[Mission 2024] Insights SECURE SYNOPSIS: 7 October 2023

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

Answer the following questions in 150 words:

General Studies – 1

1. Transparency in collecting and sharing caste census and caste-related data will promote informed policymaking and social justice leading to empowerment of backward classes. Examine.

Reference: Indian Express

Introduction

Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Caste Has Important Position in Indian Society, while census data has been captured for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, religions and linguistic profiles, there has been no profiling of all castes in India since 1931.

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The 2021 Census of India, the 16th Indian Census, will be taken in 2021. But the growing demands for a caste census from various sections of society have once again surfaced the issue like its immediate need and long-term repercussions.

Merits of Caste Census

• Benefit in Policy Making:The purpose of a caste census is not merely geared to the reservation issue; a caste census would actually bring to the fore the large number of issues that any democratic country needs to attend to, particularly the number of people who are at the margins, or who are deprived, or the kind of occupations they pursue.
  • A caste census, which will generate exhaustive data will allow policymakers to develop better policies, implementation strategies,and will also enable a more rational debate on sensitive issues.
• Enumerating the marginalized:A caste census would actually bring to the particular the number of people who are at the margins, or who are deprived, or the kind of occupations they pursue, or the kind of hold that institutions like caste have on them.
• Also Reveal Privileged Section of Society:Caste is not only a source of disadvantage; it is also a very important source of privilege and advantage in our society.
  • We have to stop thinking of caste as being applicable to only disadvantaged people, poor people, people who are somehow lacking.
  • The opposite is even truer: caste has produced advantages for certain communities, and these also need to be recorded.
• To Address Prevalent Inequalities:Unequal distribution of wealth, resources and education has meant an acute shortage of purchasing power among the majority of Indians.
  • As a democratic nation, we cannot forcibly overthrow the system,but we need to address it in a democratic, scientific and objective manner.
• Constitutional Mandate:Our Constitution too favours conducting a caste census. Article 340 mandates the appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by governments.
• Caste doesn’t marginalize:We need to do away with the idea of caste being applicable to only disadvantaged people, poor people, people who are somehow lacking.
• Rids away caste rigidities:Counting of caste doesn’t necessarily perpetuate caste or the caste system. Myths of caste elitisms can be debunked through a caste census.
• To Burst the Myths:There are a lot of myths which actually deprive a large number of people, particularly on the margins.
  • g.: In Karnataka, for a long time, there were claims that among the castes, the Lingayats are the most numerous.
  • But a lot of other studies have brought out that this may not be true, and these kinds of myths lead to the argument that given that this is a caste which is numerous, it has to be constantly placated. These myths can be debunked through a caste census.
• Reduce Inclusion and Exclusion Errors:With accurate data of castes, most backward castes can be identified.
  • Some have benefited so much across the years, while there are people in this country who have not benefited at all.
• The Supreme Court has time and again asked governmentsto provide the data related to castes; however, this has not been possible due to the non-availability of such data.
  • As a result, our national life suffers from mutual mistrust and misconceptions among different castes.
  • All such commissions have had to rely on data from the last caste census (1931).
• Data for Policymaking:This information is absolutely necessary for any democratic policymaking.
• Judicial backing:The courts in India have often emphatically said that it is important to have adequate data with regard to the reservation.

Associated Challenges with Caste Census

• Repercussions of a Caste Census:Caste has an emotive element and thus there exist the political and social repercussions of a caste census.
  • There have been concerns that counting caste may help solidify or harden identities.
  • Due to these repercussions, nearly a decade after the SECC, a sizable amount of its data remains unreleased or released only in parts.
• Caste Is Context-specific:Caste has never been a proxy for class or deprivation in India; it constitutes a distinct kind of embedded discrimination that often transcends class. For example: People with Dalit last names are less likely to be called for job interviews even when their qualifications are better than that of an upper-caste candidate.
  • They are also less likely to be accepted as tenants by landlords. Thus, difficult to measure.
  • Marriage to a well- educated, well-off Dalit man still sparks violent reprisals among the families of upper-caste women every day across the country.
• 50% breach:It is argued that a Socio-Economic Caste Census is the only way to make a case to breach the 50% cap on reservation and rationalize the reservation matrix in the country.
• Rising assertiveness:More the State ignores out caste, the more is the tendency to preserve caste, protect it. This has been observed in many states.
• Chaos:Data gathering itself is a big problem because it can become very, very invasive. But we need to actually balance it with enabling people and asserting citizen equality.
• Social friction:Caste identification can lead to friction amongst various classes.

Way Forward

• India needs to bebold and decisive in tackling caste questions through data and statistics in the way the United States (US) does to tackle race issues, by collecting data around race, class, language, inter-race marriages, among other metrics.
  • This data provides a mirror to the State and society of the US in which they can see themselves and take decisions to do course corrections.
• Creation of National Data Bank:The Sachar Committee Report recommended setting up a national data bank.
  • The Justice Rohini committeewas appointed in 2017 to look into the sub-categorisation of the OBC communities; however, in the absence of data, there can be no databank or any proper sub-categorisation.

Conclusion

With every passing day and increasing social awareness, the urgency to do away with the caste system is being sharply felt. Dr. BR Ambedkar stated that if India had to attain a place of pride among the comity of nations, caste would have to be annihilated first.

The most important thing is improving existing databases is more crucial to this than getting into the debate of whether to do a caste count or not. Accurate and timely data is central to India’s effort to tackle poverty. Poor data diminishes the efforts to design welfare programmes.

The 21^st century is the right time to solve India’s caste question, which would otherwise extract a heavy price, not just sociologically, but also politically and economically, and make us fall behind in the development index.

2. Analyse the challenges posed by India’s aging population and the need for a new health insurance model to address their specific healthcare requirements.

Reference: Live Mint

Introduction

Currently, India’s population is among the youngest in an ageing world, however, a major proportion of India’s population will be aged by 2050. This calls for more forward-looking policies incorporating population dynamics, education and skills, healthcare, gender sensitivity and most importantly geriatric care.

The United Nations Population Fund, India, has released the “2023 India Ageing Report,” which projects a significant increase in the elderly population in India

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Major Findings of the Report:

Issues associated with elderly population in India

• Feminisation of ageing: The sex ratio of the elderly has increased from938 women to 1,000 men in 1971 to 1,033 in 2011 and is projected to increase to 1,060 by 2026.
  • The report also noted that between 2000 and 2050, the population of 80-plus people would have grown 700% “with a predominance of widowed and highly dependent very old women”and so the special needs of such old women would need significant focus of policy and programmes.
• Financial issues: Retirement and dependence of elderly on their child for basic necessity.
  • Sudden increase in out-of-pocket expenses on treatment.
  • Migration of young working-age persons from rural area have negative impacts on the elderly, living alone or with only the spouse usually poverty and distress.
• Health: Multiple disabilities among the elders in old age.
  • Health issues like blindness, locomotor disabilities and deafness are most prevalent.
  • Mental illness arising from senility and neurosis.
  • Absence of geriatric care facilities at hospitals in rural area.
• Social issues:Indian society is undergoing rapid transformation under the impact of industrialization, urbanization, technical & technological change, education and globalization.
  • Consequently, the traditional values and institutions are in the process of erosion and adaptation, resulting in the weakening of intergenerational ties that were the hallmark of the traditional family.
  • Feeling of powerlessness, loneliness, uselessness and isolation in elderly.
  • Generational gap.

Roadmap for elderly care with passage of time

• Increasing the monthly pension of elderly to minimum of Rs 2,000 per month.
• Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Housing for the aged, particularly the aged poor, must be a priority.
• Assisted living facilities for indigent elderly, particularly those with age-related issues like dementia, needs policy focus.
• More tax benefits, or at least removing tax on deposit interest for seniors.
• Enhancing the geriatric care health infrastructure especially in rural area.
• Allocation of special budget for elderly population at both levels.
• Providing entertainment facilities like libraries and clubs at panchayat level.
• Appreciations for the contributions of elderlies at village level.

Conclusion

Social security is the concurrent responsibility of the central and state governments as, mandated under Indian constitution i.e., Well-being of senior citizens – Article 41 in particular and 46 in general of Indian constitution. In this regard, National Policy on Senior Citizen, 2011 was framed.

For the welfare and care for the older persons, we must focus on the protection of already existing social support systems/traditional social institutions such as family and kinship, neighbourhood bonding, community bonding and community participation must be revived and kins should show sensitivity towards elderly citizens.

General Studies – 2

3. Reforming and strengthening the cooperative sector can play a significant part to ensure its sustainability and benefit for scores of people. Analyse.

Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India

Introduction

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled. The need for profitability is balanced by the needs of the members and the wider interest of the community

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Importance of cooperatives:

• India is an agricultural country and laid the foundation of World’s biggest cooperative movement in the world.
• For instance, Amul deals with 16 million milk producers, 1,85,903 dairy cooperatives; 222 district cooperative milk unions; marketed by 28 state marketing federations.
• There are over 8 lakh cooperatives of all shapes and sizes across sectors in India
• In India, a Co-operative based economic development model is very relevant where each member works with a spirit of responsibility.
• It provides agricultural credits and fundswhere state and private sectors have not been able to do very much.
• It provides strategic inputsfor the agricultural-sector; consumer societies meet their consumption requirements at concessional rates.
• It is an organization for the poor who wish to solve their problems collectively.
• It softens the class conflictsand reduces the social cleavages.
• Itreduces the bureaucratic evils and follies of political factions;
• It overcomes the constraintsof agricultural development;
• It creates a conducive environment for small and cottage industries.

For women in particular:

• Increased Income: A study conducted on Women Dairy Cooperative Society (WDCS) members across Rajasthan showed that with the income generated through dairying, 31% of the women had converted their mud houses to cement structures, while 39% had constructed concrete sheds for their cattle.
• Provides Leadership lessons: Importantly, women-led cooperatives also provide fertile ground for grooming women from rural areas for leadership positions.
• Breaks barriers: In many instances, this becomes the first step for women in breaking free from traditional practices.
• Defeats Information Asymmetry: The presence of collectives in the form of cooperatives and milk unions plays a significant role in enhancing the knowledge and bargaining power of women
• Set up business chain: Cooperatives enhance backward and forward linkages in the dairy value chain, paving the way for freeing small farmers from the clutches of middlemen, and guaranteed minimum procurement price for milk.
• A study by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) indicates that 93% of women farmers who receive training alongside financial support succeed in their ventures, compared to the 57% success rate of those who receive financial aid alone.
• According to latest data, there are more than 1,90,000 dairy cooperative societies across the country, with approximately 6 million women members.

Challenges faced by Cooperatives currently:

• Cooperatives in India took a major hit after COVID with some either on ventilator support or banking on oxygen supply and with only a few fit and stable.
• Lack of genuine cooperation between the states and the centre wrt Cooperatives and centralization of power.
• There should be a focus on women cooperatives because they are less than three per cent of the 8 lakh cooperatives in the country.
• In the elections to the governing bodies, money became such a powerful tool that the top posts of chairman and vice-chairman usually went to the richest farmers who manipulated the organization for their benefits.
• People are not well informed about the objectives of the Movement, rules and regulations of co-operative institutions.
• Most of these societies are confined to a few members and their operations extended to only one or two villages.
• The Co-operative Movement has suffered from inadequacy of trained personnel.

Way forward:

• Principle of the cooperative movement is to unite everyone, even while remaining anonymous. The cooperative movement has the capacity to solve people’s problems.
• The pandemic seems to have increased the significance of community effort.
• Reducing vaccine hesitancy, providing food to those waiting outside hospitals and, most importantly, looking after orphaned childrenare imperatives crying out for the cooperative model.
• Implementing the steps provided by the Vaidyanathan committeeon credit cooperative societies.
• The idea of cooperatives must take the agenda beyond agriculture, milk, credit and housing cooperatives
• New areas are emerging with the advancement of technology and cooperative societies can play a huge role in making people familiar with those areas and technologies.
• There is a need to create more cooperatives with women at the helm of it.
• The irregularities in cooperatives need to be checked and the need of the hour is to have rules and stricter implementationof same.

General Studies – 3

4. Flash floods are sudden and dangerous events with severe consequences. Mitigating their impact requires a multi-pronged approach to build resilience in vulnerable areas. Analyse.

Reference: Hindustan Times

Introduction

Flash flooding is a specific type of flooding that occurs in a short time frame after a precipitation event – generally less than six hours. It often is caused by heavy or excessive rainfall and happens in areas near rivers or lakes, but it also can happen in places with no water bodies nearby.

At least 23 Army personnel went missing on Wednesday morning due to a flash flood in the Teesta river in Sikkim’s Lachen Valley..

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Causes

• flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts, sudden intense rainfall in a short period of time.
• Himalayan states additionally face the challenge of overflowing glacial lakes, increasingly formed due to the melting of glaciers.
• It happens more when rivers are narrow and steep.
• It also occurs in urban areas located near small rivers, as concretization prevents percolation of water as seen in cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, etc.
• Depression and cyclonic storms in the coastal areas of Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and others also cause flash floods.
• Wildfires, whose frequency is increasing with climate change, destroys forest and other vegetation, which in turn weakens the soil and makes it less permeable for water to seep through. It may result in increased Flash floods.
• Climate change/global warming has increased the frequency/numbers of the above events.

Consequences

• Flash floods can have devastating effects and a wide variety of side effects, from infrastructure and building damage to effects on vegetation, human and animal life, and livestock.
• Large debris and floodwaters can cause structural damage to bridges and roadways, making travel impossible.
• Power, telephone, and cable lines can be taken out by flash floods as well.
• Flood waters can disrupt or contaminate ground water, making tap water unfit for consumption.
• In urban locations, the consequences are particularly challenging to define.
• Rapid soil erosion can be a result of flash floods.
• Short-duration flash floods primarily affect the floodplain through sedimentation, causing little to no bedrock erosion or channel widening.
• Some wetland plants, like some types of rice, are prepared to withstand rapid flooding.
• However, floods can harm plants that grow well in drier environments because the excess water stresses the plants.

Way forward

• Monitoring on the ground in hilly areas.
• Planning development works in a way that is sensitive to the region’s ecology.
• Mitigation to reduce the extent of damages.
• India has launched first-of-its-kind Flash Flood Guidance services for India and other South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
• The Flash Flood Guidance is designed to provide warnings for flash floods about 6- 12 hrs. in advance.
• A comprehensive strategy of monitoring, planning development works in a way that is sensitive to the region’s ecology, and mitigation to reduce the extent of damages.

5. Explain the concept of mRNA vaccines, outlining their potential benefits in preventing infectious diseases like COVID-19, and discuss their limitations and challenges.

Reference: The Hindu

Introduction

mRNA vaccines are a type of vaccine that uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to instruct cells in the body to produce a specific viral protein, such as the spike protein of a COVID-19 virus. This protein triggers an immune response, helping the body build immunity against the virus. Notably, mRNA vaccines do not contain live or weakened viruses, making them safe and effective tools for preventing infectious diseases like COVID-19.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their research enabling the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

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How it works?

1. To produce an mRNA vaccine, scientists produce a synthetic version of the mRNA that a virus uses to build its infectious proteins.
2. This mRNA is delivered into the human body, whose cells read it as instructions to build that viral protein, and therefore create some of the virus’s molecules themselves.
3. These proteins are solitary, so they do not assemble to form a virus.
4. The immune system then detects these viral proteins and starts to produce a defensive response to them.

Significance of mRNA vaccines:

• There are two parts to our immune system: innate(the defences we’re born with) and acquired (which we develop as we come into contact with pathogens).
• Classical vaccine moleculesusually only work with the acquired immune system and the innate immune system is activated by another ingredient, called an adjuvant.
• Interestingly, mRNA in vaccines could also trigger the innate immune system,providing an extra layer of defence without the need to add adjuvants.

Benefits of mRNA vaccines

• mRNA vaccines are considered safe as mRNA is non-infectious, non-integrating in nature, and degraded by standard cellular mechanisms.
• As RNA vaccines are not constructed from an active pathogen (or even an inactivated pathogen), they are non-infectious. In contrast, traditional vaccines require the production of pathogens, which, if done at high volumes, could increase the risks of localized outbreaks of the virus at the production facility.
• They are highly efficacious because of their inherent capability of being translatable into the protein structure inside the cell cytoplasm.
• RNA vaccines can be produced faster, cheaper, and in a more standardized fashion (i.e. fewer error rates in production), which improves responsiveness to outbreaks.
• An additional ORF coding for a replication mechanism can be added to amplify antigen translation and therefore immune response, decreasing the amount of starting material needed.
• Additionally, mRNA vaccines are fully synthetic and do not require a host for growth, e.g., eggs or bacteria. Therefore, they can be quickly manufactured inexpensively to ensure their “availability” and “accessibility” for mass vaccination on a sustainable basis.

Shortcomings of mRNA vaccines

• The mRNA strand in the vaccine may precipitate an unexpected immune response. To reduce this, the mRNA vaccine sequence may affect the heredity of mammalian cells.
• The vaccine’s access to cells is extremely challenging because RNA in the body soon disintegrates.
• The storage of RNA vaccines needs to be very low temperature. Therefore, it will be stored only in those places where cold storage chain will exist.

Conclusion

According to an article by Thomas Schlake et al, in RNA Biology, RNA as a therapeutic was first promoted in 1989 after the development of a broadly applicable in vitro transfection technique. A couple of years later, mRNA was advocated as a vaccine platform. The refinement of the mRNA platform owes everything to COVID. Rapid advancements within a remarkable period of one year allowed the technology to gain several revolutionary steps ahead, in order for it to be used successfully to drive vaccines that work.

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

General Studies – 1

6. Discuss the factors that cause earthquakes. Why is Japan more prone to earthquakes? How has Japan adapted to it?

Reference: The Hindu , Insights on India

Introduction

Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust, resulting in seismic waves that generate ground shaking. This release of energy is usually due to the movement of tectonic plates beneath the Earth’s surface.

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Factors causing earthquakes

• Tectonic Plate Boundaries: Most earthquakes occur at the boundaries of tectonic plates. These plates are huge slabs of rock that make up the Earth’s lithosphere. There are three main types of plate boundaries:
  • Convergent Boundaries: Plates move towards each other. When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the denser oceanic plate is forced beneath the lighter continental plate in a process called subduction. This often leads to the formation of deep-sea trenches and volcanic activity. When two continental plates converge, they can create mountain ranges.
  • Divergent Boundaries: Plates move away from each other. This happens at mid-ocean ridges, where new crust is formed as magma rises from the mantle.
  • Transform Boundaries: Plates slide past each other. This motion can cause earthquakes along faults, which are fractures in the Earth’s crust.
• Faults: A fault is a fracture in the Earth’s crust along which movement has occurred. When stress along a fault exceeds the strength of the rocks, it can result in an earthquake.
• Volcanic Activity: Some earthquakes are associated with volcanic eruptions. The movement of magma beneath the Earth’s surface can cause the surrounding rock to fracture, leading to an earthquake.
• Human Activities: Certain human activities, such as mining, reservoir-induced seismicity (due to the weight of water in large reservoirs), and the injection or extraction of fluids into/from the Earth’s crust (e.g., hydraulic fracturing or geothermal energy extraction) can induce earthquakes.

Japan susceptibility to earthquakes

• Japan is in a region known as the “Ring of Fire,” which is an area in the Pacific Ocean basin known for its high seismic and volcanic activity.
• This region is characterized by numerous tectonic plate boundaries, including subduction zones where one plate is being forced beneath another.
• Specifically, the Pacific Plate is subducting beneath the North American Plate along the Japan Trench.
• This subduction process is the primary reason why Japan experiences frequent and powerful earthquakes. The energy released during subduction can result in devastating events, including tsunamis.

Measures taken by Japan for adaptation

• Building Codes and Construction: Japan has some of the strictest building codes in the world. Structures are designed and built to withstand seismic forces. This includes features like base isolators and damping systems.
• Early Warning Systems: Japan has an advanced earthquake early warning system. This allows for a few seconds to a few minutes of warning before the strongest shaking arrives, giving people time to take cover.
• Tsunami Preparedness: Due to the close relationship between earthquakes and tsunamis, Japan has an extensive system of tsunami warning and evacuation procedures in coastal areas.
• Education and Preparedness: There is a strong emphasis on earthquake education and preparedness in schools, workplaces, and communities. Regular drills and training exercises are conducted.
• Infrastructure Resilience: Critical infrastructure, such as bridges, highways, and airports, are designed to withstand seismic forces.
• Public Awareness: There are public awareness campaigns to educate citizens about earthquake risks and safety measures.

Conclusion

These efforts serve as a model for other regions prone to earthquakes, showcasing the importance of preparedness, public awareness, and engineering solutions in minimizing the impact of these natural disasters on human lives and infrastructure. Japan’s proactive approach stands as a testament to the power of human ingenuity and collective effort in the face of nature’s formidable forces.

General Studies – 2

7. One of the primary limitations of citizen charters in India is their non-binding nature. They do not have the force of law, which means that there are no legal consequences for government agencies if they fail to meet the commitments outlined in the charters. Examine.

Reference: Insights on India

Introduction

A Citizens’ Charter represents the commitment of the Organisation towards standard, quality and time frame of service delivery, grievance redress mechanism, transparency and accountability. The concept of Citizens Charter enshrines the trust between the service provider and its users.

 Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in Government of India (DARPG) initiated the task of coordinating, formulating and operationalising Citizen’s Charters.

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The basic objective of the Citizens Charter is to empower the citizen in relation to public service delivery.

Importance of Citizen’s charter in the Governance of developing nation like India:

• To make administration accountable and citizen friendly.
• To ensure transparency.
• To take measures to improve customer service.
• To adopt a stakeholder approach.
• To save time of both Administration and the citizen

Problems faced in implementation of Citizen’s charter:

• One size fits all: Tendency to have a uniform CC for all offices under the parent organization. CC have still not been adopted by all Ministries/Departments. This overlooks local issues.
• Silo operations: Devoid of participative mechanisms in a majority of cases, not formulated through a consultative process with cutting edge staff who will finally implement it.
• Non-Dynamic: Charters are rarely updated making it a one-time exercise, frozen in time.
• Poor design and content: lack of meaningful and succinct CC, absence of critical information that end-users need to hold agencies accountable.
• Lack of public awareness: only a small percentage of end-users are aware of the commitments made in the CC since effective efforts of communicating and educating the public about the standards of delivery promise have not been undertaken.
• Stakeholders not consulted: End-users, Civil society organizations and NGOs are not consulted when CCs are drafted. Since a CC’s primary purpose is to make public service delivery more citizen-centric, consultation with stakeholders is a must.
• Measurable standards of delivery are rarely defined: making it difficult to assess whether the desired level of service has been achieved or not.
• Poor adherence: Little interest shown by the organizations in adhering to their CC. since there is no citizen friendly mechanism to compensate the citizen if the organization defaults.

Way forward:

• Wide consultation process: CC be formulated after extensive consultations within the organization followed by a meaningful dialogue with civil society.
• Participatory process: Include Civil Society in the process: to assist in improvement in the contents of the Charter, its adherence as well as educating the citizens about the importance of this vital mechanism.
• Firm commitments to be made: CC must be precise and make firm commitments of service delivery standards to the citizens/consumers in quantifiable terms wherever possible.
• Redressal mechanism in case of default: clearly lay down the relief which the organization is bound to provide if it has defaulted on the promised standards of delivery.
• One size does not fit all: formulation of CC should be a decentralized activity with the head office providing only broad guidelines.
• Periodic updation of CC: preferably through an external agency.
• Fix responsibility: Hold officers accountable for results: fix specific responsibility in cases where there is a default in adhering to the CC.

Conclusion

Citizen’s Charter is playing a prominent part in ensuring “minimum government & maximum governance”, changing the nature of charters from non-justiciable to justiciable & adopting penalty measures that will make it more efficient & citizen friendly. The Sevottam model proposed by 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission for public Service Delivery can be regarded as a standard model for providing services in citizen centric governance.

8. When people prioritize their religious, caste or ethnic identity above their national identity, it can create rifts and tensions among different communities undermining national unity. Examine.

Reference: The Hindu

Introduction

Communalism is basically an ideology which consists of three elements:

• A belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular interests i.e. they have same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio- political communalities arise.
• A notion that, in a multi-religious society like India, these common secular interests of one religion is dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion.
• The interests of the follower of the different religion or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile.

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Factors responsible for growth of Communalism in India:

• A Legacy of Past:
  • On the basis of the “Two Nation” theory of Jinnah, India was partitioned. Communal politics had played its nasty game during the immediate past of independent India. The “Divide and Rule” policy of the British Government served their colonial interest. The partition of India was the ultimate outcome of their politics.
• Presence of Communal Parties:
  • Religion in India has become an important agency of political socialization and it is also reflected in the ideology of a number of political parties. A number of communal and sectarian political parties and organisations are present in India. Muslim League, Jamaat—Islami, Hindu Mahasabha, Akali Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad are directly or indirectly responsible for the emergence of communalism.
• Isolation of Muslims:
  • Indian Muslims have developed a tendency of isolationism even long after the creation of Pakistan. They remain aloof from the mainstream of national politics. Most of them are not interested to take part in the secular-nationalistic politics of the country. They insist on to be treated as a separate entity.
• Poverty:
  • Mass poverty and unemployment create a sense of frustration among the people. It generates backwardness, illiteracy, ignorance, etc. The unemployed youth of both the communities can be easily trapped by religious fundamentalists and fanatics. They are used by them to cause communal riots. The weak economic status often breeds communalism.
• Hindu Chauvinism:
  • The growths of Hindu chauvinistic attitudes have further strengthened the communal tensions in India. The Hindu religious groups like Shiv Sena, Hindu Mahasabha, Viswa Hindu Parisad often pressurize the government to take steps suitable to the interest of Hindus. They consider each Muslim as pro-Pakistani and anti-national. To face the possible challenge of other communal forces, they encourage the growth of Hindu communalism.
• Social Cause:
  • The two major communities of India have been suspicious towards each other. The Muslims complain of the threat of Hindu cultural invasion upon their lives and have become more assertive of their rights. Either due to ignorance or insecurity, they do not fully accept the need of family planning and help in increasing population.
• Communalization of Politics:
  • Electoral politics in India has become more expensive and competitive. Different political parties are not hesitating to use any means, fair or foul, for electoral victory. They even create communal tensions and try to take political advantage out of it. Concessions are granted to various minority groups for appeasing them.
• Cross-Border factors:
  • Communal tensions in India sometimes are highly intensified due to the rule of two neighbouring theocratic countries. These countries try to create communal problems in the border states. The communal problems of Punjab and Jammu Kashmir are caused due to provocation of Pakistan. So long as this cross-border factor is not removed, communal problems are likely to stay in India.
• Failure of Government:
  • Both the Union and the State Governments often fail to prevent communalism in the country. Due to lack of prior information, they fail to take any preventive measures. So the communal violence can easily take innocent lives and destroys property. The post-Godhra riot in Gujarat shows the inefficiency of the government to control the communal riot. Failure of immediate and effective steps has been a cause of the continuance of communalism.

Ramification of Communalism:

• Genocides: With mass killings, the real sufferers are the poor, who lose their house, their near and dear ones, their lives, their livelihood, etc. It violates the human rights from all direction. Sometimes children lose their parents and will become orphan for a lifetime.
• Ghettoization and refugee problem are other dimensions of communalism induced violence, whether its inter country or intra country.
• Sudden increase in violence against any particular community causes mass exodus and stampede which in turn kills many number of people. For example, this was seen in the case of Bangalore in 2012, with respect to people from North eastern states, which was stimulated by a rumour.
• Apart from having effect on the society, it is also a threat to Indian constitutional values, which promotes secularism and religious tolerance. In that case, citizens don’t fulfil their fundamental duties towards the nation.
• It becomes a threat for the unity and integrity of the nation as a whole. It promotes only the feeling of hatred in all directions, dividing the society on communal lines.
• Minorities are viewed with suspicion by all, including state authorities like police, para-military forces, army, intelligence agencies, etc. There have been many instances when people from such community have been harassed and detained and finally have been released by court orders guilt free. For this, there is no provision for compensation of such victims, about their livelihood incomes forgone, against social stigmas and emotional trauma of the families.
• Barrier for development: Communal activities occurring frequently do harm the human resource and economy of the country. And then again it takes years for the people and the affected regions to come out the traumas of such violence, having deep impact on minds of those who have faced it. They feel emotionally broken and insecure.
• Terrorism and Secessionism: As seen during the Khalistan movement in Punjab.

Steps to be taken to prevent communalism

• Economic:
  • Poverty is one of the major factors for communal violence. Poverty alleviation measures are thus important for promoting communal harmony.
  • Eradicating the problem of unemployment among the youths, illiteracy and poverty and that too with honesty and without any discrimination.
  • Reducing educational and economic backwardness of minorities like Muslims.
  • This can uplift their socio-economic status and reduce their deprivation compared to Hindus
• Social:
  • The religious leaders and preachers should promote rational and practical things through religion promoting peace and security.
  • Children in schools must be taught through textbooks and pamphlets to maintain brotherhood and respect for all religions
  • Creating awareness in the society about the ill effects of communism through mass media
• Political:
  • Political communism should be avoided recent Supreme court’s directives
  • Identification and mapping of riot prone areas. For Example, Delhi police used drones to monitor to maintain vigil during communal festivals
  • Media, movies and other cultural platforms can be influential in promoting peace and harmony.
  • Social Media should be monitored for violent and repulsive content and taken off immediately.
• Recommendations of Committee on National Integration
  • Joint celebration of community festivals
  • Observing restraint by Hindus while taking processions before the mosques
  • Formation of peace and brotherhood communities at local level to prevent anti-social elements from engaging in communal riots
  • Respect for religious customs, rituals and practices

Conclusion

In a vast country like India which is made up of diverse cultures, backgrounds, religions, identities etc. it really requires to maintain a sense of equality among its citizen to provide a meaning to the term democracy. The core reason behind all these discrimination are based on the nature of unacceptance of diversities. We tend to commit heinous crimes to eradicate the population which chooses a different set of traditions to follow. But these intolerance can lead India to get collapsed from being a secular country to communal. And India is known to the world by the term “diversity”. It is beautiful when the people irrespective of their differences are co-existing.

General Studies – 3

9. e-RUPI (Digital Rupee) could spur e-payments in India to take a leap towards better systemic stability and play a pivotal role in extending financial services to unbanked and under-banked populations. Discuss.

Reference: Live Mint

 Introduction

e-RUPI is a one-time contactless, cashless voucher-based mode of payment that helps users redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app, or internet banking access. It is  basically a digital voucher which a beneficiary gets on his phone in the form of an SMS or QR code.  It is a pre-paid voucher, which he/she can go and redeem it at any centre that accepts it.

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Benefits of e-RUPI:

To the Consumer

• e-RUPI does not require the beneficiary to have a bank account, a major distinguishing feature as compared to other digital payment forms.
• It ensures an easy, contactless two-step redemption process that does not require sharing of personal details either.
• Another advantage is that  e-RUPI is operable on basic phones also, and hence it can be used by persons who do not own smart-phones or in places that lack internet connection.
• Only mobile phone and e-voucher required – Users redeeming the voucher need not have a digital payment app or a bank account.
• Safe and Secure: Beneficiaries do not need to share personal details and hence their privacy is maintained.

To the sponsors

• e-RUPI is expected to play a major role in strengthening Direct-Benefit Transfer and making it more transparent.
• Since, there is no need for physical issuance of vouchers, it will also lead to some cost savings as well.

To the Service Providers.

• Being a prepaid voucher, e-RUPI would assure real time payments to the service provider.
• Visibility for voucher utilisation – Voucher redemption can be tracked by the issuer
• Quick, safe & contactless voucher distribution

e-RUPI is the first step towards the adoption of digital currency in India

• The main objective and long-term vision behind e-RUPI is to reach 190 million unbanked citizens, fold them into a formal financial system, and close part of the digital gap.
• This digital payment system can provide equal access to financial, healthcare, and welfare services to each and every citizen of our country.
• The government is already working on developing a central bank digital currency and the launch of e-RUPI could potentially highlight the gaps in digital payments infrastructure that will be necessary for the success of the future digital currency.
• This new transfer system could be put to widespread use in public- service delivery, as it allows for money to be spent only for intended purposes and reaches the correct beneficiary.
• With the government’s focus on direct benefit transfers for assorted welfare programmes, the e-Rupi can prove pivotal in terms of preventing leakages and providing last-mile connectivity for routine state provisions and other forms of support.
• Reduced cash utilisation, especially when an institution is distributing benefits. This can have significant adverse tailwinds for companies like Sodexo, if organisations use a part of their kitty to issue purpose specific e-RUPI – such as learning allowance on specific portals.

Challenges:

• Rural-urban divide, both in terms of technology and access to banking infrastructure.
• A large gap still exists in terms of internet access. As per the latest data available from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there are 34.6 rural internet subscribers per 100 people in the country, as opposed to 104 in urban areas (as on end December 2020).
• Internet penetration also varies widely across states. Internet subscribers per 100 persons ranges from 210 in Delhi and 87.6 in Punjab to 40.8 in Uttar Pradesh and 32.9 in Bihar.
• There are around 190 million unbanked citizens in our country, residing mostly in rural parts.
• As the existing digital payment methods require a bank account and internet/smartphone, until these gaps are filled, complete financial inclusion will remain a developmental challenge.

Way forward:

• The M-Pesa in Kenya can be an example on which e-RUPI can build on.
• e-Rupi has been announced just for specific purposes, but it could be scaled up massively.
• In the US, there is the system of education vouchers or school vouchers, which is a certificate of government funding for students selected for state-funded education to create a targeted delivery system. This could be emulated in India too.

10. Due to instances of spyware being used by governments to monitor and potentially harm individuals, including activists and journalists, there is a need for greater regulation and accountability in their usage. Comment.

Reference: The Hindu

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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Background

• Spyware has been used for surveilling a political opponent in a country.
• In 2021, investigations under the Pegasus Project revealed the massive scale of potential targets of spyware — more than 50,000 phone numbers in 50 countries.
• Reports shared that victims of the spyware attacks were in India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
• The Pegasus spyware was also reportedly used by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to target journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s wife months before his death.
• Khashoggi, a U.S. resident, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was a known critic of the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

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 bandwidt
  • 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.

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