.
- Period of five years: The agreement to pay compensation for the loss of revenue was for a period of five years which will come to an end by June 2022.
- Mistrust between Centre and the State: In 2020-21, due to the most severe lockdown following the novel coronavirus pandemic, the loss of revenue to States was estimated at ₹3 lakh-crore of which ₹65,000 crore was expected to accrue from the compensation cess.
- Of the remaining ₹2.35 lakh-crore, the Union government decided to pay ₹1.1 lakh-crore by borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India.
- The entire compensation payment episode plunged the Union-State relationship to a new low, creating humongous mistrust.
GST reform is still in transition
- Misuse of input tax credit: The technology platform could not be firmed up for a long time due to which the initially planned returns could not be filed.
- This led to large-scale misuse of input tax credit using fake invoices.
- Revenue uncertainty faced by the States: This is the only major source of revenue for the States.
- Considering their increased spending commitments to protect the lives and livelihoods of people, they would like to mitigate revenue uncertainty to the extent they can.
- They have no means to cushion this uncertainty for the Finance Commission which is supposed to take into account the States’ capacities and needs in its recommendations has already submitted its recommendations.
- Changes needed: More importantly, the structure of GST needs significant changes and the cooperation of States is necessary to carry out the required reforms.
Changes needed in GST structure
- Reducing exemption items: Almost 50% of the consumption items included in the consumer price index are in the exemption list; broadening the base of the tax requires significant pruning of these items.
- Bringing petroleum products, real estate etc under GST: Sooner or later, it is necessary to bring petroleum products, real estate, alcohol for human consumption and electricity into the GST fold.
- Single rate: The present structure is far too complicated with four main rates (5%, 12%, 18% and 28%).
- This is in addition to special rates on precious and semi-precious stones and metals and cess on ‘demerit’ and luxury items at rates varying from 15% to 96% of the tax rate applicable which have complicated the tax enormously.
- Multiple rates complicate the tax system, cause administrative and compliance problems, create inverted duty structure and lead to classification disputes.
Way forward
- Extending the compensation period: Reforming the structure to unify the rates is imperative and this cannot be done without the cooperation of States.
- Thus, extending the compensation payment for the next five years is necessary not only because the transition to GST is still underway but also to provide comfort to States to partake in the reform.
- Reforming the structure is important not only to enhance the buoyancy of the tax in the medium term but also to reduce administrative and compliance costs to improve ease of doing business and minimise distortions.
- New rate of compensation: It has been pointed out by many including the Fifteenth Finance Commission that the compensation scheme of applying 14% growth on the base year revenue provided for the first five years was far too generous.
- The issue can be revisited and the rate of growth of reference revenue for calculating compensation can be linked to the growth of GSDP in States.
Conclusion
The transition to GST is still in progress and an extension will provide comfort to States to help roll out crucial changes.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Free speech vs hate speech
Context
The growing incidence of hate speeches, especially those targeting minorities, in combination with the judicial ambiguity has provided an opportunity to chart legislative reforms.
Current legal provisions to deal with hate speech
- Not defined in legal framework: Hate speech is neither defined in the Indian legal framework nor can it be easily reduced to a standard definition due to the myriad forms it can take.
- The Supreme Court, in Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India (2014), described hate speech as “an effort to marginalise individuals based on their membership in a group” and one that “seeks to delegitimise group members in the eyes of the majority, reducing their social standing and acceptance within society.”
- The Indian Penal Code illegalises speeches that are intended to promote enmity or prejudice the maintenance of harmony between different classes.
- Specifically, sections of the IPC, such as 153A, which penalises promotion of enmity between different groups;
- 153B, which punishes imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration;
- 505, which punishes rumours and news intended to promote communal enmity, and
- 295A, which criminalises insults to the religious beliefs of a class by words with deliberate or malicious intention.
- Summing up various legal principles, in Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court held that “hate speech has no redeeming or legitimate purpose other than hatred towards a particular group”.
- Lack of established legal standard: Divergent decisions from constitutional courts expose the lack of established legal standards in defining hate speech, especially those propagated via the digital medium.
Suggestions
- The Law Commission of India, in its 267th report, recommended the insertion of two new provisions to criminalise and punish the propagation of hate speech.
- The 189th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in 2015, recommended the incorporation of separate and specific provisions in the Information Technology Act to deal with online hate speech.
- Specialised legislation for social media: Much of the existing penal provisions deal with hate speech belong to the pre-Internet era.
- The need of the hour is specialised legislation that will govern hate speech propagated via the Internet and, especially, social media.
- Recognise hate speech as reasonable restriction to free speech: Taking cue from best international standards, it is important that specific and durable legislative provisions that combat hate speech, especially that which is propagated online and through social media.
- Ultimately, this would be possible only when hate speech is recognised as a reasonable restriction to free speech.
Consider the question “What is hate speech? What are the challenges in dealing with hate speech? Suggest a way forward.”
Conclusion
It is important that specific and durable legislative provisions be enacted to combat hate speech.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issues with India's GDP data
Context
There are three major reasons why the GDP data, and hence any narrative of economic recovery based on it, are questionable.
Background
- The NSO released the current GDP series in 2015, using 2011-12 as its base year.
- Some have argued that the problem in the new series is the real growth rate. This is debatable.
- Scholars have pointed to measurement problems, both in the nominal and real GDP growth rates.
Three issues with the GDP data, and narrative of economic recovery based on it
[1] Double deflation problem
- The new series entailed a shift from a volume-based measurement system to one based on nominal values, thereby making the deflator problem more critical.
- Simply put, the NSO calculates real GDP by gathering nominal GDP data in rupees and then deflating this data using various price indices.
- The nominal data needs to be deflated twice: Once for outputs and once for inputs.
- But the NSO — almost uniquely amongst G20 countries — deflates the nominal data only once.
- It does not deflate the value of inputs.
- To see why this is a problem, consider what happens when the price of imported oil goes down.
- In that case, input costs will fall and the profits recorded by Indian firms will rise.
- This increase in profits is merely the result of a fall in input prices, so it needs to be deflated away.
- But the NSO doesn’t deflate away the increase in profits.
- Since the cost of inputs is measured by the WPI (wholesale price index), a crude measure of the overestimation caused by the absence of “double deflation” is given by the gap between the WPI and the CPI (consumer price index).
- In the 2014-2017 period, oil prices plunged, causing the WPI to fall sharply relative to the CPI.
- This meant that real growth was probably overstated.
- In the last few months, the exact opposite has been happening. WPI inflation is soaring.
- The rapid increase in the WPI relative to the CPI is imparting an upward bias to the deflator.
[2] Sectoral weight not updated
- When it calculates GDP, it takes a sample of activity in each sector, then aggregates the figures by using sectoral weights.
- To make sure that the weights are reasonably accurate, the NSO normally updates them once a decade.
- It has now been more than 10 years since the weights were changed, and there are no signs of a base year revision.
- As a result, the sectoral weights are still based on the structure of the economy in 2010-11, when in particular the information technology sector was much smaller.
[3] Measurement of unorganised sector
- Measurement of the unorganised sector has always been difficult in India.
- Once in a while, the NSO undertakes a survey to measure the size of the sector.
- In the meantime, it simply assumes that the sector has been growing at the same rate as the organised sector.
- However, starting in 2016 the unorganised sector has been disproportionately impacted by a series of shocks.
- In 2018, the NBFC sector reported serious problems, which in turn impacted unorganised sector firms since they were heavily dependent on NBFCs for funds.
- From 2020 onwards, the pandemic has impacted the unorganised sector more than the organised sector enterprises.
- Despite these shocks, the NSO does not seem to have made any adjustments to its methodology for estimating the growth of the unorganised sector.
Consider the question “Elaborate the issues with India’s GDP data. Suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
There are serious problems with India’s GDP data. Any analysis of recovery or growth forecast based on this data must be taken with a handful of salt.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Model BIT
Mains level: Paper 3- Reviev of BITs
Context
The report of the Standing Committee on External Affairs on ‘India and bilateral investment treaties (BITs)’ was presented to Parliament last month.
Factor’s that necessitated the review of India’s BITs
- Investor’s started suing India frequently: Since 2011, when India lost its first investment treaty claim in White Industries v. India, foreign investors have sued India around 20 times for alleged BIT breaches.
- This made India the 10th most frequent respondent-state globally in terms of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims from 1987 to 2019 (UNCTAD).
- Adoption of new Model BIT: India adopted a new Model BIT in 2016, which marked a significant departure from its previous treaty practice.
- Negotiating new BITs: India is in the process of negotiating new investment deals (separately or as part of free trade agreements) with important countries such as Australia and the U.K.
Recommendations of the Committee
- 1] Speed of the existing negotiations: India has signed very few investment treaties after the adoption of the Model BIT.
- It recommends that India expedite the existing negotiations and conclude the agreements at the earliest because a delay might adversely impact foreign investment.
- 2] Sign more BIT’s in core sector: The committee recommends that India should sign more BITs in core or priority sectors to attract FDI.
- Generally, BITs are not signed for specific sectors.
- It will require an overhauling of India’s extant treaty practice that focuses on safeguarding certain kinds of regulatory measures from ISDS claims rather than limiting BITs to specific sectors.
- 3] Fine-tune Model BIT: Model BIT gives precedence to the state’s regulatory interests over the rights of foreign investors.
- The Model BIT should be recalibrated keeping two factors in mind:
- a) tightening the language of the existing provisions to circumscribe the discretion of ISDS arbitral tribunals.
- b) striking a balance between the goals of investment protection and the state’s right to adopt bonafide regulatory measures for public welfare.
- 4] Improve the capacity of government officials: The committee recommends bolstering the capacity of government officials in the area of investment treaty arbitration.
- While the government has taken some steps in this direction through a few training workshops, more needs to be done.
- What is needed is an institutionalised mechanism for capacity-building through the involvement of public and private universities.
- The government should also consider establishing chairs in universities to foster research and teaching activities in international investment law.
Need to improve poor governance
- A very large proportion of ISDS claims against India is due to poor governance.
- This includes changing laws retroactively which led to Vodafone and Cairn suing India.
- Annulling agreement in the wake of imagined scam which resulted in taking away S-band satellite spectrum from Devas.
- The judiciary’s fragility in getting its act together (sitting on the White Industries case for enforcement of its commercial award for years).
Suggestions
- The Committee could have emphasised on greater regulatory coherence, policy stability, and robust governance structures to avoid ISDS claims.
- The government should promptly assemble an expert team to review the Model BIT.
Consider the question “India is one of the most frequent respondent-state globally in terms of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims. In context of this, examine the reasons for such frequent disputes and suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
The committee’s report on India’s BITs have novel suggestions, but it is lacking in several aspects.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Back2Basics: ISDS mechanism
- Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is a mechanism in a free trade agreement (FTA) or investment treaty that provides foreign investors, with the right to access an international tribunal to resolve investment disputes.
- ISDS promotes investor confidence and can protect against sovereign or political risk.
- If a country does not uphold its investment obligations, an investor can have their claim determined by an independent arbitral tribunal, usually comprising three arbitrators.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Centrality of Central Asian region for India
Context
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts the five Central Asia leaders at the Republic Day Parade on January 26, it will send a strong signal — of the new prominence of the Central Asian region in India’s security calculations.
Why India needs effective continental policy
- Factors intensifying geopolitical competition: China’s assertive rise, withdrawal of forces of the United States/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from Afghanistan, the rise of Islamic fundamentalist forces, the changing dynamics of the historic stabilising role of Russia (most recently in Kazakhstan) and related multilateral mechanisms — the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, and the Eurasian Economic Union — have all set the stage for a sharpening of the geopolitical competition on the Eurasian landmass.
- Progress in ties: India’s continental strategy, in which the Central Asian region is an indispensable link, has progressed intermittently over the past two decades — promoting connectivity, incipient defence and security cooperation, enhancing India’s soft power and boosting trade and investment.
- It is laudable, but as is now apparent, it is insufficient to address the broader geopolitical challenges engulfing the region.
- To meet this challenge, evolving an effective continental strategy for India will be a complex and long-term exercise.
Leveraging maritime power
- India’s maritime vision and ambitions have grown dramatically during the past decade, symbolised by its National Maritime Strategy, the Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) and major initiatives relating to the Indo-Pacific and the Quad, in which maritime security figures prominently.
- It was also a response to the dramatic rise of China as a military power.
- Importance: Maritime security is important to keeping sea lanes open for trade, commerce and freedom of navigation, resisting Chinese territorial aggrandisement in the South China Sea and elsewhere, and helping littoral states resist Chinese bullying tactics in interstate relations.
- However, maritime security and associated dimensions of naval power are not sufficient instruments of statecraft as India seeks diplomatic and security constructs to strengthen deterrence against Chinese unilateral actions and the emergence of a unipolar Asia.
- Bulwarks against Chinese maritime expansionist gains are relatively easier to build and its gains easier to reverse than the long-term strategic gains that China hopes to secure on continental Eurasia.
- Centrality of Central Asia: Like Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) centrality is key to the Indo-Pacific, centrality of the Central Asian states should be key for Eurasia.
Challenges for India
1] Connectivity challenge
- Connectivity means nothing when access is denied through persistent neighbouring state hostility contrary to the canons of international law.
- India has been subject for over five decades to a land embargo by Pakistan that has few parallels in relations between two states that are technically not at war.
- Lack of alternative route: Difficulties have arisen in operationalising an alternative route — the International North-South Transport Corridor on account of the U.S.’s hostile attitude towards Iran.
- With the recent Afghan developments, India’s physical connectivity challenges with Eurasia have only become harder.
- The marginalisation of India on the Eurasian continent in terms of connectivity must be reversed.
2] India must be aware of the limitations of the US
- The ongoing U.S.-Russia confrontation relating to Ukraine, Russian opposition to future NATO expansion and the broader questions of European security including on the issue of new deployment of intermediate-range missiles, following the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty will have profound consequences for Eurasian security.
- The U.S. would be severely stretched if it wanted to simultaneously increase its force levels in Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
- A major conflict — if it erupts in Central Europe, pitting Russia, Ukraine and some European states — will stall any hopes of a substantial U.S. military pivot to the Indo-Pacific.
- India should be cognisant of the limitations of geography, obvious gaps between strategic ambition and capacity but also the inherently different standpoints of how major maritime powers view critical questions of continental security.
- India is unique as no other peer country has the same severity of challenges on both the continental and maritime dimensions.
Way forward for India
- India would need to acquire strategic vision and deploy the necessary resources to pursue our continental interests without ignoring our interests in the maritime domain.
- This will require a more assertive push for our continental rights — namely that of transit and access, working with our partners in Central Asia, with Iran and Russia, and a more proactive engagement with economic and security agendas ranging from the SCO, Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
- Striking the right balance between continental and maritime security would be the best guarantor of our long-term security interests.
Conclusion
India will need to define its own parameters of continental and maritime security consistent with its own interests. In doing so, at a time of major geopolitical change, maintaining our capacity for independent thought and action will help our diplomacy and statecraft navigate the difficult landscape and the choppy waters that lie ahead.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- China challenge
Context
Nearly 20 months after the border crisis began in Ladakh, China has pressed on with aggressive diplomatic and military gestures against India.
Recent anti- India moves by China
- Beijing recently renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh, following the six it had done in 2017.
- China justifies the renaming as being done on the basis of its historical, cultural and administrative jurisdiction over the area — these old names existed since ancient times which had been changed by India with its “illegal occupation”.
- On January 1, 2022, Beijing’s new land border law came into force, which provides the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with full responsibility to take steps against “invasion, encroachment, infiltration, provocation” and safeguard Chinese territory.
India’s response
- Delhi has run out of proactive options against Beijing that will force the Chinese leadership to change course on its India policy.
- The two countries have an increasingly lopsided trade relationship driven by Indian dependency on Chinese manufacturing, a situation further worsened by the Government’s mishandling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- To restore the status quo ante on the LAC as of April 2020, India undertook internal balancing of its military from the Pakistan border to the China border and external rebalancing through a closer partnership with the United States in the Indo-Pacific.
- Because of the China factor, the U.S. is currently looking away even as India mistreats its minorities and its democracy stands diminished.
- India’s difficult diplomatic and military engagement with China is going to leave it more dependent on U.S. support, rendering India more vulnerable to American pressure on ‘shared values’.
- With a rising China as its neighbour and a more self-centred U.S. – which is uncomfortable with India’s reliable partner, Russia — as its friend, Delhi continues to face difficult choices.
Conclusion
Put under the harsh glare, India has been found wanting in its ability to deal with future challenges. The immediate challenge, however, remains China. It cannot be wished away and must be tackled.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Section 498A
Mains level: Paper 2-Mediation Bill 2021
Context
The Mediation Bill, 2021 was introduced in Parliament in December 2021. It seeks to ‘promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.
Need to popularise mediation
- The Chief Justice of India (CJI), N.V. Ramana, had said that mediation should be made mandatory as a first step in dispute resolution and that a law should be framed in this regard.
- He emphasised the point that a movement needs to be launched to popularise mediation as it was a cheaper and faster dispute resolution mechanism.
- He said that courts should be the last resort for dispute resolution; therefore, one should explore the options of alternate dispute resolution.
- The Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre, an initiative of the Madras High Court and India’s first court-annexed facility with a mediation centre in every district, has significantly reduced the pendency of referred cases.
Which laws in India allow mediation?
- Mediation finds legitimacy in some specific laws such as:
- The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996,
- The Companies Act, 2013,
- The Commercial Courts Act, 2015,
- The Consumer Protection Act, 2019,
- However, there is no standalone legislation as yet.
How the provisions of Mediation Bill 2021 will help in improving the law and order situation
- The bill seeks to promote mediation (including online), and provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from mediation’.
- In case of civil or commercial disputes, a person must try to settle the dispute by mediation before approaching a court or tribunal.
- Improving the law and order situation: There are certain provisions in the Bill which may help in improving the law and order situation in a locality and/or encourage compounding of criminal offences.
- First, Section 7 of the Bill says that courts will be competent to refer any dispute to mediation relating to compoundable offences or matrimonial offences connected with or arising out of civil proceedings between the parties.
- Second, Section 44 of the Bill provides for ‘any dispute likely to affect peace, harmony and tranquillity amongst the residents or families of any area or locality, to be settled through community mediation.
- Third, the provisions of the Act shall not have the overriding effect, inter alia, on the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act, 2007 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
- Promote friendliness: Section 320 in the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides for the compounding of certain criminal offences which shall have the effect of acquittal of the accused.
- Here, the policy of the law is to promote friendliness between the parties so that peace between them is restored.
- Relieving the pressure on the police: Many criminal offences are a result of the fact that civil or commercial disputes could not be resolved amicably and in time.
- The police at times take minor cases lightly or reduce the seriousness of crime by converting a cognisable offence into a non-cognisable one.
- Therefore, the proposed law of mediation, that has the mechanism of not only preventing the breakdown of law and order through community intervention but also the competence to smoothen the route to compounding of certain criminal offences, may ultimately relieve some of the pressure on the police also.
Some laws are left out of the scope of Mediation Bill 2021
- Law to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplace: The law to prevent the sexual harassment of women at the workplace has probably been kept out of its scope so that an internal or local complaint committee is able to take up conciliation and close the case locally without involving a third party and detailed procedure.
- Law on welfare of parents and senior citizens: The law on the maintenance and the welfare of parents and senior citizens has also been kept out of its scope as offences under it are cognisable offences.
Way forward
- The Supreme Court’s view: The Supreme Court of India has held that if there is a composition of an offence during investigation, the parties can either approach the court or the police.
- Increasing the compoundable offences: The number of offences that can be compounded may also be increased — particularly property offences.
- Keeping in view the recommendations of the Law Commission in its 243rd report, Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, relating to cruelty by the husband or his relatives, can also be made compoundable.
- It may have far-reaching consequences in resolving matrimonial disputes.
Consider the question “What are the provisions of the Mediation Bill 2021 that could help relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies?”
Conclusion
Though the proposed law primarily intends to resolve civil and commercial disputes through mediation, it has ample scope to relieve some of the pressure on law enforcement agencies.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Back2Basics: What is a Compoundable and Non Compoundable offence in India
- Compoundable offences are those offences where, the complainant (one who has filed the case, i.e. the victim), enter into a compromise, and agrees to have the charges dropped against the accused.
- However, such a compromise should be a “Bonafide,” and not for any consideration to which the complainant is not entitled to.
- Compoundable offences are less serious criminal offences and are of two different types mentioned in tables in Section 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as follows:
- Court permission is not required: These are the offences, compounding of which do not require prior permission of the court.
- Court permission is required: These are the offences, compounding of which require prior permission of the court.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Discretionary power of Governor
Mains level: Paper 2- Governor-Government conflict
Context
Recent media reports about the confrontation between the Governors and the State governments, in Maharashtra and Kerala, have turned the spotlight on the rather delicate relationship between the constitutional head of the State and the elected government.
Recent incidents of confrontation
- In Maharashtra, the Governor refused to accept the date of election of the Speaker recommended by the State government.
- The Constitution has not assigned any role to the Governor in the election of the Speaker under Article 178, which is exclusively the job of the House.
- The Governor’s refusal to accept the date of election of the Speaker goes against the principles of constitutional government.
- In Kerala, the State Governor having reappointed the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University in accordance with the law, made an allegation that he was under pressure from the Government to reappoint the Vice Chancellor.
- In fact, he or she can accept suggestions from any person including the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
- However, the Governor as Chancellor is not required to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers in the matter of appointment of Vice Chancellor and others in the university.
- He can act absolutely independently.
- Non-acceptance of the advice of the Council of Ministers too has been witnessed in Rajasthan as well as Maharashtra again.
- The Kerala High Court has clarified this legal point in Gopalakrishnan vs Chancellor, University of Kerala.
What explains the confrontational relationship between Governor and State Government?
- Historical background: It has something to do with the whole idea of the office of the Governor and its past history.
- In the colonial era, the Governor was the absolute ruler of the province.
- While making the Constitution, there were divergent views on the powers to be given to the Governor in the Constituent Assembly.
- There were members in the Assembly who wanted the Governor to be as powerful as the colonial-era Governors.
- Discretionary powers: Though B.R. Ambedkar was clear that the Governor should only be a constitutional head and the executive power should vest entirely in the elected government.
- He promoted the idea of vesting certain discretionary powers in the Governor.
- Why discretionary powers? In this respect he was guided by the thinking that the State governments are in subordination to the Union government and, therefore, the Governor should be given discretionary powers to ensure that they act so.
- So, ultimately, the Governor is given certain discretionary powers prescribed by or under the Constitution unlike the President of India who has not been given any such powers.
- Vagueness about actual powers: Further, Article 163 became a ‘blind reproduction of Section 50 of the Government of India Act 1935’ (H.V. Kamath).
- This exact reproduction of the provision in the Act of 1935 has, to a great extent, introduced a vagueness about the actual powers of the Governor vis-à-vis the elected government.
- This vagueness was corrected only with the Supreme Court of India stating the law in unambiguous terms in Shamsher Singh (1974).
- From Shamsher Singh to Nabam Rebia (2016) the Supreme Court declared that the Governor can, in the exercise of executive power of the state, act only on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers “…save in a few well-known exceptional situations”.
Consider the question “The relationship between the Governor and Chief Minister has, even at the best of times, not been absolutely simple and tension free. What are the factors responsible for confrontation? Suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
The Governor is a high constitutional authority. He needs to function within the four walls of the Constitution and be a friend, philosopher and guide to his government.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chumbi Valley
Mains level: Paper 2- What China's new boundary law mean for India?
Context
The latest in the series of aggressive Chinese actions is the use of lawfare through the passing of the “Land Boundary Law” on October 21 which became effective this week.
Background of the Chinese approach
- The last residue of the Qing dynasty was wiped out in the 1911 revolution when China was established as a republic.
- The republic was again overthrown in 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party.
- Three successive Chinese governments in China refused to delineate or demarcate the boundary with either Tibet or India.
- British archival records, many declassified points to attempts made by Imperial Britain to formally formulate a boundary with China.
- Yet, all three regimes were united in their refusal to accept a formal limiting of China’s territorial expanse and kept their response ambiguous.
- Even during the Simla Convention of 1913-14, when the Republic was ascendant in China, there was a vehement refusal to recognise any demarcation of boundaries between Tibet and China.
Strong-arm tactics against India
- Having operated from a maximalist position to settle its borders with 12 of its 14 neighbours so far, China has attempted to use the same strong-arm tactics with both India and Bhutan.
- It has offered to forgo its claims in the larger parts of North Bhutan in lieu of gaining a relatively smaller area in West Bhutan.
- Threat to Siliguri corridor: This seeming magnanimity is calculated to expand into the Chumbi Valley in the South, threatening the narrow and strategic Siliguri corridor in India.
- In its latest move, China has made a new claim on Sakteng sanctuary in Bhutan which may form a launchpad for future operations against Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
- China has also strengthened its collusion with Pakistan.
- There is a deliberate attempt by China to physically link with Pakistan in the Northern Areas by removing the Indian wedge of DBO, the doorway to the Karakoram Pass.
- A Training Mobilisation Order (TMO) issued by Xi Jinping in January 2020 called for “confrontational training” for its troops and officers to assess their preparedness, especially in light of the new reforms undertaken by the PLA.
- These factors seem to be the tactical beginnings of China’s grand strategy which also saw China flexing in the South China Sea and Taiwan, almost simultaneously.
China making use of lawfare and implications for India
- The latest in the series of aggressive Chinese actions is the use of lawfare through the passing of the “Land Boundary Law”.
- Formalises and legalises land Chinese grab: The law formalises and legalises China’s geographic creep towards Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of eastern Ladakh and creates conditions for using newly-constructed border villages close to the LAC for claiming sovereignty over disputed areas.
- The import of the law is most critical for India but will affect China’s disputes with other countries too.
- What China has done, therefore, is convert a territory dispute over borders into a sovereignty dispute which precludes any give or take of territory.
- China will attempt to settle its Han population in the Tibetan regions, reversing established demographic patterns and at the same time.
- Future negotiations over territory, if they occur, will then refer to the Border Defence Cooperation Agreements of 2005 and 2012 which call for border settlements to be done keeping in mind the local population in the border regions.
Way forward
- A deliberate thought process needs to be evolved to offset our disadvantages as purely military actions may not solve the situation in the long term.
Conclusion
What emerges clearly is that by adopting the Land Boundary Law, in conjunction with its physical actions on the LAC, China has consolidated its position in eastern Ladakh and kept possibilities open in Arunachal Pradesh.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: REDD+
Mains level: Paper 3- Ensuring participation of people to achieve desired target of carbon sequestration
Context
India’s pledge to set a net-zero target by 2070, at the COP26 summit, Glasgow, has again highlighted the importance of forests to help mitigate the challenges of climate change.
Need for sustainable management of forests
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) framework (2013) of REDD+ for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation has highlighted the importance of forest along with the ‘sustainable management of forests for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks’.
- Land-based sinks: In a study by Griscom (2017), land-based sinks (natural climate solutions which also include forests) can provide up to 37% of emission reduction and help in keeping the global temperature below 2° C.
- Natural regeneration model: Recent research has favoured a natural regeneration model of restoration over the existing much-hyped mode of tree planting as such forests are said to secure nearly 32% carbon storage, as per one report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Degradation and deforestation in India
- As per the State of Forests Report (1989), the country had 2,57,409 sq.km (7.83% of its geographical area) under the open forest category, having a density of 10% to less than 40%.
- However, in 30 years (2019) this has been increased to 3,04,499 sq. km (9.26%).
- This means every year on average, nearly 1.57 lakh hectare of forests was degraded.
- Anthropogenic pressure: This degradation highlights the presence of anthropogenic pressures including encroachment, grazing, fire, which our forests are subjected to.
Need for the participation of people to achieve target of carbon sequestration
- The degradation warrants the participation of people as an essential and effective route to achieve the desired target of carbon sequestration through the restoration of forests.
- As envisaged in National Forest Policy, 1988, India made its attempt, in 1990, to engage local communities in a partnership mode while protecting and managing forests and restoring wastelands with the concept of care and share.
- Later, the concept of forest development agencies was introduced to consolidate the efforts in an autonomous model.
- Creation of joint forest management committees: The efforts to make this participatory approach operative resulted in the formation of nearly 1.18 lakh joint forest management committees managing over 25 million hectares of forest area.
- Most of these became active and operative while implementing various projects financed by external agencies such as the World Bank, the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) Japan, the Department for International Development (DFID) United Kingdom and the European Union (EU).
- A similar system of joint management in the case of national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves which existed in the name of eco-development committees initially proved effective.
- However, the completion of the project period and lack of subsequent funding affected their functionality and also the protection of forests due to a lack of support from participating local communities including associated non-governmental organisations.
- Customary participation: Except for the National Mission for Green India, in all other centrally sponsored programmes such as Project Tiger, fire management, Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH) including the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), the lack of priority and policy support to ensure the participation of local communities via the institutions of joint forest management committees slowly made their participation customary.
- This caused a gradual decline in their effectiveness.
- Role change: The role of local institutions of gram panchayat or joint forest management committees is now restricted to be a consultative institution instead of being partners in planning and implementation.
- Implications of role change: This indifference and alienation from the participatory planning and implementation of various schemes
Way forward
- Revisit legal and policy mechanism: To achieve net-zero targets there is a need to revisit our existing legal and policy mechanisms.
- Incentivise local communities: We also need to incentivise the local communities appropriately and ensure fund flow for restoration interventions.
- There is a need for duly providing for the adequate participation of local people in planning and implementation through local institutions.
- Replicate Telangana model: Political priority and appropriate policy interventions as done recently in Telangana by amending the panchayat and municipal acts and creating a provision for Telangana Haritha Nidhi need replication in other States.
- Financial and institutional support mechanisms: These should be supported by enabling financial and institutional support mechanisms and negotiations with stakeholders
- Though India did not become a signatory of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the considerations of land tenure and the forest rights of participatory communities with accelerated finances will help aid steps in the race toward net zero.
Consider the question “India is witnessing enormous degradation of forests and deforestation. This warrants the participation of people as an essential and effective route to achieve the desired target of carbon sequestration. In context of this, elaborate the importance of people participation and suggest the way forward.”
Conclusion
This inclusive approach with political prioritisation will not only help reduce emissions but also help to conserve and increase ‘our forest cover’ to ‘a third of our total area’. It will also protect our once rich and precious biological diversity.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Price and tax measures to reduce demand of tobacco
Context
There is no doubt that tobacco use is highly detrimental to public health. We have to find the ways and the means to reduce the demand for tobacco among existing as well as aspiring users.
Impact of tobacco
- Tobacco is a product that kills more than 13 lakh Indians every year.
- Annual burden: The annual economic burden from tobacco use is estimated to be ₹177,340 crore which is more than 1% of India’s GDP.
- About 27 crore people above the age of 15 years and 8.5% of school-going children in the age group 13-15 years use tobacco in some form in India.
Are price and tax measures effective against tobacco use?
- When tobacco products become more expensive, people either quit using them or use them less, and it incentivises many to not initiate the habit.
- Because it hurts both revenue and profits, the tobacco industry, globally, is always devising tactics and narratives that will pre-empt any kind of tax increases on tobacco products.
- The narrative of “increasing illicit trade” is something the tobacco industry has historically used to pre-empt potential tax increases on tobacco products in most countries around the world.
- The story is no different in India.
- In a recent report by the Tobacco Institute of India, it was said that the illicit cigarette volume in India has grown by 44% from 2011 to 2019 while adding that high and increasing tax rates provide a profitable opportunity for tax evasion and encourage growth in illegal trade.
- A study published in 2018 which used a survey of empty cigarette packs collected from retail outlets across different cities in India estimated that illicit cigarettes constitute 2.7% of the market.
- The second study published in 2020 used tax-gap analysis to estimate that the percentage of illicit cigarettes was 5.1% in 2009-10 and 6.6% in 2016-17.
Are taxes and prices key determinants of illicit trade?
- It is to be noted that taxes and prices are not the key determinants of illicit trade.
- There is sufficient evidence in the literature on illicit trade in cigarettes that shows tax increases only have a minimal impact, if at all, on illicit trade.
- There are several countries where tobacco taxes are quite high and yet have low levels of illicit trade, while there are also countries with high levels of illicit trade despite having relatively low tax rates.
- Several factors such as the quality of tax administration, the strength of the regulatory framework, government commitment to control illicit trade, the strength of governance, social acceptance, and the presence of informal distribution networks are known to play a larger role in determining the scale and the extent of an illicit market.
Way forward
- WHO protocol: Eliminating all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products through a package of measures is one of the major objectives of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products under the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
- The Protocol provides the tools and the measures to eliminate or minimise illicit trade which includes strong governance, establishing an international track and trace system, and securing supply chains.
- India has already ratified the World Health Organization Protocol and it should now show leadership in implementing these measures to effectively address even the relatively lower levels of illicit trade.
Conclusion
There is no scientific or public health rationale not to increase tax on tobacco products for unfounded fear of increasing illicit trade.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Dealing with the nutrition gap
Context
The NFHS-5 factsheets for India and all states and Union territories are now out. At first glance, it appears to be a mixed bag — much to cheer about, but concern areas remain.
Positives from the NFHS-5 survey
- Change in demographic trends: For the first time since the NFHS 1992-93 survey, the sex ratio is slightly higher among the adult population.
- Improvement in sex ratio at birth: For the first time in 15 years that the sex ratio at birth has reached 929 (it was 919 for 1,000 males in 2015-16).
- The total fertility rate has also dropped from 2.2 per cent to a replacement rate of 2 per cent, albeit with not much change in the huge fertility divide between the high and low fertility states.
- Improvement in literacy level of women: There has been an appreciable improvement in general literacy levels and in the percentage of women and men who have completed 10 years or more of schooling, which has reached 41 per cent and 50.2 per cent respectively.
- Improvements in health indicators: The health sector deserves credit for achieving a significant improvement in the percentage of institutional births, antenatal care, and children’s immunisation rates.
- There has also been a consistent drop in neonatal, infant and child mortality rates — a decrease of around 1 per cent per year for neonatal and infant mortality and a 1.6 per cent decrease per year for under five mortality rate.
Nutrition: Area of concern
- Increase in anaemic people: India has become a country with more anaemic people since NFHS-4 (2015-16), with anaemia rates rising significantly across age groups, ranging from children below six years, adolescent girls and boys, pregnant women, and women between 15 to 49 years.
- Why anaemia is a concern? Adverse effects of anaemia affect all age groups — lower physical and cognitive growth and alertness among children and adolescents, and lesser capacity to learn and play, directly impacting their future potential as productive citizens.
- Further, anaemia among adolescent girls (59.1 per cent) advances to maternal anaemia and is a major cause of maternal and infant mortality and general morbidity and ill health in a community.
- The detailed report will explain why a dedicated programme like Anaemia Mukt Bharat which focused on IFA consumption failed to gain impetus.
- Slow pace of improvement in nutritional indicators: Between NFHS 4 and NFHS 5, the percentage of children below five years who are moderately underweight has reduced from 35.8 per cent to 32.1 per cent.
- Moderately stunted children have fallen from 38.4 per cent to 35.5 per cent, moderately wasted from 21 per cent to 19.3 per cent and severely wasted have increased slightly from 7.5 per cent to 7.7 per cent.
- Inadequate diet: The root cause for this is that the percentage of children below two years receiving an adequate diet is a mere 11.3 per cent, increasing marginally from 9.6 per cent in NFHS-4.
Way forward
- India’s nutrition programmes must undergo a periodic review.
- The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which is perceived as the guardian of the nation’s nutritional well-being must reassess itself and address critical intervention gaps, both conceptually and programmatically, and produce rapid outcomes.
Conclusion
The nutritional deficit which ought to be considered an indicator of great concern is generally ignored by policymakers and experts. Unless this is addressed, rapid improvement in nutritional indicators cannot happen.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CERT-IN
Mains level: Paper 2- Cybercrimes against women
Context
The open-source app, Bulli Bai, hosted on the web platform GitHub for “auctioning Muslim women” has laid bare the harassment women face online.
Cybercrimes against women
- As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) there were around 825 million internet users in India at the end of March 2021.
- The minuscule amount of rogue elements among these internet users have the lethal capability to create havoc in the nation, its polity, economy and the personal and professional lives of citizens.
- Reluctance to file case: Many times, police officers are approached by anxious parents, days before marriage, seeking help about fake profiles or morphed photographs of their daughters on the internet.
- A formal police case is thus never lodged.
- The stark reality is that cyber blackmailing, stalking and bullying is a humongous issue, causing a lot of stress to women and their families.
- NCRB statistics show that total cyber crimes in India during 2020 were 50,035, and those specifically against women were only 10,405.
Steps need to be taken
- Promt reporting and registration: To find out the true magnitude of cyber crime, prompt reporting and registration are the only options.
- International cooperation through treaties: There are many international gangs which successfully avoid detection as “servers” used by them are located outside India.
- International cooperation through formal treaties and informal channels has to be pursued.
- CERT-IN has been doing commendable work in this regard.
- Registering a criminal case is the first crucial step as it sets the law into motion, leading to tracing, arresting and prosecuting the rogues even if they are located outside the country.
- Increase awareness: There is need to increase awareness about cyber safety and security so that youth, especially young girls and women, take proper precautions while surfing the virtual world.
- Better policing: As for the police, we do need better infrastructure, more special cyber cells and police stations, regular training, and collaboration with cyber experts on a continuous basis.
- Strengthening the capability of forensic laboratories can lead to timely collection of evidence of cyber bullying, threatening, morphing and profiling.
- Many state labs do not have sufficient numbers of cyber experts to seize, preserve and store images of digital evidence essential for securing conviction in courts.
- The central government has given funds to states and Union territories under the Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children (CCPWC) scheme to start “cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories”.
- Fast trial: Fast trial of cyber crimes would indeed help. As per the NCRB, during 2020, court trials were completed in only nine cases of cyber blackmailing and threatening with a 66.7 per cent conviction rate — 393 such cases are pending in courts.
- Systematic training of prosecutors and judicial officers in dealing with cyber crimes would definitely speed up trials.
Conclusion
Prompt reporting of cyber crime by citizens, technically proficient investigation by police adequately supported by forensics, and time-bound completion of court trials are essential for catching cyber offenders who are terrorising people, especially women, in the virtual as well as the real world.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blue Dot network
Mains level: Paper 2- Indo-Pacific region
Context
The visit by United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken to Southeast Asia in December 2021 underscores the importance that is being accorded to this region by the Joe Biden administration.
Take aways from the visit
[1] Projecting the US as reliable partner
- The idea was to present the U.S. as a reliable partner in meeting the challenges that the Indo-Pacific region is facing.
- For instance, completely aware that the Southeast Asian nations are averse to choosing sides in this U.S.-China competition, Mr. Blinken made it a point to mention that “individual countries will be able to choose their own path and their own partners.
[2] Tackling China challenge
- Both China and the U.S. are trying to lure the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries to their side — China with its grand economic infrastructure investment deals and the U.S. through recent high profile official visits as well as through the Build Back Better World initiative and Blue Dot Network.
- In Southeast Asia, the U.S.-China competition is most visible in two areas; one is the South China Sea and the second is the investment in fulfilling the infrastructure development needs of Southeast Asian countries.
- The U.S. has continued its Freedom of Navigation operations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
- In his remarks in Indonesia, Mr. Blinken stressed America’s determination “to ensure freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s aggressive actions there threaten the movement of more than $3 trillion worth of commerce every year”.
[3] Closing the gap on infrastructure
- Southeast Asia has been one of the top recipients of Chinese investments under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- How these investments have driven countries such as Cambodia and Laos to do China’s bidding in the ASEAN even at the cost of compromising ASEAN’s unity is a known fact.
- Mr. Blinken reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to help close the gap on infrastructure.
- The infrastructure coordination group launched by the Quad members is seeking to catalyse even more investment and is looking to partner with Southeast Asia on infrastructure and many other shared priorities.
- Washington is promising to do more under the Build Back Better World initiative and the Blue Dot Network.
Way forward
- The ASEAN countries, even after the release of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, do not have a uniform approach when it comes to dealing with the U.S. and China.
- These differing approaches are also challenging the much vaunted ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific.
- Though external players will have a limited role in ensuring that the unity within ASEAN is restored, providing proper alternative models of investments for development in sectors such as infrastructure, digital economy, supply chain, and health for the Southeast Asian nations will be critical.
Conclusion
The economic framework, investment plans and promises outlined need to be made operational quickly if Washington is to show that it is indeed serious about sustained commitment toward the Indo-Pacific.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Regulatory challenges faced by civil society organisations
Context
Recently, the Missionaries of Charity established by Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa was in the news for the cancellation of its permission under the FCRA.
Detailed scrutiny delaying permission for grant
- The levels of due diligence and the information sought on the one hand and the annual declarations to be given by the board members of civil society organisations on the other have increased significantly.
- The mandatory opening of bank accounts for foreign contributions has been centralised in one branch of the State Bank of India.
- The linking of Permanent Account Number (PAN), Aadhaar number and mapping it with the bank account/s of the individual board members are happening.
- The registrations under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) have been long necessitated in order to undertake due diligence of the causes for which the organisation is working for and also to have a handle on the traceability of funds.
- The dashboard shows a little under 17,000 active organisations — which have either got permission or will know their fate by March 2022, while around 33,000 organisations have either lost their permission or it has expired.
Various restrictions
- Restriction on sub-grant: In the past, the amendments in the FCRA that restricted the ability to sub-grant, killed many of the niche organisations working in very remote areas which had no direct access to international funding but were doing it through larger non-governmental organisations.
- Restriction on administrative expenses: The other amendment restricting the proportion of expenses on administration almost choked organisations that worked for the rights of the disposed.
- The increasing level of surveillance type of data sought has resulted in many organisations losing people on their governance structure and resulting in problems in funding.
Why do we need Civil Society Organisations?
- We need them because they usually work on what can be called an unreasonable agenda.
- This unreasonableness falls in three large verticals.
- [1] Ensuring efficiency and accountability from state: The first is that they ask for greater efficiency, delivery and accountability from the state.
- Whether is it about rehabilitation and compensation in the case of land acquisition or setting up a great accountability framework as was done through the movement led by the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan for the Right to Information.
- [2] Correcting extractive nature of market: The second vertical is in correcting the extractive nature of markets.
- The groups asking for environmental accountability are looking at inter-generational justice on a matter that is not very precisely measurable but is palpable.
- [3] Picking up niche causes: The third is basically picking up causes that are so niche that it is beyond the capability of the state to come up with such initiatives.
- For example, a drama school set up in a village called Heggodu, Karnataka, or an idea of distributing clothing for work as done by Goonj.
- These initiatives cannot be put into specific business plans, spreadsheets or government schemes.
- They, therefore, need a grant-based, cause-based revenue stream model.
Should these organisations accept foreign funding?
- Causes have no boundaries: “Causes” have no boundaries and funding for such socially desirable belief systems could come from beyond borders.
- Some causes carried out by organisations such as Doctors Without Borders, or Reporters Without Borders are by definition international in nature.
- Similar is the case with the Jaipur foot provided by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti.
- The humanitarian work by the Missionaries of Charity is beyond the capability of a state.
- Such causes do not have a rational basis to be explained in terms of a financial model; how do you put a price tag to press freedom?
- The niche funding will happen from agencies that may be beyond the borders.
- The duality of welcoming foreign investments (which takes away capital gains and dividends) while actively discouraging foreign aid to charities is staring us in the face.
Conclusion
The government needs to ensure that the regulations do not create hurdles for the civil society organisations in their functioning and receiving fundings.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Commitment to net-zero emission targets
Mains level: Paper 3- Transition towards clean energy
Context
At a time when our planet faces an existential crisis, there is little doubt that we need innovative, scientific and urgent steps to secure humanity’s future.
India’s climate commitment
- We need to act decisively to reach global net-zero, restricting future cumulative emissions to the remaining carbon budget — as COP26 noted — if the rise in temperature is to remain within the limits of the Paris Agreement.
- At COP26, India announced its climate commitments — the “Panchamrit”, including a commitment to reach net-zero by 2070.
- India’s announcement of its net-zero goal is a major step considering that our country is not the cause of global warming.
- Its historical cumulative emissions are a mere 4.37 per cent of the world’s total.
India’s steps to achieve the targets
[1] India’s renewable energy targets and achievements
- India’s renewable energy targets have steadily become more ambitious, from the 175 GW by 2022 declared at Paris, to 450 GW by 2030 at the UN Climate Summit, and now 500 GW by 2030, announced at COP26.
- India has also announced the target of 50 per cent installed power generation capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030, raising the existing target of 40 per cent, which has already been almost achieved.
- Renewable technologies: India will not lag in terms of new cutting-edge renewable technologies and has already announced a Hydrogen Energy Mission for grey and green hydrogen.
- In energy efficiency, the market-based scheme of Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) has avoided 92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions during its first and second cycles.
[2] India’s E-mobility transtion
- FAME: India is accelerating its e-mobility transition with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles Scheme to support the electric vehicle market development and enable its manufacturing ecosystem to achieve self-sustenance.
- Incentives for customers and companies: The government has also announced a slew of incentives for customers and companies to promote e-vehicles.
- Adoption of BS-VI: India leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020.
- Scrapping policy: A voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles now complements these schemes.
- Electrification of railway routes: Indian Railways is charging ahead, targeting the full electrification of all broad-gauge routes by 2023.
[3] Ujjwala Yojana and UJALA
- The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has benefitted 88 million households with LPG connections.
- More than 367 million LED bulbs have been distributed under the UJALA scheme, leading to energy savings of more than 47 billion units of electricity per year and a reduction of 38.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
- With these and many other initiatives, India has already achieved a reduction of 24 per cent in the emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2016, and is on track to meet its target of 33 to 35 per cent by 2030.
Role of private sector
- Since industries also contribute to GHG emissions, any climate action will need to reduce or offset emissions that emerge from industrial and commercial activity.
- The public and private sectors in India are already playing a key role in meeting the climate challenge, helped by growing customer and investor awareness, as well as increasing regulatory and disclosure requirements.
- Enterprises are well-positioned to not just adapt to but also gain from the low-carbon transition.
- The low-carbon transition challenge is bigger for companies that are largely coal-powered and contribute more than half of our country’s emissions.
- The business fraternity must make the best possible use of this opportunity to invest in climate technologies and expand the use of renewable energy sources.
- The Indian cement industry has taken pioneering measures and achieved one of the biggest sectoral low carbon milestones worldwide.
Way forward
- India’s journey on the low-carbon pathway towards net-zero requires the active participation of all stakeholders.
- Sustainable lifestyles and climate justice are at the core of this journey.
Conclusion
With cooperation from the private sector, India will be able to responsibly use its fair share of the global carbon space and contribute to reaching the global net-zero goal to build a more environmentally sustainable planet.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Capex boom in India
Context
Economists are predicting a potential virtuous capital investments (capex) cycle to kick in globally as we emerge from the pandemic.
Why do analysts think that capital investment cycle is about to start?
- Less leveraged: Corporates are less leveraged today compared to 2008.
- Indian corporates repaid debts of more than Rs 1.5 trillion.
- Fiscal and monetary support: Companies are also more confident of durable fiscal and monetary support.
- Increased savings: Households have large excess savings built during Covid — $1.7 trillion in the US and roughly $300 billion in India as per a UBS report.
- Cash: Lastly, corporates are sitting on a large cash pile – S&P 500 firms’ cash has soared from $1 trillion pre-pandemic to $1.5 trillion now.
Why capex wave is difficult in India?
- Fall in capital formation: India’s fixed capital formation rate has steadily fallen from 36 per cent of GDP in 2008 to 26 per cent in 2020.
- For a set of 718 listed companies for which data is consistently available from 2005, the capex growth rate has decreased from 7 per cent in 2008 to around 2 per cent in 2020.
- Low return on invested capital: The return on invested capital in FY21 is still low at 2-3 per cent compared with 16-18 per cent returns in 2005-08.
- Structural issues: Land acquisition is still tough, changes to labour laws have been slow, and reform uncertainty has resurfaced with the rollback of the agriculture reform laws.
- Discouraging current data: As per CMIE data, the quarter ending in June 2021 saw Rs 2.72 lakh crore worth of new projects announced. This fell to Rs 2.22 lakh crore for the September 2021 quarter.
- This is much below the average of Rs 4 lakh crore a quarter of new project announcements during 2018 and 2019.
- Further, new projects are concentrated in fewer industries (power, and technology) with the top three accounting for 44 per cent of the total of new projects announced.
- Low capacity utilisation: At the same time, capacity utilisation for corporate India is at an all-time low.
- From a peak of 83 per cent in 2010, when capex was running hot, utilisation levels declined to 70 per cent just before the pandemic, and further to 60 per cent in June 2021 as per the RBI’s latest OBICUS data.
- Capex is funded either from fresh debt or equity issues or from accumulated cash. Large firms are repaying debt.
Conclusion
It is too early in the cycle to predict anything with confidence, but we need more evidence to predict a capex cycle.
UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now