[Mission 2023] Insights SECURE SYNOPSIS: 2 July 2022

NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.

General Studies – 1

1. The Nagara, Dravida and Vesara styles indicate a tendency to highlight typological features of temples and their geographical distribution. Elaborate.

Reference: Insights on India

Introduction

Temple architecture of high standard developed in almost all regions during ancient India. Ancient Indian temples are classified in three broad types. This classification is based on different architectural styles, employed in the construction of the temples. Three main style of temple architecture are the Nagara or the Northern style, the Dravida or the Southern style and the Vesara or Mixed style. But at the same time, there are also some regional styles of Bengal, Kerala and the Himalayan areas.

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Unique features of Dravida Style of Architecture

• The Dravida temple is enclosed within a compound wall.
• The front wall has an entrance gateway in its centre, which is known as a Gopuram.
• The shape of the main temple tower known as vimana in Tamil Nadu is like a stepped pyramidthat rises up geometrically rather than the curving shikhara of North India.
• In the South Indian temple, the word ‘shikhara’is used only for the crowning element at the top of the temple which is usually shaped like a small stupika or an octagonal cupola— this is equivalent to the amalak and kalasha of North Indian temples.
• Fierce Dvarapalas or the door-keepersguarding the temple adorn the entrance to garbhagriha
• It is common to find a large water reservoir, or a temple tank, enclosed within the complex.
• At some of the most sacred temples in South India, the main temple in which the garbhagriha is situated has, in fact, one of the smallest towers. This is because it is usually the oldest part of the temple

• It is common to find a large water reservoir, or a temple tank, enclosed within the complex.
• Subsidiary shrines are either incorporated within the main temple tower, or located as distinct, separate small shrines beside the main temple
• Kailashnath temple at Ellora is a famous example of a temple built in complete Dravidian style

Unique features of Nagara style of architecture

• The cruciform ground plan and curvilinear mountain-peak like tower are the two most fundamental features of Nagara style.
• The temples of Nagara style generally have a square plan with a number of graduated projections in the middle of each face which give the structure a cruciform shape in the exterior.
• In Nagara style, the Shikhara remains the most prominent element of the temple and the gateway is usually modest or even absent.
• In this style, temples have elaborated boundary, less emphasised.
• The entire temple is built on high stone platform called Jagati
• Generally, they do not have large enclosures and entrances.
• The temple has only one peak or shikhara above the Garbagriha.
• There was a Kalasha placed on the Shikara of a temple.
• Sikhara(the tower) slowly bending inwards and capped by a spheroid plate with ribs around the edge (Amalaka) give the height.
• Temples of Nagara styles are categorized on the basis of the shape of the Shikhara. They are – Rekha Prasad, Phamsana, and Valabhi.

Unique features of Vesara style of architecture:

• Ornamentation:In case of ornamentation of temple walls and pillars, Chalukyan temple shows indigenous quality.
• Transformation of Dravida tower:The Chalukyan builders modified the Dravida towers by minimizing the height of each storey and arranging them in descending order of height from base to top with much ornamentation in each storey.
• Transformation of Nagara tower:Instead of inclined storey here modification is seen in the vertical shape of the tower.
• Two special features of Chalukya temples – Mantapa and Pillars: 
  • Mantapa: The mantapa has two types of roof – domical ceilings (the dome like ceilings standing on four pillars are very attractive) or Square ceilings (these are vigorously ornamented with mythological pictures).
• Pillars: the miniature decorative pillars of Chalukya temples stands with its own artistic value.

Conclusion

The temple architecture was mainly influenced by geographical, ethnic, racial, historical and linguistic diversities of Indian sub-continent. Every region and period produced its own distinct style of images with its regional variations in iconography.  The temple is covered with elaborate sculpture and ornament that form a fundamental part of its conception.

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2. Depleting and decreasing status of water resources may be one of the most critical resource issues of the 21st century. Critically analyse the issues and challenges in interlinking of rivers in India as a measure to overcome water crisis.

Reference: Down to Earth , Insights on India

Introduction

The river interlinking project aims to link India’s rivers by a network of reservoirs and canals that will allow for their water capacities to be shared and redistributed. Some experts claim that this is an engineered panacea that will reduce persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts besides facilitating the generation of hydroelectricity for an increasingly power hungry country.

Environmental groups in Karnataka have criticised the project to link the Bedti and Varada rivers in Karnataka, calling it ‘unscientific’ and a ‘waste of public money’. Thousands of people had protested the project recently.

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Opportunities arising out of River linking projects

• India receives most of its rain during monsoon season from June to September, most of it falls in northern and eastern part of India, the amount of rainfall in southern and western part are comparatively low. It will be these places which will have shortage of water. Interlinking of rivers will help these areas to have water throughout the year.
• This will cut farmers dependence on monsoon rains by bringing millions of hectares of cultivatable land under irrigation.
• Crop productivity would increase and so would revenues for the State.
• Even one bad monsoon has a direct and debilitating economic impact.
• The river linking project will ease the water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in eastern India.
• The Ganga Basin, Brahmaputra basin sees floods almost every year. In order to avoid this, the water from these areas has to be diverted to other areas where there is scarcity of water. This can be achieved by linking the rivers. There is a two way advantage with this – floods will be controlled and scarcity of water will be reduced.
• Simultaneous floods and droughts continue to wreak havoc, destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions.
• India needs clean energy to fuel its development processes, and river water can be leveraged for this.
• Fulfilling water needs impact socio-economic life of people which will help end poverty.
• Need for interlinking of rivers to prevent inter-state water disputes.
• Potential benefits to transportation through navigation, as well as broadening income sources in rural areas through fishing.

Challenges posed

• The idea that river linking would allow us to cope with flood in the north east and shortage of water in the Deccan is the positive aspect as pointed earlier but misleading one too.
• This floods come at the time when most parts of the country run short of water, we need to hold the water somewhere to use it in dry season but the amount of flowing in the short period of time in Brahmaputra and Ganga is so huge to store and use it later.
• Variability in rainfall is high which is the main source in the country, flood and drought simultaneously within the states of Bihar and Maharashtra.
• Irrigation potential from interlinking rivers will have limited impact. The net national irrigated area from big dams has decreased and India’s irrigated area has gone up primarily due to groundwater.
• Interlinking of rivers is a very expensive proposal. The amount required for these projects is so huge that government will have to take loans from the foreign sources which would increase the burden on the government and country will fall in a debt trap.
• The river interlinking project will adversely affect land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people.
• The Ken-Betwa link threatens about 200 sq. km of the Panna tiger reserve.
• Interlinking of rivers will lead to destruction of forests, wetlands and local water bodies, which are major groundwater recharge mechanisms.
• Less than positive experience that other countries have, like diversion of Amu Darya and the Syr Darya or the Australia’s experiments in its Murray Darling basin.
• It causes massive displacement of people. Huge burden on the government to deal with the issue of rehabilitation of displaced people.
• Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life.
• The Shah committee pointed out that the linking of rivers will affect natural supply of nutrients for agricultural lands through curtailing flooding of downstream areas.

Way forward

• To look at water as a strategic resource for development.
• Environment is one issue where anyone of us should be concerned about.
• Best practices done by China and neighbouring countries needs to be looked upon.
• The biggest, cheapest, most benign, possibly fastest and most decentralized storage option for India is the groundwater
• Invest in water conservation, more efficient irrigation and better farm practices.
• Recycling of water for internal usage as that of Israel.
• We need a mandatory enforceable river policy aimed at treating rivers as national treasure.
• Accumulation of silt in huge quantities, particularly the Ganga and its tributaries. These rivers need to be desilted.
• River linking in the south and other parts which was undertaken in the past has been going well so such model needs to be taken forward.
• Planting trees on the river banks is one way of bringing life back to the rivers.
• Forest catchments will need to be restored, wastewater from industries and towns will need to be treated, sand mining need to be stopped.
• Need to build the responsibility, capability and accountability in our water management institutions to revive our rivers.
• The judicious use of canal water, growing crops that are appropriate to a region, encouraging drip irrigation and reviving traditional systems such as tanks.

Conclusion

The river linking project is a great challenge and an opportunity to address the water issues arising out of climate change. The long-term solution to water scarcity lies in making the IRL project work by building a network of dams and canals across the length and breadth of the country. However, interlinking has to take place after a detailed study so that does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life.

General Studies – 2

3. Examine as to why the anti-defection law has been ineffective, even counterproductive in preventing defections. How can this situation be rectified?

Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India 

Introduction

Defection is “desertion by one member of the party of his loyalty towards his political party” or basically it means “When an elected representative joins another party without resigning his present party for benefits”. The institutional malaise is defection and party-hopping is state- neutral, party-neutral, and politics-neutral.

In light of the events unfolding in Maharashtra, with the government facing internal dissent from a block of 22 MLAs, the anti-defection law has again come into the spotlight. The events in Puducherry highlight, yet again, the absurdity of the anti-defection law.

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Background

• For a very long time, the Indian political system was impacted by political defections by members of the legislature. This situation brought about greater instability and chaos in the political system.
• Thus, in 1985, to curb the evil of political defections, the 52nd constitution amendment act on Anti-defection law was passed and the 10th Schedule was added in the Indian Constitution.
• The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections” which may be due to reward of office or other similar considerations.
• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies. However, there are several issues in relation to the working of this law.
• 91st Constitution Amendment Act-2003 was enacted and was aimed at limiting the size of the Council of Ministers to debar defectors from holding public offices, and to strengthen the anti-defection law.

Flaws of the current Anti-defection law

• Does not prevent Defection: The Anti-defection law has failed to curb “horse trading” and defection, leading to toppling of governments through machinations of corrupt legislators.
  • Eg: The 17-MLA’s of coalition government resigned in Karnataka, leading to change in government. The 17 MLA’s later contested from the party that formed new government.
• Wholesale defection: The law prevents individual defections, but not wholesale defections.
  • Eg: Congress government in Madhya Pradesh lost majority due to resignations of MLA’s.
• Against the true spirit of representative democracy: The anti-defection law seeks to provide a stable government by ensuring the legislators do not switch sides.
  • However, this law also enforces a restriction on legislators from voting in line with their conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate.
• Impedes legislative control on government: The anti-defection law impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the party leadership.
  • In short, if legislators are not able to vote on laws independently, they would not act as an effective check on the government.
  • The Anti-Defection Law, in effect, dilutes the separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature – and centralises power in the hands of the executives.
• Role of presiding officer of the house: The law lays down that legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.
  • However, there are many instances when presiding officers play a part with the vested interests of a political party/government in power.
  • Also, the law does not specify a time period for the Presiding Officer to decide on a disqualification plea.
  • The decision thus is sometimes based on the whims and fancies of the presiding officer.
• Affects the debate and discussion: The Anti-Defection Law has created a democracy of parties and numbers in India, rather than a democracy of debate and discussion.
  • In this way, it does not make a differentiation between dissent and defection and weaken the Parliamentary deliberations on any law.

Steps to be taken

• To be used for major decision making: Several experts have suggested that the law should be valid only for those votes that determine the stability of the government. e.g. passage of the annual budget or no-confidence motions as recommended by Dinesh Goswami Committee.
• Non-partisan authority: Various commissions including National Commission to review the working of the constitution (NCRWC) have recommended that rather than the Presiding Officer, the decision to disqualify a member should be made by the President (in case of MPs) or the Governor (in case of MLAs) on the advice of the Election Commission.
• Independent committee for disqualification: Justice Verma in Hollohan judgment said that tenure of the Speaker is dependent on the continuous support of the majority in the House and therefore, he does not satisfy the requirement of such independent adjudicatory authority.
  • Also, his choice as the sole arbiter in the matter violates an essential attribute of the basic feature.
  • Thus, the need for an independent authority to deal with the cases of defection.
• Intra-party democracy: 170^th Law Commission report underscored the importance of intra-party democracy by arguing that a political party cannot be a dictatorship internally and democratic in its functioning outside.
  • Thus, the parties should listen to the opinions of the members and have discussions on the same. This would give the freedom of speech and expression to its members and promote inner-party democracy.
• Limiting Speaker’s discretion: Recent Supreme Court Judgement ruled that Speaker must decide on disqualification within three months of receiving application. It cannot be the discretion of the Speaker to take no action.

Conclusion

There is a need to prevent unholy defections that lead to instability in the governance system of the nation. The current law is clearly flawed and has not effectively curbed defection due to lure of power and money. There is a need for a more rationalised version of anti-defection laws which will help establish a truly representative democracy.

General Studies – 3

4. Critically examine the performance of the present goods and services tax (GST) regime in the first five years since its inception and suggest possible reforms.

Reference: Indian Express

Introduction

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax system which was rolled out in 2017 with the aim of ‘One Nation, one tax’. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed out lacunae in the GST regime, saying that system-validated input tax credit through invoice matching is not in place and a non-intrusive e-tax system still remains elusive.

India’s goods and services tax (GST) will be five years old on July 1, 2022.

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Various issues with respect to goods and services tax (GST) regime

• The breakdown of trust and cooperative federalism between states and the Union government:
  • It turned out to be prescient as GST failed to live up to its economic promises and states’ revenues were protected through this guarantee, despite Finance’s attempt to wriggle out of this commitment during the pandemic under the alibi of an “act of God”.
  • The Union government’s proclivity to levy and appropriate cess revenues for itself without sharing them with the states has lent credence to the wisdom of guaranteed compensation for states.
  • This guarantee is now set to expire..
• The recent Supreme Court’s judgment highlighting that the GST Council’s recommendations are not binding on the states:
  • The SC recently observed that it is in the national interest to have both cooperative and competitive federalism, and hence, the GST Council’s decisions are not binding on the states.
  • This means that states had and continue to have the right to either comply fully with the Council’s recommendations or modify them as they deem necessary.
  • This has opened the window for states to override the fundamental GST premise of a “one nation one tax”.
  • If pushed to a corner, states may now use the SC ruling as a shield.
• Expiry of the revenue guarantee that protected states’ revenues 
  • GST is too precariously perched to yank away the compensation guarantee for states.
  • the Union government is not desirous of extending the compensation guarantee.
• Difficulty in tax administration:
  • Goes against the canons of taxation.
  • A modern tax system should be fair, uncomplicated, transparent and easy to administer.
  • It must yield revenues sufficient to cover the cost of government services and public goods.
  • Lack of clarity on many rules is also leading to various litigation and different interpretations (of the same laws) by Advanced Ruling Authorities in different states.
• Complicated taxation structure:
  • A World Bank study published in May 2018 said that the Indian GST rate was the second highest among the 115 countries with a national value-added tax.
  • It was also the most complicated, with five main tax rates, several exemptions, a cess and a special rate for gold.
  • The multilateral lender said that only five countries had four or more non-zero tax rates—India, Italy, Pakistan, Luxembourg and Ghana.
  • Falling revenue amid disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has continuously delayed the reform, leaving a large number of items in high tax slabs.
• High compliance costs: are also arising because the prevalence of multiple tax rates implies a need to classify inputs and outputs based on the applicable tax rate. Along with the need to apply the correct rate, firms are required to match invoices between their outputs and inputs to be eligible for full input tax credit, which increases compliance costs further.
• GST Council meetings: the meetings of the GST Council are not as frequent as they were earlier, if the recent incidents are anything to go by, and it often end up with disagreement, fight and strong letters and statements. States have also accused the Centre of cornering a substantial portion of tax in forms of cess.
• There has been lack of coordination between the Department of Revenue, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the GST Network.

However, there are gains too from the GST Regime

• Introduced as one of the biggest economic reforms by the incumbent government, the GST kicked off with the promise to streamline taxation and compliance burden.
• Based on the one nation one tax ideology, GST has helped in reducing the cascading effect of tax considerably.
• Also, multiplicity of compliances under various indirect taxes has been reduced.
• Hence, introduction of GST in India has brought in efficiencies in indirect tax compliance, incidence and reduced the number of indirect tax authorities that a taxpayer needed to interact with
• Another positive is the concept of e-invoicing which seeks to ensure greater transparency in supplier-receiver transactions.
• The introduction of e-way bill coupled with the crackdown on fake invoicing has helped in bringing in a substantial portion of GST revenues, which were either being evaded or under-reported, in order.

Way Forward

• The first target should be to move to at least a three-rate structure, a lower rate for essential goods, a relatively high rate for luxury goods, and a standard rate for the majority of goods and services.
• The next step would be simplifying the tax returns process.
• The scope for lowering the GST rate is umbilically linked to direct tax reform.
• A better way to make a tax system more just is by lowering regressive indirect tax rates while widening the base for progressive direct taxes on income and corporate profits.
• The government needs to establish GST Tribunals to reduce litigation timelines and the pressure on courts.
• The state authorities for Advance Ruling should ideally also have an independent jurist member, apart from a representative from the tax department.
• Many goods are still outside the GST net, which comes in the way of seamless flow of input tax credit. Key items outside its ambit are electricity, alcohol, petroleum goods and real estate. This aspect need to be looked into.
• Emulating the best practices. The GST in New Zealand, widely regarded as the most efficient in the world, has a single standard rate of 12.5 percent across all industry groups.
• The Fifteenth finance commission, in its latest report, has addressed many issues including large shortfall in collections as compared to original forecast, high volatility in collections, accumulation of large integrated GST credit, glitches in invoice and input tax matching, and delay in refunds.
• The Commission also observed that the continuing dependence of states on compensation from the central government for making up for the shortfall in revenue is a concern.
• While at the same time it suggested that the structural implications of GST for low consumption states need to be considered.

Conclusion

While the GST’s journey has given its stakeholders some causes to celebrate, it has also given moments of worry. But then, no transformation of the scale and complexity can be achieved without its share of hiccups and challenges. The process of evolution will take a few years more for the mammoth structural change to stabilize. The four-year journey of GST has been a roller-coaster ride for all stakeholders with equitable share of hits, misses and expectations. A work-in-progress in its transformational journey, GST suffers from several shortcomings which need to be resolved quickly, but its journey to ‘Good & Simple Tax’ is still quite long.

5. What is a spyware? What are the problems caused by spywares? Suggest various precautions that are needed to prevent malicious attacks by spywares.

Reference: Indian Express

Introduction

Spyware is defined as malicious software designed to enter your computer device, gather data about you, and forward it to a third-party without your consent. Spyware can also refer to legitimate software that monitors your data for commercial purposes like advertising. However, malicious spyware is explicitly used to profit from stolen data.

Whether legitimate or based in fraud, spyware’s surveillance activity leaves unsuspecting victims open to data breaches and misuse of your private data. Spyware also affects network and device performance, slowing down daily user activities.

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Problems caused by spywares

• Data theft: Malicious spyware is installed without your informed consent. Step-by-step, spyware will take the following actions on your computer or mobile device:

• • Infiltrate via an app install package, malicious website, or file attachment.
  • Monitor and capture data via keystrokes, screen captures, and other tracking codes.
  • Send stolen data to the spyware author, to be used directly or sold to other parties.

• Breach of privacy: In short, spyware communicates personal, confidential information about you to an attacker. Eg: Pegasus spyware giving whatsapp message info of users to third party.
• Identity Fraud: Spyware can steal personal information that can be used for identity theft.
  • If malicious software has access to every piece of information on your computer, it can harvest more than enough information to imitate your identity.
  • Information used for this purpose includes browsing history, email accounts, and saved passwords for online banking, shopping, and social networks.
  •  Also, if you’ve visited online banking sites, spyware can siphon your bank account information or credit card accounts and sell it to third parties — or use them directly.
• Computer Damages: Spyware can be poorly designed, leading to system-draining performance. The lack of performance optimization can take up an enormous amount of your computer’s memory, processing power, and internet bandwidth.
  • As a result, infected devices may run slowly and lag in between applications or while online. Worse cases include frequent system crashing or overheating your computer, causing permanent damage. Some spyware can even disable your internet security programs.
• Disruptions to Your Browsing Experience: Spyware can also manipulate search engine results and deliver unwanted websites in your browser, which can lead to potentially harmful websites or fraudulent ones. It can also cause your home page to change and can even alter some of your computer’s settings.
  • Pop-up advertisements are an equally frustrating issue that accompanies some types of spyware.
  • Advertisements may appear even when offline, leading to inescapable annoyances.

Precautions to address these issues

•  At user-level

• Basic Security Hygiene : Not visiting untrusted websites, installing untrusted third party applications or certificates, keeping device and application software updated is needed.
• Using licensed software: Users must ensure pirated software are not used and also update latest security patches to their devices.
• Non-disclosure of sensitive information: Awareness to ensure people are not deceived by unsrcupulous actors regarding confidential information. Eg: Bank Login, OTP, debit/credit card details.
• Using trusted software: Users must not give unbridled access to phone’s content to suspicious apps.
• Two-layer authentication: Strong passwords with OTP login can help secure devices, apps from unauthorized access.

• At Government level: Initiatives

• CERT-IN is the national nodal agency to respond in crisis situation.
• CERT-fin has also been launched exclusively for financial sector.
• CERT-in is also operating Cyber Swachhata Kendra, a Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre
• National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) to battle cyber security threats in strategic areas such as air control, nuclear and space.
• Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative to strengthen Cybersecurity ecosystem in India. It is first public private partnership of its kind and will leverage the expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity.
• National cyber coordination centre (NCCC) to scan internet traffic coming into the country and provide real time situational awareness and alert various security agencies.
• Cyber Forensic Lab set up in Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata in collaboration with NASSCOM.

Conclusion

India must develop core skills in data integrity and data security fields, to ensure protection of user data as well as security of critical infrastructure. Expertise of the private sector must be leveraged to build capabilities. Meanwhile user awareness is equally necessary to prevent them from becoming victims of cybercrime.

New foundation for a global law on cybersecurity must be laid. It will help in guiding national legislation or policy against cybercrimes. Cyber-Deterrence must be ingrained in the policy on cybersecurity with both defensive and offensive approach.

Rapid capacity building and Skill development in cyber space is required considering the fact that India’s IT segment accounts for 51 percent share of the IT-BPM sector (2018-19).

Value addition

Types of spyware

Spyware is generally classified into four main categories:

• Trojan spyware enters devices via Trojan malware, which delivers the spyware program.
• Adware may monitor you to sell data to advertisers or serve deceptive malicious ads.
• Tracking cookie files can be implanted by a website to follow you across the internet.
• System monitors track any activity on a computer, capturing sensitive data such as keystrokes, sites visited, emails, and more. Keyloggers typically fall into this group.

Answer the following questions in 250 words(15 marks each):

General Studies – 1

6. Urban areas are increasingly shaping water security as they grapple with the sustainable availability of water and navigate the barriers and options involved in protecting people and ecosystems against water-borne stresses and water-related hazards. Analyse.

Reference: Down to Earth , Insights on India

Introduction

The NITI Aayog report on Composite Water Management Index(CWMI) said that India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history. Taps in Shimla went dry in summer of 2018, posing an unprecedented water crisis in the hill town. According to a forecast by the Asian Development Bank, India will have a water deficit of 50% by 2030.

The three biggest cities in the world – Tokyo, Shanghai and Delhi – engines of economic growth, producing billions in economic activity for their residents and the world. However, they have a problem: There is not enough fresh water available per person for their daily needs..

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Urban Water crisis

• Many large cities are prone to water issues. Population and economic growth have led to environmental degradation.
• Existing water supplies simply can’t keep up with the growing needs.
• The issue is exacerbated by climate change where extreme weather events such as drought and floods are becoming more common.
• Water security — having enough water to meet all living, irrigation and industry needs as well as a healthy surplus to adapt to major disasters — is steeply in decline.
• For example, over-exploitation in Bangkok, Thailand, has severely reduced groundwater levels, causing land to subside.
• Water sources around the city are also polluted due to the direct discharge of domestic sewage into drains and canals.
• Similarly, Bangkok’s inadequate drainage capacity and its location in the Chao Phraya River floodplains make it susceptible to flooding.
• Despite water being a prominent component of the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations warns we are off-track on most targets relevant to water, food, and agriculture.
• Freshwater availability is half that of the global average in Asia.
• Water efficiency is also among the lowest in the world and a low water productivity means crop yields are low despite the relatively large amount of water supplied in agriculture production.
• Climate experts have predicted that there will be fewer rainy days in the future but in those days it would rain more.

Causative factors for water crisis:

• A combination of population explosion, unplanned growth of the city and its expansion to some traditional catchment areas (a region from which rainfall flows into a river, lake, or reservoir) have led to a reduction in the natural flow of water, and large-scale deforestation.
• Climate change, leading to much lower precipitation during the winter months. As a result, the natural flow and recharge of water in the region has fallen sharply
• Failure of State governments to check unplanned development and exploitation of water resources. There is no attempt at the central or state levels to manage water quantity and quality
• The vegetation pattern has changed, tree cover is shrinking and unscientific dumping of debris in water streams is rampant.
• The debris blocks the natural course of water bodies.
• Increasing number of tube wells resulting in depletion of groundwater.
• Changes in farming patterns lead to consumption of more water for irrigation and also change the soil profile because of the use of fertilizers
• The states ranked lowest like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Jharkhand – are home to almost half of India’s population along with the majority of its agricultural produce.
• There is also a lack of interest in maintaining India’s traditional water harvesting structures.

Measures needed:

• Structural measures:
  • Putting in place an efficient piped supply system (without leakage of pipes) has to be top on the agenda.
  • Ancient India had well-managed wells and canal systems. Indigenous water harvesting systems need to be revived and protected at the local level. Examples: Karez, Bawli, Vav etc
  • Digging of rainwater harvesting pits must be made mandatory for all types of buildings, both in urban and rural areas.
  • Treating the Greywater and reusing it needs to be adopted by countries like Israel (upto 85%). It could be used to recharge depleted aquifers and use on crops.
  • Initiatives such as community water storage and decentralized treatment facilities, including elevated water towers or reservoirs and water ATMs, based on a realistic understanding of the costs involved, can help support the city’s water distribution.
  • Technologies capable of converting non-drinkable water into fresh, consumable water, offering a potential solution to the impending water crisis are needed. Example: Desalination technologies in Coastal areas, Water-sterilization in polluted water areas.
• Non-structural measures:
  • The World Bank’s Water Scarce Cities Initiative seeks to promote an integrated approach, aims at managing water resources and service delivery in water-scarce cities as the basis for building climate change resilience.
  • Groundwater extraction patterns need to be better understood through robust data collection
  • Decentralisation of irrigation commands, offering higher financial flows to well-performing States through a National Irrigation Management Fund.
  • Public awareness campaigns, tax incentives for water conservation and the use of technology interfaces can also go a long way in addressing the water problem. Example, measures such as water credits can be introduced with tax benefits as incentives for efficient use and recycling of water.
  • A collaborative approach like the adoption of a public-private partnership model for water projects can help. Example, in Netherlands, water companies are incorporated as private companies, with the local and national governments being majority shareholders.
  • Sustained measures should be taken to prevent pollution of water bodies and contamination of groundwater.
  • Ensuring proper treatment of domestic and industrial waste water is also essential.

Conclusion

Primarily water is not valued in India. “People think it is free”. In order to meet the future urban water challenges, there needs to be a shift in the way we manage urban water systems. An Integrated Urban Water Management approach must be adopted which involves managing freshwater, wastewater, and storm water, using an urban area as the unit of management.

7. An artistic movement of great importance flourished under the aegis of the Pallava rulers of Kanchi and they are credited with having building some of the outstanding temples and sculptures. Discuss.

Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India

Introduction

The Pallava dynasty existed between the 3rd and 9th centuries CE, ruling a portion of what is today Andhra Pradesh (early Pallavas) and Tamil Nadu (later Pallavas).The tradition of direct patronization of the temples began with the Pallavas. Starting with rock-cut temples, Pallava sculptors later graduated to free-standing structural shrines which inspired Chola temples of a later age.

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Perhaps no other empire has garnered appreciation for their contribution to rock-cut architecture as Pallavas. Some of the monuments created by Pallavas during their rule through rock excavation have garnered the worldwide admiration for its beauty and the skills displayed by the artists. Pallava sculpture shows greater details of workmanship, lighter anatomy and more developed artistic finishing.

They were the pioneers of South Indian art and architecture as they had introduced the stone architecture in the Tamil country. Even as a building material, stone was not or rarely used here, possibly because of its strong association with funerary customs. The fascination of carving whole temples into the living rock which spread over India during the first millennium AD had not yet seized the South by the end of the 6th century. Their contributions are still extant because granite was used for building temples and carving sculptures.

Evolution of architecture of Pallavas

• Pallava architecture can be now sub-divided into two phases – the rock cut phase and the structural phase.
• Rock cut phase:
  • The rock cut phase lasted from the 610 to 668 AD and consisted of two groups of monuments – the Mahendra group and the Mamalla group.
  • The Mahendra groupis the name given to monuments constructed during the reign of Mahendravarman I
    • The monuments of this group are invariably pillared halls hewn out of mountain faces.
    • These pillared halls or mandapas follow the prototype of Jain temples of the period.
    • The best examples of Mahendra group of monuments are the cave temples at Mandagapattu, Pallavaram and Mamandur.
  • The second group of rock cut monuments belong to the Mamalla group .
    • During this period free-standing monolithic shrines called rathas were constructed alongside pillared halls.
    • Some of the best examples of this style are the Pancha Rathas and Arjuna’s Penance at Mahabalipuram.
  • Free standing temples:
    • The second phase of Pallava architecture is the structural phase when free-standing shrines were constructed with stone and mortar brought in for the purpose.
    • The Rajasimha group encompasses the early structural temples of the Pallavas when a lot of experimentation was carried out.
      • The best examples of this period are the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram and the Kanchi Kailasanathar Templeat Kanchipuram both constructed by Narasimhavarman II who was known as Rajasimha.
    • The best example of the Nandivarman group of monuments is the Vaikunta Perumal Temple at Kanchipuram.

Conclusion

During this period, Pallava architecture attained full maturity and provided the models upon which the massive Brihadeeswarar Temple of the Cholas at Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram and various other architectural works of note were constructed.

The recent announcement of 11 ancient temples in Kancheepuram making it to the UNESCO’s tentative list of world heritage sites opens an avenue for the region to be back on the tourism map. This will ensure better care of the structures as the final honour brings with it international recognition.

General Studies – 2

8. Do you think that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has adversely impacted the centre-state relationship, undermining the principles of cooperative federalism? Critically examine.

Reference: Live Mint , The Print

Introduction

1 July 2022, marks five years since India’s introduction of the goods and services tax (GST). The GST has shown impressive staying power and resilience, right through the pandemic years. The true test of the GST is not so much its revenue performance, which has been reasonable if not spectacular, but its gradual evolution into widespread acceptance.

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Adverse impact of GST on centre-state relation

• State’s dwindling resources: The findings suggest that recent changes in India’s fiscal architecture, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, and increase in state shares for the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) had placed state finances in a precarious position, even prior to the crisis.
• 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.

GST strengthening cooperative federalism

• GST has strengthened the Indian federation by enabling seamless input tax credit even when supply chains cross state borders.
• The narrative that it has weakened the federation by imposing an authoritarian Centre on the fiscal freedom earlier enjoyed by states has largely resulted from the GST compensation issue.
  • This eventually resolved to the satisfaction of states by the Centre taking on special borrowing to fund the compensation due.
• Majority decisions have been based on consensus till now, while states gave 2/3^rd of votes.
• Since 10^th FC, state’s share has been continuously increasing till 14^th FC by devolving 42%. With more tax revenue accrual, the devolution will also subsequently increase.

Conclusion and Way forward

• A Reformed Approach toward States: The Centre could strive to be more conciliatory towards States’ concerns and fiscal dilemmas.
  • The Council should also meet more often to nurture the critical fiscal federalism dialogue in the right direction and minimize trust deficits.
  • There are many pending reforms that require the Centre to work more cohesively with States to take India’s economy forward and lift those left behind – land, labor markets as well as the agrarian sector.
• Horizontal and Vertical Level Cooperation: Cooperation between the Centre and states is required at both vertical (between Centre and states) and horizontal (among states) levels and on various fronts.
  • This includes fine-tuning of developmental measures for desired outcomes, development-related policy decisions, welfare measures, administrative reforms, strategic decisions, etc.
• Reforms in GST Council: It may be time already for reform of the GST. What is needed is statesmanship at the GST Council even if the Court has said that the Council is a place as much for political contestation as for co-operative federalism.
  • The Council should transcend political rivalries of the day.
  • The States should have the right to dissent in the Council and their voice should not be drowned in the pursuit of unanimity in decision-making

General Studies – 3

9. Service sector has undergone a great evolution which in turn has given it the independent status of the productive sector of the country. It can play a vital part in India achieving the goal of five trillion-dollar economy. Discuss.

Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India

Introduction

India’s aspiration to become a $5-trillion economy is predicated on the growth of its international trade to $2 trillion by 2030, equally contributed to by merchandise and services. This translates into a three-fold growth or almost 20 per cent CAGR over this period. The commerce ministry also expects services exports to overtake merchandise and manufacturing, or at least be on par. This is in the realm of the possible only if services are viewed from the same prism as manufacturing in terms of fiscal encouragement and incentives.

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Services sector in India

• This sector contributes significantly to India’s GDP, a goal of around 60 % contribution of services sector has been envisaged for 2024. Exports and job creation, increased productivity and competitiveness of the Champion Services Sectors like IT, tourism, medical value travel and legal will further boost exports of various services from India.
• Services sector include improving rail connectivity and seamless connectivity to major attractions; facilitating visa regime for medical travel; allowing expatriate professional to perform surgeries in identified hospitals; and e-commerce policy and regulatory framework for logistics
• The service sector has the potential to be the largest job creators in the country and over the next five years it has the potential to contribute USD 3 trillion out of the USD 5 trillion GDP target set by the government.
• Multi-Modal Logistics Parks Policy (MMLPs) aims to improve the country’s logistics sector by lowering over freight costs, reducing vehicular pollution and congestion and cutting warehouse costs with a view to promoting moments of goods for domestic and global trade.
• In the defence sector, there is a need to identify key components and systems and encourage global leaders to set up manufacturing base in India by offering limited period incentives; and ensure incentives result in technology/process transfer.
• To promote growth of accounting and financial services, there is a need to FDI in domestic accounting and auditing sector, transparent regulatory framework, and easing restriction on client base in the accounting and auditing sector.
• Measures like exploring introduction of insurance in the film industry, promoting private investments in film schools, exploring franchise business models to exploit film franchise, and promoting gaming industry value chains aims to push audio visual services.
• Foreign universities are allowed to set up campuses in India, easy visa regime for students and education service providers, removing regulatory bottlenecks, providing recognition of online degrees and setting up appropriate evaluation techniques for online courses for the education sector.

Services sector role in achieving 5 trillion economy in India

• While around 50 per cent and more of services exports are contributed by IT-ITES, which continues to innovate its offerings and grow, the rest is the input from management, legal, accounting, logistics, travel and tourism, education, healthcare, etc.
• Services sectors beyond IT require careful nurturing, especially capex-intensive sectors like hospitality, healthcare and education.
• India needs to move beyond Business Process Outsourcing and work towards adopting new age technologies such as artificial intelligence, block chain, machine learning and engage with the rest of the world on equal terms.
• Improving tourism sector is also a key. The goal should be to triple arrivals. For that, we need to embark on a crash programme to enhance infrastructure.
  • While the government can work on physical connectivity through public-private partnerships by building more airports and highways, it will require individual entrepreneurship to increase the hospitality quotient by adding more hotel rooms.
  • The government provides attractive incentives, including direct taxation for green field projects in the manufacturing sector.
  • The same blueprint must be initiated for the services sectors, especially in the building of hotels, hospitals and universities, with an emphasis on those that attract forex.
• To quadruple services exports over the next 7-8 years is surely a herculean task and certainly not achievable unless there is a strategic road map with the right sort of government intervention. The burden cannot be only on the IT sector, which at present contributes around 55 per cent of total services exports. Clearly, other sectors will have to bring exponential growth to the table.

Conclusion

Policymakers have incentivised manufacturing by introducing the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme with a well-laid-out process that ensures capex investment, resulting in increased productivity and avenues for employment. A similar scheme for services can be introduced with substantial scope for capex in areas like hospitality, education and health care.

In these adverse times, if economic momentum has to be sustained and every initiative and effort has to be made to yield the desired result, then the perception of services, especially their exports, must radically transform. This is also to ensure that as a major economy, India’s reliance should be on multiple horses in the race — manufacturing and services.

10. What are Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)? Evaluate the feasibility of PES projects in India for conserving and sustainable use of bio-diversity.

Reference: The Hindu

Introduction

The term “ecosystem services” refers to the diverse benefits that are derived from the natural environment. Examples include the supply of food, water and timber (provisioning services); the regulation of air quality, climate and flood risk (regulating services); opportunities for recreation, tourism and education (cultural services); and essential underlying functions such as soil formation and nutrient cycling (supporting services).

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) occur when the beneficiaries or users of an ecosystem service make payments to the providers of that service. In practice, this may take the form of a series of payments in return for receiving a flow of benefits or ecosystem services.

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About Payments for ecosystem services (PES)

• PES is one way to conserve and increase ecosystem services. It works through the establishment of performance contracts.
• People who can help provide the desired ecosystem service are rewarded based on their actions, or the quantity and quality of the services themselves.
• PES presents a unique scope for incentivising local land stewards to manage threatened ecosystems. It has the potential to achieve the dual goals of conservation and poverty alleviation towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
• This places PES as one of the pivotal economic instruments for conservation.

Feasibility of Payments for ecosystem services (PES)

• PES has not achieved much attention either in the research or policy mandate in the Indian subcontinent.
• A local monitoring mechanism is the key to successfully implementing a PES programme. A study (Sardana 2019) conducted in the Kodagu district of Karnataka to restore native trees that grow in the understory of coffee plantations shows a successfully designed local institutional mechanism for PES implementation.
• However, the PES mechanism is yet to be implemented or even tested for efficacy.
  • The results of such studies offer support for potential research funding in restoration financing. Impact evaluation studies that evaluate financial instruments’ performance in attaining biodiversity are also important.
• Incentives for biodiversity protection and sustainable use include biodiversity-relevant taxes, fees, levies, tradeable permits, and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES).
  • Through these economic instruments, governments can affect both public and private financing flows for biodiversity.
  • India must work in this regard.
• Mobilisation of biodiversity finance through pesticide levies, admission fees to natural parks, hunting and fishing permit fees, and the trade-in energy-saving certificates has gained governmental support and political will, but the mobilisation of private and public finance for PES has lacked lustre.

Conclusion

Additionally, a strong policy thrust, such as the TEEB India Initiative highlighting the economic consequences of the loss of biological diversity, would help prioritise ecosystem restoration financing through a direct approach. A global initiative such as the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative to mobilise private sector finance to benefit people and the environment would help maintain the funds.

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