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Type: Prelims Only

  • Indian Navy Updates

    [pib] Exercise Konkan, 2023

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Exercise Konkan

    Mains level: NA

    Ex Konkan, the annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy, was recently held off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea.

    Exercise Konkan 2023

    • Konkan exercise is the annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the UK’s Royal Navy.
    • INS Trishul, a guided missile frigate, and HMS Lancaster, a Type 23 guided missile frigate, participated in this edition.
    • They undertook multiple maritime drills to enhance interoperability between the two forces and imbibe best practices.
    • The exercises covered all domains of maritime operations, air, surface, and sub-surface.
    • It included gunnery shoots on the surface inflatable target ‘Killer Tomato’, helicopter operations, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare drills, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS), ship maneuvers, and exchange of personnel.
    • The exercise will help the Indian Navy and Royal Navy work together to improve maritime security and maintain a rules-based order in the region.

     

     

     

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  • Electronic System Design and Manufacturing Sector – M-SIPS, National Policy on Electronics, etc.

    India’s Push for Semiconductors

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: PLI scheme

    Mains level: Read the attached story

    semiconductor

    Central idea

    • The Indian government has given ₹1,645 crore in PLI incentives to electronics manufacturers to bring more of the supply chain to India.
    • There is a growing need for semiconductors as they are used in almost all modern electronics.
    • Many countries are moving away from China’s dominance in the sector due to supply chain vulnerabilities and geopolitical pressures.

    Semiconductor manufacturing in India

    • Invest India agency estimates electronics manufacturing to be worth $300 billion by 2025-26.
    • While finished product facilities have been growing, fabs for chipsets and displays are rarer.
    • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is set to announce the first semiconductor manufacturing fab soon.
    • Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) suggests India to leverage its strength in the electronics manufacturing value chain.
    • Foundry companies require high investments while OSAT generate better margins.
    • Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) set-ups take care of less capital-intensive parts of chipmaking and run specialized tests.
    • Many chip facilities tend to be captive units of large companies.

    Importance of semiconductor manufacturing

    • Semiconductor fabrication units turn raw elements like silicon into integrated circuits used in practically all electronic hardware.
    • Fabs are highly capital-intensive undertakings costing billions of dollars for large facilities.
    • Fabs require a highly reliable and high-quality supply of water, electricity, and insulation from the elements, reflecting the high degree of precision, cost, and capital needed to make sophisticated circuits.
    • Countries have spotted strategic value in cornering segments of the value chain for fabs.
    • China has pulled ahead of Taiwan last year in terms of global sales from fabs.
    • The US passed the CHIPS Act to provide subsidies and investments to manufacturers opening fabs and making semiconductors in the US.
    • US also pushed some restrictions and sanctions on the Chinese semiconductor industry.

    India’s advantages in semiconductor manufacturing

    • India has an advantage in semiconductor manufacturing as a large portion of semiconductor design engineers globally are either Indian or Indian-origin.
    • Chipmaking firms such as Intel and NVIDIA have large facilities in India that are already flush with Indian talent working on design problems.
    • China is losing control over this advantage in the face of sanctions and an ageing population.
    • Experts believes that without a sustainable pipeline of high calibre talent, China’s goals for the semiconductor sector will not be achievable.

    Various challenges

    • Huge Investments involved: Semiconductor Fabrication facility requires many expensive devices to function. Complex tools and equipment are required to test quality and move silicon from location to location within the ultra-clean confines of the plant.
    • Economy of scale:  In semiconductor fabrication, a high volume of production is required to be maintain so as to meet the increasing demand of the marketplace, at the same time, a strong financial backing as Indian market is very much uncertain about financial fluctuations.
    • Requirement highly skilled labour: Semiconductor fabrication is a multiple-step sequence of photolithographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer made of pure semiconducting material. This actually requires high skills.
    • Scarcity of raw materials: From a value-chain perspective, it needs silicon, Germanium & Gallium arsenide and Silicon carbide which are not available in India and needs to be imported.
    • Uncertain Indian market: A semiconductor fabrication facility in India cannot independently rely on Indian customers for their entire sales structure. They have to maintain overseas customer base to balance inflections from Indian market due to market trends, government policies etc.
    • Disposal of hazardous waste: Many toxic materials are used in the fabrication process such as arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus. Hazardous impact on the environment by the industry may act as an impediment to India’s commitment to mitigate climate change.

    Policy initiatives in India

    • Make in India:This aims to transform India into a global hub for Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).
    • PLI scheme:In December 2021 the Centre sanctioned ₹76,000 crore under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage the manufacturing of various semiconductor goods within India.
    • DLI scheme:It offers financial incentives, design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design.
    • Digital RISC-V (DIR-V) program: It intends to enable the production of microprocessors in India in the upcoming days achieving industry-grade silicon and design wins by December 2023.
    • India Semiconductor Mission (ISM):The vision is to build a vibrant semiconductor and display design and innovation ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design

    Way forward

    To ensure greater resilience in a volatile world, India needs to undertake the following measures to sustain the domestic and global semiconductor demand:

    • Policy framework: As foundry setup is highly Capital intensive, it must be supported with a solid long term plan and financial backing. This backing is required from the entrepreneur & the government both.
    • Fiscal sustenance: In text of Indian Government as tax holiday, subsidy, zero duty, financial investment etc. will play an important role in promoting the Fab along with the semiconductor industry in India; this will put further pressure on already large Fiscal Deficit.
    • Support Infrastructure: World class, sustainable infrastructure, as required by a modern Fab be provided, with swift transportation, large quantity of pure water, uninterrupted electricity, communication, pollutant free environment etc.

    Conclusion

    • India’s electronic manufacturing incentive programs are geared towards breaking new ground in ambitious plans connected to popular brands such as Apple.
    • The Indian government is working to create an ecosystem that will facilitate sustainable growth and fiscal feasibility in the semiconductor industry.
    • The electronics value chain must be an international undertaking among like-minded nations with common values to be effective.

     

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    India’s disputed Compensatory Afforestation (CAMPA) Policy at odds with new IPCC report

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: CAMPA, IPCC

    Mains level: Not Much

     

    Central idea

    • The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Synthesis Report, where the IPCC notes the significance of preserving natural ecosystems to mitigate climate change.
    • The report has raised concerns about the ongoing policy of afforestation in India that allows forests to be cut down and replaced elsewhere.

    Afforestation in India

    • Afforestation has become an increasingly contested policy in India.
    • The government has pledged to add “an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030”.

    Why is CAMPA invoked in the IPCC report?

    • India’s Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has been accused of facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems in exchange for forests to be set up elsewhere.

    What is CAMPA?

    • CAMPA is a body established by the Indian government in 2002 on the orders of the Supreme Court.
    • The purpose of CAMPA is to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land that has been diverted to non-forest uses, such as for dams, mines, and other development projects.
    • The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 requires project proponents to identify land elsewhere for afforestation and pay for the afforestation exercise.
    • The money paid by project proponents is deposited in a fund overseen by CAMPA.

    Controversies surrounding CAMPA

    • Unutilised fund: The money paid to CAMPA sits in a fund, but most of the fund remained unspent until 2013, leading to criticism of facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems. In 2006-2012, the fund grew from Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 23,600 crore.
    • Threatening endangered landscape: CAMPA also came under fire for funding projects that endangered landscape connectivity and biodiversity corridors.
    • Unsustainability of artificial plantation: CAMPA has been accused for planting non-native species or artificial plantations that don’t compensate for the ecosystem loss.

    Why is forestation under CAMPA unsustainable?

    • Natural ecosystems sequester more carbon: This report highlights the importance of preserving natural ecosystems and reducing the conversion of natural ecosystems to mitigate climate change.
    • Renewable energy installation is more sustainable: The IPCC report also found that solar power has more mitigating potential than reducing the conversion of natural ecosystems, and wind power was the third highest.

    Conclusion

    • Preserving natural ecosystems should be recognized as an essential means to mitigate climate change, and environment impact assessments should include climate costs.
    • Policies such as afforestation, ecosystem restoration, and renewable energy must be carefully evaluated to reduce the impact of the climate crisis.

     

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Disqualification of a MP over Criminal Charges

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Various provisions for disqualifications of MP/MLAs

    Mains level: Not Much

    disqualification

    Central idea: A politician has been sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 defamation case filed against him for his remarks about the surname of a community. This conviction could lead to his disqualification.

    Disqualification of a Lawmaker

    Disqualification of a lawmaker is prescribed in three situations-

    1. Constitutional provisions: First is through Articles 102(1) and 191(1) for disqualification of a member of Parliament and a member of the Legislative Assembly respectively. The grounds here include holding an office of profit, being of unsound mind or insolvent or not having valid citizenship.
    2. Defection: It is in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for the disqualification of the members on grounds of defection.
    3. Representation of The People Act (RPA), 1951: It provides for disqualification for conviction in criminal cases.

    Disqualification under RPA, 1951

    • It provides for disqualification for conviction in criminal cases.
    • Section 8 of the RPA deals with disqualification for conviction of offences.
    • The provision is aimed at “preventing the criminalisation of politics” and keeping ‘tainted’ lawmakers from contesting elections.

    Section 8(3) states: “A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.”

    Appeal and stay of disqualification

    • The disqualification can be reversed if a higher court grants a stay on the conviction or decides the appeal in favour of the convicted lawmaker.
    • In a 2018 decision in ‘Lok Prahari v Union of India’, the Supreme Court clarified that the disqualification “will not operate from the date of the stay of conviction by the appellate court.”
    • This means that Gandhi’s first appeal would be before the Surat Sessions Court and then before the Gujarat High Court.

    Changes in the Law

    • Under the RPA, Section 8(4) stated that the disqualification takes effect only “after three months have elapsed” from the date of conviction.
    • Within that period, lawmakers could file an appeal against the sentence before the High Court.
    • However, in the landmark 2013 ruling in ‘Lily Thomas v Union of India’, the Supreme Court struck down Section 8(4) of the RPA as unconstitutional.

    Lily Thomas Verdict

    • The Lily Thomas verdict was a landmark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of India in 2013.
    • The verdict struck down a provision in the Representation of the People Act (RPA), which allowed convicted lawmakers to continue in office if they filed an appeal within three months of their conviction.
    • The provision, which was part of Section 8(4) of the RPA, had been criticized for allowing convicted politicians to continue to hold public office while their appeals were pending in higher courts, and for contributing to the criminalization of politics in India.The verdict was seen as a major step towards cleaning up Indian politics and ensuring that convicted criminals do not get to occupy public offices.

     

     

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    What does ‘Guillotine’ refer to in legislative parlance?

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Guillotine Motion

    Mains level: Not Much

    Central idea: Amidst the ongoing stalemate in Parliament, some MPs said the government may guillotine the demands for grants and pass the Finance Bill without any discussion in the Lok Sabha.

    What is a Guillotine?

    • A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading.
    • It consists of a large, weighted blade that is raised to the top of a tall, erect frame and released to fall on the neck of a condemned person secured at the bottom of the frame, executing them in a single, clean pass.
    • The origin of the exact device as well as the term can be found in France.
    • The design of the guillotine was intended to make capital punishment more reliable and less painful in accordance with new Enlightenment ideas of human rights.

    Guillotine Motion in Parliament

    • In legislative parlance, to “guillotine” means to bunch together and fast-track the passage of financial business.
    • It is a fairly common procedural exercise in Lok Sabha during the Budget Session.
    • After the Budget is presented, Parliament goes into recess for about three weeks, during which time the House Standing Committees examine Demands for Grants for various Ministries, and prepare reports.
    • After Parliament reassembles, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) draws up a schedule for discussions on the Demands for Grants.
    • Given the limitation of time, the House cannot take up the expenditure demands of all Ministries; therefore, the BAC identifies some important Ministries for discussion.
    • It usually lists Demands for Grants of the Ministries of Home, Defence, External Affairs, Agriculture, Rural Development and Human Resource Development.

    Why use such a motion?

    • Members utilise the opportunity to discuss the policies and working of Ministries.
    • Once the House is done with these debates, the Speaker applies the “guillotine”, and all outstanding demands for grants are put to vote at once.
    • This usually happens on the last day earmarked for the discussion on the Budget.
    • The intention is to ensure the timely passage of the Finance Bill, marking the completion of the legislative exercise with regard to the Budget.

     

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  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    Places in news: Sharda Peeth

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Sharda Peeth

    Mains level: Not Much

    sharda

    Home Minister said that the government will move forward to open Sharda Peeth on the lines of the Kartarpur corridor.

    Why in news?

    • Activists request that the Sharda Peeth corridor should be made operational on the lines of Nankana Sahib Gurudwaras and the Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan.

    Sharda Peeth

    • Sharda Peeth is a Hindu temple located in the Neelam Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
    • It is considered one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, or major shrines, of the Hindu goddess Shakti.
    • The temple is an important pilgrimage site for Hindus, particularly those from the Kashmir Valley.

    History and Significance

    • The temple is believed to have been established in the 6th century CE by Adi Shankaracharya, a famous Hindu philosopher and saint.
    • Sharda Peeth became an important center of learning and scholarship during the medieval period, attracting scholars from all over India and even from as far as Central Asia.
    • The temple was destroyed several times by invading armies and underwent major renovations and restorations under various rulers over the centuries.
    • The temple’s importance declined during the colonial period and it fell into disrepair in the years following India’s partition in 1947.

    Current rundown state and Controversy

    • Sharda Peeth is now located in a remote and inaccessible part of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and has become a subject of political and religious controversy.
    • The Indian government has long sought to open a pilgrimage corridor to Sharda Peeth for Hindu devotees, but this has been complicated by the ongoing conflict and tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
    • In recent years, there have been calls for the temple to be handed over to India or for it to be converted into a museum that can be visited by people from both sides of the border.

    Significance in Kashmiri Identity

    • Sharda Peeth is an important part of Kashmiri Hindu identity and culture, and its restoration and revival have been a longstanding demand of the community.
    • Some Kashmiri Pandits view the temple as a symbol of their lost homeland and argue that its restoration would be a step towards reclaiming their cultural and religious heritage.
    • Others, however, caution against politicizing the temple and argue that it should be seen as a shared heritage of all Kashmiris, regardless of their religious or political affiliations.

     

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  • Nobel and other Prizes

    Abel Prize for Maths

    Prelims Only | Trivia | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Abel Prize

    Mains level: Not Much

    abel

    The Abel Prize for mathematics for 2023 was awarded to Argentine-American Luis Caffarelli, an expert in “partial differential equations” which can explain phenomena ranging from how water flows to population growth.

    Abel Prize

    • The Abel Prize is a prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.
    • It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes.
    • It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (increased from 6 million NOK in 2019).
    • Its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie when he learned that Alfred Nobel’s plans for annual prizes would not include a prize in mathematics.
    • The laureates are selected by the Abel Committee, the members of which are appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

    Has any Indian ever won this prestigious prize?

    • Srinivasa Varadhan, an Indian-American citizen won the Abel Prize in the year 2007 for his valuable contribution in “probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation”.

     

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  • Road and Highway Safety – National Road Safety Policy, Good Samaritans, etc.

    Call Before u Dig Application

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: CBUD App

    Mains level: NA

    dig

    Prime Minister has launched the ‘Call Before u Dig’ (CBuD) app, to facilitate coordination between excavation agencies and underground utility owners to prevent damage to utilities due to digging.

    Call Before u Dig (CBUD)

    • The app is an initiative of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
    • Uncoordinated digging and excavation causes damage to underlying assets like optical fibre cables, leading to losses of about Rs 3,000 crore every year.
    • The app aims to prevent damage to utilities due to digging.
    • It will save potential business loss and minimise discomfort to citizens due to reduced disruption in essential services like road, telecom, water, gas and electricity.

    How does the app work?

    • The CBuD app connects excavators and asset owners through SMS/Email notifications and click-to-call.
    • It ensures planned excavations in the country while ensuring the safety of underground assets.
    • Excavating companies can inquire about existing subsurface utilities before starting excavation work.
    • Utility owners can find out about impending work at the location.

     

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

    Key takeaway of the IPCC Synthesis Report

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: IPCC

    Mains level: Not Much

    ipcc

    The IPCC Synthesis Report warns that the world is on track to breach the 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit by the 2030s, which would cause irrevocable damage to the planet’s ecosystem and severely impact humans and other living beings.

    What is IPCC Synthesis Report?

    • The IPCC Synthesis Report is a summary report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that presents key findings and policy recommendations from the group’s previous assessment reports.
    • It aims to provide policymakers with a concise overview of the current state of knowledge on climate change, its impacts, and options for mitigation and adaptation.
    • The Synthesis Report is released at the end of each assessment cycle, which typically takes six to seven years, and is approved by representatives from the IPCC’s member governments.

    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

    • The IPCC, an intergovernmental body was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
    • It was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN.
    • The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change.

     

    Key highlights of the synthesis report

    • Climate extremes on rise: Due to the current global warming levels, almost every region across the planet is already experiencing climate extremes, an uptick in deaths due to heatwaves, reduced food and water security, and damage to ecosystems, causing mass extinction of species on land and in the ocean.
    • High vulnerability: More than three billion people live in areas that are “highly vulnerable” to climate change.
    • Boost up climate finance: The largest gaps in climate finance are in the developing world, but so too are the largest opportunities.

    Key concerns raised

    The report highlights the urgent need for-

    • Limiting the use of fossil fuels
    • Increasing finance to climate investments
    • Expanding the clean energy infrastructure,
    • Reducing nitrogen pollution from agriculture, curtail food waste, and
    • Adopting measures to make it easier for people to lead low-carbon lifestyles

    Conclusion

    • The report adds that there is still a chance to avert this mass-scale destruction, but it would require an enormous global effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and completely phase them out by 2050.
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  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

    What is the National Security Act, 1980?

    Prelims Only | Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: National Security Act

    Mains level: NSA and its provisions

    Punjab Advocate General has confirmed the invocation of National Security Act (NSA) to Amritpal Singh’s case.

    National Security Act, 1980

    • The NSA was passed by the Parliament in 1980 and has been amended several times since then.
    • It empowers the state to detain a person without a formal charge and without trial.
    • It is invoked when a person is taken into custody to prevent them from acting in any manner prejudicial to “the security of the state” or for “maintenance of the public order”.
    • It is an administrative order passed either by the Divisional Commissioner or the District Magistrate.

    Grounds for detention under NSA

    • NSA can be invoked to prevent a person from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, relations of India with foreign powers or the security of India.
    • Among others, it can also be applied to prevent a person from acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of supply and services essential to the community.
    • An individual can be detained without a charge for a maximum period of 12 months.
    • The detained person can be held for 10 to 12 days in special circumstances without being told the charges against them.

    Protection available under the Act

    • One crucial procedural safeguard under the NSA is granted under Article 22(5).
    • All the detained persons have the right to make an effective representation before an independent advisory board.
    • The board is chaired by a member who is, or has been, a judge of a high court.
    • The DM who passes the detention order is protected under the Act and no prosecution or any legal proceeding can be initiated against the official who carries out the orders.

    Cases for misuse

    • The Supreme Court in earlier cases had held that to prevent “misuse of this potentially dangerous power, the law of preventive detention has to be strictly construed”.
    • “Meticulous compliance with the procedural safeguards” has to be ensured.

    Criticism of NSA

    • Human rights groups have said in the past that the Act vitiates Article 22 of the Constitution and various provisions under the CrPC that safeguard the interest of an arrested person.
    • Under the CrPC, the arrested person has to be produced before the nearest Magistrate within 24 hours, but the NSA carves out an exception.
    • Some human rights groups argue that it is often misused by authorities to silence political opponents or those who are critical of the government.
    • There have been calls for the Act to be repealed or amended to prevent its abuse.
    • However, there is an opposing view that the Act cannot be construed to be a draconian law as it protects the larger interest of the state and is therefore likely to stay.

    Try this MCQ:

    Which of the following is a true statement about the National Security Act, 1980?

    A) The Act allows preventive detention only for specific violations of the law.

    B) The detained person has the right to move a bail application before a criminal court.

    C) A person can be detained under the Act only if he/she has been charged with a crime.

    D) The Act can be invoked to prevent a person from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, relations of India with foreign powers or the security of India.

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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