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
Reference: Down to Earth , Down to Earth
Introduction
Carrying capacity-based development plans refer to strategies and policies that take into account the ecological and environmental limitations of a particular area in order to ensure sustainable development. The concept of carrying capacity revolves around the idea that every region or ecosystem has a maximum level of human activity or development it can support without causing long-term environmental degradation.
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Carrying capacity based development: Concept
- The concept of carrying capacity originated in the 1800s and found its initial use in ecology and theories of planetary boundaries.
- Over decades, the term ‘urban carrying capacity’ (UCC) evolved. This provided a theoretical foundation for determining the maximum potential population that could be supported without environmental degradation, based on the inherent limit of a given urban area.
- More recent literature on UCC has expanded the concept beyond ecology by including economic, social and infrastructure initiatives.
Vitality of carrying capacity-based development planning
- Economic Planning: Through careful analysis of resource availability and requirements of economy appropriate strategies can be developed for optimal use of resources while minimising adverse ecological impacts.
- Population Control: based on the carrying capacity of a region. For example, fertile Gangetic plains can support a higher population, but the same population growth is unsustainable in the Himalayan region. Thus, population policy has to be tweaked accordingly.
- Biodiversity Conservation: National Parks and Wildlife sanctuaries need a balance between animal population and prey base/ resources available. Animal population beyond the carrying capacity of forests leads to man-animal conflicts.
- Agriculture Management: agriculture practices must reflect the carrying capacity of the soil water-scarce regions growing water-intensive crops is a recipe for ecological disaster.
- Urban Planning: Every urban area must provide some basic urban amenities. Growth of population beyond carrying capacity of Urban services leads to development of slums, pollution, inadequate waste and sewage disposal, etc. It diminishes the living standards in urban areas and has long term health impacts on inhabitants.
- Food security: Today we have more population that our food resources human feed adequately. We have already passed our carrying capacity, but if it continues further, we are in danger of widespread food shortage.
Himalayan ecosystem and carrying capacity based planning: Need
- Fragile Ecosystems: The Himalayan region is characterized by fragile ecosystems, including diverse flora and fauna, as well as sensitive geological features. Unplanned and excessive development can disrupt these ecosystems, leading to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and other environmental issues.
- Natural Hazards: Himalayan towns are prone to natural hazards such as landslides, earthquakes, and flash floods. Carrying capacity-based development plans take these risks into consideration to ensure that human settlements are located and designed in ways that minimize vulnerability to such hazards.
- Water Resources: The Himalayan region is the source of several major rivers. Unregulated development can negatively impact water resources through deforestation, pollution, and alterations to river courses. Carrying capacity-based plans aim to manage water resources sustainably, recognizing the importance of rivers for both local communities and downstream regions.
- Cultural Heritage: Himalayan towns often have rich cultural heritage and traditional practices. Development plans should consider the preservation of cultural values, historical sites, and traditional livelihoods. Balancing modern development with cultural preservation is a key aspect of carrying capacity-based planning.
- Tourism Impact: The Himalayas attract a significant number of tourists. While tourism can contribute to the local economy, uncontrolled tourism can lead to environmental degradation and strain on local resources. Carrying capacity-based plans seek to regulate tourism activities to ensure sustainable practices.
- Infrastructure and Services: Due to the challenging terrain, providing infrastructure and services in the Himalayan region can be complex. Carrying capacity-based development plans consider the limits of the region’s infrastructure and aim to develop sustainable solutions that meet the needs of the population without overburdening the ecosystem.
- Climate Change Vulnerability: The Himalayas are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including glacial melting and altered precipitation patterns. Carrying capacity-based plans factor in climate change considerations to build resilience and adaptability into development strategies.
- Community Involvement: In carrying capacity-based planning, there is often an emphasis on involving local communities in decision-making processes. Local knowledge and community participation can provide valuable insights into the specific challenges and opportunities in the region.
Conclusion
Carrying capacity-based development plans in Himalayan towns aim to strike a balance between human development and environmental conservation. These plans consider the unique ecological characteristics of the region, prioritize sustainability, and seek to ensure that development activities do not compromise the long-term health and resilience of the Himalayan ecosystems.
Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India
Introduction
Semiconductor fabrication is the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices, such as microcontrollers, memory chips, and computer processors. This process involves a series of nanofabrication processes performed on the surface of substrates made from highly pure single crystal silicon.
Semiconductor chips are the basic building blocks that serve as the heart and brain of all modern electronics and information and communications technology products. These chips are now an integral part of contemporary automobiles, household gadgets and essential medical devices such as ECG machines.
Semiconductor shortage is turning into an acute issue. Due to it, the growth prospects of the auto industry are once again in jeopardy. This issue also offers immense opportunity for India to foray in to Integrated Circuits and Chip design.
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Applications of semiconductor
- The modern economy needs all kinds of chips in great quantities, for everything from computers, telecommunication gear, robots, medical equipment, watches, industrial machines.
- Semiconductor chips go into computers, phones, server farms that store data. They are used to control the launch of missiles and in their guidance systems.
- Chips are embedded in warplanes, submarines, aircraft carriers. At present, all the silicon needed in these critical pieces of strategic equipment is imported. If we do not have fool proof access to all the silicon that our strategic capability needs, all the time, India can bid goodbye to its goal of strategic autonomy, to be a regional, if not a global power.
- India has its own nuclear energy programme, a space programme and, drawing on these two, a programme to build nuclear weapons and delivery mechanisms.
- India does not want to take shelter under another country’s nuclear umbrella when confronting a nuclear-armed hostile power.
- External dependence for vital semiconductors is the chink in India’s armour.
Factors affecting location of semi-conductor industry
- Workforce: Skilled labor is crucial for semiconductor operations, and the cost of labor should be reasonable
- Technology: Efficient technology is needed to convert silicon wafers into chips cost-effectively
- Government Support: Incentives from governments encourage investment in research and development
- Export Facility: Good transport connectivity is essential due to these industries’ global value chain involvement
- Utility Infrastructure: Considerations include electric, water, wastewater, and gases needed for chipmaking over a 10-20 year ramp-up period
- Ecosystems: The presence of a semiconductor ecosystem can be a critical factor in location decisions
- Time Horizons: Success factors across near-term and long-term horizons are important, including site suitability, talent presence, utility readiness, and future trends like climate change and water sustainability
Measures undertaken by Government of India to strengthen semiconductor ecosystem
- Setting bold targets like net zero imports by 2030.
- Production linked incentive scheme – Electronics companies receive subsidies based on their incremental production over previous year.
- National policy on electronics, 2019 – It targets cluster-based development of this industry.
- 100 percent FDI has been permitted.
- Increasing ease of doing business and expediting approval of new electronics parks.
- Skill India mission is being utilised to create a large pool of skilled labour that this industry needs.
- Sovereign patents fund – Government will buy patents from electronics companies, and license MSMEs to enable cost effective production of patented electronics.
- Revised scheme for exports namely RoDTEP to help this sector.
Conclusion
The Govt of India has rightly embarked on a bold industrial policy that would help lay the groundwork India requires over the next decade. More such incentives and spending will be needed in the future, as India isn’t the only country looking to build a base in chips right now. Gaining a measure of control on semiconductors is of strategic importance to every country.
General Studies – 2
Reference: Insights on India
Introduction
Smart governance mechanisms are becoming more receptive to the potentials of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to achieve good governance in its implementation. This application of ICTs for governance is covered under the umbrella term of E-governance.
India, being the one of the largest countries democratically, demographically and geographically faces a huge challenge in the application of e-governance to empower its citizens and for overall economic development, more specifically in the rural areas.
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Smart Governance: Advantages
- Data Driven Governance: Technology facilitates communication. The Internet and smartphones have enabled instant transmission of high volumes of data that acts as a fodder for effective governance.
- Costs Saving: A lot of Government expenditure goes towards the cost of buying stationery for official purposes.
- Letters and written records consume a lot of stationery. However, replacing them with smartphones and the internet can save crores of money in expenses every year.
- Transparency: The use of e-governance helps make all functions of the business transparent. All official information can be uploaded onto the internet.
- The citizens specifically access whichever information they want, whenever they want it, at their convenience.
- Accountability: Transparency directly links to accountability. Once the functions and information of the governance is available to the citizens, the government is more accountable to its actions.
- Land Record Monitoring: A vast developing country like India, with its diverse land tenure system requires effective land monitoring.
- In order to ensure that transactions related to properties are not fraudulent, along with physical transactions, online record maintenance is a key feature of e-governance in India.
Initiatives to promote smart governance
- MyGov: It aims to establish a link between Government and Citizens towards meeting the goal of good governance. It encourages citizens as well as people abroad to participate in various activities i.e. ‘Do’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Poll’, ‘Talk’, ‘Blog’, etc.
- DigiLocker: It serves as a platform to enable citizens to securely store and share their documents with service providers who can directly access them electronically.
- e-Hospital-Online Registration Framework (ORF): It is an initiative to facilitate the patients to take online OPD appointments with government hospitals. This framework also covers patient care, laboratory services and medical record management.
- National Scholarships Portal (NSP): It provides a centralized platform for application and disbursement of scholarship to students under any scholarship scheme.
- DARPAN: It is an online tool that can be used to monitor and analyze the implementation of critical and high priority projects of the State. It facilitates presentation of real time data on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of selected schemes/projects to the senior functionaries of the State Government as well as district administration.
- PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation): It has been aimed at starting a culture of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. It is also a robust system for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability with realtime presence and exchange among the key stakeholders. It was launched in 2015.
- Common Services Centres 2.0 (CSC 2.0): It is being implemented to develop and provide support to the use of information technology in rural areas of the country. The CSCs are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enabled kiosks with broadband connectivity to provide various Governments, private and social services at the doorstep of the citizen.
- Mobile Seva: It provides government services to the people through mobile phones and tablets.
- Jeevan Pramaan: It is an Aadhaar based Biometric Authentication System for Pensioners. The system provides authenticity to Digital Life Certificate without the necessity of the pensioner being present in person before his/ her Pension Dispensing Authority (PDA).
- National Centre of Geo-informatics (NCoG): Under this project, Geographic Information System (GIS) platform for sharing, collaboration, location based analytics and decision support system for Departments has been developed.
- National e-Governance Plan (NeGP): It takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision and a shared cause. It comprises of 31 Mission Mode Projects, approved in 2006, but later it was integrated into Digital India Program.
Conclusion
Different States in India are at different levels of e-readiness; while implementing e-Governance reforms in different parts of the country, this aspect has to be kept in mind. Today, there are a number of successful projects running in the country. but there are very few which are on a nation-wide basis. There is a need to replicate and upscale successful models evenly throughout the country.
General Studies – 3
Reference: The Hindu
Introduction
The Fair and Remunerative Pricing (FRP) is used in sugarcane industry to replace the MSP, it is based on the Rangarajan Committee report of reorganizing the sugarcane industry. The committee found that in the production of sugar, 70% of the input cost is sugarcane. This FRP method is useful in times when the sugar prices are high but the FRP method ask the sugar companies to pay the farmer the MSP for sugar when the sugar and hence sugarcane price is low.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved ₹340/quintal as the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane for sugar season 2024-25 at 10.25% sugar recovery rate.
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Determination of FRP:
- The pricing of sugarcane is governed by the statutory provisions of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 issued under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955.
- Prior to 2009-10 sugar season, the Central Government was fixing the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane and farmers were entitled to share profits of a sugar mill on 50:50 basis.
- As this sharing of profits remained virtually unimplemented, the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 was amended in October, 2009 and the concept of SMP was replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane.
- A new clause ‘reasonable margins for growers of sugarcane on account of risk and profits’ was inserted as an additional factor for working out FRP and this was made effective from the 2009-10 sugar season.
- The Federal/Central Government announces Fair and Remunerative Prices which are determined on the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) and are announced by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is chaired by Prime Minister.
- The FRP, the minimum price that mills have to pay to cane growers, every year before start of the sugarcane crushing season.
Issues with respect to fair and remunerative price (FRP) of sugarcane:
- FRPs would adversely affect the financial health of the sugar factories in times of low sugar prices where the companies has to pay the MSP even though the sugar prices are low.
- The FRPs are not market-based and are priced at artificially inflated levels by governments.
- This, in turn, puts pressure on the sugar mills who have to purchase the crop from the farmers at these inflated FRPs.
- And while the government has raised ethanol prices dramatically to help sugar mills find an alternative source of demand to pay for the excessively priced sugarcane, once oil prices fall to reasonable levels, oil PSUs won’t be able to afford the ethanol.
Way forward
- Rangarajan committee (2012) proposed decontrol of sugar industry and linking sugarcane prices with market price of sugar to account for this structural imbalance.
- Based on the report, Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommended a hybrid approach of fixing sugarcane prices, which involved fair and remunerative price (FRP) or floor price and revenue sharing formula (RSF). Under this approach farmers’ revenue from sugarcane would be higher if the price of sugar and by-products is high.
- This is similar to many other committees formed by the government to recommend the sugar industry decontrol. Committees under Mahajan (1998), Tuteja (2004), Thorat (2009) and Nandakumar (2010) had similar recommendations.
- Ease the market control of government on export and import. The move is to help India (17% of world production) to enable its exports (only 4% of world export), but leaving it all to the market is risky.
- Do away with minimum distance between mills to enable competition.
- The new national policy on biofuels 2018, expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of Sugarcane Juice.
- Policy modifications to increase the ethanol blending vis-à-vis the foreign countries like Australia which has 85% blending. Better prices for ethanol can also help in export of the same.
- To diversify crops and ensure that sugarcane production falls. This requires long-term investment, and the government will have to encourage farmers to cultivate crops like pulses and oilseeds.
- Better irrigation techniques to reduce the water usage.
- Reducing the information asymmetry to improve farmer’s knowledge about the possible output in a year using Bigdata technique.
Value Addition:
Background:
- The fair & remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane has been increased to ₹290 per quintal for 2021-22, which will be based on 10% recovery. If recovery is less than 9.5%, then farmers will be given ₹275 per quintile.
- In FRP, the farmer is paid 70% of the total turnover of the company if only the sugar turnover is considered and 75% of the total turnover if other products like bagasse and molasses etc are also considered.
- The approval is the highest ever FRP, approved for sugarcane farmers and the decision will benefit 5 crore sugarcane farmers & their dependents, as well as 5 lakh workers employed in sugar mills and related ancillary activities
- The CACP is required to pay due regard to the statutory factors listed in the Control Order, which are
- the cost of production of sugarcane;
- the return to the grower from alternative crops and the general trend of prices of agricultural commodities;
- the availability of sugar to the consumers at a fair price;
- the price of sugar;
- the recovery rate of sugar from sugarcane;
- the realization made from sale of by-products viz. molasses, bagasse and press mud or their imputed value (inserted in December, 2008) and;
- reasonable margins for growers of sugarcane on account of risk and profits (inserted in October, 2009).
- States also announce a price called the State Advisory Price (SAP), which is usually higher than the SMP.
Reference: The Print , Insights on India
Introduction
Black money includes all funds earned through illegal activity and otherwise legal income that is not recorded for tax purposes. Black money proceeds are usually received in cash from underground economic activity and, as such, are not taxed. Recipients of black money must hide it, spend it only in the underground economy, or attempt to give it the appearance of legitimacy through money laundering.
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Impacts of Black Money
- Loss of Revenue:
- Black money eats up a part of the tax and, thus, the government’s deficit increases.
- The government has to balance this deficit by increasing taxes, decreasing subsidies and increasing borrowings.
- Borrowing leads to a further increase in the government’s debt due to interest burden. If the government is unable to balance the deficit, it has to decrease spending, which affects development.
- Money Circulation:
- People generally tend to keep black moneyin the form of gold, immovable property and other secret manners.
- Such money does not become part of the main economy and, therefore, remains generally out of circulation.
- The black money keeps circulating among the wealthy and creates more opportunities for them.
- Higher Inflation:
- The infusion of unaccounted black money in the economy leads to higher inflation, which obviously hits the poor the most.
- It also increases the disparity between the rich and the poor.
- Others
- Due to parallel economy, neither government nor industries get actual picture of investment sentiments. This creates market distortions.
- Black money means loss of tax revenue to the government. This reduces government’s capacity to spend more on social infrastructure.
- Corruption in government projects and procurements creates low quality infrastructure.
- As the RBI and government have no control over black money. This makes difficult for RBI to effectively target inflation and government also face problem while deciding fiscal policy.
- Black money is further driving up the prices of real estate.
- Black money generated from drugs and smuggling is being used to operate terror networks. This threatens national security.
- Black money further increases the inequality and poverty.
- There is a distortion in investment in economy. With black money the investment is made in high end and luxury goods.
- Forward trading of goods by cash rich speculators cause fluctuation in prices due to hoarding.
- Black money leads to further corruption by creating a vicious cycle.
- Generating black money means that quality is compromised in public sector projects where black money is used to manipulate tenders and offer kickbacks.
Measures undertaken by Government to curb Black money
- Legislative Framework:
- Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
- Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 1988
- Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
- The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015
- Public Procurement Bill
- Lokpal and Lokayukta Act
- Tax Reforms:
- Rationalization of income tax with greater tax base and lower taxes.
- Tax deduction at source in which the tax is deducted from the payment itself by the payee.
- Institutional measures:
- CBDT
- Enforcement Directorate
- Financial Intelligence Unit
- Central Board of Excise and Customs
- Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
- Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)
- NIA
- CBI
- Police authorities
- Voluntary Disclosure Schemes: The government allows reporting black money generated through tax evasion in a given time frame, as government has given in the Black Money Bill passed this year. During 2006-2012 government has reported nearly 26000 crore black money.
- Demonetisation: In 1978 and 2016 government demonetised high value notes to tackle black money.
- Encouraging Cashless transactions: Recently government has taken many initiatives like UPI, RuPay cards, Jan Dhan Accounts to promote digital payments. Government is also incentivising digital payments.
- International Cooperation:
- Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
- Automatic exchange of Tax information
- Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of USA
- Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
- Financial Action Task Force
- United Nations Convention against Corruption
- United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
- Egmont Group
- Transfer Pricing Agreement of G20.
Way forward
- Appropriate legislative framework related to Public Procurement, Prevention of Bribery of foreign officials, citizens grievance redressal, whistleblowerprotection, UID Aadhar is needed.
- Setting up and strengthening institutions dealing with illicit money: Directorate of Criminal Investigation Cell for Exchange of Information, Income Tax Overseas Units- ITOUs at Mauritius and Singapore have been very useful, Strengthening the Foreign TAX, Tax Research and Investigation Division of the CBDT.
- Electoral Reforms: Appropriate reforms areneeded to reduce money power in elections, since elections are one of the biggest channels to utilize the black money.
- Training Personnel: Both domestic and international training to personnel for effective actionpertaining to the concerned area can also help.
- For instance, the Financial Intelligence Unit-Indiamakes proactive efforts to regularly upgrade the skills of its employees by providing them opportunities for training on anti-money laundering, terrorist financing, and related economic issues.
- Incentivising Bank Transactions: To curb the menace of black money, industry bodyFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has suggested incentivisation of transactions through banking channels and a suitable framework for taxation of agricultural income.
- Besides, it suggested reforms in the real estate sector and creation of IT infrastructure to track tax evasion.
Answer the following questions in 250 words(15 marks each):
General Studies – 1
Reference: The Print
Introduction
The ‘NaMo Drone Didi Initiative’ was announced by PM Modi on 15 August last year to train 15,000 women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the use of agricultural drones. The idea is to offer farmers assistance in agricultural operations, such as crop monitoring, spraying fertilizers, and sowing seeds, thus helping rural women achieve self-sufficiency while simultaneously making the sector less labour-intensive.
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Objective of NaMo drone Didi
- The scheme is aimed at training and equipping 15,000 women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with agricultural drones.
- The idea is to offer farmers assistance in agricultural operations, such as crop monitoring, spraying fertilizers, and sowing seeds.
- This scheme will help rural women achieve self-sufficiency while simultaneously making the sector less labour-intensive.
About the scheme
- This scheme was launched under the flagship Lakhpati Didi project, with an investment of Rs. 1261 crore.
- Drones will be given to female Self-Help Groups (SHGs)so they can use this technology to support their livelihoods.
- Currently, there are 81 drone training centres,imparting basic drone operating skills to women.
- District authorities such as local collectors help handpick the women who could be recommended for training.
- The National Rural Livelihood Mission, under which these women self-groups come, also recommends candidates.
- Once they finish the course, these women get the Remote Pilot Certificate(RPC), the certification required to fly drones, from the DGCA and can take up assignments as ‘Drone Didis’.
- Since its official launch, the central government bears 80 percent cost of these drones while the trainees pay the rest.
- In the interim budget announced this year, the government earmarked Rs 500 crore for the ‘NaMo Drone Didi’ initiative.
Benefits and positive impact of the scheme on SHGs
- Empowerment of Rural Women: It enables women’s Self-Help Groups, to rent these drones to farmers for agricultural purposes, thus playing a key role in rural economies.
- Modernizing Agriculture:It introduces advanced technology in agriculture. For example, the use of drones for the foliar application of innovative liquid fertilizers like Nano Urea and Nano DAP.
- Employment Opportunities:Creates jobs for rural women in drone operation and maintenance, supporting the government’s push for indigenous drone aeronautics development.
- Safety and Efficiency in Farming: Replaces traditional, hazardous methods like hand-held pumps for spraying pesticides and fertilizers, reducing risks and increasing efficiency. This’ll enhance crop yield and reduce cost of operation for the benefit of farmers.
- Reduced Physical Hardship for Farmers:The use of drones for agricultural tasks alleviates the physical strain traditionally associated with farming activities.
Conclusion
To ensure the success of the NAMO Drone Didi Scheme, continuous training for women in drone technology is crucial. Strengthening rural infrastructure and providing financial support to SHGs will also be key. Furthermore, fostering partnerships with tech companies can enhance the scheme’s technological aspect.
General Studies – 2
Reference: The Print
Introduction
In order to meet a long-standing demand to establish a mechanism for dealing complaints on corruptions against public functionaries, including corruption at high places, the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 was enacted.
The Lokpal would deal with complaints against ministers and secretaries at Central and state levels, and the lokayukta (one at the Centre and one in every state) would deal with complaints against other specified higher officials. The ARC kept the judiciary outside the purview of Lokpal and lokayukta.
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, has been appointed as the Lokpal chairperson, one and half years after he retired from the apex court. The Rashtrapati Bhavan has also announced the appointment of former high court judges Lingappa Narayana Swamy, Sanjay Yadav and Ritu Raj Awasthi as judicial members of the Lokpal. Non-judicial members Sushil Chandra, Pankaj Kumar and Ajay Tirkey were also appointed.
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Salient features of the Act wrt Lokpal
- Establishes Lokpal as an anti-corruption institution or ombudsman at the centre (union) to inquire into cases of corruption involving public functionaries.
- The jurisdiction of Lokpal extends to-
- Anyone who is or has been Pm, minister in union government or a MP as well as officials of the union government under Group A, B, C & D.
- Any board, corporation, society, trust or autonomous body either established by an act of Parliament or wholly/ partially funded by centre.
- Anybody that receives foreign contribution above Rs 10 lakh.
- Exceptions for PM: No inquiry if allegation against PM relates to international relations, ext & internal security, public order, atomic energy & space.
- No complaints against PM to be probed unless full Lokpal bench considers the initiation of inquiry and at least 2/3rd members approve it.
- Inquiry against PM to be held in camera.
Reasons for Lokpal not playing a significant role in tackling corruption in the country
- No suo moto powers:Lokpal cannot suo motu proceed against any public servant. There is more emphasis on form of complaint rather than substance.
- Fear of punishment: Heavy punishment for false and frivolous complaintsagainst public servants may deter complaints being filed to Lokpal.
- No anonymous complaints:Anonymous complaints are not allowed. An individual can’t just make a complaint on plain paper and drop it in a box with supporting documents.
- Legal assistance to public servant is given against whom complaint is filed.
- Limited time frame:Limitation period of 7 years to file complaints. Many big scams take years to come to fray and the time may exceed 7 years. This limitation hinders in investigating such cases under Lokpal.
- Exceptions for PM:Very non-transparent procedure for dealing with complaints against the PM.
Functioning of Lokpal in India
- Non appointment for several years: For more than five years,the chairperson and members of the Lokpal were not appointed.
- The government had claimed that since no one could be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after the 2014 general election, the committee responsible for selecting members of the Lokpal could not be constituted.
- Amending the law: This malady could have been easily remedied by either recognising the leader of the single largest party in Opposition in the Lok Sabha as the LoP,or by amending the Lokpal law to allow the leader of the largest Opposition party to be a member of the committee in the absence of a recognised LoP (this was done for the selection committee of the CBI Director). However, neither recourse was taken.
- Delay in appointment: The chairperson and members of the Lokpal were appointed only in March 2019 after a contempt petition was filed in the Supreme Courtfollowing the failure of the government to comply with the 2017 ruling of the court to initiate the process of making appointments.
- Selection of Chairperson: The four-member selection committee,having a preponderance of representatives of the ruling party with an inherent bias towards recommending candidates favoured by the government, selected the Chair and members of the Lokpal.
- The manner in which the appointments were made raised doubts about the independence of the Lokpal even before it became operational.
- Non-starter:Despite the fracas over appointments, many had hoped that once constituted, the Lokpal would nevertheless be a significant oversight body to check corruption and the arbitrary use of power by the government
- More than 10 months later, however, evidence suggests that the Lokpal is a non-starter.
- Till date, the government has not made rules prescribing the form for filing complaints to the Lokpal.
- The Central government has also failed to formulate rules regarding asset disclosure by public servants.
- No formulation of regulations: Regulations which the Lokpal was obligated to make under the law are yet to be made, including those specifying the manner and procedure of conducting preliminary inquiry and investigation.
- Cases disposed: The website of the Lokpal states that it scrutinised 1,065 complaints received till September 30, 2019 and disposed of 1,000.
- Since necessary procedures to operationalise, the law is yet to be put in place, the legal veracity of the decisions of the Lokpal could potentially be challenged in a court of law.
Way forward
- There is a need for a mechanism that provides for simple, independent, speedy means of delivering justice by redressing the grievances of the people without succumbing to the clutches of the executive.
- The issue of Leader of Opposition in the Selection committee must be resolved by amending the act.
- The jurisdictions must be clear so that there is no overlap in the powers.
- Any new piece of legislation even when implemented becomes lengthy and time consuming and stretched over years.
- The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) recommended the enacting of the Office of a Lokpal, convinced that such an institution was justified, not only for removing the sense of injustice from the minds of citizens, but also to instil public confidence in the efficiency of the administrative machinery.
- It is rightly said by Publius Cornelius Tecitus that “the more corrupt the state, the more laws”.
Conclusion
Looking at the low ranking of India in Corruption on global level, there is a need to check the corruption by strong institutions. Creation of the institution of Lokpal and Lokayuktas by forming its members to function has come up as a welcome step. But it must function independently of any political influence so that a proper system of checks-and -balance is maintained in the federal and democratic system of India.
Reference: Insights on India
Introduction
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. In order to provide safeguards against the mistreatment of SCs & STs and to promote and protect their social, educational, economic and cultural interests, special provisions were made in the Constitution.
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Functions of NCST
- To investigate & monitor matters relating to Safeguards provided for STs under the Constitution or under other laws or under Govt. Order, to evaluate the working of such Safeguards.
- To inquire into specific complaints relating to Rights & Safeguards of STs;
- To participate and advise in the planning process relating to Socio-economic development of STs, and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
- To submit report to the President annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, upon/ working of Safeguards, Measures required for effective implementation of Programmers/ Schemes relating to Welfare and Socio-economic development of STs;
- To discharge such other functions in relation to STs as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify;
- The Commission would also discharge the following other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development & advancement of the Scheduled Tribes, namely
- Measures that need to be taken over conferring ownership rights in respect of minor forest produce to the Scheduled Tribes living in forest areas.
- Measures to be taken to safeguard rights to the Tribal Communities over mineral resources, water resources etc. as per law.
- Measures to be taken for the development of tribals and to work for move viable livelihood strategies.
- Measures to be taken to improve the efficacy of relief and rehabilitation measures for tribal groups displaced by development projects.
- Measures to be taken to prevent alienation of tribal people from land and to effectively rehabilitate such people in whose case alienation has already taken place.
- Measures to be taken to elicit maximum cooperation and involvement of Tribal Communities for protecting forests and undertaking social afforestation.
- Measures to be taken to ensure full implementation of the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (40 of 1996).
- Measures to be taken to reduce and ultimately eliminate the practice of shifting cultivation by Tribals that lead to their continuous disempowerment and degradation of land and the environment
Way forward
- Commission should be given additional powers, in the matter of criminal investigation.
- The Annual Report is a crucial activity of the Commission, the importance of which is generally overlooked. An amendment is required either in Article 338 itself or in the rules by which the President may fix a period for the discussion of the Report in Parliament.
- It would be appropriate for the Commission to undertake qualitative studies, commission social anthropologists and other social scientists to undertake such studies, and to institutionalize mechanisms by which contemporary changes and transitions in the social structure can be mirrored, recorded and acted upon.
- There is a pressing need for reliable data on a variety of subjects like the experience of reserved constituencies in parliament as well as the state legislatures, etc. In this manner, the Commission would also become more responsive to societal issues like the changing context of untouchability and intra-group conflicts of interest, and contribute to debates in civil society.
- A more thoroughly institutionalized mechanism for appointing the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other members, would be appropriate. As it has been observed that the leadership and personnel are key determinants of the Commission’s effectiveness.
- To counter elite biases, the Commission needs to be sensitive to the exclusions that the lack of education and information may engender, and should ideally use its suo motu powers more actively.
Conclusion
To summarize, National Commission for scheduled Tribes was set up with the major aim to protect the weaker section of society. Commissioner for STs was allocated the duty to examine all matters relating to the safeguards for STs in various statutes and to report to the President upon the working of these protections
General Studies – 3
Reference: The Hindu , Times of India , Insights on India
Introduction
Mission Gaganyaan is India’s first Human Space Flight Programme which aims to make India the fourth nation in the world to launch a Human Spaceflight Mission. So far, only the USA, Russia and China have launched human spaceflight missions.
Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan, Angad Pratap and Shubhanshu Shukla — these Air Force pilots constitute the final shortlist of candidates from among whom India’s astronauts for its human spaceflight mission, a.k.a. Gaganyaan, will be selected. The announcement, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an official visit to Kerala, fills the last real unknown about the ambitious mission, which aims to send an Indian crew to low-earth orbit onboard an Indian rocket.
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Aims & Objectives of the Mission:
- Enhancement of science and technology levels in the country
- A national project involving several institutes, academia and industry
- Improvement of industrial growth
- Inspiring youth
- Development of technology for social benefits
- Improving international collaboration
Relevance of a Manned Space Mission for India:
- Boost to industries: The Indian industry will find large opportunities through participation in the highly demanding Space missions. Gaganyaan Mission is expected will source nearly 60% of its equipment from the Indian private sector.
- Employment: According to the ISRO chief, the Gaganyaan mission would create 15,000 new employment opportunities, 13,000 of them in private industry and the space organisation would need an additional manpower of 900.
- Technological development: Human Space flights are frontier field in the science and technology. The challenges the Human Space Flights provide to India, and the benefits accruing from taking up those missions will be very high and will lead to further thrust for technological developments in India
- Spurs research and development: It will boost good research and technology development. With a large number of researchers with proper equipment involved, HSF will thrust significant research in areas such as materials processing, astro-biology, resources mining, planetary chemistry, planetary orbital calculus and many other areas
- Motivation: Human space flight will provide that inspiration to the youth and also the national public mainstream. It would inspire young generation into notable achievements and enable them to play their legitimate role in challenging future activities
- Prestige: India will be the fourth country to launch human space mission. The Gaganyaan will not only bring about prestige to the nation but also establish India’s role as a key player in the space industry
Challenges:
- For a manned mission, the key distinguishing capabilities that ISRO has had to develop include the ability
- to bring the spacecraft back to Earth after flight
- to build a spacecraft in which astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions in space
- India is yet to perfect fool-proof launch vehicle technology, the basic requirement for a manned space mission.
- The Polar Satellite launch vehicle and the Geosynchronous Launch vehicle, the two Indian spacecraft deployed to launch satellites and modules into space, are yet to be man-rated.
- India does not even have the facilities to train astronauts.
- ISRO has not been able to put in place India’s own Global Positioning System in spite of completing the NavIC due to dysfunctional atomic clocks in the satellites, rendering the fleet a dud.
- The launchpad at the Sriharikota spaceport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, will have to be enhanced for the human mission.
- While the launch vehicle, crew module, re-entry technology, crew escape system are in place, monitoring and tracking systems, Environmental Control & Life Support System (ELCSS), space suit and crew support systems are still in the developmental phase.
Way forward
- It is important to ensure engagements at political level to obtain long term commitment for India’s human space flight missions
- Financial implications of a long-term human space-flight programme development should be assessed and the returns and benefits should be clearly articulated
- It is important to overcome the technological challenges to ensure a safe, successful manned space mission. International collaboration in this domain can help India ensure a robust technology for its HSF programme.
- Selection of Indians for astronauts will be an important step. Procedures and specifications for astronauts and a rigorous selection process is suggested.
Reference: livelaw.in , Insights on India
Introduction
Climate justice can be defined “as a form of environmental justice, climate justice is the fair treatment of all people and the freedom from discrimination in the creation of policies and projects that address climate change as well as the systems that create climate change and perpetuate discrimination.” It is a term used for framing climate change as an ethical and political issue, rather than one that is purely environmental or physical in nature.
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Climate change and its impacts on the disadvantaged groups:
- Around the world, people are experiencing both the subtle and stark effects of climate change.
- Gradually shifting weather patterns, rising sea levels and more extreme weather events are devastating evidence of both a rapidly changing climate and an urgent need for solutions.
- While the impacts of climate change affect every country on every continent, they don’t do it equally.
- People already burdened by poverty and oppression often suffer the harshest consequences, while having the least ability to cope. Their struggle to earn a living, feed their families and create stable homes is made more difficult every day the climate crisis continues.
- Low-income communities, people of colour, indigenous people, people with disabilities, older or very young people, women – all can be more susceptible to risks posed by climate impacts like raging storms and floods, increasing wildfire, severe heat, poor air quality, access to food and water, and disappearing shorelines.
- The increased frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events drive people from their homes and jeopardizing food sources and livelihoods. All these effects increase the likelihood of more conflict, hunger and poverty.
- It is a global justice concern that those who suffer most from climate change have done the least to cause it.
The idea of ‘climate justice’ will go a long way in achieving equity in sustainability:
- The concept of climate justice acknowledges that because the world’s richest countries have contributed most to the problem, they have a greater obligation to take action and to do so more quickly.
- Climate justice demands to look beyond the environmental and ecological consequences of climate change and take strong political action to secure the future generations.
- It humanises the effect of climate change and insists on a shift from a discourse on greenhouse gases and melting ice caps into a civil rights movement with the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts at its heart.
- Climate Justice links human rights and development to achieve a human-centred approach, safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its resolution equitably and
- Climate justice is informed by science, responds to science and acknowledges the need for equitable stewardship of the world’s resources.
Measures needed to achieve climate justice:
- Respect and Protect Human Rights
- Support the Right to Development
- Share Benefits and Burdens Equitably
- Recognize the key groups that are differently affected by climate change
- Ensure that decisions on Climate Change are participatory, transparent and accountable
- Highlight gender equality and equity
- Harness the transformative power of education for climate stewardship
- Use effective partnerships to secure climate justice
Way forward:
- Organizations like the Climate Justice Alliance are working to bring race, gender, and class considerations to the centre of the climate action discussion.
- The NAACP is also advocating for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance clean energy while promoting food justice, transportation equity, and civil rights in emergency planning.
- And the UN and IPCC each continue to place greater emphasis on these issues.
- In order to create climate justice, gender equality must also be brought into the conversation
Conclusion
We now know that climate change is not just an environmental or sustainable development concern involving trade-offs. It requires a civilisational transformation in what we value, the way we live, and how we interact with one another.
Value Addition:
India’s role in ensuring Climate Justice
- India is currently setting up voluntary targets in the international forums to commit itself to the mission to combat climate change. It is also playing a major role in climate change mitigation.
- India’s proactive role in mitigating climate change is due to the domestic compulsion of tackling issues like the need for poverty eradication, food and nutritional security, universalization of health and education, water security, sustainable energy, employment
- India is of the opinion that the developing countries’ need for inclusive growth, sustainable development, poverty eradication and universal access to energy must be made the fundamental differentiation between them and the developed nations.
- Currently, the Conventions recognise that the historical emissions of the developed nations as the basis for differentiation between the developed and developing nations.
- Being a developing nation, India also has come up with many initiatives to make India a carbon neutral economy, especially with schemes such as Mega Solar park, FAME and so on.
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