[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 6 May 2023

GS Paper 2

 Syllabus: Bilateral Relations

Source: PIB, GulfNews

Context: The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has had a significant impact on bilateral trade between the two countries since its implementation in May 2022.

• It is expected to increase the total value of bilateral trade in goods to over USD 100 billion and trade in services to over USD 15 billion within five years.

India-UAE Trade relations:

United Arab Emirates (UAE) is India’s 3rd largest trading partner, after the United States and China, with a bilateral trade turnover of USD 68 billion in 2021. The UAE is also the 7th largest investor in India.

What is a CEPA?

A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is a bilateral or multilateral trade agreement between countries aimed at promoting economic cooperation and integration by reducing barriers to trade and investment.

Difference between CEPA, CECA, and FTA:

For overall India-UAE relations: Click here

Various dimensions of India-UAE CEPA:

Some of the challenges that the India-UAE CEPA may face are:

• Competition from other existing trade agreements in the region
• Diverse business and cultural practices between the two countries
• The disparity in the level of development and economic size of the two countries
• Possible resistance from domestic industries in both countries
• Differences in regulatory standards and intellectual property protection.

Conclusion:

The trade between India and UAE has strengthened over the years, with the UAE becoming India’s closest geopolitical partner in the Arab world. Despite recent challenges, the bilateral ties between the two nations have proven resilient.

Insta Links:

• India-UAE

GS Paper 2

 Syllabus: Issues Relating to Poverty and Hunger

Source: LM

Context: There has been no official estimate of poverty in India after 2011-12. However, many private estimates are available.

Poverty estimation in India:

• Poverty can be defined as a condition in which an individual or household lacks the financial resources to afford a basic minimum standard of living.
• Reliable estimation of poverty is the first step towards eradication of poverty as it provides input for the design, implementation and monitoring of anti-poverty programmes.
• Two critical components of the estimation of poverty in India:
  • Information on the consumption expenditures;
  • These expenditures are evaluated with reference to a given poverty line.
• In 2011, 21.9% of Indians were considered to be living below the national poverty line.
• Globally, 8% lived on less than the international poverty line (WB) of US$1.90 per person per day.

Issues with estimates of poverty in India:

• Vary in a wide range: From as high as 35% of India’s population in 2017-18 (by S. Subramanian) to a low of 1.4% (by Bhalla, Bhasin and Virmani) found for 2019-20.
• No clear conclusion/consensus on whether poverty rose after 2011-12 or fell.

Why do these differences arise?

• Due to varying consumption expenditure data used.
  • A modified version of data (by Bhalla) from the Consumer Pyramid Household Survey (CME) shows that poverty has declined in India.
  • While the National Statistical Office (NSO) data (by S. Subramanian) that poverty increased in India.
  • The only consumption expenditure survey conducted by NSO in 2017-18 was abandoned.
• Due to different poverty lines used:
  • The consumption aggregates from the PLFS estimate poverty at 17.9% in 2020-21, compared with 21.9% in 2011-12.
  • The latest (Panagariya and More) report a poverty ratio of 32% in 2019-20 and 26% in 2020-21 using the same PLFS consumption data.

Good news for India:

• A consumption expenditure survey is currently underway.
• This will update the national accounts and inflation indices.

Challenges:

• The new methodology adopted: The absence of a comparable survey means it won’t help answer what happened to poverty after 2011-12.
• No public discussion on the new methodology.

Conclusion: The discourse on poverty estimation has played an important role in highlighting the living conditions of the poor and the effectiveness of government policy. Thus, the adoption of a scientific methodology that will generate uniform-error-free data is the need of the hour.

Insta Links:

Ways to measure poverty in India — and why the numbers matter

Mains Links:

Though there have been several different estimates of poverty in India, all indicate a reduction in poverty levels over time. Do you agree? Critically examine with reference to urban and rural poverty indicators. (UPSC 2015)

GS Paper 2

 Syllabus: Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections

Source: LM

 Context: It is challenging to achieve financial inclusion (FI) for women until they actively participate in the formal financial industry.

What is FI?

The process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low-income groups at an affordable cost. (RBI)

Why do women need FI?

• FI is considered a critical indicator of development and is identified as an enabler for at least eight of the 17 SDGs.
• For women, access to bank accounts, loans, insurance, and other financial services, results in direct improvements in outcomes of health, education, employment → economic independence → empowerment.
• In turn, such progress helps achieve the collective goals of eradicating poverty, promoting inclusive growth, and reducing inequality.

The scheme promoting FI in India:

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY):

• 56% of all these new accounts are owned by women, which implies remarkable FI that has significantly reduced the gender gap, from 17% in 2011 to 6% in 2017.

Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT):

• Since its inception in 2013, the Indian government has cumulatively transferred 16.8 trillion to beneficiaries through DBT. This has led to the FI of women, as they constitute a good number of beneficiaries under the schemes.

Challenges:

• Women still lack participation in the formal financial industry. For example,
  • Most women only access their PMJDY accounts to withdraw the benefit transfers from the various government initiatives.
  • Most of them do not use these accounts for savings, to build a credit history or avail of any financial products such as insurance and loans.
• Inaccessibility: Most financial services are beyond the reach of most women, particularly in the rural hinterland.
• Concerns around privacy and confidentiality: Hesitation to discuss personal financial matters with strangers.
• The lack of collateral due to limited access to assets and property impedes their ability to avail of loans.
• They have less influence over the family’s important financial choices → leading to wastages or use of benefits for non-essential purposes.

How to address these concerns?

• Promote women’s access to and literacy in digital tools.
• Promote the use of digital payments among women.
• Appoint more women Business Correspondents (BCs).
• Deepen convergence with self-help groups.
• Collect gender-disaggregated data and develop strategies to form women-centric approaches.
• Promote digital credit for medium and small businesses.

Way ahead: Digital payment solutions can be easily redesigned to enable access to information that are key stumbling blocks to the FI of women.

Insta Links:

Women and financial inclusion

Prelims Links: UPSC 2016

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Environment, conservation

Source: TH

Context: According to the 2nd edition of the Global Land Outlook (GLO) report, humans have breached four out of nine planetary boundaries.

GLO:

• It is a United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s (UNCCD) flagship publication, whose 1st edition was launched in 2017 at the UNCCD COP13 (China).
• It underscores land system challenges, showcases transformative policies and practices, and points to cost-effective pathways to scale up sustainable land and water management.

Highlights of the report:

 Importance of Land: It is the operative link between biodiversity loss and climate change, which means restoring land is crucial to solving interconnected crises.

What are planetary boundaries?

• The environmental thresholds that establish a “safe operating space for humanity” are known as planetary boundaries.
• The nine planetary boundaries are:
  • Biodiversity loss
  • Land-use change
  • Climate change
  • Nitrogen and phosphorus (geochemical) cycles
  • Freshwater use
  • Ocean acidification
  • Chemical pollution
  • Atmospheric loading
  • Ozone depletion

Threats:

• Humans have already altered more than 70% of the earth’s land area from its natural state.
• Of the 9 planetary boundaries, climate change, biodiversity loss, land-use change, and geochemical cycles have already been exceeded.

Causes:

• Worldwide, food systems (including agriculture) are responsible for 80% of deforestation and 70% of freshwater use and are the single greatest cause of terrestrial biodiversity loss.
• Land degradation, desertification and drought pose a great risk to global food security as well.
  • Land degradation is the reduction or loss of biological and economic productivity of land and its constituents: soil, water, and biodiversity.

Impact: This has contributed significantly to global warming and environmental degradation → leading to a rise in poverty, hunger, inequality, zoonotic disease transmission, etc.

Recommendations:  

Effective land restoration:

• The report defines land restoration as a continuum of activities that
  • Avoid (By eliminating practices that degrade the environment, ranging from land and ecosystem conversion to socio-economic inequalities)
  • Reduce (By adopting sustainable land and water management practices) and
  • Reverse (By revitalising soil, watersheds, and other elements of natural ecosystems) land degradation with the explicit objective of meeting human needs and improving ecology.
• The global annual cost of land restoration is expected at ~$300 billion by 2030.
• Each dollar invested is estimated to return between $7 and $30 in economic benefits, moving towards an equitable and sustainable future.

Achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN): LDN is a state whereby the quantity and quality of land resources required to maintain ecosystem functions and services and improve food security are steady or growing.

Integrated land use planning:

• Identifying the best combination of land uses → sustainably meeting the needs of the stakeholders as well as preserving the land resources.
• A cost-effective approach is to identify landscapes while maximising benefits, such as in global restoration hotspots.

Regenerative agricultural practices: Like terrace farming and rainwater harvesting → help restore land, increase crop yields, reduce GHG emissions, sequester atmospheric carbon, and create meaningful livelihoods.

Inclusive and responsible governance: It is crucial to facilitate the shift to sustainable land use and management practices.

Some best practices in India:

• Holiyas: These are water management systems in Gujarat, which store rainwater below the land surface. The groundwater can be accessed and distributed using solar pumps when there is scarcity.
• Plantopathy: It is a unique nature-based solution that can limit the impact of plant diseases on yields without pesticides or chemicals.
• Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF): It combines traditional and emerging practices to reduce costs (i.e., zero budget) while boosting yields and overall farm health by using organic inputs sourced locally (i.e., natural farming).

Conclusion: Land restoration is a shared responsibility. Hence, governments, scientists, civil society, and private sector players need to work together to set land and ecosystem restoration goals that transform land-use systems.

Insta Links:

Forest landscape restoration

Content for Mains Enrichment (CME)

Source: Niti Aayog

Every day, in this section we are bringing best practices from each category. Today’s best practices will cover the ‘Science and technology’

Initiatives:

 Source: BBC

KK Shailaja, the former health minister of Kerala, who gained worldwide recognition for her success in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, has released a memoir entitled “My Life As A Comrade“.

Ms. Shailaja credits scientific thinking as an integral part of her decision-making process and reveals that her Ammamma (Grandmother), inspired her with her actions in tackling a smallpox outbreak in Kerala.

Usage: Ethical values demonstrated by KK Shailaja and the Kerala state government’s response to the pandemic: Scientific thinking, Compassion, Responsibility, Preparedness, and Equality.

Facts for Prelims (FFP)

Source: PIB

 Context: The Ministry of Culture along with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) celebrated the auspicious day of Vaisakh Purnima.

Vaishakh Buddha Purnima (also known as Vesak or Buddha Jayanti):

• It is the most sacred day of the year for Buddhists all over the world as it marks the three main events of Lord Buddha’s life –
  • Birth (564 BC, Lumbini Province, Nepal),
  • Enlightenment [Siddhartha became a Buddha (“enlightened one”)], and
  • Mahaparinirvana [Kushinagar (India) is said to be the place of death of Gautama Buddha].
• Since 1999 it has also been recognised by the United Nations as the ‘UN Day of Vesak’.
• This year the Vaishakh Buddha Purnima is being celebrated on 5th May.
• The festival falls on the full moon day (Purnima) in the Hindu month of Vaishakh (April or May)

Source: The Print

Context: Karaikudi R Rani, also known as Karaikudi Mani, a legendary mridangam vidwan, who dominated the Carnatic music scene for half a century passed away recently.

About the Mridangam:

Aspect	Information
Origin	It originated 2,000 years ago in various parts of South India
Usage	It is a popular bifacial drum used as an accompaniment in South Indian Classical music, particularly Carnatic music
Playing Method	It is held across the lap and played on both ends with the hands and fingers
Similar Instrument	Mrdanga, Pakhawaj, and Tannumai. The Pakhavaj is a similar instrument played in the Hindustani tradition of northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh
Making Process	The body is scooped out of a single block of wood, preferably Jack Wood or Redwood. It is shaped like a barrel with the right head slightly smaller than the left.

Comparison of Carnatic music and Hindustani music on the basis of instruments used:

Source: PIB

Context: PM Modi thanked the French President for the invitation as Guest of Honour at France’s Bastille Day celebrations

About Bastille Day:

The National Day of France, also known as Bastille Day, is celebrated on July 14 every year.
What was Bastille?	The Bastille was a fortress prison located in the heart of Paris, which had become a symbol of royal tyranny and oppression.
History	The fall of the Bastille is widely considered the beginning of the French Revolution. The event also marked the beginning of a period of intense violence and social upheaval in France.
French Revolution (1789 – 1799)	A significant period of social and political upheaval in France was characterized by the overthrow of the French monarchy, the establishment of a republic, and the execution of thousands of people, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.
Significance	The fall of the Bastille symbolized the people’s victory over the monarchy and the end of the old regime. The event led to the abolition of feudalism, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and the establishment of the First French Republic.
Global Importance	The principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity espoused during the French Revolution have had a profound impact on the world’s political and social landscape. These values have influenced many other revolutionary movements throughout history.

Source: TH

Context: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced plans to launch a composite index next year to measure the impact of heat on India’s population.

About Heat Index:

Source: BS

 Context: India has officially begun the operation of the Sittwe Port in Myanmar by flagging off a vessel containing 1,000 metric tonnes of cement from the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata.

About Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP):

Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) connects the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with the Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea. In Myanmar, it will then link the Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan river boat route, and then from Paletwa by road to Mizoram state in Northeast India.
Route	Kolkata (India) – Sittwe (Myanmar) – Paletwa (Myanmar) – India-Myanmar border
Significance	Reduce distance from Kolkata to Sittwe by approximately 1328 km; reduce the need to transport goods through the narrow Siliguri corridor; create an alternative route to connect northeast and mainland India
Status	Under construction; Sittwe port expected to be operational by early next year

Source: TH

 Context: The Centre has taken control of security in Manipur (by allegedly invoking Article 355), deploying 12 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF) and airlifting anti-riot vehicles to the northeastern state.

• The move comes after at least ten people were killed by mobs, and several villages and community-specific urban localities were destroyed during tribal clashes.

Article 355 of the Indian Constitution:

For Issues in Manipur:

Source: TH

 Context: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the U.S. on April 25 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of U.S.-South Korea bilateral relations. During the visit, the two countries signed the “Washington Declaration,” which focuses on nuclear deterrence strategy.

About Washington Declaration:

Source: Nature

Context: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first-ever respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, developed by UK-based pharmaceutical company GSK, for use in people aged 60 years and older.

About respiratory syncytial virus (RSV):

Source: BS

Context: To further tighten its control of practising accountants, the Centre has brought within the ambit of the PMLA their “financial transactions”.

What are the new rules?

• Chartered accountants, company secretaries, etc., will now be required to go through the Know Your Company (KYC) process before commencing work.
• This implies accountants are now reporting entities if they are managing their clients’ money.

Significance: The move aims at curbing fraudulent practices by which accountants allegedly help their clients to launder money.

Need: The efforts are being taken ahead of the assessment of India under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – a global regulator that assesses country compliance in tackling global money laundering and terror financing.

What does the PMLA say about reporting entities?

They are required to maintain a record of all transactions and furnish them to financial intelligence units (FIUs).