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General Studies – 1
Answer the following questions in 150 words:
General Studies – 1
Reference: Insights on India
Introduction
New technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, big data, and networks are expected to revolutionize production processes, but they could also have a major impact on developing economies. The opportunities and potential sources of growth that, for example, the United States and China enjoyed during their early stages of economic development are remarkably different from what Cambodia and Tanzania are facing in today’s world.
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Impact of Artificial Intelligence on society
- It’s estimated artificial intelligence (AI) will add as much as $15.7 trillion (more than Rs 1214 lakh crore) to the global economy by 2030.
- If current trends continue, much of this new wealth will be owned and controlled by corporations and individuals based in China and the United States, as well as by the national governments that represent them.
- But technological superiority by great powers undermines the positive potential of AI for the majority of the world’s population, particularly in developing economies.
- The US and China account for more than 94 per cent of funding for AI startups over the past five years, and half of the world’s hyperscale data centres.
- The two countries possess roughly 90 per cent of the market capitalisation of the world’s 70 largest digital platforms, controlling a large proportion of cross-border data flows.
- Along with their allies, the nations that own and control AI platforms and the data that powers them stand to dominate the global economy for decades to come.
- Experts in the field are also mostly from developed economies.
- They enjoy a disproportionate representation in the industry bodies that develop the standards and technical protocols that shape the international regulations for AI, often at the expense of the differing needs of developing economies.
- Over 160 sets of AI ethics and governance frameworks have so far been developed by policymakers, think tanks, and activists. Still, there are no platforms to coordinate these initiatives, or measures to ensure national governments align AI regulations and norms across international boundaries.
- The growing divide has implications for developing economies marginalised by the emerging AI sector.
Measures to prevent domination of few in AI field
- A recently released report from a working group convened by the Paris Peace Forum says an open, international dialogue on equitable AI governance could help set up global regulations.
- These would consider human rights and equal opportunities relevant to the needs of developing economies.
- And address rapidly-increasing socioeconomic inequality, meeting the challenges of sustainable development while achieving robust economic growth, and dismantling the enduring structures of colonialism.
- This dialogue aspires toward a set of universal AI principles developed by a transparent, informed, and widely recognised international process. They could serve as a reference point for policies and legislation across national contexts and eventually translate into enforceable standards.
- For example, it would be sensible for governments in developing economies to ensure corporate accountability when they procure AI-based services.
- Compulsory social impact assessment risk analysis for any AI services offered by foreign corporations is one solution.
- Such approaches, including mandatory source code disclosures, can motivate compliance with domestic laws and protect rights while discouraging market abuses.
- When source code is accessible to the public — and particularly to vigilant developers — platform owners are less likely to support designs that permit or profit from illegal activities.
- Governments of developing economies can remedy the widening imbalance between data providers and data collectors by creating incentives for foreign tech companies to invest in domestic research and development facilities to amplify local AI capabilities.
- It is also important to deter ‘brain drain’, where top experts leave their homes to pursue international opportunities, by promoting incentives such as funds for innovation and R&D to retain and further develop domestic talent.
- In an emerging AI economy, an exodus may prove particularly detrimental in exacerbating the financial imbalance between developed and developing economies.
Conclusion
Policymakers should act to mitigate the risks posed by Artificial Intelligence revolution in developing economies, particularly in India. Especially in the face of these new technologically-driven pressures, a drastic shift to rapidly improve productivity gains and invest in education and skills development will capitalize on the much-anticipated demographic transition. The benefits of AI are plenty, but mitigating the potential harm is crucial. An international dialogue, focused on results, can create an equitable distribution of AI technologies.
General Studies – 2
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
Article 72 and 161 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President and the governors of States respectively to grant pardons for the sentence. However, the ambit of President’s pardoning power is wider than that of Governor.
Pardoning is an act of kindness that reduces the punishment conferred under the law for the offence and restores the rights and privileges lost on account of the offence. It can be granted to individuals who have been convicted of any offence against a law or sentenced by a court martial and for sentence of death.
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Need for Pardoning powers:
- Pardons can be granted when individuals are deemed to have demonstrated that they have “paid their debt to society”, or are otherwise considered to be deserving of them. It is a form of reformative justice.
- Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who were either wrongfully convicted or who claim that they were wrongfully convicted.
- Pardons are sometimes seen as a mechanism for combating corruption, allowing a particular authority to circumvent a flawed judicial process to free someone that is seen as wrongly convicted.
Similarities in the Pardoning power of the President and the Governor:
- President can pardon, reprive, respite, remit, suspend or commute the punishment or sentence of any person convicted of any offence against a Central law.
- Governor can pardon, reprieve, respite, remit, suspend or commute the punishment or sentence of any person convicted of any offence against a state law.
- Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the convict from all sentences, punishments and disqualifications.
- Commutation: It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form. For example, a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous imprisonment, which in turn may be commuted to a simple imprisonment.
- Remission: It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year.
- Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
- Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from the President.
Difference between pardoning powers of president and governor:
The scope of the pardoning power of the President under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning power of the Governor under Article 161. The power differs in the following two ways:
- Court martial: The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor.
- Death sentence: The President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence given is sentence of death but pardoning power of Governor does not extend to death sentence cases. Even if a state law prescribes the death sentence, the power to grant pardon lies with the President and not the governor.
- However, the governor can suspend, remit or commute a death sentence.
- In other words, both the governor and the President have concurrent power in respect of suspension, remission and commutation of death sentence.
Supreme Court cases have laid down various norms regarding pardoning power of president
- In Maru Ram v Union of India, the Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court held that the power under Article 72 is to be exercised on the advice of the Central Government and not by the President on his own, and that the advice of the Government binds the head of the Republic.
- The Supreme Court in Ranga Billa case observed that the term pardon itself signifies that it is entirely a discretionary remedy and grant or rejection of it need not to be reasoned.
- Supreme Court in Kehar Singh v Union of India held that the grant of pardon by the President is an act of grace and, therefore, cannot be claimed as a matter of right. The power exercised by the President being exclusively of administrative nature, is not justiciable.
- Pardoning powers under Articles 72 and 161 is subject to judicial review. In Epuru Sudhakar vs Govt. Of A.P., the Supreme Court held that it is a well-set principle that a limited judicial review of exercise of clemency powers is available to the Supreme Court and High Courts. Granting of clemency by the President or Governor can be challenged on the following grounds:
- The order has been passed without application of mind.
- The order has malafide intention.
- The order has been passed on wholly irrelevant considerations.
- Relevant material has been kept out of consideration.
- The order is arbitrary.
Conclusion:
The pardoning power is founded on consideration of public good and is to be exercised on the ground of public welfare. Pardon may substantially help in saving an innocent person from being punished due to miscarriage of justice or in cases of doubtful conviction. The hope of being pardoned itself serves as an incentive for the convict to behave himself in the prison institution and thus, helps considerably in solving the issue of prison discipline.
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
While fiscal federalism in India has a long history, its practice has grown increasingly opaque over the years. Serious attention is required to improve its principles and practices. The India of today, notably through its governance “matrix”, economic development, institution-building and multilateral relations, are vastly different from the India that drafted its constitution in 1950. India is going through a transition in its intergovernmental relations. Boundaries based on linguistic factors and administrative convenience are blurring, given changes brought on by innovation and migration. Socio-economic trends such as technological change, rising mobility and market integration will affect the future of fiscal federalism in India.
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Development of fiscal federalism in India
- Broadly speaking, with the evolution of fiscal federalism in India, there has been marked stability in its process and procedures.
- The annual budgetary processes of both the central and federal governments are independent exercises and must pass through the Parliament or state legislature.
- The Finance Commission, which was first constituted in 1951, performs the functions broadly enshrined in Article 280 of the Indian Constitution.
- For most of the post-independence era, the existence of the Planning Commission injected centralising dependence in more ways than one.
- The Planning Commission became a parallel institution for the transfer of resources from the Union of States.
- While the focus of the Finance Commission remained on the revenue account, the Planning Commission was concerned predominantly with the capital account.
- Successive Finance Commissions commented on this as being inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution in the devolution of resources.
- There were other developments, like the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution in 1992 giving status to Panchayat Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies with specific functions assigned to them under the 11th and 12th schedules.
- The Fourteenth Finance Commission decided that 42% of NDP (net divisible pool) should go to the subnational governments by way of devolution, or net proceeds of taxes, and the balance should go to the central government. In addition, after projecting the likely growth rates of individual subnational governments and their likely buoyancy in appropriate cases, a revenue deficit grant under Article 275 was given.
Various issues regarding fiscal federalism in India
- GST: States have lost the autonomy to decide the tax rates of subjects that fall within the State List.
- Previously, state governments used to fix tax rates by taking into account their spending requirements, revenue base, etc.
- The inability of states to fix tax rates to match their development requirements implies greater dependence on the centre for funds.
- Cess and surcharges: Another emerging challenge is that cesses and surcharges are becoming a disproportionate proportion of the overall divisible revenue, with non-tax revenues being kept outside the divisible pool.
- These are worrisome issues, and there should be some mechanism to ensure that the basic spirit of the devolution process should not be undercut by clever financial engineering or by the manipulation of methods that makes them technical and legally tenable, but perhaps not morally so.
- Increasing dependency on Centre: The dependency of states on the Centre for revenues has increased, with the share of the revenue from own sources declining from 55% in 2014-15 to 50.5% in 2020-21.
- While part of this is inherent in India’s fiscal structure, wherein states are the big spenders and the Centre controls the purse strings, the situation has been exacerbated by the introduction of the GST.
- Barring a few exceptions, such as petroleum products, property tax, and alcohol excise, indirect taxes have, to a large degree, been subsumed under the GST regime, eroding the ability of states to raise their own revenues.
- Shortfall in devolution: Adding to state woes is the significant divergence in past periods between the amount of GST compensation owed and the actual payments made, including for states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand that need greater fiscal support.
- Even before Covid-19 hit, 11 states estimated a revenue growth rate below the estimated 14% level, implying higher amounts will be owed as GST compensation.
- With the bulk of the states’ GST coming from goods such as electronics, fashion, and entertainment — all of which have been impacted by the pandemic — these revenues are likely to decline further.
Conclusion
It is important now to rethink the design and structure of a genuine fiscal partnership, which should not merely be a race to garner more resources, but a creative attempt to move towards a vibrant Indian value chain that can catapult India’s growth rate closer to the quest for double-digit growth. Times of economic slowdown must be viewed anecdotally as they are transient in nature and cannot impair India’s vision, both with regard to its potential and its historical compulsions. It is necessary to recast the ideology in a more contemporary context; only then will the practice become more transparent, and India will benefit from congruence between its precepts and practice.
General Studies – 3
Reference: Indian Express
Introduction
The middle-income trap refers to a situation whereby a middle-income country is failing to transition to a high-income economy due to rising costs and declining competitiveness. Few countries successfully manage the transition from low to middle to high income. The concept of a middle-income trap was first coined by Indermit Gill and Homi Kharas, the term refers to a sustained economic slowdown following a period of strong growth.
World Bank defines The middle-income trap as a development stage that characterizes countries that are squeezed between low-wage producers and highly skilled and fast-moving innovators for a variety of reasons—especially a failure to build institutional, human and technological capital.
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The Economic Survey 2018 (volume I) made a theoretical examination of India facing a Late Convergence Stall and the risk of falling into the Middle-Income Trap. However, India could use its demographic dividend to avoid this predicament and achieve the critical velocity needed to move into the high-income bracket.
Middle Income Trap and India:
- The economic reforms that India unleashed in 1991 led to a period of strong growth lifting millions out of poverty and increasing the size of the economy by almost nine times in about 30 years.
- However, unlike China and other prosperous East Asian nations, there was no mass shift from farm to factories.
- India failed to create a robust manufacturing sector, which today accounts for less than 17% of the economic output.
- In late convergers like India, ‘premature deindustrialization’ (tendency for manufacturing to peak at lower levels of activity and earlier in the development process) is a major cause of concern.
- Service led economic growth lead to a jobless growth. Consequently, India’s economic growth has been powered by investments in the services sector, which could only create a few million high-skilled jobs, thereby forcing a staggering 81% of the workforce to be employed in the informal sector.
- India has very low levels of human capital growth for an ambitious and fast-growing major economy.
- The new advances in technology not only require skilled human capital, but also demands them to learn continually.
- As opposed to these requirements, there is a wider educational attainment gap between lower income countries and advanced economies.
- Agricultural productivity is crucial both for feeding people and for ensuring human capital moves from agriculture to modern sectors. With climate change, ambient temperature has increased and weather extremities have become a recurrent phenomenon.
- This is, in particular, a threat to India where agriculture is heavily dependent on precipitation.
- Fall in private consumption, muted rise in fixed investment and sluggish exports have led to slowdown in the economy and increase India’s vulnerability to the middle-income trap.
Measures to overcome the Middle income trap:
- Transitioning from diversification to specialization in production: Specialization allowed the middle-income Asian countries to reap economies of scale and offset the cost of disadvantages associated with higher wages. E.g. Electronics industry in South Korea.
- High levels of investment in new technologies and innovation-conducive policies are two overarching requirements to ensure specialized production.
- Developing good social-safety nets and skill-retraining programs can ease the restructuring process that accompanies specialization.
- Improve productivity: Re-allocation of labour from low-productivity agriculture to high-productivity sectors, such as manufacturing, has been a primary channel through which today’s advanced economies raised their living standards.
- In 2020-21, it accounted for only 14.5% of India’s gross value added, down from 17.4% in 2011-12.
- An essential first step in improving productivity would be strengthening this sector.
- Strengthen manufacturing sector: Industrial labour relations is among the most critical elements to revitalize India’s manufacturing sector especially in the context of labour productivity.
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- These labour laws created incentives for firms to remain small and uncompetitive, thereby affecting productivity.
- The new code, once implemented, would increase the threshold relating to layoffs and retrenchment in industrial establishments to 300 workers.
- Other countries, such as China, Vietnam and Bangladesh, with whom India competes for foreign investment and export markets do not require the approval of administrative or judicial bodies for dismissals.
- Therefore, in spite of recent reforms, India’s labour laws stay rigid in comparison with those of its competitor countries.
- Technology intensive manufacturing:
- Engendering innovation in higher value-added, tech-intensive activities is important for economies before they reach that juncture.
- If exports are taken as a proxy for the manufacturing capabilities and competitiveness of an economy, the present status of tech-intensive manufacturing in India leaves a lot to be desired.
- As per World Bank data, high-tech exports accounted for only 10.3% of India’s manufacturing exports in 2019.
- Rival countries had a much higher share of the same: 31% in China, 13% in Brazil, 40% in Vietnam and 24% in Thailand.
- Low R&D spending in India, ranging from a mere 0.64% to 0.86% of gross domestic product over the past two decades, has held the country back.
- Addressing barriers to effective competition: There is a need to address rigidities that can arise from bankruptcy laws, stringent tax regulations, limited enforcement of IP regulations, imperfect information, discrimination etc.
- Decentralized economic management: Greater powers should be vested in local governments to ensure speedier decision making
- Sustaining macroeconomic stability
- through flexible fiscal framework that limited deficits and debt, and a flexible exchange rate mechanism backed up by a credible inflation-targeting monetary policy could help sustain long periods of growth.
- Effective restructuring, regulating, and supervising of the financial sector must be ensured so that the present NPA crisis can be effectively handled.
- Changing orientation of social programmes that targets middle class besides poorer sections of the society which would propel the demand driven growth.
- Eg. low-cost housing for first-time home buyers in cities, programs to ensure that recent graduates get suitable employment opportunities, paying more attention to public goods like safety, urban transport, and green spaces etc.
Way forward:
- India has to do much more work in terms of revamping its education system, enhancement of the skill sets of its workforce, availability of abundant quantity of different manufacturing skills at identified locations, better logistics connectivity, a simplified and friendly tax regime, land and labour reforms, etc., to escape the middle income trap.
- Long-term structural reforms and provision of better social security to people who have not benefited from India’s growth.
- Without a demand push, economic recovery is not plausible. Measures to stimulate demand, like reduction in GST rates, higher employment creation, universal basic income, lower personal Income Tax rates etc., should be the government’s attention.
Conclusion
The status of our country is a multi-aspect problem that needs deep structural reforms. The concern is not just limited to only increasing demand and GDP but environmental aspects too. Almost every sector requires a policy change. India has fewer natural resources left along with a low GDP growth rate as compared to other middle-income countries. This calls for a policy that has a wider perspective than only focusing on the economic aspect. There is a need to redistribute the collective resources based on the equity principle.
Reference: The Quint
Introduction
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has released the draft notification for Electronic Waste Management for public feedback.
India has a formal set of rules for electronic waste management, first announced these rules in 2016 and amended it in 2018. The latest rules are expected to come into effect by August 2022. E-waste is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30% in the country.
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Issues with handling e-waste
- E-waste Generation in India: According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generated more than 10 lakh tonnes of e-waste in 2019-20, an increase from 7 lakh tonnes in 2017-18. Against this, the e-waste dismantling capacity has not been increased from 7.82 lakh tonnes since 2017-18.
- Unsafe disposal: In 2018, the Ministry of Environment had told the tribunal that 95% of e-waste in India is recycled by the informal sector and scrap dealers unscientifically dispose of it by burning or dissolving it in acids.
- Gap in collection: National Green Tribunal noted gaps in collection targets, as the amount of e-waste collected in 2018-19 was 78,000 tonnes against a target of 1.54 lakh tonnes. There are clear governance deficits on the subject.
- Involvement of Child Labor: In India, about 4.5 lakh child laborers in the age group of 10-14 are observed to be engaged in various E-waste activities and that too without adequate protection and safeguards in various yards and recycling workshops.
- Hazardous: E-waste contains over 1,000 toxic materials, which contaminate soil and groundwater.
- E-waste Imports: Cross-border flow of waste equipment into India- 80% of E-waste in developed countries meant for recycling is sent to developing countries such as India, China, Ghana and Nigeria.
Changes brought forth by draft E-waste Management Rules
- Electronic Goods Covered: A wide range of electronic goods, including laptops, landline and mobile phones, cameras, recorders, music systems, microwaves, refrigerators and medical equipment have been specified in the notification.
- E-Waste Collection Target: Consumer goods companies and makers of electronics goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is collected and recycled by 2023 with targets to increase them to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
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- Companies will have to register on an online portal and specify their annual production and e-waste collection targets.
- EPR Certificates: The rules bring into effect a system of trading in certificates, akin to carbon credits, that will allow companies to temporarily bridge shortfalls.
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- The rules lay out a system of companies securing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) certificates.
- These certificates certify the quantity of e-waste collected and recycled in a particular year by a company and an organisation may sell surplus quantities to another company to help it meet its obligations.
- Focus on Circular Economy: New Rules emphasizes on the EPR, recycling and trading.
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- This follows from the government’s objective to promote a Circular Economy.
- Penalty: Companies that don’t meet their annual targets will have to pay a fine or an ‘environmental compensation’ but the draft doesn’t specify the quantum of these fines.
- Implementing Authority: The CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) will oversee the overall implementation of these regulations.
- Responsibility of the State Governments: The State governments have been entrusted with the responsibility of earmarking industrial space for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities, undertaking industrial skill development and establishing measures for protecting the health and safety of workers engaged in the dismantling and recycling facilities for e-waste.
Various measures needed to control and safely dispose e-waste
- E-waste clinic: India’s first e-waste clinic for segregating, processing and disposal of waste from household and commercial units has been set-up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
- It is needed to come up with a strategy to engage with informal sector workers because doing so will not only go a long way in better e-waste management practices but also aid in environmental protection, improve the health and working conditions of labourers and provide better work opportunities to over a million people.
- This will make management environmentally sustainable and easy to monitor.
- The need of the hour is to generate employment, which can be done through identifying and promoting cooperatives and expanding the scope of the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 to these cooperatives or the informal sector workers.
- Effective implementation of regulations is the way ahead to managing the e-waste that is yet to be regulated in at least 115 countries.
Conclusion
There are various start-ups and companies in India that have now started to collect and recycle electronic waste. We need better implementation methodologies and inclusion policies that provide accommodation and validation for the informal sector to step up and help us meet our recycling targets in an environmentally sound manner. Also, successfully raising collection rates required every actor to be involved, including consumers.
Answer the following questions in 250 words(15 marks each):
General Studies – 1
Reference: Insights on India
Introduction
The rulers of Vijayanagara borrowed concepts and building techniques which they then developed further. Vijayanagar architecture is a vibrant combination of the Chalukya, Hoysala, Pandya, and Chola styles, which evolved from prior empires in earlier centuries. It is also influenced by later Deccan and Dravidian styles. Preferred for its durability, local hard granite was the building material of choice, as it had been for the Badami Chalukyas. However, soapstone, which was soft and easily carved, was also used for reliefs and sculptures.
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Vijayanagara architecture and its progress
- They used the Dravidian style of architecture later added some unique features to it and it came to be called as Vijayanagara style.
- Preferred for its durability, local hard granite was the building material of choice, as it had been for the Badami Chalukyas.
- Vijayanagar temples are surrounded by strong enclosures and characterized by ornate pillared kalyanamandapa (marriage halls); tall rayagopurams (carved monumental towers at the entrance of the temple) built of wood, brick, and stucco in the Chola style; and adorned with life-sized figures of gods and goddesses.
- This Dravida style became popular during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya and is seen in South Indian temples constructed over the next two centuries.
- The courtly architecture of Vijayanagar is generally made of mortar mixed with stone rubble and often shows secular styles with Islamic-influenced arches, domes, and vaults.
Unique features of Vijayanagara architecture
- Religious architecture
- The Tamil Dravida-influenced style became popular during the rule of king Krishnadevaraya and is seen in South Indian temples constructed over the next 200 years.
- Examples of Rayagopuram are the Chennakesava Temple in Belur and the temples at Srisailam and Srirangam.
- In addition to these structures, medium-size temples have a closed circumambulatory (Pradakshinapatha) passage around the sanctum, an open mahamantapa (large hall) and a temple tank to serve the needs of annual celebrations.
- Vijayanagar temples are also known for their carved pillars, which depict charging horses, figures from Hindu mythology, and yali (hippogriphs).
- Some of the larger temples are dedicated to a male deity, with a separate shrine intended for the worship of his female counterpart.
- Some famous temples exemplifying the Vijayanagar style include the Virupaksha Temple at Hampi and the Hazara Rama temple of Deva Raya I etc.
- Hampi Stone chariot is influenced by Raths made in Mahabalipuram by Pandayas. Example: Dharmaraya rath, Draupadi Rath etc.
- Palaces and Courtly Architecture:
- Most of the palaces faced east or north and stood within compounds surrounded by high, tapering stone and earth walls.
- They were built on raised granite platforms with multiple tiers of mouldings decorated with carved friezes.
- The courtly architecture of Vijayanagar is generally made of mortar mixed with stone rubble and often shows secular styles with Islamic-influenced arches, domes, and vaults.
- Examples are the Lotus Mahal palace, Elephant stables, and watch towers.
- Civic Architecture
- Gateways were distinctive architectural features that often defined the structures to which they regulated access.
- The arch on the gateway leading into the fortified settlement as well as the dome over the gate are regarded as typical features of the architecture introduced by the Turkish Sultans.
- Located on one of the highest points in the city, the “mahanavami dibba” is a massive platform rising from a base of about 11,000 sq. ft to a height of40 ft. There is evidence that it supported a wooden structure.
Conclusion
The temple building activity of the Vijayanagar rulers produced a new style, the Vijayanagar style. Though often characterized as Dravida Style, it had its own distinct features as discussed above. The rulers were great patrons of art and architecture and it is a beautiful amalgamation of various architectural styles of South India which makes it unique as well as propagation of heritage architecture.
General Studies – 2
Reference: Indian Express , Indian Express
Introduction
The World Health Organisation has recognised the country’s 10.4 lakh ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers as ‘Global Health Leaders’ for their efforts in connecting the community to the government’s health programmes.
While this is laudable, the women health volunteers continue to fight for higher remuneration, regular jobs, and even health benefits. While intermittent protests have been going on in several states, thousands of ASHAs from across the country took to the streets in September last year to fight for their demands.
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About ASHA workers
- ASHA workers are volunteers from within the community who are trained to provide information and aid people in accessing benefits of various healthcare schemes of the government.
- They act as a bridge connecting marginalised communities with facilities such as primary health centres, sub-centres and district hospitals.
- The role of these community health volunteers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was first established in 2005.
- ASHAs are primarily married, widowed, or divorced women between the ages of 25 and 45 years from within the community. They must have good communication and leadership skills; should be literate with formal education up to Class 8, as per the programme guidelines.
- The aim is to have one ASHA for every 1,000 persons or per habitation in hilly, tribal or other sparsely populated areas.
- There are around 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country, with the largest workforces in states with high populations – Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lakh), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531). Goa is the only state with no such workers, as per the latest National Health Mission data available from September 2019.
Role of ASHA workers
- They go door-to-door in their designated areas creating awareness about basic nutrition, hygiene practices, and the health services available.
- They focus primarily on ensuring that women undergo ante-natal check-up, maintain nutrition during pregnancy, deliver at a healthcare facility, and provide post-birth training on breast-feeding and complementary nutrition of children.
- They also counsel women about contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections.
- ASHA workers are also tasked with ensuring and motivating children to get immunised. Other than mother and child care, ASHA workers also provide medicines daily to TB patients under directly observed treatment of the national programme.
- They are also tasked with screening for infections like malaria during the season.
- They also provide basic medicines and therapies to people under their jurisdiction such as oral rehydration solution, chloroquine for malaria, iron folic acid tablets to prevent anaemia, and contraceptive pills.
- The health volunteers are also tasked with informing their respective primary health centre about any births or deaths in their designated areas.
ASHA workers and pandemic response
- ASHA workers were a key part of the government’s pandemic response, with most states using the network for screening people in containment zones, getting them tested, and taking them to quarantine centres or help with home quarantine.
- They went door-to-door and check people for Covid-19 symptoms. Those who had fever or cough had to be tested. They informed the authorities and helped the people reach the quarantine centres.
- They went to households with confirmed Covid-19 cases and explained the quarantine procedure. They provided them with medicines and pulse-oximeters. All of this was on top of their routine work.
- With the vaccination drive for Covid-19 beginning in January last year, they have also been tasked with motivating people to get their shots and collect data on how many people are yet to get vaccinated.
Challenges faced by ASHA workers
- Wages: They have low and non-fixed salary and does not come under Minimum Wages.
- There are over 10.4 lakh ASHAs across India. In the past three years, ASHAs from at least 17 states have demanded fixed salaries, higher incentives and inclusion in social safety schemes such as pensions.
- ASHAs are not recognized as workers and thus get less than Rs 18,000 per month. They are the cheapest healthcare providers in India.
- ASHAs say they normally earn through antenatal care (Rs 300), institutional delivery (Rs 300), family planning (Rs 150) and immunization rounds (Rs 100) as cases of other diseases are far and few.
- Administrative issues: They are paid from the NRHM fund for which they have to wait for long time. The scheme does not have a dedicated budgetary allocation and the funds are arranged on an ad-hoc basis from different government schemes under NRHM such as National Immunisation Programme.
- The delays in reimbursement of incentives hurt the self-esteem of ASHAs and has a bearing on her service delivery.
- Instead of focussing solely on community healthcare and related work, they are burdened with surveys and other non-related work.
- Infrastructure: Many Anganwadi workers and Asha activists have reported against dilapidated buildings and hazardous environment.
- It becomes difficult to ensure proper nutrition and early childhood care for children under these conditions.
- Occupational Hazard: Recent attack on ASHA workers during the COVID-19 pandemic shows the vulnerability of these workers and the non-performance of state in providing basic security.
Conclusion and way forward
- Fixed salary and dedicated fund: A Parliamentary Committee on Empowerment of Women way back in 2010 recommended fixed salaries for ASHAs. There should be a dedicated fund for ASHAs, which will ensure timely payment of the incentives and boost the morale of the volunteers.
- Skill training: Skill upgradation should be an integral part of the scheme. Volunteers should be encouraged to take short-term courses on auxiliary nurse mid-wives/general nursing and midwifery.
- This will not only help the volunteers in getting a better incentive, but will also ensure that the people living in remote areas have better health access.
- Currently, nursing schools in 11 states give preference to ASHAs for auxiliary nurse mid-wives and general nursing courses.
- In recent times, centre has provided Insurance cover to Asha workers and increased their honorarium. This must be institutionalized, so that more community workers can come forward and effectively execute their responsibility.
Reference: Economic Times , Live Mint
Introduction
In the presence of United States President Joe Biden in Tokyo, Indian Prime Minister announced India’s partnership in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), the US-led economic initiative that has on board the four Quad partners apart from South Korea and New Zealand and seven of the 10 Southeast Asian nations.
The IPEF will focus on trade, supply chains, clean energy, taxation and anti-corruption measures. It is a declaration of the collective will to make the region an engine of global economic growth while pushing for “trust, transparency and timeliness” as the three main pillars of resilient supply chains.
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Background: IPEF
- The move of these 13 nations to strengthen economic partnership to enhance resilience, sustainability, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific is significant, given China’s economic and military assertiveness in the region.
- The door has been left open for more nations in the region.
- Apart from the Quad members US, India, Australia and Japan, the new grouping contains Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Reasons for withdrawal from RCEP
- Non-acceptance of Auto-trigger Mechanism: To deal with the imminent rise in imports, India had been seeking an auto-trigger mechanism. Auto-trigger Mechanism would have allowed India to raise tariffs on products in instances where imports cross a certain threshold. However, other countries in the RCEP were against this proposal.
- Unfavourable Balance of Trade: Though trade has increased the post-Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, ASEAN countries and Japan, imports have risen faster than exports from India. According to a paper published by NITI Aayog, India has a bilateral trade deficit with 11 out of 15 member countries of RCEP.
- China factor: India fears that the RCEP pact will enable China to dump its products at lower prices and finally capture the market. India’s trade deficit with RCEP countries stood at $105 billion, out of which China alone accounted for $52 billion.
- Rules of Origin: Rules of origin are the criteria used to determine the national source of a product. India was concerned about a “possible circumvention” of rules of origin. The deal did not have sufficient safeguards to prevent routing of the products.
- Vulnerable domestic sectors: India’s vulnerable agriculture and dairy sectors will be exposed to vagaries of global trade. For instance, the dairy industry is expected to face stiff competition from Australia and New Zealand.
- Issue of Market Access: RCEP also lacked clear assurance over market access issues in countries such as China and non-tariff barriers on Indian companies.
- IPR provisions: Japan and South Korea are proposing intellectual property provisions referred to as TRIPS-plus, which go far beyond the obligations under the WTO’s agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
Potential of IPEF for India
- Economy: The Indo-Pacific covers half the population of the world and more than 60% of the global GDP and the nations who will join this framework in the future, are signing up to work toward an economic vision that will deliver for all people.
- Trade: It intends to build high-standard, inclusive, free, and fair-trade commitments and develop new and creative approaches in trade and technology policy that advance a broad set of objectives that fuels economic activity and investment, promotes sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and benefits workers and consumers.
- Supply Chains: IPEF is committed to improving transparency, diversity, security, and sustainability in supply chains to make them more resilient and well-integrated.
- To coordinate crisis response measures; expand cooperation to better prepare for and mitigate the effects of disruptions to better ensure business continuity; improve logistical efficiency and support; and ensure access to key raw and processed materials, semiconductors, critical minerals, and clean energy technology.
- Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Infrastructure: In line with the Paris Agreement goals and efforts to support the livelihood of peoples and workers, it plans to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy technologies to decarbonize our economies and build resilience to climate impacts.
- This also involves deepening cooperation on technologies, on mobilizing finance, including concessional finance, and on seeking ways to improve competitiveness and enhance connectivity by supporting the development of sustainable and durable infrastructure and by providing technical assistance.
- Tax and Anti-Corruption: It is committed to promoting fair competition by enacting and enforcing effective and robust tax, anti-money laundering, and anti-bribery regimes in line with existing multilateral obligations, standards, and agreements to curb tax evasion and corruption in the Indo-Pacific region.
- This involves sharing expertise and seeking ways to support the capacity building necessary to advance accountable and transparent systems.
Conclusion and way forward
- India needs to go beyond bilateral pacts and focus on broad competitiveness instead of two-way particulars.
- On its part, the US would do well not to insist on caveats that could blunt any Indian advantage.
- Our put-offs will have to be spelt out with clarity right at the onset of IPEF talks.
- But then, just as the White House is seized of the need to keep Indo-Pacific sea-lanes free of a Chinese shadow, it must also be aware of how constraints on Indian export success could work against the Quad’s geopolitical goals.
General Studies – 3
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
In simple terms, biodiversity is the number and variety of living organisms present in a specific geographical region. It includes various plants, animals and microorganisms, the genes they have and the ecosystems formed by them.
It relates to the diversity among living organisms on the earth, including the diversity within and between the species and that within and between the ecosystems they form.
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Importance of biodiversity
- Ecological role: Species of many kinds perform some of the other functions in an ecosystem. Every organism, besides fulfilling its own needs, also contributes something useful to different other organisms in the environment.
- Species capture, store and utilise energy, produce and decompose organic materials, are part of cycles of water and nutrients throughout the ecosystem, fix gases in the atmosphere and also help regulate the climate.
- Thus, they help in soil formation, reducing pollution, protection of land, water and air resources. These functions of biodiversity are important for ecosystem functions and stability.
- Ecosystem services: Biodiversity underpins the basis of all the ecosystem services on the planet.
- Provisioning Services: Various plants, animals and microorganisms which form the biodiversity, provide us with foods such as cereals, fishes etc., fibre for our clothes such as cotton, wool etc., fuelwood for survival as well as pharmaceutical products such as neem, tulsi etc.
- Regulating services: Biodiversity regulates the local as well as global climate, manages the global levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases, maintains freshwater quality by vegetation slowing runoff, absorbs carbon by acting as carbon sinks etc. Thus biodiversity regulates the life and life processes on the planet.
- Supporting services: Biodiversity helps in pollination, nutrient cycling as well as recycling, greenhouse gas reduction by sequestration.
- Social and cultural services: Biodiversity provides us with aesthetic pleasure. It provides recreational avenues and rich biological diversity encourages tourism in the region. Many communities and cultures have co-evolved with the surroundings and the resources provided by a biologically diverse environment. Hence, it performs an important social role as well. Important services which are provided by biodiversity are: Recreation and relaxation Tourism especially ecotourism, Art, Design and inspiration Spiritual experiences.
- Food web maintenance: Biodiversity helps in maintaining food webs as higher the diversity of an ecosystem, more complex is the food web because there are so many options to eat. Therefore, higher the chances of survival of every species. This results in more stable food chains and food webs.
- Scientific role: Biodiversity help in scientific research, education and monitoring. For example, research about new genetic materials with the help of gene pools. Biodiversity, thus, helps in understanding the functioning of life and the role that each species plays in sustaining ecosystems of which we humans are also a part.
Threat to biodiversity
- Habitat loss and fragmentation: The habitat loss and fragmentation have been through changes of land use, in particular, the conversion of natural ecosystems to cropland, development of infrastructure projects like rails and roadways, increasing urbanisation and mining activities.
- As per the Living Planet report, there has been about a 30% decline in wetlands in the last 40 years.
- Wetlands have been primarily reclaimed for agriculture and urbanisation.
- Also, about 50% of the tropical and subtropical forests and 45% of the temperate grasslands have been converted for human use.
- Degradation: Besides total loss, the degradation of many habitats by pollution also threatens the survival of many species.
- When large habitats are broken up into smaller fragments because of different human activities, mammals and birds which require large territories and certain animals with migratory habits are adversely affected, causing a decline in their population.
- Over-exploitation of species: Unsustainable use of ecosystems and over-exploitation of biodiversity are a major reason behind biodiversity loss.
- Over-hunting or poaching of species, overfishing and overharvesting of plant products can quickly lead to a decline in biodiversity.
- Changing consumption patterns of humans is often cited as the key reason for this unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.
- Many species which got extinct in the past 5 centuries, like Steller’s Sea cow, passenger pigeon, were subject to over-exploitation by humans.
- Introduction of alien species: Plants, animals and microorganisms transported deliberately or unintentionally from an outside geographical region can cause great damage to native species by competing with them for food and shelter, spreading diseases unknown to them, causing genetic changes through the process of interbreeding with native species, and disrupting various aspects of their food chains and the physical environment.
- For example, in India Water hyacinth was introduced by the British for beautification. But over time, it has become an invasive species, clogging rivers, lakes and other water bodies, thus not allowing any aquatic life to grow and survive.
- Environmental pollution: The accumulation of Pollution such phosphorus and nitrogen largely from excess fertilizers running off farmland, harmful chemicals firm urban and suburban runoff, industrial effluents etc. which are discharged into the natural water bodies. For example, oil spill off the port of Ennore in Chennai in 2017.
- Similarly, plastic pollution causes the death of animals. Also, air pollution from industries and vehicles has resulted in the death of many bird species in urban areas.
- Global climate change: Climate change is projected to become a progressively more significant threat to biodiversity in the coming decades.
- Already, changes in the flowering and migration patterns as well as in the distribution of various species have been observed throughout the world.
- These changes have altered food chains and created mismatches within ecosystems where different species have evolved synchronised inter-dependence.
- Co-extinctions: When a particular species becomes extinct, the plants and animals associated with it in an obligatory way also come under the danger of becoming extinct.
- For example, when a host fish species becomes extinct, its unique assemblage of parasites also meets the same fate.
- Natural causes: Like floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters also cause loss of biodiversity.
Conservation of biodiversity: Nature-based solutions
- Biosphere reserves: Large areas of protected land for conservation of wildlife, plant and animal resources and traditional life of the tribals living in the area.
- May have one or more national parks or wildlife sanctuaries in it.
- Conserving the Sacred Groves: India’s ethnic people have played a vital role in preserving the biodiversity of several virgin forests and have conserved flora and fauna in sacred groves of tribals. Otherwise, these flora and fauna might have disappeared from the natural ecosystem.
- National Parks: These are small reserves maintained by the government. Its boundaries are well demarcated and human activities such as grazing, forestry, habitat and cultivation are prohibited. For eg., Kanha National Park, Bandipur National Park.
- Wildlife Sanctuaries: These are the regions where only wild animals are found. Human activities such as timber harvesting, cultivation, collection of woods and other forest products are allowed here as long as they do not interfere with the conservation project. Also, tourists visit these places for recreation.
- Effective Implementation of the FRA: The government must make an effort to build trust between its agencies in the area and the people who depend on these forests by treating them as equal citizens like everyone else in the country.
- The FRA’s loopholes have already been identified; all it needs is to work on amending it.
- Traditional Knowledge of the Tribal People for Conservation: The Biodiversity Act, 2002 mentions about the equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use and knowledge of biological resources with the local communities.
Way forward
- Integration of International Treaties: Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) implementation of Nagoya Protocol cannot work in isolation and thus must be commensurate with other international treaties. Therefore, integration between ABS and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) need to consider the legislative, administrative and policy measures that cross each other’s path.
- People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR): PBR should aim to document folk knowledge of status, uses, history, ongoing changes and forces driving changes in biodiversity resources, and people’s perceptions of how these resources should be managed. PBRs can be useful to preserve the rights of farmers or communities over the traditional knowledge they may hold over a particular variety. Additionally, PBRs provide geographical identity to the bioresources and can be useful in providing a tool for clarification when disputes over biopiracy and intellectual property rights arise.
- Engaging Industries: The integration of legislations such as corporate social responsibility with ABS can be beneficial to industries who wish to closely share benefits accrued from use of biological resources
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
Climate change directly affects agricultural production as this sector is inherently sensitive to climatic conditions and is one of the most vulnerable sectors at the risk and impact of global climate change.
FAO defines Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as “agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, enhances resilience (adaptation), reduces/removes GHGs (mitigation) where possible, and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals”
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India’s vulnerability: Need for Climate-Smart agriculture in India
- India’s agricultural ecosystem is distinguished by high monsoon dependence and with 85% small and marginal landholdings, it is highly sensitive to weather abnormalities.
- There has been less than normal rainfall during the last four years, with 2014 and 2015 declared as drought years.
- There are also reports of an escalation in heat waves, which in turn affecting crops, aquatic systems and livestock.
- The Economic Survey 2017-18 has estimated farm income losses between 15% and 18% on average, which could rise to 20%-25% for unirrigated areas without any policy interventions.
- These projections underline the need for strategic change in dealing with climate change in agriculture.
- There will be an increased risk of pests and diseases due to change in the pattern of host and pathogen interaction. For every two-degree rise in temperature, the agriculture GDP of India will reduce by five percent.
- The recent locust attack is also attributed to climate change, which can have highly disastrous effect on food security.
- Poor agricultural performance can lead to inflation, farmer distress and unrest, and larger political and social disaffection, all of which can hold back the economy. It will force farmers to either adapt to challenges of climate change or face the risk of getting poorer.
Climate Smart Agriculture: Solving food security and climate change problems
- Increased productivity: Produce more food to improve food and nutrition security and boost the incomes of 75 percent of the world’s poor who live in rural areas and mainly rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
- Enhanced resilience: Reduce vulnerability to drought, pests, disease, and other shocks; and improve capacity to adapt and grow in the face of longer-term stresses like shortened seasons and erratic weather patterns.
- Reduced emissions: Pursue lower emissions for each calorie or kilo of food produced, avoid deforestation from agriculture and identify ways to suck carbon out of the atmosphere.
- The climate-smart agriculture approach seeks to reduce trade-offs to make crop and livestock systems, forestry, and fisheries and aquaculture more productive and more sustainable.
- Climate-smart agriculture explicitly looks for where there are synergies and trade-offs among food security, adaptation and mitigation. Climate smart agriculture works through several dimensions to reorient agricultural development and management to take climate change into account.
- Management of farms, crops, livestock, aquaculture and capture fisheries to balance near-term food security and livelihoods needs with priorities for adaptation and mitigation.
- Ecosystem and landscape management to conserve ecosystem services that are important for food security, agricultural development, adaptation and mitigation.
Way forward and Conclusion
- Farmers, especially smallholder farmers, need handholding during their scaling up to adopt CSA.
- Mobile telecommunication systems are increasingly cost-effective and an efficient way of delivering weather-based agro-advisories to farmers at a large scale (Kisan app).
Radio (especially community radio), television, newspapers, folk media, and village level public address systems will also need to be used to bridge this “communication divide.” - Weather-based agro-advisories must be locale-specific, crop-and farmer-specific; need to also recommend soil, water, and biodiversity conservation practices. Integrating this with Soil Health Card scheme will be a good step forward.
- Build adaptive capacities to climate variability and strengthen the sustainability of farming systems.
- On-site training and awareness campaigns, technology demonstrations, farmer-specialist interactions, and engagement with local governance bodies.
- Soil health and need-based irrigation management need to be addressed adequately.
- Closer collaboration between public, civil society, and private technology and financial service providers so that farmers get access to accurate information, and affordable technologies.
