Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 239AA
Mains level: Paper 2- Delhi statehood issue
Context
Recently, both Houses of Parliament passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, to unify the trifurcated Delhi Municipal Corporations.
Background of the trifurcation
- The split-up was first proposed in the 1987 Balakrishnan Committee Report which was bolstered in the 2001 Virendra Prakash Committee Report.
- The proposal finally took shape in 2011 and the law to trifurcate was enacted.
- A seven-member Delhi Legislative Assembly Panel was set up in 2001 to study the recommendations and suggest modalities.
- Trifurcation in 2011: The proposal finally took shape in 2011 and the law to trifurcate was enacted.
Changes introduced by the amendment
- The law provides that the power to determine the number of wards, extent of each ward, reservation of seats, number of seats of the Corporation, etc. will now be vested in the Central government.Â
- The number of seats of councillors in the Municipal Corporations of Delhi is also to be decided now by the Central government.
- By exercising that very power, the number of councillors to the Municipal Corporations of Delhi has been reduced from 272 to 250.
- The Central government has also taken over powers from the State to decide on matters such as âsalary and allowances, leave of absence of the Commissioner, the sanctioning of consolidation of loans by a corporation, and sanctioning suits for compensation against the Commissioner for the loss or waste or misapplication of municipal fund or property
Issues with the changes made
- The Central governmentâs line is that the amendment has been passed as in Article 239AA of the Constitution, which is a provision that provides for special status to Delhi.
- No consultation with Delhi govt.-The large-scale changes by the Central government has been done without any consultation with the Delhi government.
- Not in line with  Part IXA of the Constitution: Part IXA specifically states that it will be the Legislature of the State that will be empowered to make laws concerning representation to the municipalities.
- Part IXA is a specific law while Article 239AA is general law: The argument of the Centre that Article 239AA can be applied over and above Part IXA of the Constitution does not hold good as the latter is a specific law that will override the general law relatable to Article 239AA.
- Against the federalism: In State of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India judgment the Supreme Court held, âThe Constitution has mandated a federal balance wherein independence of a certain required degree is assured to the State Governments.”
- It was made clear that the aid and the advice of the State government of Delhi would bind the decision of the Lieutenant General in matters where the State government has the power to legislate.
- No doubt, the amendment to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 will lead to further litigation on the aspect of a sharing of powers between the State of NCT of Delhi and the Central government.
Conclusion
The interference of the Centre in matters such as municipal issues strikes a blow against federalism and the celebrated Indian model of decentralisation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 21 of Indian Constitution
Mains level: Paper 2- Right to housing
Context
Communal clashes broke out during Ram Navami processions in several parts of the country including at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh. Subsequently, the Madhya Pradesh government bulldozed the houses of those who were allegedly involved in rioting.
Right to housing
- Fundamental right under Article 21: The right to housing is not only a fundamental right recognised under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, it is also a well-documented right under the international human rights law framework, which is binding on India.
- Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that âeveryone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care.
- Likewise, Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognises âthe right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living condition.
- The rights recognised under ICESCR, according to Article 4, can be restricted by States only if the limitations are determined by law in a manner compatible with the nature of these rights and solely to promote societyâs general welfare.
- Besides, international law also prohibits arbitrary interference in an individualâs right to property.
- For instance, Article 12 of the UDHR states that âno one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputationâ.
- Article 12 also stipulates that âeveryone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacksâ.
- This same right is also provided under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Protection against Forced eviction
- According to the UN Human Rights Office, an integral element of the right to adequate housing is âprotection against forced evictionsâ.
- The UN Human Rights Office defines âforced evictionsâ as âpermanent or temporary removal against the will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land which they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protectionâ.
Way forward
- The apex court in cases like Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab, Vishaka vs State of Rajasthan, and recently in the famous Puttaswamy vs Union of India has laid down the principle that the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution must be read and interpreted in a manner which would enhance their conformity with international human rights law.
- It is high time that the judiciary acted and imposed necessary checks on the unbridled exercise of power by the executive.
Conclusion
The bulldozing of the houses of the alleged rioters amounts to forced eviction and arbitrary interference with an individualâs home.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AFSPA
Mains level: Paper 2- Peace process in Northeast
Context
Progress in settling border disputes, removal of AFSPA herald positive changes in the region.
Significant development for restoring normalcy in the region
- Efforts to address the issues of the Northeast have been moving according to a strategic plan which is premised on three objectives â
- 1] Ending all disputes.
- 2] Ushering in economic progress and taking the regionâs contribution to GDP back to its pre-Independence levels,
- 3] making efforts to maintain and preserve the regionâs languages, dialects, dance, music, food, and culture and make it attractive for the whole country.
- In this regard, two recent developments are significant:
- On March 29, the Assam and Meghalaya chief ministers signed an agreement to resolve the five-decade-old border dispute.
- The Union home ministry (MHA) decided to reduce the disturbed areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur after decades.
Progress on the border disputes
- As part of the strategy, existing issues of both interstate border disputes and insurgency have been closely studied and negotiated and a few agreements have been signed.
- Assam, with the maximum border disputes in the region, got into a proactive border dialogue.
- The dialogues on the stateâs border disputes with Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram are continuing at a steady pace.
- After the violent flare-ups witnessed last year at the Assam-Mizoram border, today there are regular engagements to maintain peace and work out a permanent solution.
- The model of Assamâs engagement with Meghalaya, is a good one to emulate â the two chief ministers, after two rounds of talks in August last year, constituted three committees each under cabinet ministers in their states to go into the complex boundary issues.
Significance of notification on AFSPA
- Peace has been witnessed in most places across Assam, and even in Nagaland and Manipur talks with various groups for a permanent solution had resulted in a cessation of violence.
- The NLFT Tripura Agreement (August 2019), the Bru Agreement (January 2020), the Bodo Peace Accord (January 2020) and the Karbi Anglong Agreement (September 2021) have actually resulted in about 7,000 militants surrendering their arms.
- Removal of DAN: So the demand for the removal of the disturbed areas notification (DAN) was very much justified.
- DAN has been in force in the whole of Assam since 1990, in all of Manipur (except the Imphal Municipality area) since 2004 and in the whole of Nagaland since 1995.
- With the removal of the DAN tag, AFSPA has been removed with effect from April 1 this year completely from 23 districts and partially from one district of Assam, from 15 police station areas of six districts of Manipur and from 15 police station areas in seven districts in Nagaland.
- Â DAN is currently applicable in only three districts and in two police station areas in one other district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- AFSPA was completely removed from Tripura in 2015 and Meghalaya in 2018, respectively.
Conclusion
The efforts by the Union government to make the northeastern region the main pillar of the Act East policy have been useful in bringing a sense of political stability that is very crucial for optimal economic development and capacity enhancement in the region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bitcoin
Mains level: Paper 3- How CBDC is different from Cryptocurrencies?
Context
Cryptocurrency will be discouraged via taxation and capital gains provisions. This was the message from the Finance Minister during the Budget discussion in Parliament.
Growing worry about the cryptocurrencies
- The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in February, highlighted two things.
- First, âprivate cryptocurrencies are a big threat to our financial and macroeconomic stabilityâ.
- Second, âthese cryptocurrencies have no underlying (asset).
- Clearly, statements from the RBI indicate a growing worry since the proliferation of cryptos threatens the RBIâs place in the economyâs financial system.
- This threat emerges from the decentralised character of cryptos based on blockchain technology which central banks cannot regulate and which enables enterprising private entities to float cryptos which can function as assets and money.
- The total valuation of cryptos recently was upward of $2 trillion â more than the value of gold held globally.
- Challenges in banning it: Cryptos which operate via the net can be banned only if all nations come together.
- Even then, tax havens may allow cryptos to function, defying the global agreement.
Crypto as currency
- A currency is a token used in market transactions.Â
- Historically, commodities (such as copper coins) have been used as tokens since they themselves are valuable.
- But paper currency is useless till the government declares it to be a fiat currency.
- Paper currency derives its value from state backing.
- Cryptos are a string of numbers in a computer programme. And, there is no state backing.Â
- Their acceptability to the well-off enables them to act as money.
- So, cryptos acquire value and can be transacted via the net.
- This enables them to function as money.
- Solving the problem of double spending: Â Fiat currency has the property that once spent, it cannot be spent again except through forgery, because it is no more with the spender.
- But, software on a computer can be used repeatedly.
- Blockchain and encryption have solved the problem by devising protocols such as âproof of workâ and âproof of stakeâ.Â
Why CBDC is not a solution
- A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will not solve the RBIâs problem since it can only be a fiat currency and not a crypto.
- Blockchain enables decentralisation.But, central banks would not want that.
- Further, central bank would want a fiat currency to be exclusively issued and controlled by them.
- But, theoretically everyone can âmineâ and create crypto.
- So, for the CBDC to be in central control, solving the âdouble spendingâ problem and being a crypto (not just a digital version of currency) seems impossible.
- Validating transaction: A centralised CBDC will require the RBI to validate each transaction â something it does not do presently.
- Once a currency note is issued, the RBI does not keep track of its use in transactions.
- Keeping track will be horrendously complex which could make a crypto such as the CBDC unusable unless new secure protocols are designed.
Conclusion
CBDCs at present cannot be a substitute for cryptos that will soon begin to be used as money. This will impact the functioning of central banks and commercial banks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GATT
Mains level: Paper 2- Challenges to global order
Context
Western nations want to throw Russia out of the G-20. China has opposed them. India will be chair of the G-20 from December 1, 2022. The world is greatly disordered. What should India stand for?
Challenges to the global order
- The war in Ukraine in February 2022 has put the final nail in the coffin of the boundary-less global economy that seemed to be emerging with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
- Vaccines were hoarded by rich countries in the COVID-19 pandemic: poor countries starved.
- The World Trade Organization (WTO) was already in a bad state before the novel coronavirus pandemic, with rich and poor countries unable to agree on equitable rules, when COVID-19 froze global supply chains.
- Institutions of global governance have failed to unite the world.
Global order and governance challenge
- In the aftermath of the Second World war, new institutions for global governance were established â the United Nations and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide finance to build the economies of all countries to eliminate poverty.
- However, the victors retained their veto power within the United Nations Security Council to determine when force can be used to keep the world in order, and to prevent the proliferation of nuclear power.
- The UN General Assembly meets every year â now 193 nations strong.
- It passes many resolutions to address global problems â hunger, poverty, womenâs rights, terrorism, climate change, etc.
- However, âmight is rightâ: members of the Security Council retain their right to deny the democratic will of the Assembly when it does not suit them.
- Global governance is not democratic.
G-7 and G-20
- The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, West Germany and Canada formed the G7 in 1976. âso that the noncommunist powers could come together to discuss economic concerns, which at the time included inflation and recession following the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargoâ.
- The European Union was invited to attend in 1977.
- Russia joined in 1998 â and âits inclusion was meant as a signal of cooperation between East and West after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991â.
- However, Russia was removed from G-8 in 2014 when it invaded the Crimea. China was never a member.
- After the Asian financial crisis, the G20 was formed in 1999 with the aim of discussing policies in order to achieve international financial stability.
- Russia and China are members.
- Now western nations want to throw Russia out of the G-20. China has opposed them.
- India will be chair of the G-20 from December 2022.
- Meanwhile, India is being hectored by officials from the U.S. and the U.K. to support their sanctions on Russia.
- India has so far refused to be cowed down.
Backlash against globalisation
- The belief that unfettered flows of finance and trade across national borders will lift people in all poor countries out of poverty and make the world flatter in terms of inequality has failed.
- Â Strong leaders who put the interests of their own countries first are gaining power through elections â in Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Russia, and even India.
- Free market capitalism is not ideologically compatible with a genuine democracy.
- Capitalist institutions are governed by the fundamental principle of âproperty rightsâ.
- Whereas, genuine democracies are founded on the principle of equal human rights.
- The rules of governance of capitalist and democratic institutions have always been in tension within societies.
- Capitalist institutions want to be unfettered by democratic regulations to make it easier to do business.
- Democratic institutions want to rein in the competitive animal spirits of capitalism to create a more compassionate capitalism.
Conclusion
To prevent violence, it is essential that global governance becomes genuinely democratic. Countries must not attack each other. But they must be given the freedom to evolve their own democracies and economies and not be dictated to by others.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Consumer Protection Act, 2019
Mains level: Paper 2- Right to repair
Context
Apple recently announced that consumers will have the right to purchase spare components of their products, following an order of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States, which directs manufacturers to remedy unfair anti-competitive practice and asks them to make sure that consumers can make repairs, either themselves or by a third-party agency. The momentum is, however, not so strong in India.
Challenges in repairing of electronic goods
- Repairing is becoming unreasonably expensive or pretty much impossible because of technology becoming obsolete.
- Incompatibility: Companies avoid the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily.
- No repair manual: The absence of repair manuals means that manufacturers hold near-monopoly over repair workshops that charge consumers exorbitant prices.
- Incompatibility: Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts and most firms refuse to make their products compatible with those of other firms.
- Planned obsolescence results in products breaking down too soon and buying a replacement is often cheaper and easier than repairing them.
- Big companies often deploy mechanisms that practically forbid other enterprises to repair their products.
- Digital warranty cards, for instance, ensure that by getting a product from a ânon-recognisedâ outfit, a customer loses the right to claim a warranty.
Right to repair
- The rationale behind the âright to repairâ is that the individual who purchases a product must own it completely.
- This implies that apart from being able to use the product, consumers must be able to repair and modify the product the way they want to.
- Monopoly on repair processes infringes the customerâsâ âright to chooseâ recognised by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.Â
- Â In Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (2017), for instance, the Competition Commission of India ruled that restricting the access of independent automobile repair units to spare parts by way of an end-user license agreement was anti-competitive.
International practices
- Many countries have taken initiatives, adopted policies and even tried to enact legislation that recognise the âright to repairâ to reduce electronic waste.
- Some jurisdictions offer limited scope for exercising the right to repair.
- For instance, under the Australian Consumer Law consumers have a right to request that certain goods be repaired if they break too easily or do not work properly.
- The Massachusetts Motor Vehicle Ownersâ Right to Repair Act, 2012 requires automobile manufacturers to provide spare parts and diagnostics to buyers and even independent third-party mechanics.
- The UK also introduced the path-breaking âright to repairâ in 2021 that makes it legally binding on manufacturers to provide spare parts.
Way forward
- Well-drafted legislation will not only uphold the right to repair but may aid in striking a much-needed balance between intellectual property and competitive laws in the country.
Conclusion
If people want to fix things in a timely, safe and cost-effective way, whether by doing it themselves or taking it
to a service centre of their choice, providing access to spare parts and information is imperative.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-UK ties
Context
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts British premier Boris Johnson this week in India, the moment is ripe to turn the expansive new possibilities â in trade, investment, high technology, defence, and regional cooperationâ into concrete outcomes.
Background of the India-UK ties and paradoxes
- Legacies of colonialism: The bitter legacies of colonialism had made it impossible for the two sides to pursue a sensible relationship in the past.
- Indiaâs post-colonial engagement with Britain has been riddled with multiple paradoxes.
- 1] India’s post-post colonial resentment and UK’s claim for special role: Delhiâs lingering post-colonial resentments and Londonâs unacceptable claim for a special role in the Subcontinent generated unending friction.
- The consequences of Partition and the Cold War made it harder for Delhi and London to construct a sustainable partnership.
- The important role played by the US: It was the US that first recognised Indiaâs rapidly-growing relative weight in the international system.
- At the turn of the millennium, Washington unveiled a policy of assisting Indiaâs rise.
- This was based on a bipartisan American consensus that a stronger India will serve US interests in Asia and the world.
- Over the last two decades, it has led to a quick transformation of US relations with India.
- 2] Washington is setting the pace for Delhiâs relationship with London: Â At the dawn of Independence, India saw London as the natural interlocutor with an unfamiliar Washington.
- Today it is Washington that is setting the pace for Delhiâs relationship with London.
- Â 3] Chinaâs role in shaping Indiaâs relations with the West:Â For Washington, the strategic commitment to assist Indiaâs rise was rooted in the recognition of the dangers of a China-dominated Asia.
- London in the last two decades was moving in the other direction â a full embrace of Beijing.
- Once the American deep state decided to confront Chinese power in the late 2010s, London had to extricate itself from the Chinese Communist Partyâs powerful spell.
- As the US unveiled a new Asian strategy, Britain followed with its own âIndo-Pacific tiltâ that helped secure the region against Chinaâs muscular policies.
- 4] Historic tilt towards Pakistan: Unlike the US and France, which are committed to an âIndia firstâ strategy in South Asia, Britain remains torn between its new enthusiasm for India and the inertia of its historic tilt towards Pakistan.
- But India is confident that Pakistanâs relative decline in the region is bound to make it a less weighty factor in Indiaâs bilateral relations with Britain.
- The question of Pakistan brings us to the fourth paradoxâthe domestic dynamics of Britain that have tended to sour ties with India.
- Delhi has figured out that the interconnected politics of India and Britain â shaped by the large South Asian diaspora of nearly four million â can be cut both ways.
- 5] Making best of historic ties: Â If the Tories are romantic about the Raj, nationalists in India bristle at the British imperial connection.
- Yet, together they are constructing a new relationship between India and Britain.
Better outlook for bilateral ties
- As the two sides make a determined effort to transcend the paradoxes, the regional and international circumstances provide a new basis for mutually beneficial engagement.
- Over the last couple of years, Delhi and London have begun a promising and pragmatic engagement devoid of sentiment and resentment.
- Having walked out of Europe, Britain needs all the partners it can find and a rising India is naturally among the top political and economic priorities.
- Delhi meanwhile has become supremely self-assured in dealing with London.
- With the Indian economy set to become larger than Britainâs in the next couple of years, Delhi is no longer defensive about engaging Britain.
- Even more important, Delhi recognises the value of a deep strategic partnership with London.
Conclusion
The UK has a significant international military presence and wide-ranging political influence. Realists in Delhi are trying to leverage these British strengths for Indiaâs strategic benefit.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BRI
Mains level: Paper 2- Debt trap diplomacy
Context
China’s intervention has proved disastrous for the economies of Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
China-Myanmar relations and its implications
- Myanmar, Chinaâs closest neighbour with a long history of cross border trade, was the first country to voluntarily turn towards Beijing, from 1988, when the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took over the reins of government.
- World sanctions followed, but Beijing reassured the generals of its continued support and in 1989, signed a treaty of trade and cooperation that made China the sole supporter of the illegitimate military government.
- The strong western sanctions after 2007, made China virtually its sole trading partner.
- The link with China became essential for the regimeâs survival but did little to increase economic prosperity.
- Wood alone accounts for about 70 per cent of Myanmarâs exports to China.
- Itâs clear that China is stripping bare Myanmarâs centuries-old teak forests.
Implications for Pakistan
- In 2012, Pakistan signed on to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
- New Delhi and Washington imagined wrongly that the CPEC would lead to a major Peopleâs Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) expansion into the Indian Ocean through Gwadar, which even now is a largely disused port.
- Â As a conservative IMF estimate put it, Islamabadâs poor management of the economy and reckless borrowing has put its immediate financial needs (2022) at $51 billion.
- Projects chosen are unviable like the Gwadar port and the Lahore Metro and attracted huge public criticism. The CPEC was put on hold and rebooted.
- The IMF warned Islamabad of the CPEC repayment boosting the current account deficit, forcing Pakistan to cut Chinese interest payments for 10 years.
- The CPEC has been a humbling experience for China and an economic disaster for Pakistan.
Implications for Sri Lanka
- Against all economic surveys and advice, the Hambantota port was built, it floundered and Sri Lanka transferred the land as equity to China for 99 years.
- From 2012 to 2016, China accounted for 30 per cent of all FDI to Sri Lanka, becoming the top source of foreign investment
- Today China is funding 50 projects in the country, involving more than $1 billion, including the Colombo Port and the Lakvijaya thermal power plant.
- Today, the Sri Lankan economy is in complete meltdown, with China holding the largest amount of Sri Lankan debt.
- Private banks have run out of funds to finance imports. Its main sources of revenue, tourism and remittances, have dried up, and the government is in a crisis.
Conclusion
The recourse to availing Chinese money by Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka has led to a feeling of hubris among the leaders, inducing them to take bad economic decisions in the perception that Beijing is footing the bills.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World food program
Mains level: Paper 2- Impact of Russia-Ukraine war on the developing and least developed countries
Context
Beyond Ukraineâs borders, far beyond the media spotlight, the war has launched a silent assault on the developing world. This crisis could throw up to 1.7 billion people â over one-fifth of humanity â into poverty, destitution and hunger on a scale not seen in decades.
Impact of the war on the developing world
- Ukraine and the Russian Federation provide 30 per cent of the worldâs wheat and barley, one-fifth of its maize, and over half of its sunflower oil.
- Together, their grain feeds the poorest and most vulnerable people, providing more than one-third of the wheat imported by 45 African and least-developed countries.
- At the same time, Russia is the worldâs top natural gas exporter, and second-largest oil exporter.
- But the war is preventing farmers from tending their crops while closing ports, ending grain exports, disrupting supply chains and sending prices skyrocketing.
- The World Food Programme has warned that it faces the impossible choice of taking from the hungry to feed the starving.
- It urgently needs $8 billion to support its operations in Yemen, Chad and Niger.
- But while much of the world has stepped up in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, there is no sign of the same support for the 1.7 billion other potential victims of this war.
The Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance
- The group aims to develop coordinated solutions to these interlinked crises, with governments, international financial institutions and other key partners.
- 1] On food, the group is urging all countries to keep markets open, resist hoarding and unjustified and unnecessary export restrictions, and make reserves available to countries at the highest risk of hunger and famine.
- 2] On energy, the use of strategic stockpiles and additional reserves could help to ease this energy crisis in the short term.
- But the only medium- and long-term solution is to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.
- 3] And on finance, the G20 and international financial institutions must go into emergency mode.
- They must find ways to increase liquidity and fiscal space, so that governments in developing countries can invest in the poorest and most vulnerable, and in the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Â Social protection, including cash transfers, will be essential to support desperate families through this crisis.
- But many developing countries with large external debts do not have the liquidity to provide these safety nets.
Conclusion
The only lasting solution to the war in Ukraine and its assault on the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world is peace.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MDR TB
Mains level: Paper 2- TB challenge
Context
Historical importance of good nutrition was ignored by the modern therapist who tried to control TB initially with streptomycin injection, isoniazid and para-aminosalisylic acid. In the ecstasy of finding antibiotics killing the germs, the social determinants of disease were ignored.
Lack of patient-centric TB treatment
- With more drug arsenals such as rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, the fight against TB bacteria continued, which became multidrug resistant.
- The regimes and the mode of delivery of drugs were changed to plug the loopholes of non-compliance of patients.
- Blister packs of a multi-drug regime were provided at the doorstep, and the directly observed treatment/therapy (DOT) mechanism set up.
- Many of the poor discontinued blister-packaged free drugs thinking that these were âhot and strongâ drugs not suited for the hunger pains they experienced every night.
Role of nutrition in dealing with TB
- India has around 2.8 million active cases. It is a disease of the poor.
- And the poor are three times less likely to go for treatment and four times less likely to complete their treatment for TB, according to WHO, in 2002.
- The fact is that 90% of Indians exposed to TB remain dormant if their nutritional status and thereby the immune system, is good.Â
- When the infected person is immunocompromised, TB as a disease manifests itself in 10% of the infected.
- The 2019 Global TB report identified malnutrition as the single-most associated risk factor for the development of TB, accounting for more cases than four other risks, i.e., smoking, the harmful use of alcohol, diabetes and HIV.
- The work and the findings of a team at the Jan Swasthya Sahayog hospital at Ganiyari, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh established the association of poor nutritional status with a higher risk of TB.
Way forward
- Chhattisgarh initiated the supply of groundnut, moong dhal and soya oil, and from April 2018, under the Nikshay Poshan Yojana of the National Health Mission.
- All States began extending cash support of âš500 per month to TB patients to buy food. This amount needs to be raised.
- Nutrition education and counselling support: Without simultaneous nutrition education and counselling support, this cash transfer will not have the desired outcome.
Conclusion
Food is a guaranteed right for life under the Constitution for all citizens, more so for TB patients. Thus, the goals of reducing the incidence of TB in India and of reducing TB mortality cannot be reached without addressing undernutrition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: JAM
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for data sharing
Context
While this yearâs Economic Survey focuses on improving the quality and quantity of data for better and quicker assessment of the state of the economy, it pays little attention to access to the data by citizens, ignoring the criticality of data for a healthy and informed public discourse on issues of policy relevance.
Strengthening data architecture
- The government has been proactively strengthening the data architecture for tackling corruption and better targeting of beneficiaries.
- Since 2014, the scope of UIDAI has seen a huge expansion.
- JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) has private details of citizens.
- The government is sufficiently empowered to collect and use information about its citizens touching all the spheres of their life.
- Along with traditional instruments such as the Census, sample surveys and registers of various departments, the government is now armed with real-time data.
Erosion in citizens’ right to access data and widening information gap
- Delayed release of survey data: The citizenâs right to access relevant data for quality public discussion seems to be gradually eroding.
- Â In this process, the government has refused to hold itself accountable.
- This is evident from repeated events of delayed release of various survey data.
- For example, data from the consumption survey 2017-18 has not yet been released.
- Â Similarly, the first Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2017-18) was released only after the 2019 general election.
- Undermining of scientific data: Further, instead of relying on the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), a systematically designed survey for estimation of industrial sector GDP, the government has started to depend on self-reported, unverified data submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs since 2011.
- Now that ASI is nearly redundant for official estimation purposes, the future of this database is uncertain.
- Another example of undermining the scientific database is the delay in the release of Water and Sanitation Survey data 2018.Â
- The information gaps in the area of migration are well documented.
- Information gap: While the JAM architecture and pandemic induced tracking tools allow for the mapping of individuals, researchers and the civil society do not have access to that information, which is useful to ascertain the level and prevalence of migration across regions within the country.
Conclusion
This data divide between the state and its citizens is a potential threat to the smooth functioning of a democracy. Without bridging this data gap, the scope of modern technology for tracking development cannot be realised.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Dealing with the hate speech
Context
Hate speech is at the root of many forms of violence that are being perpetrated and has become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of law and to our democratic conscience.
Consequences of hate speech
- Electoral mobilisation along the communal line: One of the most visible consequences of hate speech is increased electoral mobilisation along communal lines which is also paying some electoral dividends.
- Â Hate speech, in itself, must be understood and treated as a violent act and urgently so.
- With elected members currently sitting in the legislative assemblies and Parliament giving political sanction to citizens mobilised into mob violence and complicit public officials, hate speech is becoming the dominant mode of public political participation.Â
Role of Election Commission
- In 2019, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Election Commission, calling it âtoothlessâ for not taking action against candidates engaging in hate speech during the election campaigns in UP.
- The Commission responded by saying that it had limited powers to take action in this matter.Â
- So far, the Supreme Court does not appear to have acted decisively in response to allegations of hate speech in electoral campaigns, indicating that the EC must assume more responsibility and the EC has argued that in matters of hate speech, it is largely âpowerlessâ.
- In any case, the ECâs role is confined to the election period.
Legal provisions to deal with hate speech
- The Indian Penal Code, as per Sections 153A, 295A and 298, criminalises the promotion of enmity between different groups of people on grounds of religion and language, alongside acts that are prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony.
- Section 125 of the Representation of People Act deems that any person, in connection with the election, promoting feelings of enmity and hatred on grounds of religion and caste is punishable with imprisonment up to three years and fine or both.
- Section 505 criminalises multiple kinds of speech, including statements made with the intention of inducing, or which are likely to induce, fear or alarm to the public.
- It covers incitement of violence against the state or another community, as well as promotion of class hatred.
Recommendations and suggestions
- The Law Commission in its 267th report published in March 2017, recommended introduction of new provisions within the penal code that specifically punish incitement to violence in addition to the existing ones.
- Responsibility of Media: In recent years, hate speech in all its varieties has acquired a systemic presence in the media and the internet, from electoral campaigns to everyday life.
- This epidemic of mediatised hate speech is, in fact, a global phenomenon.
- According to the Washington Post, 2018 can be considered as âthe year of online hateâ.
Conclusion
Enough damage has been done. We cannot wait another day to address this growing challenge.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Zonal Councils
Mains level: Paper 3- Inter-State collaboration for dealing with pollution crisis
Context
With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governing both Delhi and Punjab, collaboration for clean air should be the mantra for both State governments.
Impact of air pollution on Delhi and Punjab
- Punjab is home to nine of the 132 most polluted cities in the country identified by the Central Pollution Control Board.
- In 2019, Delhi and Punjab together faced economic losses estimated to be approximately âš18,000 crore due to worsening air pollution.
- Therefore, by collaborating for clean air, both States can ensure improvements in citizen well-being and labour productivity.
 How can the two States collaborate?
1] Arrive at a common understanding of sources
- Those in charge of the two States must talk.
- Setting aside their disagreements on the contribution of stubble burning to Delhiâs air pollution, the States should arrive at a common understanding of sources polluting the region.
2] Create platforms for knowledge exchange
- Cross-learning on possible solutions: A common knowledge centre should be set up to facilitate cross-learning on possible solutions to developmental challenges in both States.
- Such a centre would especially benefit Punjab given the host of measures that the Delhi government has already taken to improve air quality in Delhi.
- Information on air quality levels and source assessment studies are critical in developing long-term strategies for pollution mitigation.
3] Collaborate to execute proven solutions
- Co-design solutions: The two States could co-design solutions that would improve air quality.
- Institutionalise a task force: They could jointly institutionalise a task force comprising experts from State-run institutions to pilot these solutions and assess their impact.
- This would ensure wider acceptance of the proposed solution, which has not been the case in the past.
- For instance, the PUSA bio-decomposer (developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute), has received mixed reviews from farmers.
- The decomposer only makes sense for early maturing varieties of paddy, as even with the decomposer, stubble would take between 25 to 30 days to decompose.
- Therefore, it is of little use in high burn districts such as Sangrur, Punjab, where late-maturing paddy varieties are dominant.
4] Create a market for diversified crop products
- Moving away from paddy-wheat cycle: Shifting away from the âpaddy-wheat cycleâ through crop diversification is a sure shot solution to stubble burning.
- But, the lack of an assured market for agricultural products, other than wheat and paddy, has acted as a deterrent.
- For years now, the Delhi government has toyed with the idea of introducing âAam Aadmi kitchensâ in Delhi.
- These community kitchens could potentially incorporate crops other than wheat and paddy in meals offered.
5] Extending inter-State cooperation to other States in Indo-Gangetic plains
- Both State governments should assert the need for extending inter-State cooperation to other States in the Indo-Gangetic plains in different inter-State forums.
- One such forum is the Northern Zonal Council which has representation from Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
- Both Delhi and Punjab must use this platform to highlight the need for coordination with neighbouring States to alleviate the pollution crisis.
Conclusion
With a collaborative plan of action, we can be optimistic about cleaner air in the years to come.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 1995 UNIDROIT
Mains level: Paper 1- Dealing with the issue of idol theft
Context
Building an inventory of antiquities should be the first step in dealing with the problem.
Measures taken by the worldwide organisations
- CAG in its 2013 Report stated that â131 antiquities were stolen from monuments/sites and 37 antiquities from Site Museums from 1981 to 2012″
- It added that in similar situations, worldwide, organisations took many more effective steps:
- 1] Checking of catalogues of international auction house(s),
- 2] Posting news of such theft on websites.
- 3] Posting information about theft in the International Art Loss Registry.
- 4] Sending photographs of stolen objects electronically to dealers and auction houses and intimate scholars in the field.
- Lack of legal provisions: The report also stated that the ASI had never participated or collected information on Indian antiquities put on sale at well-known international auction houses viz. Sothebyâs, Christieâs, etc. as there was no explicit provision in the AAT (Antiquities and Art Treasures) Act, 1972 for doing so.
International conventions and treaties
- India is a signatory to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. (We ratified it in 1977).
- Perhaps we should also sign the 1995 UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.
Lessons from Italy
- Italy also suffers and several stolen antiquities have been returned by the US to Italy.
- That being the case, it shouldnât be surprising that many best practices originate in Italy.
- The following list is illustrative.
- (1) A specific law on protecting cultural heritage, with enhanced penalties;
- (2) Centralised management before granting authorisation for archaeological research;
- (3) Specialisation in cultural heritage for public prosecutors;
- (4) An inter-ministerial committee for recovery and return of cultural objects;
- (5) MOUs and bilateral agreements with other countries and international organisations to prevent illegal trafficking;
- (6) Involvement of private organisations and individuals in protection;
- (7) A complete inventory of moveable and immoveable cultural heritage, with detailed catalogues;
- (8) Monitoring and inspection of cultural sites; and
- (9) Centralised granting of export requests.
Way forward
- One could say the 2013 CAG Report did a bit of (8), but that was a one-off and isnât a permanent solution.
- This isnât a binary, nor is it possible to accomplish everything overnight. However, incrementally, one can move towards (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (8) and, especially, (7).
- We should start with that inventory.
Conclusion
While fingers can rightly be pointed at Western museums and auction-houses (this isnât only about the colonial era), there is internal connivance.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Languages in the Eighth Schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Eighth Schedule
Context
Language sensitivity has been a feature of selfhood in the case of every Indian language.
 Sensitivity to language
- From ancient times, a sensitivity to language difference has almost been the core of Dravidic self-hood.
- A similar sensitivity existed among the speakers of Prakrits in ancient times.
- It was in one of the Prakrits that Mahavir had presented his teachings in the sixth century BCE.
- Eighteen centuries later, Acharya Hemachandra, a major Jain scholar, poet, mathematician and philosopher, produced his Desinamamala, a treatise on the importance of Prakrit words used in Gujarat of his times as against those from Sanskrit.
- Mahatma Gandhi, who defined the idea of selfhood for India in Hind Swaraj (1909), chose to write this iconic book in Gujarati.
Constitutional provision
- The official language used for communication between the States shall be the language that has been in use at the time of adoption of the Constitution.
- The move from English to Hindi can take place only if, âtwo or more states agreeâ for the shift.
- Article 344 (4) provides for a âCommittee consisting of thirty membersâ, âtwentyâ from the Parliament and âtenâ from State assemblies, for safeguarding language-related provisions.
The distribution between two ministries
- The functions and the scope of the committee, as laid down by the Constitution, are further clarified by the practice of distribution of language as a subject between two Ministries, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry and the Home Ministry.
- The scope of the HRD Ministry extends to education and the promotion of cultural expression.
- The Home Ministryâs scope extends to safeguarding relations of the States with the âunionâ, protecting the linguistic rights of language minorities and the promotion of Hindi.
- The last of these, the Constitution states, has to be âwithout interference with other languages.
Data on language decline
- In 2011, Hindi speakers accounted for 43.63% of the total population, with a total of 52.83 crore speakers.
- In 1971, the number was 20.27 crore, accounting for 36.99% of the total population.
- Between 2001 and 2011, the growth in proportion of the population was 2.6%.
- The next most spoken language, Bangla, had negative growth.
- It was spoken by 8.30% of Indians in 1991, 8.11% in 2001 and by 8.03% in 2011.
- Telugu, which slid from 7.87% in 1991, to 7.19% in 2001 and 6.70% in 2011, has a similar story to tell.
- Tamil recorded 6.32% of the total population in 1991, 5.91% in 2001 and 5.70% in 2011.
- The only major language to show decadal growth (though small) was Gujarati.
- And the only small yet scheduled language to show good growth was Sanskrit.
Reasons for Hindi’s growth
- The 52.83 crore speakers of Hindi (as recorded in 2011) included not just the speaker of âHindiâ but also those of more than 50 other languages.
- Bhojpuri and most languages of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand have also been pushed into the Hindi package.
- Had the Census not included these other languages under Hindi, the strength of Hindi speakers would have gone down to about 39 crore, â just a little under 32% of the total population in 2011 â and would have looked not too different from those of other scheduled languages.
- The data for English speakers is far more truthful. Census 2011 reports a total of 3,88,793 Indians as English speakers (2,59,678 men and 1,29,115 women).
Hindi in comparison to other languages in the Eighth schedule
- Among the languages included in the Eighth Schedule, Hindi falls within the younger lot of languages.
- On the other hand, Tamil, Kannada, Kashmiri, Marathi, Oriya, Sindhi, Nepali and Assamiya have a much longer/older history.
- Â As a language of knowledge too, Tamil, Kannada, Bangla and Marathi (with their abundance of encyclopaedias and historical literature), quite easily outshine Hindi.
Conclusion
A language evolves slowly and cannot be forced to grow by issuing ordinances.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Gross Enrolment Ratio
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with CUET
Context
The introduction of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) can be seen as a step in the direction of aligning India with international standards.
About CUET
- The UGCâs rationale for introducing the test is to address the disparity in the allocation of marks by different examination boards, and provide a âlevel playing fieldâ to students from different sections of society and diverse regions.
- The CUET has been envisaged as a corrective.
- Â Of the 48 central universities, 45 seem to have the requirements to institute the test.
- The CUET is going to decide the fate of approximately 1.3 crore students for roughly 5.4 lakh undergraduate seats in 45 central universities.
Issues with the CUET
- Students to contend with two examinations: The marks obtained in the board examination will remain vital for admission to state and private universities as well as job applications.
- The students will now have to contend with two examinations.
- Impetus to coaching classes: Many educationists argue that the new examination is likely to give an impetus to coaching classes.
- Â Coaching and private tuition will flourish without much concern for quality in the preparation of the study material.
- Not all State Boards prescribe NCERT textbooks: The CUET syllabus will be based on NCERT (under the Ministry of Education) textbooks even though not all state boards prescribe these books.
- The coaching industry stands to take advantage of this situation and students will have a hard time navigating two sets of textbooks.
- The impact is likely to be harsher on disadvantaged sections of the society for whom access to higher education is seen as the only route to upward mobility.
Way forward
- The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is constantly increasing for higher secondary education (51.4 per cent according to UDISE, 2019-20) and higher education (27.1 per cent to AISHE, 2019-20).
- The figures indicate that higher education has acquired a mass base in the country.
- This has important implications for a knowledge-based economy and society.
- Maintaining the momentum of GER would require more teachers, schools and higher education institutions of quality and slow down the rush for a few but highly sought after universities and colleges.
Conclusion
The new examination would put additional pressure on both students and teachers at a time when they are trying to overcome the exactions of the pandemic. It appears to diverge from the objective of the National Education Policy-2020 â equitable access to good quality higher education for all students.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Competition Commission of India
Mains level: Privacy as a metric of quality
Context
In February, Facebook stated that its revenue in 2022 is anticipated to reduce by $10 billion due to steps undertaken by Apple to enhance user privacy on its mobile operating system.
Move towards more privacy-preserving options
- Apple introduced AppTrackingTransparency feature that requires apps to request permission from users before tracking them across other apps and websites or sharing their information with and from third parties.
- Through this change, Apple effectively shut the door on âpermissionlessâ internet tracking and has given consumers more control over how their data is used.
- Privacy experts have welcomed this move because it is predicted to enhance awareness and nudge other actors to move towards more privacy-preserving options, leading to a market for âPrivacy Enhancing Technologiesâ.
- Googleâs Privacy Sandbox project is a case in point, though it remains to be seen whether it will be truly privacy-preserving.
Big Tech dominance and issues related to it
- Privacy and acquisitions: One standout feature of the Big Tech dominance has been the non-price factors such as quality of service (QoS) in general and privacy and acquisitions in particular.
- Acquisitions to kill competition: Acquisitions by Big Tech are regular and eat up big bucks, not always to promote efficiency but to eliminate potential competition, described evocatively as âkill zoneâ by specialists.
- According to a report released by the Federal Trade Commission, between 2010 and 2019, Big Tech made 616 acquisitions.
- In the absence of a modern framework, competition law continues to rely on Borkâs theory of consumer welfare which postulated that the sole normative objective of antitrust should be to maximise consumer welfare, best pursued through promoting economic efficiency.
- Market structure thus became irrelevant and conduct became the sole criterion for judgement.
- Conduct now predominantly revolves around QoS which, like much else surrounding digital platforms, is pushing competition authorities to fortify their existing regulatory toolkits.
Privacy as a metric of quality
- Â Companies such as Apple and DuckDuckGo (with its slogan âthe search engine that doesnât track youâ) are employing enhanced user privacy as a competitive metric.
- It has been shown that âwebsites which do not face strong competition are significantly more likely to ask for more personal information than other services provided for freeâ.
- In 2018, OECD accepted that privacy is a relevant dimension of quality despite the low quality that may be prevalent due to lack of market development.
- Regulators across the globe are recognising privacy as a serious metric of quality.
- For instance, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2021 took suo moto cognisance of changes to WhatsAppâs âtake-itâ or âleave-itâ privacy policy that made it mandatory for every user to share data with Facebook.
- In its prima facie order, the CCI inter alia observed that this amounts to degradation of privacy and therefore quality.
Way forward
- Privacy and competition have overlapping boundaries.
- If privacy becomes a competitive constraint, then companies will have the incentive to create privacy-preserving and enhancing technologies.
- Barriers for new entrants: On the other hand, care must be taken so that Big Tech, aka the gatekeepers in the EUâs Digital Markets Act, do not misuse privacy to create barriers for newer entrants.
- Restricting third-party tracking is not novel and other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Microsoftâs Edge have already done so.
- But Google, which owns 65 per cent of the global browser market, is different.
- By disabling third parties from tracking but continuing to use that data in its own ad tech stack, Google harms competition.
- The use of privacy as a tool for market development, therefore, has to tread this tightrope between enabling and stifling competition.
Conclusion
An approach that balances user autonomy, consumer protection, innovation, and market competition in digital markets is a real win-win and worth investing in.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IRMS
Mains level: Paper 3- IRMS training
Context
A recent Gazette notification regarding the creation of the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS) marks a paradigm shift in the management of one of the worldâs largest rail networks.
About the merger and IRMS
- A nearly 8,000 strong cadre of the erstwhile eight services is now merged into one.
- Eight out of 10 Group-A Indian Railway services have been merged to create the IRMS.
- The merged services are: Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSS), Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), Indian Railway Service of Civil Engineers (IRSE) and Indian Railway Stores Service (IRSS).
- Aims of the restructuring: Besides removing silos, this restructuring also aims at rationalising the top-heavy bureaucracy of the Indian Railways.
Way forward: Training
- Training the future leaders of Indiaâs public transporter in the rapidly evolving logistics sector of the country is the most important task ahead.
- The UPSC will recruit a few hundred IRMS officers each year from now, they will remain much less in number when compared to already serving officers for a long time to come.
- Training of the existing cadre of officers: The fact remains that even after the creation of the IRMS, the 8,000 strong (already serving) officers of the Indian Railways will need to work in coordination and not in silos, as they will be serving in the organisation for decades to come.
- This highlights the importance of training of the existing cadre of officers as they will have to deliver on the ambitious Gati-Shakti projects.
- The task of training such a dynamic talent pool assumes importance in view of Indiaâs aspirations of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
- All this will require a massive revamp of the capacity building ecosystem of the Indian Railways.
- Â Redesign the training: The merger of services provides an opportunity to redesign the training for newly recruited IRMS officers to make them future-ready. Initial training along with mid-career training programmes may be reoriented.
- The IRMS training needs to be designed based on the competencies required for different leadership roles.
- Mission Karmayogi of the Government of India provides for competencies based postings of officers.
- The Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) programme of the Government of India will be instrumental in shaping the career progression of IRMS officers.
Conclusion
Future IRMS officers should be ready to face the challenges of working in an organisation that is involved in round the clock and round the year operations, has substantial social obligations to meet and, at the same time, which must earn for itself.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Implications of Pakistan's internal crisis
Context
As Pakistan goes through a major political convulsion, India must resist the temptation to see the changes across our western frontiers through the narrow prism of bilateral relations.
Why Pakistan matters
- Pakistan is an important regional piece in the power play between the US, China and Russia.
- Given its location at the crossroads of the Subcontinent, Middle East, Eurasia, and China, Pakistan has always been a vital piece of real estate that was actively sought by contending geopolitical blocs.
- The internal and external have always been tightly linked in Pakistan.
- Today, Pakistanâs internal battles are tied to external geopolitical rivalry.
Two important factors in the political trajectory of Pakistan
- Any Indian strategy in dealing with the new government in Islamabad would depend on an assessment of Pakistanâs post-Imran political trajectory.
- Two important factors stand out.
- 1] First is the changing nature of civil military relations in Pakistan.
- It is part of a serious intra-elite struggle that transcends the well-known military dominance over Pakistanâs polity.
- One of the more interesting questions to come out of the current episode is whether the armyâs famed internal coherence and unity of command might endure the crisis.
- 2] Second is the growing fragility of Pakistanâs polity triggered by the deepening economic crisis and sharpening social contradictions.
- There is no guarantee that the armyâs ties with new civilian rulers will be smooth nor can we assume that the civilian coalition against Imran Khan will survive the many challenges ahead as it confronts difficult policy challenges on multiple fronts.
Geopolitical challenges of Pakistan
- Engaging India is unlikely to be a high priority for the new government in Islamabad.
- Today, Pakistan has many other things to worry about â reviving its flagging economic fortunes, stabilising the Durand Line with Afghanistan, and rebalancing its ties with the major actors in the Middle East, including Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
- Pakistan, which traditionally enjoyed good relations with the West as well as China, is finding it hard to maintain a balance in its great power relations.
- While the army and the new government are eager to restore ties with the US, Imran Khan has made it hard for them.
- Imran Khanâs repeated praise for Indiaâs independent foreign policy was in essence a critique of the Pakistan army that has long steered Islamabadâs international relations.
Way forward
- Â Delhi should focus on the potential shifts in Pakistanâs strategic orientation triggered by the current crisis.
- The good news from Pakistan is that India is not part of the argument between the political classes or between Imran Khan and the âdeep stateâ represented by the army.
Conclusion
An India that gets an accurate sense of Pakistanâs changing geopolitics will be able to better deal with Islamabad.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Liquidity Adjustment Framework
Mains level: Paper 3- Standing Deposit Facility
Context
The first bi-monthly meeting of the Reserve Bank of Indiaâs Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for the current financial year reaffirmed its focus on inflation management.
Towards the normalisation of monetary policy
- The MPC voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4 per cent and retained its accommodative stance.
- However, the wording was changed to âremain accommodative while focusing on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth.â
- This statement sets the stage for a shift to a neutral stance in the next meeting and policy rate hikes in subsequent meetings.
- RBI has announced the withdrawal of some of the steps taken during the pandemic to support the economy.
- These will foster the normalisation of monetary policy.
Inflation challenge
- The central bank has acknowledged that the disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis have upended their growth and inflation outlook.
- It has steeply revised its inflation projection from 4.5 per cent earlier to 5.7 per cent now for the current financial year.
- The projection is based on an average global crude oil price of $100 per barrel.
- The Food and Agriculture Organisationâs (FAOâs) Food Price Index, a gauge of global food prices, posted a record growth of 12.6 per cent from February.
Formalisation of Liquidity Adjustment Framework (LAF)
- The RBI has been managing liquidity infused into the system during the pandemic through the Variable Rate Reverse Repo Auctions (VRRR) to withdraw liquidity and Variable Rate Repo auctions to inject liquidity.
- RBI has now formalised the Liquidity Adjustment Framework (LAF).
- The LAF is a framework to absorb and inject liquidity into the banking system.
- The LAF is now a symmetric corridor with a width of 50 basis points.
- The policy repo rate is at the centre of the corridor, with the MSF 25 basis points above the policy rate and the SDF 25 basis points below the policy rate.
What is a Standing Deposit Facility
- The RBI has introduced the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) as the lower bound of the LAF corridor to absorb liquidity.
- The idea of the SDF was first mooted by the Urjit Patel Committee report on the monetary policy framework.
- The RBI Act was amended through the Finance Act of 2018 to allow RBI to use this instrument.
- The SDF will be a facility available to banks to park their funds.
- The SDF will serve as the standing liquidity absorption facility at the lower end of the LAF corridor.
- At the upper end of the corridor is the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) to inject liquidity.
- Through the SDF, the RBI can absorb liquidity without placing government securities as collateral, hence it will give greater flexibility to the central bank.
- The change also marks a shift away from reverse repo being the effective policy rate.
Key takeaways
- While on the face of it, there are no rate hikes, the shift from the reverse repo rate to the SDF signals a tightening of monetary policy.
- There is a 40 basis points increase in the floor rate.
- Â In the medium run, the call money rate would move towards the new LAF corridor, thus bringing orderly conditions in the money market.
- As RBI begins to normalise liquidity in a calibrated manner, its ability to manage bond yields will likely be limited.
- Yields on bonds are likely to inch up and remain above the 7 per cent mark.
- Going forward, the trade-off between managing inflation and the borrowing programme of the government will become challenging.
Conclusion
For now the RBI has rightly decided to place top priority on inflation management. This will help in maintaining the credibility of the inflation targeting framework.
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