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PRELIMS
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PAPER – I

Prelims Current Affairs

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 INDEX

S. No. TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND EIA 4

2 GOVERNMENT POLICIES & INTERVENTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN VARIOUS 15

SECTORS AND ISSUES ARISING OUT OF THEIR DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION INCL.
HOUSING

3 HEALTH & SANITATION AND RELATED ISSUE 22

4 BIODIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, AND WILDLIFE RELATED ISSUES 31

5 INDIA – USA 35

6 INDIA-CHINA 40
7 EFFECT OF POLICIES AND POLITICS OF DEVELOPED & DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ON 47
INDIA'S INTERESTS

8 SPACE TECHNOLOGY & RELATED MATTERS 53

9 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY- DEVELOPMENTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS AND 57
EFFECTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE

10 JUDICIARY IN INDIA: ITS STRUCTURE, ORGANIZATION & FUNCTIONING, JUDGES OF 63

SC & HIGH COURTS, JUDGMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES

11 RIGHTS & WELFARE OF WOMEN - SCHEMES & THEIR PERFORMANCE, 68

MECHANISMS, LAWS INSTITUTIONS AND BODIES

12 DEFENCE RELATED DEVELOPMENTS 75

13 POVERTY & HUNGER AND RELATED ISSUES 84

14 EDUCATION AND RELATED ISSUES 91

15 RIGHTS ISSUES - HUMAN RIGHTS AND NHRC 97

16 ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION - GHGs, OZONE DEPLETION AND CLIMATE 107

CHANGE

17 INDIA – AFGHANISTAN 117

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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION,
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND EIA
NITI AAYOG AND IEA LAUNCH ‘RENEWABLES INTEGRATION IN INDIA 2021’

Context:
A report on “Renewables Integration in India 2021” was jointly launched by NITI
Aayog and Director of Energy Markets and Security, IEA.

Key Points:
 The report is based on the outcome of three states workshops held with the
Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat to understand the specific energy
transition challenges faced by these renewable-rich states.
 The report uses IEA modelling results to show the effects of different flexibility options
on the power system.
 The report highlights that India’s power system can efficiently integrate
renewables (175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030), but it would require identification
of resources and proper planning, regulatory, policy and institutional support, energy
storage and advance technology initiatives.
 Indian states need to employ a wide range of flexibility options – such as demand
response, more flexible operation of coal based power plants, storage, and grid
improvements – to transition to cleaner electricity systems. Larger shares of renewables
can be better managed by shifting time of use in agriculture.
 Time of Use (ToU) tariffs will be an effective tool to incentivise demand side
management and encourage flexible consumption.
 The IEA Director of Energy Markets and Security indicated that the joint report
underscores IEA’s commitment to provide support to India with its clean energy
transition agenda.
 Launching the report, NITI Aayog said that the joint report provides useful suggestions
for the states to consider to best manage their integration challenge.
 Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited emphasized that to absorb maximum
RE power, State has shifted 70% -80% agriculture load to the day time, providing
incentives to industrial consumers for consuming more electricity and increasing State
share in the Green Energy Trading (now, approx. 50%).
 All these measures have helped to reduce the curtailments, which is almost zero
now. Government of Karnataka is in the process of bringing in new RE policy.
 POSOCO stated that RE integration can start with proper resources planning and better
implementation of technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, base power system
management and smart grid intervention.
 Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission was of the view that old regulations need to
be revised and regulatory commissions need to play more proactive role to implement
the revised regulations. Smart meters, Time of the Day tariff and overall demand
response program would be useful for RE load management.

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A CLIMATE RISK: ON EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Context:
The monsoon is nearing its halfway mark and July, which is among the rainiest months,
began with a rainfall deficit but has since seen a revival.

More in Detail:
 All-India rainfall has been over 50% more than what is normal for this time (July) of the
year. Many regions in the Konkan coast and the southern peninsula have been seeing
instances of extreme rainfall.
 According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data on the regional distribution,
the ‘South Peninsula’ has seen 29% more rain from June 1-July 25 than what is normal
for this period. Rainfall in Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, was torrential enough to beat
its all-time record, according to the IMD.
 The monsoon is characterised by unexpected variability that forecast models
can capture only in a limited way. However, much evidence is accumulating that
there is a distinctive change in climate patterns.
 The frequency and the strength of cyclones over the Arabian Sea have
increased in the last two decades. There has been a 52% increase in the frequency
of cyclones over the Arabian Sea from 2001-2019 and an 8% decrease over the Bay
of Bengal compared to 1982-2002, when, historically, most cyclones have been in
the Bay of Bengal, according to a new study in Climate Dynamics.
 Even the duration of these cyclones has increased by 80%. More cyclones are bringing in
more moisture from the Arabian Sea and contributing to extreme rainfall events over the
western coast, the most recent example being cyclone Tauktae in May, which at 185
kilometres per hour was among the strongest cyclones to approach Mumbai. They drive
storm surges that flood the coast.
 Studies show that a heating globe has increased atmospheric moisture levels,
contributing to short, intense spells of rains. The interaction between warming, rainfall
and temperature is complex and variables such as aerosol emissions, particulate matter
pollution, agriculture and forestry patterns must be accounted for.
 However, the broader picture is that extreme events — bursts of torrential localised
rainfall and prolonged droughts and heatwaves — are likely to increase, making the
role of accurate forecasts that are able to warn of such events at least three to five
days ahead even more important.
 But the bigger challenge is to undertake so-called climate-proofing of the most
vulnerable regions and taking warnings of scientific risk assessment seriously.
Evacuations ahead of a flood or a cyclone are not always effective and what is
needed is limited construction in places that have been marked vulnerable.

Conclusion:
 Just as it is possible to plan earthquake-resilient structures and site them scientifically,
but hard to anticipate a major quake, similarly, proper planning can insure against
the inevitable extremities of nature. International climate change agreements to limit
greenhouse gas emissions will yield benefits only in the very long term but what is done
in the near future will mean the difference between surviving and thriving.

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WATER CRISIS

Context:
Water being a State subject, steps for augmentation, conservation and efficient
management of water resources are primarily undertaken by the respective State
Governments.

Key Points:
 In order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments, Central Government
provides technical and financial assistance to them through various schemes and
programmes.
 The Government of India, in partnership with States, is implementing Jal Jeevan
Mission-Har Ghar Jal, which aims at providing potable water in adequate
quantity of prescribed quality on regular and long term basis to every rural household
through tap water connection by 2024.
 Government of India has launched Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT) in 2015 in select 500 cities and towns across the country.
The water supply component includes new, augmentation and rehabilitation of water
supply system; rejuvenation of water bodies for drinking water supply and special water
supply arrangement for difficult areas, hills and coastal cities, including those having
water quality problem.
 Under Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP) component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee
Yojana (PMKSY), Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies
Scheme was launched which aims to revive irrigation potential by improvement and
restoration of water bodies by enhancing the tank storage capacity, along with other
multiple objectives such as ground water recharge, increased availability of drinking
water, improvement of catchment of tank commands etc.
 Under the Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies scheme, since
12th plan onwards, 2,228 schemes are ongoing. Further, 1,549 water bodies have
been reported to be completed upto March, 2021.
 Target irrigation potential restoration of these schemes is 1.89 lakh hectare and out
of this, 1.31 lakh hectare is reported to be restored till March, 2021.
 During 2016-17, ninety-nine on-going major/medium irrigation projects (and 7 phases)
under PMKSY - Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) have been
prioritized in consultation with States for completion in phases out of which AIBP works
of 44 projects have been reported to be completed/almost completed.
 During 2016-17 to 2020-21, irrigation potential of 22.47 lakh hectare has been
reported to be created by these projects in the country.
 Atal Bhujal Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme, with focus on community
participation, demand side interventions and convergence of ongoing schemes for
sustainable ground water management is being implemented from 1 April 2020 in seven
States – Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh.

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 National Water Mission had started a campaign "SahiFasal" to nudge farmers to
favor agricultural crops which consume less water and to use water more efficiently in
agriculture, as a part of demand side management.
 National Water Mission, in a bid to draw attention to critical aspects of water, and to
promote dialogue and information sharing among participants on variety of water
related topics, has initiated a monthly seminar series - “Water Talk” on 22nd March,
2019, the World Water Day.
 The “Water Talk” is intended to create awareness, build capacities of
stakeholders and to encourage people to become active participants in the
conservation and saving of water.
 The “Water Talk” provides a platform wherein, among other Water Talkers (which
include academicians, bureaucrats, activists, water experts), Sarpanchs and
representatives of NGOs also participate and showcase the best practices in water
sector in villages and cities / towns across the country.
 Furthermore, Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) in its report for 2021-26, has
earmarked 60 per cent for national priorities like drinking water supply and rainwater
harvesting and sanitation, out of the total grants earmarked for Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRI).
 For fifty Million - Plus cities, two-thirds of allocation of funds under Challenge Fund of
Rs. 38,196 crore is meant for meeting service level benchmarks on drinking water
supply, rainwater harvesting, water recycling, solid waste management and
sanitation.
 The FFC report also emphasises on sustainable and efficient water use and has
suggested three ways to reduce and rationalise water use in agriculture:
 By replacing free or subsidised power supply for agriculture with direct benefit
transfers (DBT).
 Encouraging use of new technologies such as drip, sprinkler, sensor-based
irrigation to get more crop per drop.
 By conserving and rainwater harvesting to increase the availability of surface as well
as of groundwater. FFC has recommended incentive-based grants to States that
maintain and augment groundwater stock and maintain a check on any fall in the
water table.
 Additionally, Renukaji Dam Project envisaged 498 MCM water to NCT of Delhi.
Lakhwar Multipurpose Project envisages 33,780 Ha of irrigation along with 300 MW
power generations and 78.83 MCM drinking & industrial water supply to Upper Yamuna
Basin states including Delhi as per agreement signed by them.
 Kishau Multipurpose Project envisages drinking water supply upto 617 MCM,
irrigation benefit of 0.97 Lakh Ha to Upper Yamuna Basin states.
 Also, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the State of
Himachal Pradesh and NCT of Delhi in 2019 for usage of unutilized Yamuna water
share of Himachal Pradesh by Delhi.
 At the time of announcement of Jal Jeevan Mission, only 3.23 crore households were
reported to have tap water connections. Since then, another 4.64 crore rural households
have been provided tap water connections. As on date, out of 19.12 crore rural
households, 7.87 crore households have tap water supply in homes.

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 As per Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Government of NCT of Delhi, to overcome water crisis and
augment raw water resources in Delhi, DJB has laid water pipelines in large number of
colonies during last six years leading to achieving an increase of 7,67,623 number of
water connections.

CLIMATE REPORT MUST BE DEATH KNELL FOR FOSSIL FUELS

Context:
A bombshell climate science report “must sound a death knell” for coal, oil and gas, United
Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, warning that fossil fuels were destroying
the planet.

More in Detail:
 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the 1.5 degrees
Celsius temperature goal of the Paris Agreement would likely be breached around
2030 — a decade earlier than it itself projected just three years ago.
 This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy the
planet.
 World leaders, green groups and influencers reacted to the “terrifying” UN climate
science report with a mix of horror and hopefulness as the scale of the emergency
dawned on many.
 This moment requires world leaders, the private sector and individuals to act together
with urgency and do everything it takes to protect the planet.
 The European Union’s deputy climate chief said the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change’s Working Group 1 report showed “it’s not too late to stem the tide
and prevent runaway climate change”.
 Britain’s Boris Johnson, whose government is hosting a crucial climate summit in
November, said the assessment “makes for sobering reading”.
 The IPCC has issued arguably its strongest warning yet on impending catastrophe from
unmitigated global warming caused by human activity, lending scientific credence to the
argument that rising wildfires, heatwaves, extreme rainfall and floods witnessed
in recent times are all strongly influenced by a changing climate.
 In a stark report on the physical science basis of climate change contributed for a
broader Assessment Report of the UN, the IPCC’s Working Group I has called for deep
cuts to carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases and a move to net
zero emissions, as the world would otherwise exceed 1.5°C and 2°C of warming during
the 21st century with permanent consequences.
 Climate change is described by many as a far greater threat to humanity than
COVID-19, because of its irreversible impacts. The latest report is bound to strengthen
the criticism that leaders in many countries have stonewalled and avoided moving
away from coal and other fossil fuels, while even those who promised to act, failed to
influence the multilateral system.
 The new report attributes catastrophic events to sustained global warming,
particularly the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, heavy
precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts, proportion of intense tropical
cyclones, reductions in Arctic Sea ice, snow cover and permafrost. A phenomenon such

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 as heavy rainfall over land, for instance, could be 10.5% wetter in a world warmer by
1.5°C, and occur 1.5 times more often, compared to the 1850-1900 period.
 More than five years after the Paris Agreement was concluded, there is no consensus
on raising ambition to reduce emissions, making access to low carbon technologies
easier, and adequately funding mitigation and adaptation.
 COVID-19 had the unexpected effect of marginally and temporarily depressing
emissions. The IPCC’s analysis presents scenarios of large-scale collapse of climate
systems that future leaders would find virtually impossible to manage. Heatwaves and
heavy rainfall events experienced with increasing frequency and intensity are just two of
these, while disruptions to the global water cycle pose a more unpredictable threat.
 Also, if emissions continue to rise, oceans and land, two important sinks and the latter a
key part of India’s climate action plan, would be greatly weakened in their ability to
absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide.
 The new report sets the stage for the CoP26 conference in November. The only one
course to adopt there is for developed countries with legacy emissions to effect deep
cuts, transfer technology without strings to emerging economies and heavily fund
mitigation and adaptation. Developing nations should then have no hesitation in
committing themselves to steeper emissions cuts.

INDIA WILL SEE MORE DROUGHTS, HEATWAVES AND CYCLONES: IPCC

Context:
Flash floods such as the one that killed a dozen people in Himachal Pradesh recently,
sizzling temperatures, droughts and intense cyclones are likely to be commonplace in India
because of climate change, a report by a UN body said, warning that the world is running
out of time to prevent the worst of the climate crisis.

More in Detail:
 Melting of glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas, the consequent rising of the sea
level and regular and more intense tropical cyclones in South Asia may devastate parts
of the region unless drastic measures to cut carbon emissions are put in place, the
report released by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
 The extreme weather events will impact lives, livelihoods and businesses in India
and South Asia, experts and climate scientists said, calling for immediate steps to
mitigate climate change.
 The Indian Ocean and the western equatorial Pacific Ocean have “warmed faster than
the global average", the report said. “Heat extremes have increased while cold
extremes have decreased, and these trends will continue over the coming decades."
 The threat of more droughts and cyclones is real.
 The report indicates that these are irreversible changes, and all must take it seriously
in devising mitigating measures. The Indian Ocean is warming faster, and it surrounds
three sides of India; and on the north, we have the Himalayas where the impact of
climate change is visible, too. So our geographic location makes us prone to extreme
weather conditions.
 The South Asian monsoon has weakened in the second half of the 20th century, mainly
on account of human activity, the IPCC report said.

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 The recent tropical cyclones arising from the Arabian Sea on India’s western coast and
glacier bursts are giving enough hint of the crisis at hand.
 In India, there is double burden now. India has to build resilience in economy,
infrastructure and social systems to deal with the increasing impact of extreme weather
events. At the same time, act on mitigation measures.
 Things that were predicted to happen far ahead in the future are now expected to
happen much sooner, including intense heatwave, monsoon disruptions, cloudbursts,
extreme rain, etc. The situation will only worsen if we do not act fast and decisively.
 Climate change may lead to compound weather events in India. For example,
heatwave and drought may come together; similarly, sea-level rise, cyclones and coastal
flooding may happen at the same time.
 Some regions are already seeing the effects of climate change, such as the drop in
property prices in coastal areas because of frequent flooding. While IPCC has given us a
broad picture, India must devise its own mitigation strategy in a more regional and sub-
regional level, beyond the effort to evacuate and save lives.
 The report is the first in seven years and was prepared by more than 230 authors from
65 countries, taking into account more than 1,400 scientific studies.

HOW CHINA PLANS TO BECOME CARBON-NEUTRAL BY 2060

Context:
China’s industrialization has occurred at a breathtaking pace, lifting hundreds of millions out
of poverty and transforming the country into the world’s factory floor. That’s also made it
the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change.

What is Carbon Neytral?

 It means cutting as much of your carbon dioxide emissions as possible and then
offsetting what you can’t eliminate. For a country, this could mean switching to
renewable energy such as solar power instead of coal and investing in projects that
absorb carbon dioxide, such as reforestation.
 Carbon neutral has become a goal of companies and countries alike to address public
concerns about the impact emissions have on the climate.
 The most-populous nation has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming carbon-
neutral by 2060, a challenging target given it hasn’t even reached its emissions peak.
To get there, President Xi Jinping wants to transition away from an economy reliant on
coal and other fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy and developing new
technology to capture emissions.

What is China’s goal?

 Even though China is the world’s second-largest economy, it’s still classified as a
developing nation and hasn’t reached its emissions peak. That’s forecast to come by
2030, with Xi committing to carbon neutrality by 2060, 10 years after the U.S. deadline
set by President Joe Biden.
 If China pulls it off, it would be the fastest decline from peak emissions among major
economies, speedier than Europe’s goal of 70 years and the US target of 40 years.
China’s plan, which the country’s climate envoy said includes all greenhouse gases and

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 not just carbon dioxide, would boost global efforts to limit the rise in temperatures and
potentially give it greater sway in global matters.

What needs to be done?

 China has to find replacements for the fossil fuels that have powered its economy and
rapid urbanization. A key early step was taken in July when China opened the world’s
largest carbon trading market, creating a framework for how emissions are priced and
regulated in the country.
 It’s already pushing the expansion of electric vehicles and automation while
investing in nuclear power, which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases. There is more
spending on research into technologies such as storage batteries and using hydrogen as
a fuel to complement low-emissions energy sources.
 The government will have develop more wind and solar power projects so that
coal-fired plants play a smaller role in generating electricity. Local authorities have been
told to develop regional plans to lower emissions and some have already taken
measures to curb what they perceive as wasteful uses of electricity, such as Bitcoin
mining.

How will this affect economic policy?

 The ruling Communist Party of China has an overarching goal of creating a “great
modern socialist country" to ensure a prosperous life for its citizens. That’s a mantra
that has required continuous economic growth and led to increased pollution.
 Breaking the link between growth and emissions will require policies that take aim at
fossil fuels and encourage development of renewable energy.
 Monetary policy will need to be adjusted if the transition causes inflationary
pressure. Beijing will also need to support vulnerable sectors and regional economies
during the decarbonization process. For example, the coal industry in Shanxi contributes
20% of the province’s revenue.

What will be the economic impact?

 Services and high-technology will have to boost their contribution to the economy, a
move that could unleash investment demand of as much as 300 trillion yuan ($46.3
trillion), according to the People’s Bank of China.
 The central bank has said a big chunk of the funds will come from market investors but
a policy framework encouraging private investment will be important. That is in addition
to cleaner air, improved road safety and prevention of potential climate damage
that the World Bank said could be worth 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2030.
 Such benefits have to be weighed against the impact on ordinary Chinese people of an
economic restructuring that phases out jobs in carbon-emitting sectors, with the coal
mining and processing industry employing 3.5 million workers alone.

Who are the biggest losers?

 China’s 2,200 electricity utilities powered by fossil fuels, a group that accounts for
almost half of the carbon China spews into the atmosphere and 14% of the world’s total,
are among the first to feel the impact through the country’s carbon market.

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 Power is one of the eight industries that account for nearly 90% of its carbon emissions,
a group that also includes steel, construction materials and transport..
 Eliminating their dependence on fossil fuels will require a move to cleaner sources such
as wind and solar and spending on mitigation measures or carbon offsets. Regional
Chinese economies that rely heavily on fossil fuel production, such as Shanxi and Inner
Mongolia provinces, will also be affected.

Who stands to benefit?

 Electric-vehicle makers are one of the high-profile beneficiaries of China’s plan thanks to
government subsidies.
 Beijing has set a target of having new-energy vehicles account for 20% of sales by
2025 compared with 6% in 2020. Utilities that make the shift to renewable sources
will also benefit, along with providers of services such as emission measurement and
carbon trading.
 Other winners could include makers of photovoltaic systems, recycling firms and
producers of new materials and non-ferrous metals for electric vehicle assembly.

What role will the central bank play?

 China’s goal of carbon neutrality is shared across China’s key institutions and is a top
priority for the PBOC. The central bank removed so-called clean-coal projects from its
definitions of green bonds while pledging to revamp tools so it can offer cheap funds for
banks to encourage more environmentally focused loans.
 Regulators also plan to adjust the rules on capital adequacy and how it counts green
assets. At the end of March, China’s outstanding green loans stood at 14 trillion yuan, an
amount set to expand at a rapid pace.

Will private banks play a role?

 Banks will need to change who they lend to and balance how their loans mesh with
Beijing’s climate ambitions.
 The high capital cost of building power plants, steel mills and factories mean companies
in those sectors often carry significant financing needs and any rapid change could affect
their ability to manage credit risks.

INDIA ACHIEVES 100 GW MILESTONE OF INSTALLED RENEWABLE ENERGY

CAPACITY

Context:
The total installed renewable energy capacity in India, excluding large hydro, has crossed
the mile-stone of 100 GW.

Key Points:
 India stands at 4th position in the world in terms of installed RE capacity, 5th in
solar and 4th in wind in terms of installed capacity.
 India has set ambitious targets for itself in the area of Renewable Energy, which the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is committed to achieve.

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 While 100 GW has been installed, 50 GW is under installation and 27 GW is under
tendering. India has also enhanced its ambition to install 450 GW of renewable energy
capacity by 2030. If large hydro is included the installed RE capacity increases to 146
GW.
 The achievement of installed RE capacity of 100 GW is an important milestone in India’s
journey towards its target of 450 GW by 2030.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFIES THE PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT RULES,

2021

Context:
In line with the clarion call given by Prime Minister of India to phase out single use
plastic by 2022, keeping in view the adverse impacts of littered plastic on both terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Government of India, has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules,
2021, which prohibits identified single use plastic items which have low utility and
high littering potential by 2022.

Key Points:
 Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental
challenge confronting all countries. India is committed to take action for mitigation of
pollution caused by littered Single Use Plastics.
 In the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India had piloted a
resolution on addressing single-use plastic products pollution, recognizing the urgent
need for the global community to focus on this very important issue. The adoption of
this resolution at UNEA 4 was a significant step.
 The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following
single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall
be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022-
 Ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-
cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration;
 Plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or
packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or
PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
 In order to stop littering due to light weight plastic carry bags, with effect from 30th
September, 2021, the thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty
microns to seventy five microns and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from
the 31st December, 2022. This will also allow reuse of plastic carry due to increase in
thickness.
 The plastic packaging waste, which is not covered under the phase out of identified
single use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally
sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility of the Producer,
importer and Brand owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
 For effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility the Guidelines for
Extended Producer Responsibility being brought out have been given legal force through
Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.

13
 The waste management infrastructure in the States/UTs is being strengthened through
the Swachh Bharat Mission. The following steps have also been taken to
strengthen implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 and also
to reduce the use of identified single use plastic items-
 The States/UTs have been requested to constitute a Special Task Force for
elimination of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste
Management Rules, 2016.
 A National Level Taskforce has also been constituted by the Ministry for taking
coordinated efforts to eliminate identified single use plastic items and effective
implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
 The State /UT Governments and concerned Central Ministries/Departments have also
been requested to develop a comprehensive action plan for elimination of single use
plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, and its
implementation in a time bound manner.
 Directions under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, have been
issued to all States/Union Territories inter alia for setting up for institutional
mechanism for strengthening enforcement of Plastic Waste Management (PWM)
Rules, 2016.
 The Government has also been taking measures for awareness generation towards
elimination of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste
Management Rules, 2016.
 A two month long Awareness Campaign of Single Use Plastic 2021 has been
organized. The Ministry has also organized pan India essay writing competition on
the theme for spreading awareness amongst school students in the country.
 To encourage innovation in development of alternatives to identified single use plastic
items and digital solutions to plastic waste management, the India Plastic Challenge –
Hackathon 2021 has been organized for students of Higher Educational Institutions and
startups recognized under Startup India Initiative.

14
GOVERNMENT POLICIES &
INTERVENTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN
VARIOUS SECTORS AND ISSUES ARISING
OUT OF THEIR DESIGN &
IMPLEMENTATION INCL. HOUSING
MODI GOVT'S PUSH FOR SUGAR-FUELED CARS MAY GIVE TOUGH TIME TO GLOBAL
POLICYMAKERS

Context:
The Government will fast-track an ethanol program that will divert as much as 6 million
tons of sugar toward fuel production annually by 2025, according to the food ministry.

More in Detail:
 It is almost the entire amount that India, the world’s second-biggest producer after
Brazil, currently exports to the global market.
 The government is targeting for blending 20% ethanol in gasoline to 2025, five
years earlier than planned. The advantages are multi-fold:
 It will reduce air pollution, cut India’s oil import bills, help soak up a domestic
sugar glut and increase investment in rural areas.
 To meet its 2025 target, India will have to almost triple ethanol production to about 10
billion litres a year. This will require $7 billion of investment and the challenge would be
to create the kind of capacity needed in a short span of three to four years.
 The government is offering financial support to sugar mills to set up or expand
distilleries. Companies including Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd. will stop producing sugar at
some mills and begin processing cane juice to make ethanol instead.
 India is pursuing a similar strategy to Brazil, which has promoted sugarcane-based
ethanol for more than 40 years to ease its sugar glut, cut dependency on oil imports and
increase energy security. Brazil owns the largest fleet of flex-fuel cars that can run on
any blend of ethanol and gasoline.
 India will allow production of ethanol-based flex engines too. Higher use of biofuels
in transport can ease India’s economic burden from high crude prices and help the third-
largest oil importer save $4 billion annually, according to government estimates.
 The plan will also cut India’s sugar export subsidies by about $500 million. The
government helps cash-strapped mills to boost shipments as a way to support local
prices and increase export competitiveness. Rivals including Brazil and Australia have
complained about the subsidies to the World Trade Organization.
 In 2021, India is set to export a record amount of sugar again with the help of
subsidies. Volumes are forecast at 6.5 million tons. The surplus will be small after 2025
and the need to export will not remain at such high levels. Depending on domestic and
global prices, there may still be small quantities of exports.

15
NOT ALWAYS FAIR GAME: ON TAMIL NADU’S BAN ON ONLINE RUMMY AND POKER

Context:
The State must guard against zealous paternalism while seeking to curb activities online.

More in Detail:
 The Tamil Nadu government’s effort to protect its youth from the temptations of online
gambling by amending a colonial gaming law to ban online rummy and poker, has not
survived judicial scrutiny.
 Its amendment to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act, 1930, has been struck down by the
Madras High Court, which found the prohibition unreasonable because it sought to
bring even games predominantly of skill under the label of gambling, if there was an
element of betting or even prize money or any other stake involved.
 The State’s intention was acceptable to the extent that it sensed the danger involved in
allowing addictive games. However, it erred in failing to make a distinction
between games of skill and games of chance, and in seeking to treat as ‘gaming’
anything that involved stakes, contrary to judicial pronouncements circumscribing the
term to games that are based on chance.
 One of the problems of political populism is that-
 The state takes its paternalistic role too seriously. It assumes that large sections of
society require guidance, lest their ideas of freedom lead them to uncharted zones
where lack of restraint and self-control land them in debt and penury. Notions of
individual freedom and choice tend to be forgotten.
 The moral element is predominant in such laws, often to the detriment of the
reasonableness of their provisions. Some activities are associated with sin more than
with commerce, and these are susceptible to the government’s regulatory reach and
banning instincts.
 The court, while understanding the law’s intent, has rightly questioned the lack of
proportionality in banning something that could have been regulated.
 It notes that excessive paternalism could descend into authoritarianism and curb an
activity individuals are free to indulge in.
 It could not sympathise with the State’s contention that online games were
invariably open to manipulation and no distinction need be made between
games of chance and those of skill.
 However, it did remember to observe that appropriate legislation regulating betting
and gambling activities is still possible, but something that conforms to constitutional
propriety.

PROVIDING HORIZONTAL QUOTA: THE BIHAR WAY

Context:
The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in
State engineering and medical colleges.

More in Detail:
 While reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward
Classes (OBCs) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is referred to as vertical

16
 reservation, horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other
categories of beneficiaries, such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and
individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
 Bihar at present has 60% reservation in the State higher educational institutions along
the six vertical categories (SCs, STs, EWS and so on). The newly announced reservation
for women in engineering and medical seats will not be in addition to this;
 It will instead be distributed across all the vertical categories, including the
non-reserved 40% seats open to all.
 Article 15(3) of the Constitution allows governments to make special provisions for
women and children.
 This initiative should be welcomed and adopted across sectors, departments, and States
given that India’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate is consistently
declining and is worryingly low. World Bank data show that the FLFP came down to
21% in 2019 from 31.79% in 2005.
 As per the Bihar Economic Survey 2019-20, the State’s FLFP rate was abysmal
compared to the all-India average. Only 6.4% and 3.9% women were employed in the
urban and rural areas of Bihar compared to the all-India figures of 20.4% and 24.6%
respectively.
 The FLFP rate needs to be treated cautiously though as it doesn’t take into
account unpaid work (majorly performed by women) or the role played by social
barriers like caste in blocking employment opportunities for women like owning a shop.
 Patriarchal control of women and systemic gender discrimination cannot be
defeated by government intervention alone; State welfare schemes can go a long way in
challenging them. The Bihar government needs to work towards reducing the female
and male school dropout rate and ensure quality education at the primary and
secondary level. In addition, initiatives like reservation of seats, when implemented
properly, could become an important driver for improving the FLFP.

Steps taken by Bihar Government:

Bihar has implemented various initiatives to empower women and improve their
representation in various fields.
 Bihar had announced two consecutive days of menstrual leave for women employees in
government services.
 In 2006, Bihar became the first State to reserve 50% seats for women in
Panchayati Raj institutions even though the 73rd and 74th amendments to the
Constitution, which came into force in 1993, mandated only one-third seats for them.
 In 2013, the Bihar government made a provision for 50% reservation for women in
cooperative societies and reserved 35% seats for them in police recruitment.
 In 2016, the government extended the 35% reservation for women to all
government jobs in Bihar for which direct recruitment is made.
 In 2006, a scheme called the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana was launched for
Class 9 and 10 girl students. This was India’s first scaled up conditional cash transfer
programme for secondary education of girls.
 The Bihar government also provides Rs. 50,000 in installments to girl students to
support their studies and other needs till graduation under the Mukhyamantri Kanya

17
 Utthan Yojana. This is an incentive-based scheme to encourage girls to complete
education and delay marriage.

Factors for low female labour force participation (FLFP) rate:

 According to the National Family Health Survey-5, the State’s literacy rate among girl
children rose to 61.1% in 2019-20 from 56.9% in 2015-16.
 One of the important factors for the low FLFP rate is the lack of employment
opportunities for women after matriculation and graduation.
 The India Human Development Survey-II found that women with low levels of
education and from rural areas are relatively more active in the labour market
compared to women with middle or high school education. Therefore, the Bihar
government needs to ensure that women don’t fall out of the labour market as they
become more educationally qualified.
 Evidence points out that increasing women’s participation in the workforce to the level of
men boosts the economy. In light of this, it is important for the government to make
more and more jobs available for women.

Way forward:
 Extend the engineering and medical quota for women to all institutions of higher
education, including private colleges and universities.
 The quota allotted to them can be increased to 40-45%, if not 50%, and the category
can be renamed as ‘women and transgender persons’.
 Other State governments and the Union government should follow the Bihar
government’s lead and introduce horizontal quota for women (and in addition, for
transgender persons) in higher educational institutions as well as State employment as
these measures will go a long way in reducing gender disparity in the country.

NO FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO STRIKE

Context:
Recently, the Minister of Defence introduced the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021,
in the Lok Sabha.

More in Detail:
 The Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021 provides for the maintenance of essential
defence services so as “to secure the security of nation and the life and property of the
public at large” and prevent staff of the government-owned ordnance factories from
going on strike.
 The Bill seeks to empower the government to declare services mentioned in it as
“essential defence services” and prohibit strikes and lockouts in any industrial
establishment or unit engaged in such services.

Rules and rights:

 This is not for the first time that strikes by government employees are being made
explicitly illegal by the government. The Madhya Pradesh (and Chhattisgarh) Civil
Services Rules, 1965, prohibit demonstrations and strikes by government

18
 servants and direct the competent authorities to treat the durations as unauthorised
absence.
 A strike under this rule includes “total or partial cessation of work”, a pen-down strike, a
traffic jam, or any such activity resulting in cessation or retardation of work. Other
States too have similar provisions.
 Article 33 of the Constitution, Parliament, by law, can restrict or abrogate the rights
of the members of the armed forces or the forces charged with the maintenance of
public order so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and maintenance of
discipline among them.
 For the armed forces and the police, where discipline is the most important prerequisite,
even the fundamental right to form an association can be restricted under Article 19(4)
in the interest of public order and other considerations.
 The Supreme Court in Delhi Police v. Union of India (1986) upheld the restrictions
to form association by the members of the non-gazetted police force after the Police
Forces (Restriction of Rights) Act, 1966, and the Rules as amended by Amendment
Rules, 1970, came into effect.
 While the right to freedom of association is fundamental, recognition of such association
is not a fundamental right. Parliament can by law regulate the working of such
associations by imposing conditions and restrictions on their functions, the court held.
 In T.K. Rangarajan v. Government of Tamil Nadu (2003), the Supreme Court held
that the employees have no fundamental right to resort to strike. Further, there is
prohibition to go on strike under the Tamil Nadu Government Servants’ Conduct
Rules, 1973.
 Also, there is no moral or equitable justification to go on strike. The court said that
government employees cannot hold the society to ransom by going on strike. In this
case, about two lakh employees, who had gone on strike, were dismissed by the
State government.
 There is no fundamental right to strike under Article 19(1) (a) of the
Constitution. Strikes cannot be justified on any equitable ground. Strike as a weapon is
mostly misused which results in chaos.
 Though the employees of OFB have threatened to go on strike, Parliament, which
has the right to restrict even the fundamental rights of the armed forces, is well
within its right to expressly prohibit resorting to strike.

CRIMINALISING WELFARE ISSUES

Context:
Before the legislature adopts coercive legal measures, a welfare response should be
considered.

More in Detail:
 The Supreme Court recently issued notice on a writ petition on the condition that the
petition’s prayer seeking a direction to “restrain beggars and vagabonds/homeless from
begging on traffic junctions, markets and public places to avoid the spread of COVID-19
pandemic in all the States and Union Territories across India” be modified to focus on
the rehabilitation of those forced to beg for a living.

19
 The court rightly observed that being compelled to beg was a socio-economic issue that
could not be remedied by directions of the kind originally sought. It required, instead, a
welfare response from the state.
 This order points to the largely ignored nexus between coercive measures and
welfare issues, which can be a useful guide to making and implementing criminal
law in three ways.

What should be criminalised?

 First, when decisions about criminalisation are being taken by the legislature, an
important point of consideration should be whether the issue sought to be addressed
might be better suited to a welfare response.
 Salient examples of welfare issues against which the coercive force of criminal law has
inappropriately been deployed serve to illustrate the point.
 In holding the criminalisation of beggary under the Bombay Prevention of
Begging Act, 1959 (as extended to the NCT of Delhi) unconstitutional, the High
Court of Delhi, in Harsh Mander & Anr. v. Union of India (2018), had noted that the
criminalisation of beggary served only to invisibilise beggars without doing anything
to address the structural deprivations that drove people to beg.
 Similarly, the criminalisation of triple talaq by the Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, purportedly to ‘protect’ Muslim women, does
nothing to address the structural gender inequality, social stigma, poor employment
options, and lack of state support which actually cause the deprivations associated
with divorce (and not just with triple talaq).
 Second, socio-economic marginalisation and poverty may frequently make
people susceptible to exploitation, whether through poorly paid/unpaid labour,
trafficking and sex work, or indeed, begging. A criminal response to those who seek to
take advantage of such vulnerability might be appropriate.
 It is important to ensure that pimps, brothel owners, and traffickers are held criminally
liable for sexually exploiting a person. Equally important is to create alternative, well-
paying and dignified employment, to make such employment accessible by imparting
requisite education and skills, and to have social security nets to ensure that no person
feels that sex work is their ‘least worst’ option.
 This is essential not only to prevent exploitative practices, but also to rehabilitate
those who have been rescued from such practices.
 Begging is also in fact evidence of the failure of the Government as well as the society at
large to protect its citizens from debilitating effects of extreme poverty and to ensure to
them basics of food, clothing, shelter, health, education, essential concomitants of the
right to life ensured under Article 21 of the Constitution of India as also reflected in High
Court in Suhail Rashid Bhat v. State of Jammu & Kashmir and Others (2019).

SANKALP PROGRAMME

Context:
Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Scheme is
a World Bank loan assisted programme.

More in Detail:

20
 SANKALP Scheme is a World Bank loan assisted programme of the Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with three key Result Areas:
 Institutional Strengthening at Central, State, and District level
 Quality Assurance of skill development programmes
 Inclusion of marginalized population in skill development programmes
 The implementation period of SANKALP is till March, 2023, and the positive outcome so
far is seen in the following areas:
 Strengthening of the District Skill Committees leading to demand-driven approach
for the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
 District-level skill planning through District Skill Development Plans.
 Focus on improving access to skill training for Women, SC/ST and other marginalized
weaker sections of the society.
 The institutions strengthened so far under SANKALP are as under:
 State Skill Development Missions through State Incentive Grants.
 District Skill Committees through Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF)
program and capacity building training.
 Gram Panchayats by bringing skill training and certification within their ambit.
 Sector Skill Councils by linking them up with opportunities for industry-skilled
manpower connection in districts.
 National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) being an important implementing
partner of pilot projects.
 National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI) by augmenting resources through
their management of the MGNF Program.
 SANKALP is a supporting programme to skill training schemes which focuses inter-
alia on improvement of quality, strengthening of institutions and inclusion of weaker
sections in skill training. SANKALP has undertaken several initiatives to contribute to
improvement in employability, some of which are as under:
 Strengthening of District Skill Committees for improved access to and demand driven
skill trainings for employment.
 Emphasis on skill certification in Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) at Gram
Panchayat level for improving employment qualitatively.
 Funded development of an IT system namely “Skill India Portal” to capture the
data for skilling related activities across the country.
 Global Skill Gap study was conducted to identify the global gaps in demand and
supply of skilled manpower as well as overseas employment opportunities for skilled
workers from India. The Report helped in identifying important countries of interest
as destination and job roles of interest.
 Released Rs. 273.49 Crore as State Incentive Grants to 30 States/ UTs and Rs.
13.91 Crore to aspirational districts for implementation of SANKALP Scheme in the
States/UTs.
 Improving quality of trainers in Auto sector in collaboration with Automotive Skill
Development Council (ASDC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Maharashtra State Skill Development Society (MSSDS)
at Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
 A Gender Action Plan (GAP) has been prepared for promoting inclusion of
women in Short term skilling and livelihood opportunities.

21
HEALTH & SANITATION AND RELATED
ISSUE
MORE THAN 80 LAKH PATIENTS SERVED THROUGH CENTRAL GOVERNMENT’S
ESANJEEVANI INITIATIVE

Context:
Government of India’s National Telemedicine Service, eSanjeevani is gaining popularity
amongst the public.

More in Detail:
 National Telemedicine Service, eSanjeevani has crossed another milestone by
completing 80 Lakh tele-consultations.
 Currently, the National Telemedicine Service is operational in 35 States/Union
Territories and daily over 60,000 patients across the country are using this digital
modality, to seek health services from the government run healthcare delivery systems
in States and UTs.
 The National Telemedicine Service set up by the Ministry of Health & Family
Welfare is providing two types of telemedicine services through two telemedicine
platforms.
 eSanjeevani AB-HWC (for doctor-to-doctor tele-consultations) is based on hub &
spoke model and
 e-Sanjeevani OPD (for patient to doctor tele-consultations provides outpatient
services to the citizens in the confines of their homes.
 In November 2019, eSanjeevani AB-HWC’s implementation was initiated under
Ayushman Bharat Scheme of Government of India. By December 2022, it will be
made operational at all 1,55,000 Health & Wellness Centres across India. E-Sanjeevani
AB-HWC has completed around 39 lakh consultations.
 E-Sanjeevani OPD was launched in April 2020. It provides direct to home digital
health services to the citizens through more than 430 online OPDs set up on
eSanjeevani OPD. Around 400 of these online OPDs are specialist OPDs and the rest are
general OPDs. So far, around 42 lakh patients have been served through eSanjeevani
OPD.
 Government of India’s National Telemedicine Service has started aiding the Indian
healthcare delivery system by plugging the digital health divide that exists in urban and
rural India.
 In line with the National Digital Health Mission, eSanjeevani is not only boosting
digital health ecosystem in the country but it is also addressing the shortage of
doctors and specialists at ground level while reducing the burden on secondary and
tertiary level hospitals.
 Encouraging trend of usage of eSanjeevani by patients and doctors is indicative of the
fact that significant proportion of outpatient services can be provided effectively through
telemedicine.

22
 Patients are using eSanjeevani for follow-ups and also for not so serious medical
conditions and in the process they are saving themselves from crowding hospitals and
unwanted risk of being infected.
 Considering the promising nature of eSanjeevani, Government of India has already
allocated funds to boost the use of telemedicine in the country. States will be reinforcing
IT infra for enabling telemedicine services and the Health Informatics group at Centre
for Development of Advanced Computing in Mohali is also conceptualising the next
generation eSanjeevani to facilitate 5 lakh consultations per day.
 Leading 3 States in terms of adoption (number of consultations) of eSanjeevani are
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Nationally, over 60,000 doctors and
paramedics have been trained and on boarded the National Telemedicine Service, of
these over 2000 doctors practice telemedicine on eSanjeevani.

RARE DISEASES POLICY

Context:
Rare Diseases Policy aims at lowering the incidence and prevalence of rare diseases.

More in Detail:
 The Policy aims at lowering the incidence and prevalence of rare diseases based on an
integrated and comprehensive preventive strategy encompassing awareness generation,
premarital, post-marital, pre-conception and post-conception screening and counselling
programmes to prevent births of children with rare diseases, and within the constraints
on resources and competing health care priorities, enable access to affordable health
care to patients of rare diseases.
 Initiatives for treatment support for patients of rare diseases under the Policy are as
follows: -
 Financial support up to Rs. 20 lakhs under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya
Arogaya Nidhi shall be provided by the Central Government for treatment, of those
rare diseases that require a one-time treatment (diseases listed under Group 1).
Beneficiaries for such financial assistance would not be limited to BPL
families, but extended to about 40% of the population, who are eligible as per
norms of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, for their treatment in Government
tertiary hospitals only.
 State Governments can consider supporting patients of such rare diseases that can
be managed with special diets or hormonal supplements or other relatively low-cost
interventions (Diseases listed under Group 2).
 Keeping in view the resource constraints, and a compelling need to prioritize the
available resources to get maximum health gains for the community/population, the
Government will endeavour to create alternate funding mechanism through setting
up a digital platform for voluntary individual and corporate donors to contribute to
the treatment cost of patients of rare diseases.
 Voluntary crowd-funding for treatment: Keeping in view the resource constraint
and competing health priorities, it will be difficult for the Government to fully finance
treatment of high-cost rare diseases.
 The gap can however be filled by creating a digital platform for bringing together notified
hospitals where such patients are receiving treatment or come for treatment, on the one

23
 hand, and prospective individual or corporate donors willing to support treatment of
such patients.
 The notified hospitals will share information relating to the patients, diseases from which
they are suffering, estimated cost of treatment and details of bank accounts for
donation/ contribution through online system.
 Donors will be able to view the details of patients and donate funds to a particular
hospital. This will enable donors from various sections of the society to donate funds,
which will be utilized for treatment of patients suffering from rare diseases, especially
those under Group 3.
 Conferences will be organized with corporate sector companies to motivate them to
donate generously through digital platform.
 Ministry of Corporate Affairs will be requested to encourage PSUs and corporate
houses to contribute as per the Companies Act as well as the provisions of the
Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014 (CSR Rules). Promoting
health care including preventive health care is included in the list in the Schedule
for CSR activities.
 Treatment cost of the patient will be first charge on this fund. Any leftover fund after
meeting treatment cost can be utilized for research purpose also.
 At present financial assistance to poor patients, living below threshold poverty line and
also to the population, who are eligible as per norms of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Yojana under Ayushman Bharat, suffering from specified rare diseases for their
treatment at Government Hospitals or Institutes having super specialty facilities /
Government tertiary hospitals is being provided under the Umbrella Scheme of Rashtriya
Arogya Nidhi (RAN). The budget allocation for the current financial year 2021-2022 for
rare diseases is Rupees 25 Crore.
 National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021 provides for National Consortium for
Research and Development on therapeutics for Rare Diseases with an expanded
mandate to include research & development, technology transfer and indigenization of
therapeutics for rare diseases. It will be convened by Department of Health Research
(DHR) with ICMR as a member.

MEASURES TAKEN TO RISING ANTI-MICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN THE COUNTRY

Context:
The Union Government of India aware about the challenges posed by anti-microbial
resistance (AMR) in the country.

More in Detail:
Union Government of India has taken following measures to address the issue.
 National programme on AMR containment was launched during 12th FYP in 2012-17.
Under this programme, AMR Surveillance Network has been strengthened by
establishing labs in State Medical College. 30 sites in 24 states have been included in
this network till 30th March 2021.
 National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) focusing on One
Health approach was launched on 19th April 2017 with the aim of involving various
stakeholder ministries/departments. Delhi Declaration on AMR– an inter-ministerial
consensus was signed by the ministers of the concerned ministries pledging their

24
 support in AMR containment. In the line with NAP-AMR three states have launched their
state action plan
 Kerala has launched KARSAP
 Madhya Pradesh has launched MP-SAPCAR
 Delhi has launched SAPCARD
 AMR Surveillance Network: ICMR has established AMR surveillance and research
network (AMRSN) in 2013, to generate evidence and capture trends and patterns of
drug resistant infections in the country. This network comprises of 30 tertiary care
hospitals, both private and government.
 AMR Research & International Collaboration: ICMR has taken initiatives to develop
new drugs /medicines through international collaborations in order to strengthen
medical research in AMR.
 ICMR along with Research Council of Norway (RCN) initiated a joint call for research in
antimicrobial resistance in 2017.
 ICMR along with Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany has a
joint Indo-German collaboration for research on AMR.

Initiatives to control overuse or misuse of antibiotics:

 ICMR has initiated antibiotic stewardship program (AMSP) on a pilot project basis in 20
tertiary care hospitals across India to control misuse and overuse of antibiotics in
hospital wards and ICUs.
 On the recommendations of ICMR, DCGI has banned 40 fixed dose combinations (FDCs)
which were found inappropriate.
 ICMR worked in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture Research, Department of
Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries and the DCGI to ban use of Colistin as growth
promoter in animal feed in poultry.

Guidelines issued:
 National Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control in Healthcare Facilitieshave been
released by MoHFW in Jan 2020. (https://ncdc.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=431)
 ICMR has developed evidence based treatment guidelines for treatment of ten
syndromes of infections. It aims to rationalize the usage of antibiotics on Essential
Medicines Formulary (EMF) and to establish consistency in the treatment of various
infectious conditions.
 ICMR has also issued the Treatment Guidelines for Antimicrobial Use in Common
Syndromes” in 2019.
 Media material has been developed to create awareness among various stakeholders
regarding AMR and appropriate use of antibiotics. Government is working on One Health
approach by encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration at the human-animal-
environmental interface. The key priority areas include zoonotic diseases (emerging and
re-emerging), food safety and antibiotic resistance.
 Program for Strengthening Inter-sectoral Coordination for Prevention and Control of
Zoonotic Diseases’ was launched in the 12th Five-year plan (2012-17) which is
still continuing as “National One Health Program for Prevention and Control of Zoonoses”
in 15th Finance Commission (2021-26) period.
 This scheme aims to operationalize “One Health” Mechanisms for prevention and
control of Zoonoses by strengthening inter-sectoral coordination among all

25
 stakeholders. In this regard, National Institute of One Health is being
established at Nagpur which will house BSL IV laboratory.
 ICMR has undertaken a project on an “Integrated One Health Surveillance Network for
Antimicrobial Resistance” in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture research
(ICAR) to assess the preparedness of Indian Veterinary laboratories to participate in
integrated AMR surveillance network. ICMR has also created veterinary standard
operating procedure (Vet-SOPs) for enabling comparison of antimicrobial resistance
patterns in animals and humans.

IN THE INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC

Context:
Compulsory vaccination is legal and does not violate anyone’s fundamental rights.

More in Detail:
 In Registrar General v. State of Meghalaya, the Meghalaya High Court ruled that the
State government’s order requiring shopkeepers, local taxi drivers and others to get the
COVID-19 vaccines before they resume economic activities is violative of the right to
privacy, life, personal liberty, and livelihood.
 In response to the court’s order, the State government released a new order stating that
the requirement of vaccination was merely directory and not mandatory. The case raises
important questions of how the government can overcome widespread vaccine hesitancy
and bring the pandemic to an end.
 The court reasoned that forcing people to vaccinate themselves vitiates the “very
fundamental purpose of the welfare attached to it”.
 The court ruled that the government’s order intrudes upon one’s right to privacy and
personal liberty as it deprives the individual of their bodily autonomy and bodily
integrity, even though the intrusion is of minority intensity.
 It said that the government’s order affects an individual’s right “significantly” more than
affecting the general public. It found that the government’s order is not maintainable in
law as there is no legal mandate for mandatory vaccination.
 The court relied on the Central government’s frequently asked questions, which
specify that COVID-19 vaccination is voluntary. The court concluded that the State,
rather than adopting coercive steps, must persuade the people to get themselves
inoculated.
 Compulsory vaccination has often been deployed in India and abroad. The Vaccination
Act, 1880, allowed the government to mandate smallpox vaccination among
children in select areas. In a recent judgment in Vavřička and Others v. Czech
Republic, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) said that the compulsory
COVID-19 vaccination scheme is consistent with the right to privacy and religion.
 The ECtHR cites case laws in France, Hungary, Italy, the U.K., among others to show
that several constitutional courts have validated compulsory vaccination and ruled
that it has an overriding public interest.
 The main bone of contention is that compulsory vaccination violates bodily
integrity and takes away decisional autonomy from people, thereby violating their
right to life and privacy. It is a well-established principle that no right is absolute; rather
rights are subject to reasonable restrictions. According to the order in Justice

26
 Puttaswamy v. Union of India, a restriction on privacy can be justified if it
passes a three-prong test.
 First, the restriction must be provided in the law. State governments have the
authority to mandate vaccines under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which allows
them to prescribe regulations to prevent the spread of an epidemic disease.
 Second, the restriction must have a legitimate aim. Compulsory vaccination pursues
the legitimate aim of protecting the public from COVID-19.
 Third, the restriction must be proportional to the object pursued. With more than
four lakh reported deaths and a looming third wave, the current scenario counts as a
pressing social need.
 Violations of rights from mandatory administration of a vaccine cannot be termed so
grave so as to override the health rationale underlying the government’s order.
Nevertheless, the government could provide appropriate accommodation for persons
based on genuine medical reasons.

NEW STUDY CALLS FOR RESTRAINT IN ‘UNNECESSARY’ FOOD FORTIFICATION

Context:
The new study makes a case for improving dietary diversity instead.

More in Detail:
 There is a need for “extreme caution” in implementing food fortification to address
micronutrient deficiencies in India and attention must be paid to the consequences of
excess intake when such schemes are offered along with food supplements, a new paper
has argued.
 The study argues that there is under-estimating of haemoglobin (Hb) and over-
estimating of anaemia in the country primarily due to three factors:
 Use of inappropriate Hb cut-offs; (Hb cut-off to define anaemia in Indian children and
adolescents could be lower than the present World Health Organization (WHO) Hb
cut-off, bringing down anaemia prevalence to 11% from the current 30%.
 Adoption of finger prick or capillary blood sampling method instead of venous blood
sampling; (the National Family Health Survey 4, which used the finger prick method
for blood sampling and found 56% of children between 1-to-4 years to be anaemic,
while the Comprehensive National Nutritional Survey 2018, which used the venous
method, found this to be at 41%.
 Inflated daily nutrient requirement for iron, which has recently been revised
downwards. (policymakers have relied on older daily nutrient requirement (RDA)
numbers, which were almost double and have since been revised by the Indian
Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Nutrition in 2020. For example,
the requirement for an adolescent girl or boy was 30 mg per day as per the old
norms, which now stand halved.)

Conclusion:
 There is a need for restraint in considering unnecessary fortification. There is
need to consider whether we truly have an iron deficient diet, or is it that we are not
absorbing that iron, or is it that there are many other factors involved in anaemia. Just

27
 putting more and more into the diet places a part of the population at risk of exceeding
the tolerable upper limit of intake at which adverse events begin to occur.

STRENGTHENING OF RURAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES

Context:
Public Health and Hospitals being a state subject, the primary responsibility of
strengthening public healthcare system, including for provision of quality healthcare and
advanced treatment and diagnostic facilities, lies with the respective State Governments.

More in Detail:
 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support is
provided to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare delivery at public
healthcare facilities.
 Under the National Health Mission (NHM), financial and technical support is
provided to States/UTs to strengthen their health care systems including setting-
up/upgrading public health facilities and augmenting health human resource on
contractual basis for provision of equitable, affordable and quality healthcare with
modern treatment methods and diagnostic facilities in the public healthcare facilities of
the Country including rural areas based on requirements posed by the States in their
Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs).
 NHM support is also provided for provision of a range of free services related to maternal
health, child health, adolescent health, family planning, universal immunisation
programme, and for major diseases such as Tuberculosis, vector borne diseases like
Malaria, Dengue and Kala Azar, Leprosy etc.
 Other major initiatives supported under NHM include:
 Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) (under which free drugs, free
diagnostics, free blood and diet, free transport from home to institution, between
facilities in case of a referral and drop back home is provided).
 Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) (which provides new-born and child
health screening and early interventions services free of cost for birth defects,
diseases, deficiencies and developmental delays to improve the quality of survival).
 Implementation of Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics Service Initiatives.
 PM National Dialysis Programme.
 Implementation of National Quality Assurance Framework in all public health facilities
including in rural areas.
 Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) & Tele-consultation services are also being
implemented to improve access to healthcare particularly in rural areas
 As part of Ayushman Bharat, the Government is supporting the States for
transformation of Sub Health Centres and Primary Health Centres into 1.5 lakh Health
and Wellness Centres across the country by December, 2022 for provision of
Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) that includes:
 Preventive healthcare and health promotion at the community level with continuum
of care approach.
 CPHC services of an expanded range of services that are universal and free to users,
with a focus on wellness, are provided, closer to the community.

28
  Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) provides health
coverage up to Rs 5 Lakh per family per year to around 10.74 crore poor and
vulnerable families as per Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC).
 Financial support is also provided to States for providing hard area allowance,
performance-based incentives, providing accommodation and transport facilities in
rural and remote areas including tribal areas, sponsoring training programmes, etc.
to engaged human resources to address the issue of shortage of doctors and
specialists in the public health facilities.
 In the 15 years of implementation, the NHM has enabled achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) for health. It has also led to significant improvements in
maternal, new-born, and child health indicators, particularly for maternal mortality ratio,
infant and under five mortality rates, wherein the rates of decline in India are much
higher than the global averages and these declines have accelerated during the period of
implementation of NHM.
 Report of NITI Aayog (March 2021), collated the three Studies done on the aspects of
Governance, Human Resources, Financing and Health outcomes and the key findings of
the Report are as follows:
 There has been significant improvement in the infrastructure facilities during
NHM period with an increase in number of beds in the government hospitals as well
in the community health centres (CHCs) from 0.44 in 2005 to 0.7 in 2019 per 1000
population. The focus on infrastructure improvement resulted in construction of more
than 46,000 health facilities, with a significant increase in the total number of first
referral units (FRUs) (940 in 2005 to 3057 in 2019).
 The number of doctors, nurses in PHCs and CHCs also increased during the NHM
periods. An additional 200,000 healthcare providers (from auxiliary nurse-midwives
(ANMs) to specialists’ doctors) and 850,000 village level ASHA in rural areas were
recruited during the NHM period.
 There is strong evidence to show that increased infrastructure and increased
human resources has had a positive effect on improving the availability,
affordability and accessibility of maternal and child services, leading to
improved antenatal and postnatal care and improved maternal and child outcomes.
 Maternal and child indicators such as the IMR, NMR and MMR have shown a marked
improvement in the NHM period. There has been a remarkable decline in under five
mortality rate (U5MR) from 78 to 37 per thousand live births from 2005 to 2019. The
infant mortality rate (IMR) declined from 58 per 1000 live births to 32 per 1000 live
births during 2013-18. the neonatal mortality reduced from 38 per thousand live
births to 22 per thousand live births, with a percentage decline of 42.1% from 2005
to 2019. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) declined by 52%, from 257 per lakh live
births in 2004-06 to 122 per lakh live births, in 2015-17.
 Improvements in maternal and child indicators can be attributed to better
implementation of facility based new-born care including sick new-born care units
(SNCUs), evidenced from systematic review.
 Various studies showed that Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) strategy had strong
evidence in promoting institutional delivery and reducing perinatal mortality. JSSK
had a role in providing free diagnostics by improving the affordability.

29
 There is strong evidence that shows that child health strategies such as Facility
Based New-born Care (FBNC), Home Based Post Natal Care (HBPNC), Integrated
Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illness (IMNCI) and immunization improved
the availability, affordability and accessibility of child health services especially for
the rural and poor community.
 There has been steady decline in out-of-pocket expenditure for under five
child hospitalization, institutional deliveries and catastrophic hospitalizations as
per consecutive rounds of NSS surveys. Multiple schemes launched by the
government like free transport, free diagnostics, free dialysis, and free drug / Jan
Aushadhi Kendras are initiatives that have contributed to reducing OOPE.

30
BIODIVERSITY, ECOLOGY, AND
WILDLIFE RELATED ISSUES
DO INSECTS MIGRATE? WHICH INSECT HAS THE LONGEST MIGRATION ROUTE?

Context:
Many dragonflies, beetles, butterflies, locusts and moths are known to migrate during the
breeding season and the distance travelled varies with species.

More in Detail:

 Most insects travel in large groups and scientists have been studying these movements
for several years.
 A recent study (PNAS) noted that the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) can make
12,000 to 14,000 kilometre round trips. This is the longest annual insect migration
circuit so far known.
 Found in sub-Saharan Africa, the butterfly is able to travel to Europe, crossing the
Sahara Desert when weather conditions are favourable.
 The caterpillars thrive in wetter winter conditions of sub-Saharan Africa and the
adults migrate to North Africa during wet spring. They then cross the Mediterranean
Sea to reach Europe.
 Simulations in the laboratory showed that favourable tailwinds between Africa and
Western Europe help these insects in transcontinental travel. They fly about one to three
kilometres above sea level with a maximum speed of around 6 metres per second.
 The researchers studied a similar butterfly species and calculated that the painted lady
may have enough body fat to sustain 40 hours of non-stop flying.

THE COMMON HAWK-CUCKOO CALLS THE TUNE

Context:
It is vocal through the day, and its three-note call enunciates the term “brain fever”. The
bird is in its breeding season and residents of IIT-M campus report being woken up to this
phrase in the dead of the night.

More in Detail:
 The common hawk-cuckoo is very common, very vocal. This bird is a skulker. It does
not usually sit out in the open, and tends to hide away in the canopy. As usual, with
most skulky birds, the juveniles of the species are bold and curious and would sit out in
the open.
 The greatest pre-requisite for a common hawk-cuckoo showing up in a place is sufficient
vegetation, and of the right kind.
 The Indian cuckoo and the Eurasian cuckoo — the common hawk-cuckoo has a taste for
hairy caterpillars. It will prefer those trees that are larval hosts of the hairy caterpillar.

Exotic dragon fruit or Kamalam from Maharashtra exported to Dubai

31
Context:
A consignment of fibre and mineral rich ‘Dragon Fruit’, also referred as Kamalam, has been
exported to Dubai.

More in Detail:
 Scientifically referred to as Hylocereusundatus, the dragon fruit is grown in countries
such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, the USA and Vietnam.
 Dragon fruit production commenced in India in early 1990s and was grown as
home gardens. Dragon Fruit has become increasingly popular in recent years in the
country as it has been taken up for cultivation by farmers across various states.
 At present, dragon fruit is grown mostly in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
 The cultivation requires less water and can be grown in various kinds of soils.
There are three main varieties of dragon fruit:
 White flesh with pink skin
 Red flesh with pink skin
 White flesh with yellow skin
 The fruit contains fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It can help in repairing the
cell damage caused by oxidative stress and reduce inflammation, and also improving the
digestive system. Since the fruit has spikes and petals resembling lotus, it is also
referred as ‘Kamalam’.
 APEDA promotes exports of agricultural & processed food products by providing
assistance to the exporters under various components such as Infrastructure
Development, Quality Development and Market Development. Apart from this the
Department of Commerce also supports exports through various schemes like Trade
Infrastructure for Export Scheme, Market Access Initiative etc.

INDIA’S 14 TIGER RESERVES GET GLOBAL CA/TS RECOGNITION FOR GOOD TIGER
CONSERVATION

Context:
Tiger conservation approach of the Government of India has been an inclusive one
integrating scientific & traditional knowledge along with people’s participation which is vital
for the conservation of Flora and Fauna of the country.

More in Detail:
 The Environment Minister also released the report ‘Status of Leopards, Co-predators
and Megaherbivores-2018’ stating that the report is a testimony to the fact that
conservation of tigers leads to the conservation of entire ecosystem. The overall leopard
population in tiger range landscape of India in 2018 was estimated at 12,852 as
compared to 7,910 in 2014.
 14 Tiger Reserves in India which received the accreditation of the Global Conservation
Assured |Tiger Standards (CA|TS).
 The 14 tiger reserves which have been accredited are Manas, Kaziranga and Orang in
Assam, Satpura, Kanha and Panna in Madhya Pradesh, Pench in Maharashtra,
Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar, Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh, Sunderbans in West

32
 Bengal, Parambikulam in Kerala, Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Karnataka and
Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
 Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) has been agreed upon as
accreditation tool by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) and has been
developed by tiger and protected area experts. Officially launched in 2013, it sets
minimum standards for effective management of target species and encourages
assessment of these standards in relevant conservation areas.
 CA|TS is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will
lead to successful tiger conservation.
 National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) felicitated some of the forest frontline
workers as ‘BaghRakshaks’, to recognize their outstanding contribution towards the
protection of tigers and forests.
 The Government of India took a proactive step to classify forest and wildlife protection
as ‘essential services’ during lockdown. The Country’s forest force continued to toil day
and night; protecting forests and wildlife even during the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

HOW THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ANAIMALAI FLYING FROG GOT A NEW HOME

Context:
A critically endangered frog species, the Racophorus pseudomalabaricus or Anaimalai
flying frog, is getting a new home, in a corner of a sprawling cardamom plantation at
Pothamedu in Munnar.

More in Detail:
 Trees and the undergrowth in a cardamom plantation offer the perfect environment for
these frogs to hibernate. Everything they need for survival — trees, rain and a water
pool — are right here, so we can re-create a favourable ecosystem.
 Endemic to the southern part of the Western Ghats, the numbers of these frogs
have declined rapidly due to the loss of habitat. When the grasslands of Munnar were
converted to tea plantations, some of the Shola forests became cardamom plantations.
 Munnar has an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 hectares under cardamom cultivation,
and while trees are protected, undergrowth is usually cleared leading to the habitat
loss of several frog and reptile species.
 There is a popular misconception that these frogs feed on the cardamom pods. They
don’t feed on the pods; they feed on insects and other pests instead.

ASSAM’S DEEPAR BEEL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY BREATHES EASY AFTER ECO-

SENSITIVE ZONE NOTIFICATION

Context:
Deepar Beel is the State’s only Ramsar site and an Important Bird Area.

More in Detail:
 The MoEFCC notified the eco-sensitive zone of the Deepar Beel Wildlife Sanctuary
on the south-western edge of Guwahati.

33
 Deepar Beel is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam and the State’s only
Ramsar site besides being an Important Bird Area. The wetland has for decades
been threatened by a railway track — set to be doubled and electrified — on its southern
rim, a garbage dump, and encroachment from human habitation and commercial units.
 Deepar Beel has long been used as a sponge for Guwahati’s sewage via a couple of
streams. The wetland has also suffered from seepage of toxins from a garbage dump at
Boragaon adjoining it.
 City wastes as well as industrial effluents causing serious problem to the ecological and
environmental values of the rich wetland that create a threat to all life forms and
ecosystems in the Deepar Beel.

New Guidelines:
 The wetland expands up to 30 sq. km in summer and reduces to about 10 sq. km in the
winter. The wildlife sanctuary measures 4.1 sq. km within this wetland.
 No new commercial hotels and resorts shall be permitted within 1 km of the boundary of
the protected area or up to the extent of the eco-sensitive zone, whichever is nearer,
except for small temporary structures for eco-tourism activities.
 Disallowing new sawmills or the expansion of existing sawmills in the vicinity, the
notification said a new wood-based industry may be set up in the eco-sensitive zone
using 100% imported wood stock.
 Among activities prohibited in the eco-sensitive zone are hydroelectric projects, brick
kilns, commercial use of firewood and discharge of untreated effluents in natural water
bodies or land areas.
 Deepar Beel needs the unabated movement of wild elephants and birds and it
should be a smart model of the balance between developmental projects and
maintaining the ecological processes of a wetland that is essential for human wellbeing.

34
INDIA – USA
RAISE CAA, S-400 DEAL WITH INDIA

Context:
The Indian government’s ongoing crackdown on farmer’s peacefully protesting new farming
laws and corresponding intimidation of journalists and government critics only underscores
the deteriorating situation of democracy.

More in Detail:
 In recent years, rising anti-Muslim sentiment and related government actions like the
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the suppression of political dialogue and arrest of
political opponents following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, and the use of
sedition laws to persecute political opponents have resulted in the U.S. human rights
group Freedom House stripping India of its ‘Free’ status in its yearly global survey.
 India’s purchase of S-400 for just under $5.5 billion could attract sanctions under a 2017
law: the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
 The Trump administration’s repeated message was that sanction waivers are not
automatic and decided on a case by case basis. Congress forced the Trump
administration’s hand in December 2020 by requiring it to sanction Turkey for
purchasing the S-400. In 2018, China was sanctioned for purchase of Russian
equipment.
 If India chooses to go forward with its purchase of the S-400 that act will clearly
constitute a significant, and therefore sanctionable, transaction with the Russian defence
sector under Section 231 of CAATSA.”

US PIPS SAUDI ARABIA AS SECOND LARGEST EXPORTER OF CRUDE OIL TO INDIA

Context:
India spent $101.4 billion on crude oil imports in 2019-20 and $111.9 billion in 2018-19. It
is a key refining hub in Asia, with an installed capacity of over 249.36 million tonnes per
annum. It has 23 refineries and plans to grow its refining capacity to 400 mtpa by 2025.

More in Detail:
 US crude oil exports to India jumped to 2.11 million metric tonnes in February, helping it
dislodge Saudi Arabia as the second largest supplier to India, the world’s third largest oil
importer.
 India’s evolving energy security playbook comes at a time when global crude oil prices
have surged after the OPEC-plus grouping’s decision to retain supply curbs. With
domestic petrol and diesel prices at record highs, India had expressed its displeasure to
OPEC for ‘backtracking’ on its commitments.
 This also comes at a time when India is leaning on its old energy partner Russia to
cushion its consumers from price shocks, with the two countries exploring an approach
to protect both the buyer and seller from the sharp volatility in global prices. India is
also eyeing more long-term crude oil contracts from Russia.

35
 India signed the first term contract for crude oil sourcing from Russia in February last
year, with state run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Rosneft inking the
agreement for 2 million metric tonnes (mmt) of Urals grade crude.
 India is particularly vulnerable as any increase in global prices can affect its import
bill, stoke inflation and widen trade deficit.
 India's demand for lighter products such as LPG, naphtha and gasoline has been doing a
lot better than middle distillates such as gasoil, kerosene and jet fuel. So it made good
sense to source light sweet crude from the US, especially as arbitrage economics was
viable.

IN SIGNAL TO CHINA, U.S. RAISED INDIA TIES DURING ALASKA TALKS

Context:
India is central to its broader objectives in dealing with China in the Indo-Pacific region.

More in Detail:
 The reference to India, it is learnt, was not favourably received by China’s officials in
Alaska and is being seen as reflecting how U.S.-India relations, only two months into the
new administration, are developing robustly.
 The speed with which the new Biden administration has pushed closer ties with India has
come in sharp contrast to expectations in some quarters, both in New Delhi and
Washington, that relations would not be as smooth as they were with the Donald Trump
administration, both because of the rapport between Trump and Prime Minister Modi and
the former U.S. President’s lack of interest in India’s internal affairs and more broadly,
human rights issues abroad.
 One reason for that is the successful holding of the virtual Quad summit between
India, the U.S., Japan and Australia in March, before the U.S.-China Alaska talks.
Although the Biden administration’s message was it did not want to push any country
beyond its comfort level and was willing to keep in mind their respective China concerns
— hence the absence of any reference to China in the joint statement and the focus on
deliverables such as the vaccines initiative.
 India’s immediate expression of willingness to go ahead with the summit and the
“clarity” with which it put forward its agenda eased many concerns in Washington that
New Delhi, amid the on-going disengagement process with China along the Line of
Actual Control (LAC), might waver in its commitment to the grouping. If India has made
clear it will not be part of any formal alliances, it has also suggested it is more willing to
push the bar with China than previously.
 The broader reason for the smooth transition in India-U.S. relations is the new
administration’s emphasis on a bipartisan approach to India and other key foreign
policy issues, despite the divisiveness at home on the domestic agenda.
 One indicator of that was Biden’s insistence that a video prepared for the Quad
summit would begin by, at the very start, acknowledging former President George
W. Bush’s legacy in building the Quad, which first came to life following the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami.
 India’s familiarity with three of the key interlocutors in the new administration’s
Indo-Pacific agenda — Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Jake

36
 Sullivan, who chaired the meeting in Alaska, as well as the newly announced “Indo-
Pacific coordinator” has also helped.
 China’s military hit out at the Quad, describing it as a mechanism “promoted by the
United States” and said it “adheres to the Cold War mentality, believes in group
confrontation, is keen on geopolitical games, and uses the so-called ‘China challenge’ as
an excuse to ‘form cliques’ and openly provoke relations between regional countries”.
 On the LAC disengagement, China said that both sides had positively viewed the
disengagement at Pangong Lake and had “agreed to maintain communication through
military and diplomatic channels so as to promote the settlement of other issues” such
as in the Gogra-Hot Springs area, which the next round of military talks is expected to
take forward.
 Thanks to “joint efforts”, the situation in the border area “has been eased distinctly” and
“China hopes the two sides can value the hard-won results, follow the important
consensus reached by the leaders of both countries, maintain dialogue and
communication, and stabilise the situation against relapse, gradually coming to solutions
that can be accepted by the two countries to jointly maintain peace in the border area."
 A bipartisan approach to foreign policy was among the messages delivered by
the U.S. in Alaska to China’s officials, who in the course of the talks, in response to
U.S. criticism on Hong Kong and Xinjiang, repeatedly highlighted the rancour in
Washington following the elections, including the attack on Capitol and attempts to de-
legitimise the election. The other message was that a Biden administration would not be
a return to Obama 2.0 and any notions of a “G2" arrangement and accommodation with
China had long been buried.

A WALK-BACK: ON THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ALLOWING H-1B VISA BAN TO

LAPSE

Context:
Biden shows intent on reworking immigration rules by not extending H-1B visa ban.

More in Detail:
 USA administration allowed a ban on issuance of H-1B visas for skilled workers to
lapse at the end of March 2021, a move signalling his intent — articulated as a campaign
promise last year — to pull the U.S. back from harsh immigration rules imposed by his
predecessor.
 This will have a significant and favourable impact for Indian nationals seeking
employment with U.S. tech firms, given that they were the largest demographic to
benefit from this visa annually; they garnered approximately 70%.of the 65,000 H-1B
visas annually made available to private sector applicants other than students.
 In allowing the ban on H-1B visa issuance to expire, Biden has walked a fine line
between restoring the inflow of skilled workers into the U.S., a source of productivity
increases for its labour force, and not being seen as aggressive in unwinding Trump-era
immigration policies.

37
NOD REQUIRED FOR EXERCISES: INDIA

Context:
U.S. defends its actions saying they were in compliance with international laws.

More in Detail:
 India has protested the U.S. decision to conduct a patrol in the Indian Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) in the western Indian Ocean, rejecting the U.S.’s claim that its
domestic maritime law was in violation of international law.
 The U.S. Navy announced that its ship the USS John Paul Jones had carried out
Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the Indian EEZ, adding that its
operations had “challenged” what the U.S. called India’s “excessive maritime claims.”
 USS John Paul Jones asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130
nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India’s exclusive economic zone,
without requesting India’s prior consent, consistent with international law.
 India requires prior consent for military exercises or manoeuvres in its exclusive
economic zone or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law.
 This FONOP upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in
international law by challenging India’s excessive maritime claims.

MEA response:
 The MEA said that the Government of India’s stated position on the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the Convention “does not authorise
other States to carry out in the EEZ and on the continental shelf, military exercises or
manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the
consent of the coastal state.”
 An official said that, it is only when it is “military manoeuvres” in our EEZ that we need
nations to seek our permission and not if you are simply transiting through. And, the
term military manoeuvres is not defined anywhere, the official added.
 India ratified UNCLOS in 1995, the U.S. has failed to do it so far. For the 7th Fleet
to carry out FONOPs missions in Indian EEZ in violation of our domestic law is bad
enough.

SHARED VALUES: ON INDIA-U.S. TIES AFTER SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY

BLINKEN’S VISIT

Context:
India and the U.S. have a lot in common, but it is the differences that need attention.

More in Detail:
 The visit, was meant to prepare the way for more substantive meetings in Washington
later this year, including the U.S.-India “2+2” of Foreign and Defence Ministers,
the Quad summit of its leaders, and a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joseph Biden.
 Most of their conversations were focused on Quad cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,
Afghanistan, and in discussing the state of democracy and rights.
 On the Quad, they showed full convergence.

38
  On Afghanistan, there were “more convergences than divergences” on the common
positions that there is no military solution to conflict, and that neither country would
recognise a Taliban regime that takes Kabul by force.
 However, the divergences are more troubling for India, given that the fallout of the
U.S. withdrawal will mean a less secure region.

Issues:
 The U.S. continues to engage the Taliban in talks for a power-sharing arrangement,
despite the Taliban leadership’s refusal to enforce a ceasefire, and stop attacks against
civilians in areas they take over.
 The militia is also trying to squeeze trade and financial supply chains to the Afghanistan
government.
 The greatest worry for India is the U.S.’s refusal to hold Pakistan to account for having
given shelter to the Taliban, as this will only embolden Islamabad if the Taliban advance
in Afghanistan.
 New Delhi tiptoed around the U.S.’s announcement of a new “Quad” with Uzbekistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan on connectivity, but this is another cause for worry.

39
INDIA-CHINA
IN DEFENCE OF INDIA’S NOISY DEMOCRACY

Context:
In the current moment, it is important to be clear why comparisons with China are not only
specious but also dangerous.

More in Detail:
 China’s developmental pathway over the last century has been spectacular. No country
in history has ever grown faster and more dynamically. Not only have hundreds of
millions been lifted out of poverty, but social indicators have improved dramatically.
 India’s developmental record has been much more mixed. Since the 1990s, the Indian
economy has grown impressively, but it remains far behind China in its global
competitiveness.
 Poverty has come down, but employment prospects for the majority remain
limited to low-wage informal sector jobs that are, by definition, precarious. Maybe,
most startling of all, improvements in basic social development indicators have lagged,
so much so that as Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen have pointed out, India has actually
fallen behind Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The ‘too democratic’ line:

 India’s problem is that it is just too democratic. Unlike China, making and implementing
key decisions about public investment and various reforms is impossible in the din of
multiple and contradictory democratic voices. What is needed are firmer and more
independent forms of decision-making that are insulated from this cacophony.
 This line of thinking has at various times been embraced by sections of the Left
(Leninism) and multi-lateral technocrats and bankers, but, increasingly, has
become the animating fantasy of right-wing leaders and movements, ranging from
elected autocrats such as Donald Trump, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Narendra Modi. But
in the current moment, it is especially important to be clear why comparisons with China
are not only specious, but very dangerous.
 The claim that less democracy is good for development does not stand up to
comparative, theoretical and ethical scrutiny. Contrary to those who believe economic
management cannot be left to the whims of democratic forces, the comparative
evidence clearly shows that democratic regimes have on balance performed better than
non-democratic regimes.
 China, with a history of state-building going back two millennia, and an exceptionally
well-organised, disciplined and brutal form of authoritarianism, has done especially well
in transforming its economy. Africa and West Asia, where authoritarian governments of
every stripe have dominated, remain world economic laggards.
 The Latin American military dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s had a terrible
economic and social record, and it was with the return of democracy and the “pink
wave” of Left populist parties that prosperity and social progress were ushered in.

40
 Taiwan and South Korea are also instructive. Their economic take-offs happened under
military regimes and relied on labour repression. Their transitions to democracy saw
their economies move up to the next level and become much more inclusive.

Democracy and development:

 If one has to look within India to understand how development and democracy can
thrive together.
 Kerala and Tamil Nadu have done more to improve the lives of all their citizens
across castes and classes than any other States in India and it is no coincidence that
both have also had the longest and most sustained popular democratic movements and
intense party competition in the country.
 In contrast, in Gujarat, where single party Bharatiya Janata Party rule has been in place
for nearly a quarter century, growth has been solid but accompanied by increased social
exclusion and stagnation in educational achievement and poverty reduction. The
comparative record leaves little doubt that on balance, democracies are better at
promoting inclusive growth.
 The theory behind the authoritarian fantasy also does not hold up. First, the assumption
that authoritarianism supports forms of decision-making that can rise above the
hubbub of democratic demand-making to get things done presumes that those in
command will serve the general interest rather than catering to the powerful and that
when they enjoy such autonomy.
 On both these points, democracies are in fact more likely to meet the necessary
conditions for successful decision making. Elected representatives, no matter how venal,
have to win re-election, which means answering to a broad swath of the electorate.
 The conflicts and noise that democracy generates may complicate things, but in the end,
having to respond to a broad spectrum of interests and identities not only protects
against catastrophic decisions, but actually allows for forms of negotiation and
compromise that can bridge across interests and even balance otherwise conflicting
imperatives for growth, justice, sustainability and social inclusion.
 The remarkable progress the United Progressive Alliance governments made in building
a welfare state (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Right to Information,
the right to food and other programmes) is a testament to how a democracy can master
even the most complex policy goals.
 As democratic theorists have long argued, the common good cannot and should not be
determined by science, profits, technocrats or autocratic fiat. What it is and how we get
there can only emerge out of sustained societal deliberation.

A look at China:
 India’s tryst with democracy was born not only of its liberation movement but also of its
affinity with what makes democracy ethically unique:
 It promotes equality by endowing all citizens with the same civic, political
and social rights even as it protects and nurtures individuality and difference. And
this is where the China-India comparison is so problematic, indeed unconscionable.
 However one might like to measure or evaluate China’s development successes:
 There is no way to discount the human cost of the party-made great famine that
took some 35 million lives.
 A cultural revolution that made enemies out of neighbours.

41
  A one child policy that devastated families and erased a generation or the violent.
 Systematic repression of the Uyghur Muslim and Tibetan minorities.
 These were not unfortunate excesses or the inevitable costs of development. These were
and are the irredeemable instincts and predations of an authoritarian state, one which
now denounces as “historical nihilism” any interpretations of the past that challenge the
party’s official history.
 Conversely, while India’s democracy has been quarrelsome, cumbersome and often
dominated by elites, it has also opened:
 Social and political spaces for subordinate groups.
 Built a sense of shared identity and belonging in the world’s largest and most diverse
society.
 It has preserved individual liberties, group identities and religious and
thought freedoms, all the things that confer recognition on human beings.
 To even pose the question of a trade-off between these freedoms and the role they have
played in building a pluralistic nation and some cold, utilitarian calculus of
“development” not only does violence to the very idea of human agency and dignity but
completely abstracts from the very different social and historical realities of India and
China.

There is backslide:
 Beyond these comparative arguments for democracy, one need look no further than the
object lesson the BJP government has provided to dismiss the authoritarian fantasy. The
democratic backsliding has been clear.
 The Government has not only sought to centralise, insulate and personalise decision-
making but has also aggressively undermined the independence of democratic
institutions and silenced and imprisoned Opposition voices, all in the name of
nationalism and promoting development.
 The development track is dismal at best. While corporate business interests and the
billionaire class have flourished.
 The overall economy has sputtered and since COVID-19 has experienced the worst
contraction of any sizeable economy in the world.
 Demonetisation and the disastrous response to the second COVID-19 wave were not just
instances of utter policy incoherence fuelled by the sycophancy and myopia that comes
with an inwardly focused government, but exposed a degree of callousness and
arrogance rarely seen in a democracy.
 On the social front, the pursuit of Hindutva — a prototypical variant of authoritarian
ethnic nationalism — has shaken India’s democratic norms and institutional foundations
and weaponised a politics of polarisation and demonization that threaten to unravel the
social fabric of the nation.

Conclusion:
 Rather than look to China, it is time to defend the noise of Indian democracy.

ENDING THE IMPASSE: ON INDIA-CHINA TIES

Context:
India, China cannot put the distrust of the past behind without resolving the border issue.

42
More in Detail:
 India’s relations with China have been in deep freeze for over a year. The crisis on the
LAC remains unresolved, and tens of thousands of soldiers from both sides still remain
deployed in forward areas.
 The last meeting in Moscow, in September 2020, took place in the aftermath of the
Galwan Valley clash and at a time of a tinderbox-like situation south of Pangong Lake,
with troops and artillery dangerously close to each other on the heights of the Kailash
Range.
 A political agreement then paved the way for both sides to disengage in February, but
the agreements in Galwan and Pangong Lake, where both sides have put in place
no-patrolling zones, have not been followed at other disputed sites, in Depsang,
Demchok, Gogra and Hot Springs.
 It was peace on the border that provided “the foundation for the development of ties
since 1988” when the post-1962 freeze ended.
 India, having declared that normalcy cannot be possible without disengagement and
de-escalation and signalled its intent with measures including scrutiny on Chinese
investments — bilateral trade, however, is still booming beyond pre-pandemic levels
thanks to huge imports of medical supplies — will now have to stay the course to
underline its resolve on restoring the status quo.
 Beijing’s “strategic judgment on China-India relations remains unchanged”.
China’s PLA has been dragging its feet on negotiations, to restore the LAC status quo
since February. The only way for Beijing to demonstrate that is indeed the case will be
to resume negotiations on the LAC at the earliest. Unless a full restoration of peace and
de-escalation on the borders happen, the relations in all other spheres will remain
cloaked in distrust.

DEAL ON GOGRA, HOT SPRINGS LIKELY SOON

Context:
India, China could reach an agreement for disengagement at the next round of talks, say
officials.

More in Detail:
 India and China are set to hold the 12th round of Corps Commander-level talks aimed to
resolving the standoff in Eastern Ladakh soon and an agreement for
disengagement at Gogra and Hot Springs is likely to be reached.
 The situation on the ground is stable. There have been no attempts to reoccupy the
peaks vacated. The sense is they (China) are ready to disengage from all places.
 The two sides are also looking at a Major General level talk to be held after the 12th
round of talks, according to officials.
 Since the standoff began, the two sides have also held 10 Major General level talks, 55
Brigadier level talks and around 1,450 calls over the two hotlines. India and China
have two hotlines for communication at Chushul and Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO).

Friction points:

43
 While disengagement has been completed on both banks of Pangong Tso in
February 2021, other friction points that remain to be resolved are Gogra and Hot
Springs, Demchok and Depsang.
 In Eastern Ladakh, India and China have two mutually agreed disputed areas — Trig
Heights and Demchok — and 10 areas of differing perception. Since the stand-off in
2020, additional five friction points have emerged. These include Km 120 in Galwan
area, Patrolling Points (PP) 15 and PP17 and Rechin La and Rezang La on the South
Bank of Pangong Tso, the official said.
 China wants de-escalation first and disengagement later which is not acceptable to India
as they can bring back troops and equipment much faster then we can do. Some of the
People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) peace locations are located as far as 3,000 km from the
LAC, but they can mobilise much faster.

Access issues:
 For India, the area is cut off for several months a year which is not the case with China.
Both the Zozila and Rohtang passes were kept open longer than usual last year due
to the standoff and are available for 7-8 months.
 Construction work on several tunnels is underway on a priority basis including at
Baralacha La and Tanglang La among others.

Troop rotations:
 China’s present focus is on rotation of troops, training and a major focus on construction
activities along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh as well in other areas.
 India too is focussing on upgrading defence works, induction of new generation
equipment and operational logistics for winter stocking while pushing for the 12th round
of Corps Commander Talks.
 On the PLA deployments and rotations, official said while Indian Army has been used to
long deployments in high altitude areas, the PLA is not. Last year the PLA troop rotation
in Rechin La and Rezang La on the South Bank of Pangng Tso was around 7-10 days.
 India is looking for comprehensive de-escalation of the situation in Eastern Ladakh which
includes disengagement from all friction points, de-escalation and working out of new
protocols, according to officials.

INDIA, CHINA DISENGAGE FROM GOGRA POST IN EASTERN LADAKH

Context:
As per agreement reached during Corps Commander talks, India and China have ceased
forward deployments in (Patrolling Point) PP-17A (Gogra Post) in phased, coordinated and
verified manner.

More in Detail:
 Both sides are now in their respective permanent bases. All temporary structures and
other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides have been dismantled and
mutually verified. The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to pre-stand
off period.

44
 According to the army, this agreement ensures that the LAC in this area will be strictly
observed and respected by both sides, and that there is no unilateral change in status
quo.
 On 31st July, India and China had held 12th round of military talks to discuss
disengagement of troops in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
 During the talks, India had pressed for an early disengagement of troops and
weapons in Hot Springs, Gogra and other remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.
 Both sides agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner in
accordance with existing agreements and protocols, and maintain the momentum of
dialogue and negotiations.
 The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese armies erupted in May 2020
following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area and both sides gradually enhanced
their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.
 Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control
(LAC) in the sensitive sector. Following a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two
sides completed the withdrawal of troops from the North and South banks of the
Pangong lake in February.

ROAD AHEAD FROM GOGRA: ON INDIA-CHINA DISENGAGEMENT PROCESS

Context:
While disengagement happens, a long-lasting solution along the LAC remains a challenge.

More in Detail:
 India and China have taken one more step towards restoring peace and normalcy on the
LAC by disengaging at Gogra.
 It is, however, only one step, and the road ahead towards returning to the status quo of
April 2020, before the tensions of last summer upended years of a carefully managed
even if uneasy peace along the LAC, remains uncertain.
 It has taken 12 rounds of military-level talks to see both sides disengage and put in
place buffer zones in the Galwan Valley, the site of the June 2020 clash that marked the
worst violence since 1967, Pangong Lake, and now Patrolling Point 17 in Gogra.
 The disengagement process at PP17 took place with a return to permanent bases.
 The next round of talks will discuss PP15 in Hot Springs. Demchok, where China has
transgressed in relatively smaller numbers than the deployments seen in Pangong Lake,
also remains unresolved. Beijing has appeared unwilling to discuss the strategically
significant Depsang plains, where the Chinese side has been blocking Indian patrols.
 The buffer zone model, where both sides temporarily cease patrolling in disputed
areas, has appeared to work so far in keeping the peace.
 It is, however, only a temporary measure, and one that India should not accept as
permanent as it would prevent India from enforcing its territorial claims and favour
the PLA, which can deploy faster in larger numbers owing to more favourable terrain
and better logistics.
 The next step will be full de-escalation, and a withdrawal of some of the new
forward deployments that have come up close to the LAC.
 India has signalled that it is prepared for the long haul; its message: relations cannot
return to normal without a full restoration of normalcy on the borders. While the

45
 strategic motivations of China’s border deployments last year are not clear, the tactical
objectives are not difficult to ascertain.
 Since the 2017 Doklam crisis, China has consistently stepped up building new
permanent airbases and air defence units closer to the LAC, with at least 13 new
positions coming up since then.
 India has been moving to rapidly upgrade its own infrastructure to close the gap. The
result is an entirely changed security dynamic along the LAC.

Conclusion:
 There is a need to come up urgently with new protocols and confidence-building
measures, as both sides gradually resume patrolling in the buffer zones.
 The multiple transgressions by China and the violence of last year have set back years
of efforts to carefully manage the borders and thrown into doubt whether the four
agreements regulating the behaviour of both sides still remain valid.
 While the recent moves towards restoring the peace are certainly welcome, finding a
more long-lasting solution to ensure peace along the LAC will present a taller challenge.

46
EFFECT OF POLICIES AND POLITICS OF
DEVELOPED & DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ON INDIA'S INTERESTS
SPOTLIGHT ON THE TRIANGLE

Context:
With the pandemic fuelling nationalism in politics in the U.S., China and India, relations are
in a difficult phase.

More in Detail:
 The COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened divisions within and among countries.
Nationalism continues to stir India, with the re-election of Narendra Modi in 2019, and
the U.S., despite the defeat of Donald Trump in 2020.
 While the pandemic turned out to be yet another occasion for China to claim superiority
of its economic and political model, it also exposed the weaknesses of the American
political and economic system. COVID-19 triggered a fresh round of debate on
liberalism.
 As for India, 2020 was a year of reckoning in its relations with China. In a first in 45
years, both sides lost soldiers in a border clash. At least 20 Indian soldiers and an
unknown number of Chinese died in Ladakh in June 2020 leading to massive
mobilisation of forces by both sides.

The Chinese factor:

 The Chinese action of occupying disputed territories so damaged the bilateral
relationship that it is now at its ‘most difficult phase’ in the last 34 years.
 The Chinese action remained inexplicable. China gave India ‘five differing explanations’
and ‘literally brought tens of thousands of soldiers in full military preparation mode right
to the LAC in Ladakh’.
 Pakistan’s constant refrain has been that the route to ‘peace in Afghanistan is through
Kashmir’, the argument being that unless America forces India to make concessions in
Kashmir, no progress was possible in Afghanistan — making both Kashmir and
Afghanistan part of the same continuum of transnational Islamist politics.
 While Pakistan has been pleading with America to be more interventionist in Kashmir,
India has resisted all such moves.

HOW WILL CONSUMERS BENEFIT FROM ‘RIGHT TO REPAIR’?

Context:
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to make a push for the
right of consumers to repair their electronic devices.

More in Detail:
 All five FTC Commissioners voted in favour of a policy that seeks to know whether
companies that are making it tougher for people to repair are violating antitrust laws.

47
 FTC Chairperson said its decision would help “root out unlawful repair restrictions” and
move forward with “new vigour” against violators.

What happens in the era of mobile computing?

 A new era of mobile computing and consumer culture was born after Apple co-founder
Steve Jobs unveiled a phone with a touchscreen, 4GB storage, camera and web-
browsing capability. Millions of consumers bought the device, and used it for gaming,
social networking and browsing the web.
 In just five years after its debut, over 200 million iPhones had been sold globally. Its
success spawned the mobile computing industry and nudged users into upgrading their
devices instead of fixing them when something went wrong.
 In the pre-iPhone era, certain issues in a mobile device could be repaired by the user
themselves. But to get an Apple product fixed, a buyer has to take it to an authorised
dealer as any warranty on the product would become null and void if they opened the
back of the smartphone. Even after taking the device to an authorised store, the cost of
repair could be high.

What are the other issues?

 Hardware is only one part of the problem. In 2018, an Australian court ordered
Apple to pay a penalty of Australian $9 million ($6.6 million) after it told its customers it
wouldn’t do free repairs for devices that stopped working due to a software glitch.
 “Error 53” occurred after some iPhone users downloaded the company’s updated
operating system. Apple had turned down over 200 customer requests for repairs, citing
devices were serviced at a non-Apple store, effectively voiding warranty.
 Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the U.S. are taking refuge in a two-
decade old law framed to protect the movie industry from people breaking digital locks
on DVDs. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 1998, it is illegal to
break a digital lock embedded in a product.

Why is the movement important?

 A consortium of advocacy groups is trying to push repair-friendly laws in the U.S. and
break the DMCA stronghold. The Repair Association’s premise is that consumers can
maintain their products, provided tools and information on fixing is available to them.
Since its founding in 2013, the group has put several ‘Right to Repair’ proposals in
state legislatures. The FTC vote is a major win for the group.
 The proposed legislation requires consumer electronics-makers to provide tools and
information necessary to repair electronic products. This could change how companies
operate by making them provide information and parts to unofficial repair centres, and,
in the process, reduce costs for the consumer.

What is the stand of the tech giants?

 Tech giants have been lobbying against the legislation, citing security concerns.
TechNet, a trade group representing large tech firms, said allowing unvetted parties to
access sensitive information, tools and components would “jeopardise safety of
consumers’ device and put consumers at risk of fraud”. But the FTC had earlier
concluded that there was scant evidence to support the companies’ claim for restricting
repair.

48
A CONFIDENT EXIT FROM AFGHANISTAN

Context:
It is the U.S.’s belief that the Taliban won’t harm its interests that has propelled its exit.

More in Detail:
 Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is not getting out of Afghanistan a defeated nation.
It stayed there as long as it needed to, achieving its objective “to degrade the terrorist
threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued
against the United States.”
 The U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan represents a fundamental shift in its strategic
objectives. It is time for it to move on and focus on more important strategic priorities
such as “threats from China, an aggressive Russia, North Korea, and Iran — as well as
zoonotic pandemics”.

Stopping spread of communism:

 By exiting Afghanistan, the U.S. has left the problem of containing what remains of the
Taliban’s brand of Islamic fundamentalism to its concerned neighbours.
 The most aggrieved by this exit will be the Afghans who, after enduring 20 years of
conflict, were looking forward to better times, but are instead being abandoned by the
U.S. This is what happened to the South Vietnamese when the U.S. withdrew from the
Vietnam war in 1973.
 The U.S.’s seemingly messy exit then concealed a victory against global communism
that two shrewd and ruthless men — President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger —
conjured in just under four years between 1969 and 1973.
 At the start of the big U.S. engagement in Vietnam following the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution passed by the U.S. Congress in August 1964, which authorised the
President to deploy armed forces in Southeast Asia, there was a real fear among
Americans that revolutionary communism, spearheaded by the Soviet Union and China,
would take over one country after another in Asia and that Vietnam would be one more
country to fall if not checked.
 Fortunately for Nixon, soon after becoming the American President in 1969, the
ideological differences between the Soviet Union and China came out in the open and led
to a border dispute. It is here that Nixon saw his chance to drive them further apart by
reaching out to China through Romania and Pakistan.
 Following up on Kissinger’s secret visit to China, Nixon went there in 1972 on his much
publicised ‘the week that changed the world’ tour paving the way for a ‘safe’ U.S. exit
from Vietnam in 1973. This was no small victory for Nixon. With China almost wholly on
his side, the U.S.’s principal enemy, the Soviet Union, stood alone. This practically
eliminated American fears of communism overrunning the world or of Vietnam falling
into communist hands.
 Something similar has happened in Afghanistan. With the kind of surveillance that the
U.S. and its allies are able to mount on countries and individuals today, it is unlikely that
the Taliban will, even if they wrest control of Afghanistan, be in a position to nurture
another terrorist like Osama Bin Laden, as they have been accused of doing. It is this
confidence that has enabled American military disengagement in Afghanistan.

49
CLASH OF CULTURES IN A FEDERATION

Context:
The homogenising tendency of the union in India and EU clashes with the particularism
unique to individual states.

Background:
 India is a federation because powers are divided between the Union and the
States, and the EU a supranational organisation that defies definition, with both con-
federal and federal aspects.
 It is this division of powers in India and the EU that brings the unions into conflict with
their constituent parts.

Latest controversy in the EU:

 The EU is variously criticised as a “political dwarf”, “a hobbled giant” distracted by
internal bickering and competing national agendas, and an aggregate of secondary
powers in search of primary status through collective agency.
 Despite the EU being one of the largest economies of the world, the 27 leaders squabble
over issues from fisheries to budget allocations. The union finds it easier to promote
universal standards in areas like climate change and food and bio-safety than
domestic values.
 The latest controversy with Hungary and Poland on gay and lesbian rights is a case in
point. Gay marriage is not recognised by Budapest and only heterosexual couples can
legally adopt children.
 The LGBTQ law that took effect in July 2021 outlaws information perceived as promoting
homosexuality or gender change to children under 18. This led to strong criticism from
17 liberal EU nations who believe the Hungarian law undermines the principle that
discrimination on the basis of sexuality, ethnicity and gender is not permissible
within the union.
 The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to haul Hungary before the European
Court of Justice over its LGBTQ law, and while there is an EU provision to remove voting
rights from an offending country, penalties require unanimous agreement from EU
states. This will never be forthcoming since Hungary and Poland support each other and
the union cannot expel a member state without the unanimity requirement.
 Hungary is the second-largest net beneficiary of the EU budget, receiving €5
billion more than it contributes each year. The measures introduced by the three nations
are for domestic popularity in a combined population of nearly 50 million with cultural
traditions different from more liberal EU member states. The crisis represents a clash of
cultures, which underlines why integration towards a closer union is unlikely to
materialise.
 In India, the Centre and Opposition-controlled States have a historically fractious
relationship. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959 dislodged the Communist
government in Kerala on specious grounds.
 The pattern of the Union government attempting to subvert Opposition States by
stimulating defections, ordering selective raids by investigative agencies, electronic

50
 surveillance, and delaying or refusing financial entitlements has become the
unsavoury norm, now taken to extremes by Hindutva ideologues in control of the
Centre.
 The tensions between New Delhi and the Opposition-led periphery are magnified by
differences in values, perceived arrogance on the part of the Centre and the victimhood
card played by Opposition parties. The homogenising bias of the union clashes with the
particularism unique to individual States, resulting in the clash of cultures.

TIGRAY’S WOES: ON THE CONFLICT IN ETHIOPIA’S NORTH

Context:
Ethiopia should end the blockade of the north and engage in talks with the Tigray People’s
Liberation Front (TPLF).

More in Detail:
 When Ethiopian administration sent troops to Tigray, the country’s northern-most
region, in November 2020, they promised it would be a short campaign against the
Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Seven months later, when Ethiopia declared a
unilateral ceasefire and withdrew, administration was indirectly accepting defeat.
 Government troops are now facing serious allegations of war crimes as bodies wash up
in a river in Sudan that borders Ethiopia. The federal troops had initially ousted the TPLF
from Mekele, the Tigrayan capital, and established a parallel government. But the
TPLF retreated to the mountains, and then struck back.
 The UN says at least 3.5 lakh people are facing a “severe food crisis” in the region. The
TPLF says it will not stop fighting unless the government lifts the blockade and pulls
back all opposing troops.
 The conflict has already spilled over into the Amhara and Afar regions, threatening
the very regional make-up of ethnically divided Ethiopia. An influx of refugees has raised
tensions with neighbouring Sudan.
 Ethiopian PM, a Nobel Prize winner, went to war in Tigray as part of an ambitious plan to
rewrite the country’s power balance. Ethiopian PM rose to power in 2018 amid growing
ethnic tensions and protests as the EPRDF’s nominee. He ended the war with Eritrea,
released political prisoners and promised more freedoms.

IN FREE FALL: ON LEBANON AND ITS SECTARIAN POLITICS

Context:
Unless Lebanon sets aside sectarian politics, it will be unable to have a stable government.

More in Detail:
 Lebanon, which has been battling multiple crises for the last couple of years, is on the
brink of an economic collapse. The meltdown that forced the country to default on its
bonds in 2019 for the first time since its independence in 1943 was aggravated by
2020’s Beirut port blast.
 The explosion that killed over 200 people and wounded about 7,000 others in August
2020 is estimated to have caused damage worth $15 billion. The blast has also

51
 deepened the country’s political crisis as Lebanon has been ruled by a caretaker
government ever since.
 The Mediterranean country is now reeling under a severe economic downturn,
medicine, food and fuel shortages and rising crimes. Recently, its central bank stated
that it could no longer finance fuel imports at subsidised rates citing depleted reserves.
 Fuel shortages have led to chaotic scenes across the country. At least 28 people were
killed in the country’s north when a fuel tank exploded while locals were scrambling for
its fuel.
 UNICEF has warned that millions of Lebanese are facing a severe water shortage. The
economic crisis has pushed more than half the population into poverty, while the
currency value has fallen by 90%.
 According to the World Bank, Lebanon’s GDP per capita fell by 40% in dollar terms
between 2018 and 2020, while real GDP contracted by 20.3% in 2020. The Bank
assesses that even with quick reforms, it will take years before the economy gets
back to its pre-crisis size.
 According to Lebanon’s Constitution, the President should be a Maronite Christian, the
Prime Minister a Sunni, and the Parliament Speaker a Shia.
 With the country facing a severe fuel shortage, Hezbollah, the powerful Shia militia-
cum-political party, has moved to import fuel directly from Iran. Hezbollah says it is
trying to ease the country’s fuel situation while its opponents say the move is aimed at
drawing Lebanon further into the Iranian orbit and could be counterproductive as oil
deals with Iran could attract sanctions from the U.S.
 Lebanon’s politicians have sought fresh loans from the IMF, but the fund will release
money only if the government commits itself to reforms. For that, Lebanon has to form a
government first.
 Lebanon’s political elites should realise that the country is facing a once-in-a-century
crisis, set aside their sectarian politics, and come together to form a stable
government. If not, nothing can stop the country’s free fall.

52
SPACE TECHNOLOGY & RELATED
MATTERS
ISRO'S EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE EOS-03 LIFTS OFF SUCCESSFULLY

Context:
GSLV-F10 lifts off successfully from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

More in Detail:
 The 51.70-metre tall rocket GSLV-F10/EOS-03 successfully lifted off from the second
launch pad at the spaceport as planned.
 However, Cryogenic Upper Stage ignition did not happen due to technical anomaly. The
mission couldn't be accomplished as intended.
 ISRO had said that EOS-03 will be capable of obtaining vital information for application
in different sectors including:
 Agriculture
 Forestry
 Water bodies
 Disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloudburst, or thunderstorm monitoring
 It also said that earth observation satellite would provide real time images of the
country and borders and also able to quick monitor of natural disasters.

THE FAILURE TO LAUNCH ISRO’S GEO-IMAGING SATELLITE GISAT-1

Context:
India’s attempt to place a geo-imaging satellite (GISAT-1) with its GSLV-F10-EOS-3
mission did not succeed.

Background:
 The GSLV-F10 rocket of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which blasted
off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota with the purpose of launching
the Earth Observation Satellite EOS-3 into space, failed in its mission due to a
‘performance anomaly’.

What caused the failure of the mission?

 Cryogenic upper stage ignition did not happen due to a technical anomaly. The third
stage started to roll after ignition and then it progressively worsened. Then the
telemetry lines diverged.
 The ignition of the third stage did not take place as programmed. The ISRO has
confirmed that this mission could not be accomplished as planned. Around 352 seconds
after launch, after the separation of the stages two and three, at an altitude of about
139 km, the deviation from plan appears to have taken place.
 After a lot of consultations and perhaps attempts to revive the programme, at about 15
minutes after the launch, the Director of ISRO announced that the mission could not be
accomplished.

What was the supposed function of the satellite that the rocket was about to
launch?
 EOS-3 was the first state-of-art agile Earth Observation Satellite which would have
been placed in a Geo-Synchronous orbit around the Earth.
 The objectives of EOS-3 were:

53
  To provide real-time imaging of large areas of the Earth
 To monitor natural disasters from its position in the sky
 To provide warnings for natural disasters, observe cyclones, cloudbursts,
thunderclouds etc.

About the GSLV rocket:

 The GSLV Mark II is the largest launch vehicle built by India until now. The GSLV
expands to geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle.
 It can launch satellites that will travel in orbits that are synchronous with the Earth’s
orbit. These satellites can weigh up to 2,500 kg and are first launched into transfer
orbits that have a distance from Earth of 170 km at closest approach and about 35,975
km at furthest approach which is close to the height of the geosynchronous orbit. From
this transfer orbit, the satellite gets set free into a geosynchronous orbit.

RESEARCHERS DISCOVER THREE SUPER-MASSIVE BLACK HOLES MERGING

TOGETHER IN OUR NEARBY UNIVERSE

Context:
Indian researchers have discovered merging black holes.

More in Detail:
 Indian researchers have discovered three super massive black holes from three
galaxies merging together to form a triple active galactic nucleus, a compact region at
the center of a newly discovered galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity.
 This rare occurrence in our nearby Universe indicates that small merging groups are
ideal laboratories to detect multiple accreting super massive black holes and increases
the possibility of detecting such rare occurrences.
 Super massive black holes are difficult to detect because they do not emit any
light. But they can reveal their presence by interacting with their surroundings.
 When the dust and gas from the surroundings fall onto a super massive black hole,
some of the mass is swallowed by the black hole, but some of it is converted into energy
and emitted as electromagnetic radiation that makes the black hole appear very
luminous. They are called active galactic nuclei (AGN) and release huge amounts of
ionized particles and energy into the galaxy and its environment. Both of these
ultimately contribute to the growth of the medium around the galaxy and ultimately the
evolution of the galaxy itself.
 Data from the Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board the first Indian space
observatory ASTROSAT, the European integral field optical telescope called MUSE
mounted on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and infrared images from the
optical telescope (IRSF) in South Africa was used.
 According to the researchers, a major factor impacting galaxy evolution is galaxy
interactions, which happen when galaxies move close by each other and exert
tremendous gravitational forces on each other. During such galaxy interactions, the
respective super massive black holes can get near each other. The dual black holes start
consuming gas from their surroundings and become dual AGN.
 Many AGN pairs have been detected in the past, but triple AGN are extremely rare, and
only a handful has been detected before using X-ray observations.
 However, the IIA team expects such triple AGN systems to be more common in small
merging groups of galaxies. Although this study focuses only on one system, results
suggest that small merging groups are ideal laboratories to detect multiple super
massive black holes.

54
INDIAN ASTROPHYSICISTS SPOT RARE MERGER OF THREE JUMBO BLACK HOLES

Context:
The study has been published as a letter in the ‘Astronomy and Astrophysics’ journal.

More in Detail:
 A rare merging of three supermassive black holes has been spotted by a team of
astrophysicists in India. They were observing the merging of two galaxies named
NGC7733 and NGC 7734 in our celestial neighbourhood when they detected unusual
emissions from the centre of the latter and a curious movement of a large bright clump
within it, having a different velocity than that of NGC7733.
 Inferring that this was a separate galaxy, the scientists named it NGC7733N. There are
super massive black holes, which are several million solar masses in size, at the centres
of galaxies, and these are known as Active Galactic Nuclei. Since they “accrete”
matter, they often have a glow around them which can be observed using light
spectroscopy.
 All three merging black holes were part of galaxies in the Toucan constellation.
They are quite far away when you think that our nearest galactic neighbour – the
Andromeda galaxy is 2.5 million light years away. Yet the paper describes these as
nearby galaxies. “In Astronomy everything is relative.
 The study used data from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on-board the
first Indian space observatory ASTROSAT, the European integral field optical telescope
called MUSE mounted on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and infrared images
from the optical telescope (IRSF) in South Africa.
 The team explains that if two galaxies collide, their black hole will also come closer by
transferring the kinetic energy to the surrounding gas. The distance between the
black holes decreases with time until the separation is around a parsec (3.26 light-
years). The two black holes are then unable to lose any further kinetic energy to get
even closer and merge. This is known as the final parsec problem.
 The presence of a third black hole can solve this problem. “The two can come closer
when another black hole or a star passes by and takes away some of their combined
angular momentum. Thus, the dual merging black holes merge with each other in
the presence of a third.
 Many Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN, super massive black hole at the centre of a galaxy)
pairs have been detected in the past, but triple AGN are extremely rare, and only a
handful has been detected before using X-ray observations.

ISRO CONDUCTS HOT TEST OF GAGANYAAN SERVICE MODULE PROPULSION

SYSTEM

Context:
The system performance met the test objectives and there was a close match with the pre-
test predictions.

More in Detail:
 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it successfully conducted the first hot
test of the System Demonstration Model (SDM) of the Gaganyaan Service Module
Propulsion System for duration of 450 seconds at the test facility of Propulsion
Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu. Further, a series of hot tests are
planned to simulate various mission conditions as well as off-nominal conditions.
 The Service Module (SM) is part of the Gaganyaan Orbital module and is located
below the crew module and remains connected to it until re-entry.

55
 The SM Propulsion System consists of a unified bipropellant system consisting of five
numbers of 440 Newtons (N) thrust engines and 16 numbers of 100 N Reaction Control
System (RCS) thrusters with MON-3 and MMH as Oxidizer and Fuel respectively.
 The SDM, consisting of five numbers of 440 N engines and eight numbers of 100 N
thrusters, was realised to qualify the propulsion system performance in ground. A new
test facility is established at IPRC, Mahendragiri for testing the SDM.

SPACEX LAUNCHES ANTS, AVOCADOS, ROBOT TO SPACE STATION

Context:
The delivery is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just under a decade.

More in Detail:
 A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward
the International Space Station. The delivery is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just
under a decade.
 A recycled Falcon rocket blasted from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. After hoisting
the Dragon capsule, the first-stage booster landed upright on SpaceX’s newest ocean
platform, named “A Shortfall of Gravitas”.
 The Dragon is carrying more than 4,800 pounds (2,170 kilograms) of supplies and
experiments, and fresh food including avocados, lemons and even ice cream for the
space station’s seven astronauts.
 NASA turned to SpaceX and other U.S. companies to deliver cargo and crews to the
space station, once the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

56
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-
DEVELOPMENTS AND THEIR
APPLICATIONS AND EFFECTS IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
NEW TECHNIQUE TO STUDY ULTRASMALL PARTICLES IN CELLS

Context:
The technique exploits the quantum emission properties of erbium-doped nanoparticles.

More in Detail:
 Researchers from IIT Madras and IISER Kolkata have developed a method to detect
minute quantities of chemicals in solution. They use a variation of absorption
spectroscopy that surpasses the systemic limits imposed by conventional absorption
spectroscopy.
 With this technique, they can, in principle, illuminate the insides of cells and detect
minuscule quantities of substances present there.
 Absorption spectroscopy is a tool to detect the presence of elements in a
medium. Light is shone on the sample, and after it passes through the sample is
examined using a spectroscope.
 Dark lines are seen in the observed spectrum of the light passed through the substance,
which correspond to the wavelengths of light absorbed by the intervening substance and
are characteristic of the elements present in it.
 Usually in absorption spectroscopy, the principle used is that light because of its
wavelike nature, shows diffraction patterns, that is, dark and light fringes, when it
scatters off any object.
 A related concept called the Abbe criterion sets a natural limit on the size of the
object being studied. According to this criterion, the size of the observed object has to
be at least of the order of the wavelength of the light being shone on it.
 If you want to perform absorption spectroscopy using visible light, namely, blue,
green and red, the wavelengths of these colours are about 400 nm, 500 nm and 600
nm, respectively. The diffraction limit is typically half of that, about 200 nm for the blue
light.
 In the method used by the researchers here, tiny, nano-sized particles that can absorb
light being shone on them and re-emit red, blue and green light were employed. They
used a nano-particle of sodium yttrium fluoride (a kind of glass) with some
dopants, which has the special property that when you excite this with infra-red light at
975 nm, it emits blue, green and red light from the particle itself.
 The particles emit electric fields that are analogous to how a tiny magnet would give off
magnetic lines of force – this is called a dipole, and the particle is like a tiny mobile
phone’s antenna.
 The absorption leaves a gap in the reflected light, which is what is observed and used to
analyse the nature of the absorbing material. Since this works at the level of photons,
this surpasses the limit on the size of the substance or sample being studied.
 There are many potential applications. The future is to use it to measure individual
molecules, see an absorption spectroscopy of a single DNA or protein molecule.

IN A WORLD FIRST, SOUTH AFRICA GRANTS PATENT TO AN ARTIFICIAL

INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM

57
Context:
South Africa’s decision has received widespread backlash from intellectual property experts.
Some have labelled it a mistake, or an oversight by the patent office.

More in Detail:
 A recently granted South African patent relating to a “food container based on
fractal geometry” seems fairly mundane. The innovation in question involves
interlocking food containers that are easy for robots to grasp and stack. That’s because
the inventor is not a human being — it is an artificial intelligence (AI) system called
DABUS.
 DABUS (stands for “device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified
sentience”) is an AI system created by Stephen Thaler, a pioneer in the field of AI and
programming.
 The system simulates human brainstorming and creates new inventions. DABUS is a
particular type of AI, often referred to as “creativity machines” because they are
capable of independent and complex functioning. This differs from everyday AI like Siri,
the “voice” of Apple’s iPhones.

Creativity machines:
 Creativity machines can process and critically analyse data, learning from it. This
process is known as machine learning. Once the machine learning phase has occurred,
the machine is able to “autonomously” create without human intervention.
 Over the years there have been many kinds of creativity machines. Prior to DABUS,
Thaler built another AI which created novel sheet music, and which he credited with
inventing the cross-bristle toothbrush design. He filed a patent for the cross-bristle
design, and it was granted — proving AI’s ability to generate truly novel inventions that
meet the standards for patents. However, Thaler listed himself, rather than the AI, as
the inventor at that time.
 The United States Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office rejected
these applications in the formal examination phase. They gave three reasons:
 First, their respective patent laws only provide for human inventors, not AI.
 Second, ideas, for the purposes of patents, require the element of “mental
conception” — something of which only a human mind is capable.
 Finally, inventor-ship comes with rights, which AI is not legally capable of
possessing.

Enabling policy environment:

 The first relevant policy was the Intellectual Property Policy of the Republic of
South Africa Phase I of 2018. It marked the beginning of patent reform in the
country. Since then, from 2019 to 2021, three other notable instruments have been
published: the Department of Science and Technology’s White Paper on Science,
Technology, and Innovation; the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial
Revolution; and the proposed National Data and Cloud Policy in terms of the Electronic
Communications Act 36 of 2005.
 The core message of all these documents is that South Africa’s government wants to
increase innovation to solve the country’s socio-economic issues. There is clear worry
about issues such as poor innovation levels, lack of funding and lack of suitable
infrastructure which is necessary to really capitalise on the fourth industrial revolution.
 Given the policy environment and the vast potential of AI, the granting of the patent
makes sense. Perhaps this will turn out to be a strategic master-class by the South
African office which will lead to a much more innovative nation.

58
POROUS CARBON NANO-PARTICLES FROM WASTE ONION PEELS USED FOR
MAKING SOFT ACTUATORS WITH ENHANCED PHOTO-MECHANICAL CAPACITY

Context:
Using porous carbon nanoparticles from waste onion peels, a team of scientists have
developed soft robotic actuators with enhanced photomechanical capacity.

More in Detail:
 The actuators can act as efficient traps for the illuminating low-power near-infrared
(NIR) light and can convert a control signal into mechanical motion with bioengineering
applications such as drug delivery, wearable and assistive devices, prostheses, and even
artificial organs.
 Soft robots or actuators consisting of rubber-like polymer with embedded nano-
materials which convert a source of energy to mechanical motion have been gaining
much interest with targeted applications in areas including bio-medical, military,
and remote space operations. Generation of predesigned motion facilitated by their
flexibility, affordability, and easy customization are the main reasons for such interest.
 The high thermal conductivity of these nano-forms results in rapid distribution of the
heat generated locally by thermal and photo-thermal stimuli. To take these actuators to
the next level of development, heat traps can be created to capture and contain the
generated heat for slightly longer durations such that the achieved photomechanical
actuation can be enhanced.
 The specific surface area of the high porosity PCNs were efficient traps for the
illuminating low-power near-infrared (NIR) light resulting in the film comprising PCNs
and PDMS achieving large magnitude (multi-mm) actuation with fast (sub-second)
responses.
 These features are seldom obtained in single-layer films containing any other carbon
nanostructure. The researchers attribute the heat-trapping capability to the manner
in which the PCN is prepared.
 As a value addition, the team also found with an additional ultrathin (30 nm) gold layer,
the actuation magnitude could be more than doubled, and more importantly,
bidirectional photo-controlled face-sensitive movement realized.
 As a novel application-oriented demonstration of the process, the team fabricated a
Near-Infrared-driven electrical switch which could activate LED circuits and could be
used for other similar applications.

APPLE'S CHILD SAFETY FEATURE EXPLAINED

Context:
Apple’s new child safety feature is a litmus test for the privacy flag-bearer.

More in Detail:
 Apple announced a new feature to limit spread of sexually explicit images
involving children. It will soon be introduced in iMessage app, iOS and iPadOS, and
Siri. The tech giant notes that the feature will protect “children from predators”, and that
it was developed in collaboration with child safety experts.
 Apple’s child protection feature is an on-device tool that will warn children and their
parents whenever a child receives or sends sexually explicit images. The machine
learning (ML)-based tool will be deployed in the iMessage app to scan photos and
determine whether they are sexually explicit. The company noted that other private
communication in the app will not be read by its algorithm.

59
 Once a picture is identified as sensitive, the tool will blur it and warn the child about the
content. As an additional layer of precaution, the child will also be told that their parents
will get a text if they view the image. This feature can be switched on or off by parents.
 In the U.S., child pornographic content is tagged as Child Sexual Abuse Material
(CSAM), and is reported to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC), which acts as the country’s reporting centre for such images. NCMEC works
with law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
 To limit CSAM content on its platform, Apple says it will scan photos on user’s device
and cross reference them with NCMEC’s database. The tech giant will use a hashing
technology in iOS and iPadOS to transform the image into a unique number. This
process ensures that identical images will have the same hash even when cropped,
resized or colour converted.
 Then, a cryptographic technology called Private set intersection (PSI) powers the
matching process by not allowing Apple to view what is in the image. But, once a
particular threshold for the number of CSAM images in a phone, is breached, Apple will
manually check the pictures and disable the user’s account. It will then send a report to
NCMEC. A threshold is maintained to ensure that accounts are not incorrectly flagged.

Why is it being criticised?

 Even though Apple’s intention to combat child pornography is laudable, the company’s
latest feature has come under strong criticism as it could compromise the iPhone
maker’s end-to-end encryption system.
 Digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) notes that, even a well-
intentioned effort to build such a system will break key promises of the messenger’s
encryption itself and open the door to broader abuses.
 EFF points out that it will be difficult to audit how Apple’s ML tags an image as sexually
explicit as the algorithm sans human intervention has the habit of wrongfully classifying
content. Another area of concern is the client-side scanning used in this process, which
will look through a message, check it against a database of hashes, and then send it.
So, if a parent switches on Apple’s new feature, their child’s every message can be
viewed by a third-party entity before it is sent.
 Thus other government agencies could also start asking for access. Apple says that it
won't expand the feature to any other government request. The other issue is that these
systems rely on a database of “problematic media hashes” that you, as a consumer,
can’t review.”

NEW ADVANCED OXIDATION TECHNOLOGY CAN ENHANCE WASTE WATER REUSE

AT LOWER COST

Context:
A new technology may soon enhance the reuse of waste water in an affordable and
sustainable manner.

More in Detail:
 The technology which uses UV-Photocatalysis can treat municipal sewage and
highly polluting industrial wastewater streams and increase its reuse as a technological
option in industrial as well as municipal wastewater treatments.
 The current treatment practices are inefficient because of high dependence on biological
treatment systems, which are unable to bear shock loads. This is followed by tertiary
treatment systems involving RO and Multi Effect Evaporators (MEE). These systems
have large carbon footprint and maintenance costs making the wastewater treatment
highly unsustainable and unaffordable.

60
 The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, has developed a technology called
The Advanced Oxidation Technology or TADOX® which ‘can reduce less
dependence and load on biological and tertiary treatment systems and help achieve Zero
Liquid Discharge (ZLD). It can bring down capital expenditure on ZLD by 25-30% and
operating expense by 30-40% for industrial wastewater treatment.
 Department of Science and Technology (DST), GoI- Water Technology Initiative
(WTI) has supported TERI to develop this technology at bench scale collaboration
in tie-up with ONGC Energy Centre (OEC), Delhi.
 The technology involves UV-Photocatalysis as an Advanced Oxidation Process
(AOP) at the secondary treatment stage leading to oxidative degradation and
mineralization of targeted pollutants.
 It improves biodegradability, thereby preventing bio-fouling of membranes and
enhancing life span and efficiency of RO systems as also overall load on evaporators like
Multiple Effect Evaporators and Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR), and so on. It
can reduce Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD),
dissolved organics, pathogens, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), and Micro
pollutants.
 TADOX® could be integrated and retro fittable in existing treatment systems making it a
viable option as a novel Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Technology (DWTT)
applicable in upcoming and existing infrastructural projects, townships, commercial
complexes, green buildings, and smart cities.
 The technology has been adopted by an MSME Company to scale up to 10 Kilo Litre per
Day continuous running plant in TERI Gurugram campus. TADOX® technology has been
chosen for pilot trials and augmentation plan for identified industrial sectors under
‘Namami Gange’ Programme of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India. The
Technology is at TRL 7 and ready for commercialization through field implementations
and Technology & Trademark License Agreement from April 2021.

CSIR-CMERI MECHANIZED SCAVENGING SYSTEM- A FILIP TO THE SWACHCHA

BHARAT ABHIYAN

Context:
CSIR-CMERI is developing a Mechanized Scavenging System, which was initiated after
intensive studies of the diverse nature of Indian Sewerage Systems and the manner of its
chokages.

More in Detail:
 The technology is Modular in design so as to ensure customised deployment
strategies as per situational requirements. The System also focuses upon Sustainable
Usage of resource i.e. Water as the System sucks in Slurry Water from the choked
Sewerage Systems and after adequate filtration of the same redirects the same for
Clearing of Chokages using Self-Propelling Nozzle.
 This, CSIR-CMERI technology provides in-situ option for Mechanized Scavenging as
well as purification of Water. The design of the Technology is such that the Water
Filtration Mechanism may be changed/ modified as per the customised
needs/requirements with the ability to change/redesign the Filter Media.
 The Vehicle-mounted Filtration Units will be able to augment and use Water from
Surface Drain and Flooded Areas and purify it into Water suitable for Agricultural,
Household and Drinking Water usages.
 The Drinking Water Scarcity prevalent in Flood-Affected regions can be solved to a
certain by providing instantaneous and in-situ Water Purification solutions at
ease. This provides a consolidated Technology Solution in a Flood-Affected region as it
will be able to clear Drainage Chokages in flood-affected regions, which will help in

61
 providing an outlet for flood stagnated Water, as well as provide Water Purification
solutions in Flood Disaster Zones.
 Since, Situational Understanding is continuous process and requires thorough Studying
throughout. This continuous Studying and Analysing Process also translated into
incremental improvisation of the Technology at CSIR-CMERI.
 After, the development of the first Prototype, Subsequent Prototypes was developed
to improve the versatility and robustness of the Technology.
 This Incremental Innovation approach was coupled with deployment of the
Prototypes at various places with diverse situational challenges.

62
JUDICIARY IN INDIA: ITS STRUCTURE,
ORGANIZATION & FUNCTIONING,
JUDGES OF SC & HIGH COURTS,
JUDGMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES
MARITAL RAPE: AN INDIGNITY TO WOMEN

Context:
The marital rape exception is antithetical to women’s dignity, equality and autonomy.

Background:
 Since the High Court is bound by the law, which exempts husbands from being tried or
punished for raping their wives by creating the legal fiction that all sex within marriage
is consensual, no other conclusion was open to the Court. Notwithstanding this, the
discrepancies and failings of Indian criminal law, highlighted by the judgment, deserve
scrutiny.

Inconsistent provisions:
 First, the marital rape exception is inconsistent with other sexual offences, which make
no such exemption for marriage. Thus, a husband may be tried for offences such as
sexual harassment, molestation, voyeurism, and forcible disrobing in the same way as
any other man.
 A husband separated from his wife (though not divorced) may even be tried for rape
(Section 376B).
 A husband may be charged and tried for non-consensual penetrative sexual
interactions other than penile-vaginal penetration with his wife under Section 377
(prior to the decision of the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of
India, 2018, consent or lack thereof was not relevant to Section 377, but it is now).
 As a result, penetrative intercourse that is penile-vaginal is protected from criminal
prosecution when performed by a husband with his wife, even when done forcibly or
without consent. If there is an underlying rationale to this extremely limited
exemption, it is not immediately clear.
 Second, the marital rape exception is an insult to the constitutional goals of individual
autonomy, dignity and of gender equality enshrined in fundamental rights such as Article
21 (the right to life) and Article 14 (the right to equality).
 In Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court held that the offence
of adultery was unconstitutional because it was founded on the principle that a woman is
her husband’s property after marriage. The marital rape exception betrays a similar
patriarchal belief: that upon marriage, a wife’s right to personal and sexual autonomy,
bodily integrity and human dignity are surrendered. Her husband is her sexual master
and his right to rape her is legally protected.

Arguments against criminalization:

63
 A commonly cited rationale for preserving the marital rape exemption is that recognising
marital rape as a criminal offence would ‘destroy the institution of marriage’.
 This was the government’s defence in Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017).
Rejecting this claim, the Supreme Court astutely observed, “Marriage is not
institutional but personal – nothing can destroy the ‘institution’ of marriage except a
statute that makes marriage illegal and punishable
 Another argument is that since marriage is a sexual relationship, determining the
validity of marital rape allegations would be difficult.
 It is shocking that Exception 2 to Section 375 of the IPC survives to this day. Antithetical
to the liberal and progressive values of our Constitution, and violative of India’s
international obligations under instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the provision underlines women’s
subordination to men, especially within marriage. In 2017, the Supreme Court, in
Independent Thought, had read down the exception so that husbands who raped their
minor wives could no longer hide behind it. It is high time adult women are afforded the
same protection and dignity in marriage.

STILL HANGING FIRE ON TRANSPARENCY

Context:
Courts need to go beyond appealing to the fictional conscience of our lawmakers

More in Detail:
 In a recent judgment, a Supreme Court Bench fined eight political parties for being in
contempt of the Court’s directions to inform citizens about the criminal antecedents of
their candidates.
 In 2004, 24% of the Members of Parliament had criminal cases pending against them.
This figure rose to an alarming 43% after the 2019 general elections.
 In a bid to address this “malignancy” of criminalisation which could be “fatal to
democracy”, the apex court, clarified that the reasons for selection shall be with
reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate
concerned. Despite these clear directives, parties have been defiant.
 After the judgment in Union of India v. ADR (2002), wherein all candidates standing
for elections were directed to file an affidavit declaring their educational, financial and
criminal backgrounds, political parties amended the Representation of the People Act,
1951, to nullify the disclosure requirements. The Court struck down the amendments.
 In 2013, the full bench of the Central Information Commission (CIC) declared six
national political parties ‘public authorities’ under the Right to Information (RTI)
Act, 2005.
 Parties were required to appoint Public Information Officers and submit themselves
to provisions of the transparency law.
 Immediately a bill was introduced in Parliament to amend the RTI law to exclude
political parties from the ambit of the legislation. It was only due to strong public
opposition that the amendments were finally dropped.
 The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power on the plank of transparency
and anti-corruption, has taken resistance against transparency to new frontiers. It

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 introduced the electoral bond scheme in 2018, opening the floodgates of unlimited
anonymous funding to political parties by Indian and foreign sources.
 Electoral bonds have dealt a further blow to people’s right to know and consolidated the
role of big money in electoral politics. Peoples’ ability to engage with political processes
in a democratic manner and track donations by corporate to monitor and blow the
whistle on quid pro quo have been seriously undermined.
 The design of the scheme is such that while citizens and opposition parties have no way
of knowing who is donating bonds to which party, it is not difficult for the party in power
to access the data.
 The Supreme Court needs to:
 Urgently hear the electoral bonds matter and the challenge to the refusal of
political parties to comply with the CIC’s order.
 It needs to examine whether a post facto determination of the violation of its
directions regarding publicising criminal antecedents of candidates and imposition of
fine of a few lakh rupees is likely to deter parties which declare incomes worth
hundreds of crores every year.
 The judiciary could consider putting in place a mechanism to monitor compliance
with its directions prior to all State and general elections and debar candidates who
violate its orders.
 The country can no longer afford courts being passive spectators of the debasement of
democracy. Public interest demands that judicial intervention goes beyond appealing to
the fictional conscience of our lawmakers.

IN A FIRST, NINE SC JUDGES TAKE OATH IN ONE STROKE

Context:
Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana read out the oath of allegiance to the Constitution
to nine new judges of the Supreme Court, reducing the vacancies in the court to just one.

More in Detail:
 The occasion was historic on several fronts.
 It was the first time as many as nine judges were sworn in to the Supreme Court in
a single stroke.
 Three of them are women judges. One of them, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is slated to
be CJI in 2027.
 With the new appointments, the number of women judges in the Supreme Court
has gone up to four from the existing one, Justice Indira Banerjee. This is the
highest number of women judges ever in the Supreme Court.
 It was also the first time the court allowed a live telecast of the ceremony.

FEW WOMEN MAKE IT TO THE TOP: CJI

Context:
Even a “mere” 11% representation of women on Bench of SC was achieved with ‘great
difficulty’

More in Detail:

65
 Ideally, women should have got at least 50% representation at all levels after 75 years
of Independence. The court has four women judges now, the highest ever.
 After 75 years of Independence, we have now achieved a mere 11% representation of
women on the Bench of the Supreme Court.
 Women lawyers’ problems: They lack basic amenities in court complexes. Women do
not have restrooms in lower courts. It is difficult for them to wait for long hours in the
court corridors.
 The judicial system was facing severe challenges such as deficient infrastructure,
shortage of administrative staff and judicial vacancies. Most court buildings dated
back to the colonial times and were ill-suited for modern needs.
 Chief Justice Ramana also referred to the digital divide between lawyers. A whole
generation of lawyers unable to adapt to modern technology was suddenly being thrust
brought upon them by the pandemic, have been left behind. The digital divide had also
affected rural lawyers who did not have access to the Internet.

THE JUDICIAL ROLE IN IMPROVING LAWMAKING

Context:
The deterioration in the quality of deliberation in Parliament over time has prompted calls
for reform from different stakeholders.

More in Detail:
 While the CJI suggested that lawyers and intellectuals enter public life to improve
deliberation, the judiciary can also play a crucial role in improving the lawmaking
process.
 Many rely on the volume of Bills passed by Parliament in a session as a measure of its
efficiency. However, this measure is flawed as it does not account for what is lost when
efficiency is achieved by passing laws without adequate notice and deliberation.
 Legislators, as representatives of the people, are expected to exercise a duty of care
before casting their vote. This entails due deliberation about the implications of the
law, posing amendments and questions to the concerned Minister, and requiring expert
evidence through standing committees.
 Moreover, it is in the legislative organ that diverse interest groups find representation.
Deliberation in such a forum ensures that the views of persons who are adversely
affected by a law are heard and actively engaged with. Rushed lawmaking, rendering
Parliament a rubber stamp, sacrifices two core ideals of a constitutional democracy,
namely, equal participation and respect for fundamental rights.

Evaluating legislative process:

 The judiciary can play an important role in improving the lawmaking process and
securing these ideals. A straightforward way of doing this is by enforcing the text and
spirit of the constitutional provisions governing legislative procedures.
 The Constitution contains certain detailed provisions laying out how laws are to be
passed by Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies. Unfortunately, these are
often undermined.

66
  For example, even when the result through voice votes are unclear, the exact
number of “ayes” and “nays” are not always counted, suggesting that Bills may be
passed without securing the majority vote required under Article 100.
 This issue arose most recently when the controversial farm laws were reportedly
rushed and passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha despite objections by Opposition
members.
 Similarly, Bills are certified as Money Bills to bypass the Rajya Sabha (e.g. Aadhaar bill)
even where they do not meet the specific description of Money Bills provided under
Article 110.
 This Article identifies seven areas that can be governed through the enactment of
Money Bills, including the imposition of tax, the regulation of borrowing and
appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

What judiciary can do?

 In the Aadhaar case, the Supreme Court, to an extent, recognised its power to check
whether such procedural provisions had been complied with. However, these provisions
will only be taken seriously if the judiciary addresses their violations in a timely manner.
 Judiciary can make deliberation a factor in evaluating the constitutional validity of laws.
In exercising judicial review, the court’s role is to call on the State to provide
justifications explaining why the law is reasonable and, therefore, valid. While doing so,
the court can also examine whether and to what extent the legislature deliberated the
reasonableness of a measure e.g. Indian Hotel and Restaurants Association (2013)
case.
 The court invalidated a law prohibiting dance performances only in hotels with less
than three stars as rooted in class prejudice and, therefore, violative of equality.
 The judiciary can also make deliberation a factor in choosing whether to employ the
doctrine of “presumption of constitutionality”. This doctrine requires the court to
exercise restraint and defer to legislative judgments on the reasonableness of a law.
 The State usually finds it more difficult to explain why some laws constitute a
reasonable restriction on rights and, therefore, heavily relies on the doctrine of
presumption of constitutionality to resist close judicial scrutiny.
 By extending this doctrine to such laws, the judiciary undermines the guarantee of
judicial review provided to protect fundamental rights. Instead, if the judiciary
confines the doctrine only to cases where the State shows that laws and their
consequences were carefully deliberated in Parliament, the judiciary can encourage
legislative bodies to ensure a deliberative law-making process.
 The CJI’s suggestion that the legislature be reformed from within is admittedly the ideal
solution to remedying legislative dysfunction without raising concerns of separation of
powers.
 However, legislative majorities have little incentive to cooperate for such reform, and
significant public mobilisation on the issue would be necessary to change this.
Against this backdrop, the judiciary can and should employ the tools available to it to
nudge legislative bodies to improve their lawmaking processes.

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RIGHTS & WELFARE OF WOMEN -
SCHEMES & THEIR PERFORMANCE,
MECHANISMS, LAWS INSTITUTIONS AND
BODIES
SCHEMES FOR WOMEN FARMERS

Context:

The guidelines of the various beneficiary oriented schemes of the Department of Agriculture
& Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
provide that States and other Implementing Agencies to incur atleast 30% expenditure
on women farmers.

Key Points:
 These schemes include:
 Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms,
 National Food Security Mission,
 National Mission on Oilseed & Oil Palm,
 National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture,
 Sub-Mission for Seed and Planting Material,
 Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization and
 Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture.
 The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development launched a
specific scheme namely ‘Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP)’, as a
subcomponent of DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana — National Rural Livelihoods
Mission).
 This scheme is being implemented since 2011 with the objective to empower
women by making systematic investments to enhance their participation
and productivity, as also create sustainable livelihoods of rural women.
 The program is implemented in project mode through State Rural Livelihoods Mission
(SRLM) as Project Implementing Agencies.
 DAY-NRLM and its sub-component MKSP is a demand driven programme.
Accordingly, based on the demand from State Rural Livelihoods Mission for
implementation of MKSP through project mode.
 In order to familiarize women with the latest techniques in agriculture and allied sectors,
trainings are being imparted to women farmers under schemes of Ministry of Agriculture
& Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Rural Development.

HEALTH SECURITY TO WOMEN

Context:
Measures have been taken by government to improve health security of women.

68
More in Detail:
 Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is a flagship
health assurance scheme of the Government of India which aims at providing a
health cover of Rs. 5 Lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care
hospitalizations for 10.75 Crore beneficiary families identified from Socio Economic
and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 as per select deprivation and occupational criteria in
rural and urban areas respectively.
 The scheme is currently being implemented by 33 State/UTs except West Bengal,
Odisha and NCT of Delhi. These State/UTs have further expanded the beneficiary
base to nearly 13.44 Crore families.
 Women make up 48.56% of eligible beneficiaries under AB PM-JAY as per SECC
2011 database.
 The health benefits packages under AB PM-JAY covers 1,669 procedures across 26
different specialties. Of these, 5 procedures deal exclusively with high-risk delivery.
 For pregnant women specifically, the Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram
(JSSK)was launched with the objective to eliminate out of pocket expenses for
both pregnant women and sick infants accessing public health institution and
entitles them to:
 Free delivery, including caesarean section
 Free transport
 Diagnostics, medicines, other consumables, diet
 Blood in public health institutions
 Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a safe motherhood intervention with the objective to
reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among
pregnant women especially with weak socio-economic status, i.e. women from
SC/ST/BPL households is presently under implementation in all States/UTs with a special
focus on Low Performing States and provides Cash incentives for women with the special
focus for BPL/SC/ST women for institutional delivery (in government/ private accredited
health facilities) and for BPL women who prefer for home delivery.
 Other major initiatives supported under NHM are:
 Implementation of Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics Service Initiatives.
 PM National Dialysis Programme and implementation of National Quality Assurance
Framework in all public health facilities including in rural areas.
 Mobile Medical Units (MMUs).
 Telemedicine are also being implemented with NHM support to improve healthcare
access particularly in rural areas.
 As part of Ayushman Bharat, more than 77000 Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs)
are operational across the country for provision of Comprehensive Primary Health Care
(CPHC) that includes preventive healthcare and health promotion at the community level
including screening of women for common non-communicable diseases.
 Furthermore, States/UTs are being provided required technical and financial assistance
for strengthening of their healthcare system including management of the COVID-19
public health challenge from time to time.
 Further, to ensure that essential health services including treatment for non-COVID
patients should not suffer, MoHFW has issued following guidelines and advisories for
States/UTs:

69
  Guidance note for enabling Delivery of Essential Health Services during the
COVID 19 Outbreak in April, 2020.
 Guidance note was issued in May 2020 for Immunization services.
 Guidance note on Essential Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child. Adolescent
Health Plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) Services during and post COVID was issued in
May, 2020.
 Advisory issued to ensure access to safe delivery and antenatal and postnatal care.
 The funds allocated under NHM for various Maternal Health Initiatives for FY 20-21
are Rs 2,233.48 Cr.
 The funds allocated under NHM for RCH flexi-pool for FY 20-21 is Rs 6,241.02.
 “Public Health and Hospitals” being a State subject, the primary responsibility of
strengthening public healthcare system, including ensuring provision of essential
services including for pregnant women during the Pandemic, lies with the respective
State Governments.
 However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides the technical and
financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen the public healthcare system
towards the objective of providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to all
those who access public health facilities.
 Under NHM, Mother and Child health (MCH) wings are established in District
Hospitals/ District Women's Hospitals/ Sub- District Hospitals/CHC- First Referral Units
(FRUs) to overcome the constraints of increasing caseloads and institutional
deliveries at these facilities. More than 600 MCH wings have been sanctioned in the
country.
 NHM support is also provided for provision of a host of free services in public healthcare
facilities in rural and backward areas including treatment of women specific diseases.
 Support under National Health Mission (NHM) is provided to States/ UTs to supplement
the efforts of the State/UT governments, including for setting up of new facilities as per
norms and upgradation of existing facilities for bridging the infrastructure gaps,
including in rural and backward areas and implementing national programme to provide
quality healthcare in the public healthcare system, based on the requirements posted by
them in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) and within their overall resource
envelope.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GIRLS AND WOMEN

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Context:
As per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), the overall enrolment of female
students in higher education has been consistently increasing over the years.

Key Points:
 The steps taken/being taken by the Government to promote education among girls and
women are as follows:
 Issuing of new UGC regulation for Open and Distance Learning that allows entry
of reputed institutions to offer education on the distance mode.
 Use of ICT technology- SWAYAM portal to take the best teaching resources to
all, including the most disadvantaged.

70
  Opening of more centrally funded institutions.
 Encouraging opening of institutions by State Governments through the Rashtriya
Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) which aims to achieve equity, access and
excellence in higher education. The scheme supports components such as upgrading
autonomous colleges to universities, clustering colleges to establish a university,
setting up of new professional colleges in un-served and underserved areas as well
as providing infrastructure grants to universities and colleges to scale up capacity.
 More scholarship programmes to supplement the cost of education.
 Additionally, as per the recommendations of National Education Policy (NEP),
2020, the following steps are being initiated by the Government to ensure equitable
access to the highest quality of education for all learners, especially women,
regardless of social or economic background.
 A Gender Inclusion Fund will be constituted by Government of India to provide
quality and equitable education to all girls. The fund will focus on ensuring 100%
enrolment of girls in Schooling and a record participation rate in higher education.
 Free hostel facilities will be made available for all women.
 New multi-disciplinary HEIs (including those especially for women) will be opened
in or near every district.
 Special scholarships for women/transgender/ divyang will be introduced.
 Guidelines and advisories will be issued and monitoring mechanism will be put in
place to ensure basic facilities amenities and safe, secure environment in all HEIs for
women.

COURTS IN THE COUNTRY CONTINUE TO DIFFER IN VIEWS ON MARITAL RAPE

Context:
Four years after the Supreme Court referred to Justice J.S. Verma committee’s
recommendation to make marital rape a crime, besides quoting from decisions of
courts across the world that “a rapist remains a rapist and marriage with the victim does
not convert him into a non-rapist”.

Contradicting opinions of courts in India:

 The recent response from courts to complaints of marital rape has been contradictory.
When the Kerala High Court backed marital rape as a valid ground for divorce, a court in
Maharashtra gave anticipatory bail to a man while concluding that forcible sex with his
wife was not an “illegal thing” though she said it left her paralysed.
 In 2017, the top court, in Independent Thought versus Union of India, refused to
delve into the question of marital rape while examining an exception to Section 375
(rape) of the Indian Penal Code which allows a man to force sex on his wife if she is
above 15 years of age.
 However, in its judgment that declared “sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years
of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not”, the Supreme Court
highlighted that legislative immunity given to marital rape stemmed from the
“outdated notion that a wife is no more than a subservient chattel of her husband”.
 Similarly, the Gujarat High Court has held that “a law that does not give married and
unmarried women equal protection creates conditions that lead to the marital rape”. It

71
 allows the men and women to believe that wife rape is acceptable. Making wife rape
illegal or an offence will remove the destructive attitudes that promote the marital rape.

Judicial verdicts w.r.t. women rights:

 The right to bodily integrity was recognised in the context of privacy in State of
Maharashtra v. Madhukar Narayan Mardikar. Here, the top court observed that no
one has a right to violate the person of anyone else, including of an “unchaste woman”.
 In Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, the top court backed a
“woman’s right to refuse participation in sexual activity or alternatively the insistence on
use of contraceptive methods”. The court has held that “rape is not only a crime against
the person of a woman, it is a crime against the entire society”.
 In State of Punjab v. Gurmit Singh, the court voiced the extent of trauma suffered by
a rape survivor, saying “a murderer destroys the physical body of his victim, a rapist
degrades the very soul of the helpless female.”

Way forward and laws/verdicts globally:

 The report submitted by the Justice J.S. Verma Committee of Amendments to
Criminal Law of January 2013 had recommended the removal of the marital rape
immunity.
 In England and Wales, the House of Lords had held in 1991, “marriage is in modern
times regarded as a partnership of equals and no longer one in which the wife must be
the subservient chattel of the husband”.
 The European Commission of Human Rights in C.R. v. UK had concluded that “a rapist
remains a rapist regardless of his relationship with the victim”.
 Canada had repealed provisions in the Criminal Code which denied criminal liability
for marital rape in 1983. South Africa criminalised marital rape in 1993.
 In Australia, the common law ‘marital rape immunity’ was legislatively abolished in all
jurisdictions. The judges found such protection to the husband “offensive to human
dignity” and “incompatible with the legal status of a spouse”.
 In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the U.S. Supreme Court had observed that a “marital couple is
not an independent entity with a mind and heart of its own, but an association of two
individuals each with a separate intellectual and emotional makeup.”
 The Justice Verma Committee had said that “a rape that actually occurs cannot
legislatively be simply wished away”.

‘THEMATIC’ POSHAN MAAH TO BE CELEBRATED ACROSS THE NATION

THROUGHOUT THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER AS PART OF AZADI KA AMRIT
MAHOTSAV

Context:
POSHAN Abhiyaan is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional
outcomes for children, adolescent Girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

More in Detail:
 Launched on the occasion of International Women’s Day in March, 2018 from
Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for

72
 Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan directs the attention of the country towards the problem
of malnutrition and address it in a mission-mode.
 Focusing on the aims of POSHAN Abhiyaan, Mission Poshan 2.0 (Saksham
Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0) has been announced in the Budget 2021-2022 as an
integrated nutrition support programme, to strengthen nutritional content, delivery,
outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness
and immunity to disease and malnutrition.
 POSHAN Abhiyaan is a Jan Andolan or “People’s Movement” by incorporating
inclusive participation of public representatives of local bodies, government departments
of the States/UTs, social organizations and the public and private sector at large.
 In order to ensure community mobilization and bolster people’s participation, every
year, the month of September is celebrated as POSHAN Maah across the country.
 This year, as India celebrates the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, to ensure speedy &
intensive outreach, the entire month has been subdivided into weekly themes for
focused and assimilated approach towards improving Holistic Nutrition. The Ministry of
Women and Child Development has planned a series of activities throughout the month
in tandem with the States/UTs.
 The wide gamut of activities during the POSHAN Maah this year will broadly focus on:
 Plantation Drive for POSHAN VATIKA by all the stakeholders in the space
available at Anganwadis, School Premises, Gram Panchayats and other places.
Plantation activity will focus on planting of saplings of nutritious fruit trees, local
vegetables and medicinal plants and herbs.
 Sensitization/awareness drive for COVID vaccination and Observance of
COVID Protocols will also be held. There will be a special drive for Height and Weight
Measurement for Children (under 6 Years of Age) during the Poshan Maah. Slogan
writing and Recipe competitions will be organized to highlight the locally
available nutritious food for pregnant women.
 There will be Sessions on “5-minute Yoga Protocol” (Y-break or yoga break) at
various workplaces for the employees of Government and corporate bodies,
Awareness campaign on importance of regional / local food, Distribution of
Nutrition Kits comprising of regional nutritious food (e.g. Sukadi-Gujrat, Panjiri-
Punjab, Sattu- Bihar, Chikki- Maharashtra), Anaemia Camps, Drive for block wise
Identification of SAM Children, Supervised Supplementary Feeding Program for SAM
children as an initiative to tackle prevalence of SAM in children up to the age of 5
years, Sensitisation for Community Management of Acute Malnutrition and
Distribution of nutritious food for SAM children.
 During the Poshan Maah, activities related to nutrition awareness will be carried out
across all the States/UTs right upto the grass root levels.
 The implementing departments /agencies like women and child development
department through Anganwadi workers, health and family welfare department
through ASHA, ANM, primary health centres, community health centres, school
education and literacy department through schools, Panchayati Raj departments
through panchayats, and rural development trough self-help groups will carry out the
activities and spread the message of holistic nutrition throughout the month to
ensure a healthier future for women and children.

73
 Launched with a noble and holistic goal, Poshan Abhiyaan overall intends to increase
nutritional awareness and responsiveness among mothers of young children,
adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, family members including husbands,
father, mothers-in-law and community members, health care providers (ANM, ASHA,
Anganwadi worker) about vital nutrition behaviours.
 The POSHAN Maah intends to achieve the holistic goals of Poshan Abhiyaan with
swiftness in a harmonized manner.

74
DEFENCE RELATED DEVELOPMENTS
EXERCISE ZAPAD-2021

Context:
Exercise ZAPAD-2021, a seven day long Multilateral 'Joint Strategic Exercise' which saw
participation from seven countries culminated at Mulino in the Novgorod Region of Russia.

Key Points:
 ZAPAD 2021 is one of the theatre level exercises of Russian armed forces and will
focus primarily on operations against terrorists. The NAGA Battalion group participating
in the exercise will feature an all arms combined task force. The exercise aims to
enhance military and strategic ties amongst the participating nations while they plan
and execute this exercise.
 In all, 17 countries have been invited by Russia for the exercise. Of these nine are
Participating countries which include Mongolia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Russia, India and Belarus. The other eight countries are
Observers which include Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.
 The Indian Contingent has been put through a strenuous training schedule which
encompasses all facets of conventional operations including mechanised, airborne and
heliborne, counter terrorism, combat conditioning and firing.
 As part of the Exercise, strategic planning, tactical actions and manoeuvres were
rehearsed and executed jointly in conventional operational scenarios. The Joint Strategic
Exercise included defensive & offensive manoeuvres by the Coalition Forces to restore
territorial integrity under simulated combat conditions.
 New generation weapon systems and equipment were also demonstrated by Russian
Armed Forces during the exercise.
 The closing ceremony highlighted the importance of joint military training and
close defence cooperation amongst the Contingents.
 Besides military training and exercise, the participating contingents showcased their
skills in a number of extra-curricular & sports activities including Football, Volleyball,
Kettle Bell lifting, Arm Wrestling, Tug of War and the cultural program.
 The exercise has promoted synergy and inter-operability amongst the Armed
Forces, and will help in forging closer military ties between the nations. All contingent
commanders expressed immense satisfaction in the conduct of the joint exercise in
terms of standards achieved and lessons learnt.

INDIA’S NEW DRONE POLICY STRIKES ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

Context:
India’s civil aviation ministry notified its liberalized Drone Rules, 2021.

More in Detail:
 These come after the release of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems Rules, which now
stand replaced. For an untested sunrise sector, the easing of our regulatory regime has

75
 been bold, a shift away from bureaucratic controls to a lighter-touch approach that
relaxes a set of stiff norms so that operations can begin at scale and a market for drone
services can take off.
 At least a dozen approvals have been done away with, among them those related to
unique authorization numbers, certificates of manufacturing and airworthiness,
import clearances and operator permits; the number of forms has been slashed to 5
from 25, the types of fee have been reduced to 4 from 72, the fee itself has been
dropped to a nominal level and delinked from drone size, no permission would be
needed for flying in green zones, which stand expanded thanks to a reduction in the
yellow zone around airports to a radius of 12km from 45km, drones can weigh up to
half a tonne, a limit raised from 300kg earlier, a move that will let pilotless air-taxis
operate.
 The Centre’s Digital Sky platform is expected to lay out air corridors with green,
yellow and red zones marked out. Other features of our drone policy have been
revised as well.
 Small aircraft run remotely by computer systems that can lift off from anywhere and
land at exact spots, such as high-rise balconies and distant rural vaccine centres, have
enormous potential for a vast array of services ranging from package delivery to air
travel aboard two-seaters.
 As these services constitute a sub-sector of civil aviation and require the use of public
airspace, they cannot be left loosely regulated. However, our policymakers have
recognized that over-regulation would stifle operations at birth.
 Beyond the obvious commercial applications of drones, there are myriad
benefits to be had, thanks to their reach and versatility. Hazardous industrial sites
can safely be monitored by these, for example.
 Aerial scanners can conduct land surveys and so on, though their utility as
surveillance tools by security forces ought to be restrained by provisions in a privacy law
that we are yet to enact. Of popular interest would be the everyday wonders enabled by
drones buzzing about urban skies.
 The government envisions India emerging as a ‘global drone hub’ by 2030 and
expects their rapid adoption to create countless new jobs and aid economic growth.
Given this aim, our policy seems to have struck all the right notes. It looks adequately
market-friendly to let a buzzy one emerge as drone technology improves.
 One aspect that investors would be concerned about is policy stability. Drone
proliferation would raise security risks, be it the danger of lethal payloads or rogue eyes
in the sky, and our rules must not vary by public threat perceptions, which could turn
volatile in case of, say, a terror attack carried out by an aerial device.

Conclusion:
 We should get our rulebook right from the get-go and not have to make reactive
changes. Our liberalized rules suggest that Indian airspace will be kept under close
watch for any suspicious movement.
 With hundreds of drones dotting our skies, we will need an alert air traffic police that can
spot trouble in advance, perhaps even something like Israel’s invisible ‘dome’ that was
designed to shield its urban spaces from low-range missile strikes.
 India’s security back-up needs to be outlined clearly to assure stakeholders in this field
that safety checks are in place and our rules will largely hold firm.

INDO-KAZAKHSTAN JOINT TRAINING EXERCISE TO COMMENCE ON 30 AUGUST

2021

Context:

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As part of military diplomacy and to strengthen the growing strategic relation with
Kazakhstan, the 5th edition of Indo- Kazakhstan Joint Training Exercise, “KAZIND-
21” conducted at Kazakhstan.

Key Points:
 The exercise is a joint training between both the Armies, which will boost the bilateral
relations between India and Kazakhstan.
 The Indian Army contingent represented by a battalion of The Bihar Regiment consists of
a total of 90 personnel led by a Contingent Commander. The Kazakhstan Army will be
represented by a company group.
 The Exercise will provide an opportunity to the Armed Forces of India & Kazakhstan to
train for Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorism operation in mountainous, rural
scenario under UN mandate.
 The scope of Joint Exercise includes professional exchange, planning & execution of
operation in Counter terrorism environment at sub unit level and sharing expertise on
skills at arms, combat shooting and experiences in Counter Insurgency/ Counter
Terrorism operations.
 The exercise will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable
sharing of best practices between the Armed Forces of India and Kazakhstan.

SELF-RELIANCE IN DEFENCE SECTOR

Context:
In the defence sector, India has long sought self-reliance, but efforts have yielded few
results.

More in Detail:
 India built up its domestic defence production capacity with assistance from
countries like the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly
through assembly under licence.
 While India imported platforms and equipment, it did embark on indigenously
developing key equipment like missile systems. The Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) in 1982-83 started the development of indigenous missile systems
under the leadership of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
 These included the short-range surface-to-air missiles like the ‘Prithvi’, ‘Akash’
and the anti-tank guided missiles like ‘Nag’.
 The Prithvi missile system was inducted in 1994 while the Akash missile system was
inducted in 2014 in the Indian Air Force and in the Indian Army the following year.
 The user trial of the third-generation Nag was carried out in October 2020 and the
system is in the final stages of induction.
 Apart from making efforts to develop indigenous missile systems, India also entered into
an agreement with Russia in 1998 to develop a supersonic cruise missile system, the
‘Brahmos’. This is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world, which can be
launched from submarines, ships, or aircraft. Brahmos was successfully inducted in
2006.
 In the light of the economy hit by the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 12
May 2020, launched the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. The phrase can be translated as
self-reliance and self-sufficiency, and it highlights the importance of reducing external
dependence in the economic sector.

77
 The term ‘Vocal for Local’ was introduced to encourage the purchase of
indigenous products so that the local industry can flourish. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat
as an umbrella concept aims to achieve a technology-driven economy, build cutting-
edge infrastructure and utilise the strength of the country’s demographic profile to
generate economic growth.
 The defence sector was recognised as an important area in which there is a lot of scope
for being Aatmanirbhar or self-reliant.
 The defence sector is one of the strategic sectors of the Indian economy that has the
potential for tremendous growth because of the large talented pool of skill sets in
terms of human resources and large-scale modernisation requirements of the armed
forces.
 The sector will help in strengthening the economy by creating employment
opportunities and reducing the import burden.
 India’s arms import during 2015-19, for instance, accounted for nearly 10 percent of the
world’s total. India’s arms import though decreased by 33 percent between 2011–15
and 2016–20. Self-reliance in defence and security needs is critical to reducing
India’s dependence on other countries for urgent procurement in times of exigency.
 Recent border tensions with China highlighted the reality of procurement done on short
notice, to enhance combative effectiveness. During the stand-off, reports flagged that
the Indian Army lacked terrain-specific weapons like combat vehicles, among others.
 To overcome these gaps in weaponry pertaining to high-altitude warfare, the Indian
armed forces were provided with emergency financial powers for capital and revenue
procurements. Such procurement, though, will be invariably expensive.
 Even as this dependence on importing defence products needs to be reduced, indigenous
defence procurement needs to be encouraged. It is noteworthy that under the provisions
of the emergency procurement, the Indian Army also placed orders for indigenous
products like the M4 armoured vehicles from the Pune-based defence company, Bharat
Forge of the Kalyani Group.
 The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has taken other important steps to boost the ‘Make in
India’ policy in defence manufacturing. The limits on foreign direct investment (FDI)
in the defence sector have been raised to 74 percent, from the earlier limits of 49
percent (in May 2020).
 Out of the total capital acquisition budget for the year 2021-22, over 60 percent has
been earmarked for domestic capital procurement. Defence capital outlay has been
increased by 18.75 percent in the budget of 2021–22.
 The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 has been revised as the Defence
Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, with stress on achieving self-reliance in the
defence sector.
 To enable the domestic industry to manufacture high-technology weapons and
equipment, the government is aggressively promoting the role of the private sector in
defence acquisition.
 The Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) awards, instituted by the MoD in
April 2018, are an essential step towards creating an ecosystem to foster innovation,
research and technology development.

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  iDEX has provided opportunities to MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises),
start-ups, research and academic institutions as well as individuals to provide
innovative solutions to pressing problem areas of the armed forces.
 Further, the MoD has undertaken important steps to facilitate and encourage exports.
The Export Promotion Cell (EPC) in the Department of Defence Production
(DDP) has been created for the purpose. India has achieved considerable growth in
exporting defence equipment.
 During 2015-20, India’s defence exports grew from around Rs 2,000 crore to Rs
9,000 crore.9 Exports of globally competitive Indian defence products will no doubt
help achieve economies of scale and spur qualitative improvements in indigenous
defence production.
 SRIJAN, the indigenisation portal, was launched in August 2020 for the benefit of
defence public sector units (DPSUs) and ordnance factories to provide development
support to MSMEs/start-ups/industry for import substitution.
 A ‘positive indigenisation list’ consisting of more than 200 items that will be
manufactured within India is a huge opportunity to add volumes to the domestic defence
industry using their own design and development capabilities.

Conclusion:
 These steps cumulatively are expected to make use of the large, available skill pool to
introduce fresh energy in the defence sector by developing innovative, niche, and
cutting-edge technologies for the military. A robust domestic defence
manufacturing sector can transform India’s military capabilities and help achieve self-
reliance in its defence requirements.

HANSA NEW GENERATION (NG) AIRCRAFT

Context:
Hansa New Generation (NG) aircraft, designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace
Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore a constituent lab of CSIR, has successfully made its maiden
flight.

Key Points:
 The aircraft took off from HAL airport and flew at an altitude of 4000 ft. and gained a
speed of 80 knots before it made a successful landing after about 20 minutes.
 The unique features of Hansa-NG are glass cockpit with cabin comfort, high efficient
digitally controlled engine, electrically operated flaps, Long endurance, low
acquisition and Low operating cost.
 CSIR-NAL has already received 72 Letters of Intent from various Flying Clubs and the
aircraft will be certified within the next 4 months before it gets inducted into service.
 The flight was monitored in telemetry by senior officers and scientists / engineers from
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Centre for Military Airworthiness &
Certification (CEMILAC) and CSIR-NAL.

CABINET APPROVES PROCUREMENT OF 56 C-295MW TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT FOR

INDIAN AIR FORCE

79
Context:
Cabinet Committee on Security approved the procurement of fifty six C-295MW transport
aircraft.

Key Points:
 C-295MW aircraft is a transport aircraft of 5-10 Tonne capacity with contemporary
technology that will replace the ageing Avro aircraft of IAF. The aircraft has a rear ramp
door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo.
 Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of
signing of the contract and forty aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA
Consortium within ten years of signing of the contract.
 This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in
India by a private company.
 All fifty six aircraft will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite. The
project will give a boost to aerospace ecosystem in India wherein several MSMEs
spread over the country will be involved in manufacturing of parts of the aircraft.
 The programme will provide major boost to the `Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ of
the Government as it offers a unique opportunity for the Indian Private Sector to enter
into technology intensive and highly competitive aviation Industry. The project will
augment domestic aviation manufacturing resulting in reduced import dependence
and expected increase in exports.
 A large number of detail parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of aero
structure are scheduled to be manufactured in India.
 The programme will act as a catalyst in employment generation in the aerospace
ecosystem of the country and is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly,
over 3000 indirect jobs and an additional 3000 medium skill employment opportunities
with more than 42.5 lakh man hours of work within the aerospace and defence sector of
India.
 It will involve development of specialized infrastructure in form of hangars, buildings,
aprons and taxiway.
 During the process of manufacturing in India, it is expected that all the suppliers of TATA
Consortium who will be involved in special processes will gain and maintain globally
recognized National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Accreditation Program
(NADCAP) accreditation.
 Before completion of deliveries, ‘D’ Level servicing facility (MRO) for C-295MW aircraft
are scheduled to be setup in India. It is expected that this facility will act as a regional
MRO hub for various variants of C-295 aircraft.
 In addition, the OEM will also discharge its offset obligations through direct purchase of
eligible products and Services from Indian Offset Partners giving further boost to
economy.
 This programme is a unique initiative of Government of India to strengthen indigenous
capabilities and boost ‘Make in India’.

LCA-MK2 TO ROLL OUT NEXT YEAR, FIRST FLIGHT IN 2023, SAYS SCIENTIST

Context:

80
The configuration for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2 has been frozen and steel
cutting is expected to begin soon while configuration for the fifth-generation Advanced
Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) has been frozen and preliminary design completed.

Enhanced range:
 The aircraft features enhanced range and endurance including an onboard oxygen
generation system, which is being integrated for the first time.
 Heavy weapons of the class of Scalp, Crystal Maze and Spice-2000 will also be
integrated on the Mk2. The LCA-Mk2 will be a heavier and much more capable
aircraft than the current LCA variants.
 The Mk2 is 1,350 mm longer featuring canards and can carry a payload of 6,500 kg
compared to 3,500 kg the LCA can carry.
 The Defence Ministry signed a Rs. 48,000-crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
(HAL) to supply 83 LCA-Mk1A to the Indian Air Force. In August, the HAL signed a $716
million deal with GE Aviation of the U.S. for 99 F404 aircraft engines and support
services to power the Mk-1A. The Mk2 will be powered by a more powerful GE-414
engine.
 The Indian Air Force (IAF) has one squadron of the LCA in initial operational clearance
and deliveries of the second squadron in final operational clearance configuration are
under way.
 The HAL has already set up a second assembly line to ramp up production from eight
aircraft a year to 16. Order for 83 Mk-1A is expected to be completed by 2028-29.

Stealth aircraft:
 Stating that the initial design of the AMCA was started way back in 2009. It would be a
twin engine stealth aircraft with an internal weapons bay and a diverter-less
supersonic intake, which has been developed for the first time for which the design is
complete.
 It will be a 25-tonne aircraft with internal carriage of 1,500 kg of payload and
5,500-kg external payload with 6,500 kg of internal fuel.
 On the current status of the AMCA, the configuration had been frozen, preliminary
service quality requirements finalised and preliminary design review completed.
 The AMCA will have stealth and non-stealth configuration and will be developed in two
phases, AMCA Mk1 with existing GE414 engine and an AMCA Mk2 with an advanced,
more powerful engine to be developed later along with a foreign partner.
 The manufacturing and production of the aircraft will be through a special purpose
vehicle, which will also have participation of private industry.
 Simultaneously, the project for development of a twin-engine deck-based fighter jet
meant to fly from the Navy’s aircraft carriers is also making progress.

18TH INDIA-US ECONOMIC SUMMIT THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCING

Context:
Raksha Mantri has invited US companies to invest in India and contribute in realising the
dream of ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ envisioned by Indian Prime Minister.

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More in Detail:
 The inaugural address at the 18th India-US Economic Summit, on the theme ‘Bouncing
Back – Resilient Recovery Path Post COVID-19’, organised by Indo-American
Chamber of Commerce through video conferencing.
 Terming defence sector as an integral part of not just the security but overall growth of
the country. The initiatives taken by the Government have transformed India into a
strong and reliable investment destination.
 India is now home to stable and secure government which focuses on economic growth
through series of reforms. The robust domestic demand and availability of talented
young work force & innovation make India a major investment destination.
 The Raksha Mantri called upon the industry leaders to focus on transfer of technology
through joint ventures to realise the country’s true potential in defence sector. The
foreign OEMs can set up manufacturing facilities individually or partner with Indian
companies through a JV or technology agreement to capitalise on the ‘Make in India’
initiative.
 Rajnath Singh exhorted them to begin the process of Research and Development
with the young minds of the country which will increase the linkages among the
industries and create an ecosystem through equal contribution from academia and
research.
 Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised that there is a lot of scope for the American and Indian
defence Industries for co-production and co-development, adding that Indian industry
can supply components to American Industries.
 Expressing confidence that American firms will find India as a major investment
destination for defence manufacturing, he assured the Industry that the Government
is open for new ideas to create a business-friendly environment in India and is
committed to push all types of entrepreneurship and manufacturing in the defence
sector.
 The Raksha Mantri said the summit is taking place at a time when India is celebrating
75th year of Independence, terming it a platinum opportunity for foreign industries,
especially US companies, to contribute in building ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
 Shedding light on the growing ties between India & US, Shri Rajnath Singh said the
Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, 2+2 Dialogue, Quad Security Dialogue and
agreements like Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) and
Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) have taken the
bilateral relations to greater heights.
 However, the relations are yet to receive its full potential, saying that several
progressive policies have been put in place in the last two years that have given the
defence sector an unexpected growth trajectory.
 The measures include setting up of Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh &
Tamil Nadu; increasing the FDI limit to 74 percent through automatic route and
100 percent through Government route under certain circumstances, inclusion of 'Buy
and Make' category in Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020 which provides a
vendor with an economical workforce and India gets technology & trained manpower;
draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP-2020) with
provisions to incentivise foreign investment and notification of two positive
indigenisation lists to increase business collaboration.

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 The Raksha Mantri highlighted that, despite the COVID-19 situation, the country’s
economy is back on track due to the steps taken by the Government. India's GDP has
shown a 'V' shaped growth curve in the last two years. Where the growth witnessed
a contraction of 24 percent last year, a jump of 20 percent has been seen in the first
quarter of this year. It is a reflection of the country’s sound economic fundamentals.
 India is expecting double digit growth in FY-22 despite the challenge of COVID-19. But,
the challenge will be to maintain a healthy growth rate of 7-8 per cent in the years after
FY-22.
 Under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister, India is preparing for dynamic growth
much beyond FY-22. The major structural & procedural reforms in the seven
years have prepared India to take a quantum jump in terms of growth.
 Formulation of progressive & investor friendly tax policies, increased focus on ease of
doing business, agriculture and labour reforms are some of the initiatives that have
laid the foundation of a ‘New India’.
 The Raksha Mantri also lauded the Indian industry for fulfilling the requirement of
masks, PPE kits, ventilators and working with the Government to deal with the
pandemic. The Industry is playing a significant role in the world's largest vaccination
drive being undertaken in India.
 The 18th Indo-US Economic Summit has been organised keeping in view the
important role India & US can play in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Business
leaders of India & US attended the event virtually.
 The summit also comprises sessions on social issues like women empowerment. The
IACC is the apex bilateral Chamber that aims to synergise the India-US Economic
Engagement.

83
POVERTY & HUNGER AND RELATED
ISSUES
UN WARNS HUNGER IS EXPECTED TO RISE IN 23 GLOBAL HOTSPOTS

Context:
Hunger is expected to rise in 23 global hotspots with the highest alerts for “catastrophic”
situations in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, southern Madagascar, Yemen, South Sudan
and northern Nigeria, two U.N. agencies warned.

More in Detail:
 The Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Program said in a new report on
“Hunger Hotspots” that “acute food insecurity is likely to further deteriorate.”
 They put Ethiopia at the top of the list, saying the number of people facing starvation
and death is expected to rise to 4,01,000 — the highest number since the 2011 famine
in Somalia — if humanitarian aid isn’t provided quickly.
 In southern Madagascar, which has been hit by the worst drought in the past 40 years,
pests affecting staple crops, and rising food prices — 14,000 people are expected to be
pushed into “catastrophic” acute food insecurity marked by starvation and death by
September. And that number is expected to double by the end of the year with
28,000 people needing urgent help.
 Acute hunger is increasing not only in scale but also severity,” FAO and WFP said in
report. “Overall, over 41 million people worldwide are now at risk of falling into famine
or famine-like conditions, unless they receive immediate life and livelihood-saving
assistance.”
 The two Rome-based agencies called for urgent humanitarian action to save lives in the
23 hotspots, saying help is especially critical in the five highest alert places to prevent
famine and death.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF FOOD TECHNOLOGY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND

MANAGEMENT BILL, 2019

Context:
The National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019
was introduced in Rajya Sabha by the Minister of Food Processing Industries. The Bill
declares certain institutes of food technology, entrepreneurship, and management as
institutions of national importance.

Key Highlights:
 These institutes are the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and
Management Kundli, and the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur.
The Bill declares these institutes as National Institutes of Food Technology,
Entrepreneurship and Management.
 Functions of the institutes: Under the Bill, the functions of the institutes include:

84
  Providing for instruction, research, and knowledge dissemination in the field of food
science and technology.
 Holding examinations and granting degrees, diplomas, certificates and other
academic distinctions or titles.
 Determining and collecting fees and other charges.
 Instituting and making appointments for academic and other posts, except that of
the Director.
 Board of Governors: The Bill provides for a Board of Governors, which will be the
principal executive body of the institute. The Board will be responsible for the general
superintendence, direction, and control of the affairs of the institute. The powers and
functions of the Board include:
 Taking administrative policy decisions.
 Examining and approving annual budget estimates and development plans.
 Establishing departments, faculties or schools of studies, and initiating courses or
programmes of study.
 Creating academic, administrative, and other posts, and determining their terms of
service and appointment.
 The Board will consist of 16 members including:
 A Chairperson, who is a distinguished person in the field of food science, technology
or management, or other such field.
 The Director, Dean, Registrar, and faculty members.
 Representatives of central and state governments.
 Representatives of FSSAI and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
 Representatives of the food processing industry.
 Senate: The Senate will be the institute’s principal academic body. It will be responsible
for maintenance of standards of instruction, education, and examination in the institute.
Its members will include:
 The Director as the Chairperson.
 The Registrar.
 All full-time faculty at the level of a Professor.
 Three academicians nominated by the Board from the fields of food science,
technology and management.
 Council: The Bill provides for the establishment of a Council for coordinating activities of
all institutes and facilitating interactions for performance improvement. Its functions
include laying down the policy framework for functioning of the institutes, and reviewing
the achievement of policy objectives, among others.
 The Council will consist of 13 members including:
 The Minister of Food Processing Industries as the Chairperson.
 The Minister of the State for Food Processing Industries.
 Representatives of the ministries related to food processing, higher education, and
finance.
 The Chairperson, FSSAI.
 The CEO, NITI Aayog.
 Three industry representatives and three academicians from the field of food
processing.

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 Funds: The Bill requires each institute to maintain a fund for meeting its expenses. It
will be credited with funds received from the central government and other sources,
including fees and other charges. The accounts of each institute will be audited by the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
 Settlement of disputes: Under the Bill, any dispute arising out of a contract between
the institute and any of its employees will be referred to a Tribunal of Arbitration. The
Tribunal will consist of an institute appointee, a nominee of the concerned employee,
and an umpire appointed by the central government.
 The decision of the Tribunal will be considered final, after which the matter cannot be
raised in any civil court. Further, provisions of other laws related to arbitration will
not apply to arbitrations under these tribunals.
 Statutes and Ordinances: The Bill provides for the framing of Statutes and Ordinances
for each institute with guidelines regarding administrative and academic matters. The
Statutes and Ordinances will be framed by the Board and the Senate, respectively.
 The first Statute of each institute will be framed by the Council with the previous
approval of the central government.

7 FOOD PROCESSING PROJECTS

Context:
The Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and Minister of State for Food Processing
Industries have virtually inaugurated 7 Food Processing projects at Uttar Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, through video conferencing as part of the 'Azadi Ka
Amrit Mahotsav' celebrations.

Key Points:
 The total cost of these 7 projects is about Rs.164.46 crores and a grant in aid of Rs.
27.99 crores has been approved by the Ministry. Along with this, 3,100 people will get
direct and indirect employment, and 16,500 farmers and entrepreneurs will be benefited
from these projects.
 To commemorate 75 years of India's Independence, the Government of India is
celebrating the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.' As a part of the celebration, the Ministry of
Food Processing Industries is celebrated Food Processing Week from 6 September 2021
to 12 September 2021, under which the Ministry is organizing various programmes.
 Meanwhile, a Workshop on Honey Processing under 'One District One Product'
was organized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries at Bhatinda, Punjab.
 Rs. 22.02 lakh to Districts Project Management Unit (DPMU) of SRLM for 74 SHG
members and Rs.2.01 Crore to 213 Community Based Organisations for 1,250 SHG
members was transferred today as Seed Capital in Meghalaya and Assam
respectively, under the PMFME Scheme.

WEBINAR ON RICE FORTIFICATION: A COMPLEMENTARY APPROACH TO ADDRESS

NUTRITIONAL ANAEMIA ORGANISED

Context:

86
To mark the ongoing 4th Rashtriya Poshan Maah, the Department of Food and Public
Distribution under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and
Ministry of Women and Child Development jointly organised a webinar on ‘Rice
Fortification: A complementary approach to address Nutritional Anaemia’ with technical
support of the World Food Programme.

Key Points:
 Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and the Department of School
Education & Literacy are looking to the vulnerability of children and students adding on
they took decision to supply fortified rice for their Integrated Child Development
Scheme (ICDS) programmes and Mid-Day Meal Programmes.
 As a result of which, India got an opportunity to work through an entire ecosystem of
rice fortification and prepare ourselves to something which was much bigger.
 India has been taking promising steps to ensure food security and improving the
nutrition outcomes of its population, it is, therefore, about time that fortification is
integrated into the larger response to address malnutrition in the country with the
understanding that it will reinforce, complement and support ongoing nutrition
improvement programmes such as supplementation & dietary diversification.
 There is a need to amplify efforts to spread awareness about fortified rice and its
benefits so that demand is created and acceptability for nutrient-enriched rice is better.
All stakeholders must come together to create awareness campaigns using local
languages.
 Over last 10 years, the reduction in prevalence of anemia is slightly less than expected.
 FSSAI talked about ‘Benefits of fortified rice, Myth and Misconception around fortified
rice’ and emphasized, “There is absolutely no difference between rice and fortified rice.”
 Pertinently, 7 States have already started the distribution of fortified rice.
 Nearly 3100 Rice mills have installed blending unit in 15 Key States with cumulative
monthly blending capacity of around 18.0 Lakh MT for production of fortified rice.
Standards have been established for fortified rice through regulatory agency such as
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
 Similarly, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been requested to come out with
a standard for extruder and blending machines for fortified rice production for
uniformity.
 The Ministry of Women and Child Development has planned a series of activities
particularly on nutrition awareness, throughout the month in tandem with the
States/UTs under POSHAN Maah. These awareness activities will be particularly carried
out in the grassroots level.
 A flagship programme of Government of India, POSHAN Abhiyan aims at improving
nutritional outcome for children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating
mothers.
 The POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyan
directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition and address it in
a mission-mode.
 Focusing on the aims of POSHAN Abhiyan, Mission Poshan 2.0 (Saksham Anganwadi and
Poshan 2.0) has been announced in the Budget 2021-2022 as an integrated nutrition
support programme, to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and

87
 outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and
immunity to disease and malnutrition.

INDIA MUST CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH TO ALLEVIATE

POVERTY: ECONOMIC SURVEY 2020-21

Context:
Given India’s stage of development, India must continue to focus on economic growth to lift
the poor out of poverty by expanding the overall pie.

More in Detail:
 The Economic Survey states that the relationship between inequality and socio-
economic outcomes on one hand, and economic growth and socio-economic
outcomes, on the other hand is different in India from that observed in advanced
economies. Unlike in advanced economies, economic growth and inequality converge in
terms of their effects on socio-economic indicators in India.
 The Economic Survey has arrived at this conclusion by examining the correlation of
inequality and per-capita income with a range of socio-economic indicators including
health, education, life expectancy, infant mortality, birth and death rates, fertility rates,
crime, drug usage and mental health across the Indian states.
 The analysis shows that both economic growth, and inequality have similar
relationships with socio-economic indicators.
 On the basis of the analysis, the Economic Survey 2020-21 observes in India,
“Economic growth has a far greater impact on poverty alleviation than inequality”.
 Economic growth has been represented by income per capita at the state level.
 The Economic Survey states that over time, global commentaries have mostly
highlighted a potential conflict between economic growth and inequality.
 The conflict between economic growth and inequality becomes pertinent once again
because of the inevitable focus on inequality following the COVID-19 pandemic,
observes the Economic Surveys 2020-21.
 However, the Economic Survey 2020-21 states that the policy objective of focusing on
inequality may not apply in the Indian context given the differences in the stage of
development, India’s higher potential rate of economic growth and the higher absolute
levels of poverty.
 Also, the examples of India and China have posed a striking challenge to this conflict.
The growth stories of India and China have shown a significant reduction in poverty due
to high economic growth, states the Survey.
 The Economic Survey 2020-21 thus concludes that focus on policy of growth does
not imply that the redistributed objectives are unimportant, but that
redistribution is only feasible in a developing economy if the size of the economic pie
grows.
 To sum up, the policy recommendation of the Economic Survey 2020-21, for a
developing country such as India is that where the growth potential is high and the
scope for poverty reduction is also significant, the focus must continue on growing the
size of the economic pie rapidly at least for the foreseeable future.

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BARE NECESSITIES GAP BETWEEN STATES HAS NARROWED SINCE 2012, SURVEY
SHOWS

Context:
Poorer States have reduced the gap with rich States when it comes to in providing their
citizens with access to the basics of daily life — housing, water, power, sanitation,
cooking gas — according to a new ‘Bare Necessities Index’ (BNI) in the Economic
Survey 2020-21.

More in Detail:
 The index, which draws its name from Baloo the
Bear’s song in the movie adaptation of Rudyard
Kipling’s Jungle Book, uses existing National
Statistical Office (NSO) survey data to show
that between 2012 and 2018, serious gains were
made in the area of sanitation although equity in
housing access still lagged behind.
 Richer States such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana
and Gujarat top the index, while the eastern
Indian States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West
Bengal and Tripura occupy the lowest rungs.
States which showed significant improvement
include Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
 “Inter-State disparities in the access to ‘the bare necessities’ have declined in 2018
when compared to 2012 across rural and urban areas,” said the survey.
 Access to ‘the bare necessities’ has improved disproportionately more for the
poorest households when compared to the richest households across rural and urban
areas.
 The improvement in equity is particularly noteworthy because while the rich can seek
private alternatives, lobby for better services, or if need be, move to areas where
public goods are better provided for, the poor rarely have such choices.”
 However, the survey noted that there was still a gap between urban and rural
India, as well as among income groups, and recommended “effective targeting of the
needier population” in government schemes.
 Better Centre-State coordination with local governments is needed, given that as
they were responsible for civic amenities in urban areas, added the survey. It also
suggested that the BNI could be constructed at district level using large annual
household survey data, to show progress.
 The index attempts to carry forward the ‘Thalinomics’ exercise in the last Economic
Survey, which calculated the average Indian’s access to a plate of food. The survey also
correlated the BNI to child mortality and school enrolment data to show the link to
health and education outcomes.
 Access to household toilets, piped water, and a reduction in air pollution due to
the use of clean cooking fuel have an outsize impact on child health. Studies also

89
showed that girls were more likely to go to school if they had access to toilets, and do
not need to spend time hauling water for their families every day.

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EDUCATION AND RELATED ISSUES
STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL
INFRASTRUCTURE IN NORTH-EASTERN STATES

Context:
University Grants Commission (UGC) is implementing schemes, awards, fellowships, chairs
and programmes under which financial assistance is provided to institutions of higher
education as well as faculty members working in North Eastern States to undertake quality
research covering areas of knowledge across disciplines.

Key Points:
 Some of the initiatives taken for improving quality of higher education are-
 Choice Based Credit System (CBCS)
 Universities with Potential for Excellence
 Centre with Potential for Excellence in particular area
 Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics (CARE)
 Basic Science Research
 Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India's Developing Economy (STRIDE)
 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Kaushal Kendras
 Scholarship Scheme (ISHAN UDAY) for North-Eastern Region
 New Methodology of Grading by NAAC
 UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for award of M.Phil/Ph.D Degree)
Regulations, 2016
 UGC (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWAYAM) Regulation,
2016
 All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) has taken several steps over
the years for framing appropriate policies on technical education needed to design and
implement various schemes for educational advancement and achieving the
objective of creating favorable environment to ensure speedy socio-economic
development in North East States.
 This includes equipping all necessary infrastructure upgradation of colleges, special
coaching, educational concessions, better teaching learning material and
infrastructure for North East region students.
 Some of the Schemes are-
 Research Promotion Scheme for North East Region
 Short Term Training Programme for NER
 Faculty Development Programme for NER
 Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)
 Post Graduate Scholarship Scheme
 Doctoral Fellowship
 Pragati Scholarship Scheme
 Saksham Scholarship Scheme
 Campus Accommodation & Facilities Enhancing Social Experience
 Grant for Augmenting Infrastructure in NER

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  Scheme for Promoting Interests, Creativity and Ethics among Students
 Grant for Organizing Conference
 Establishment of Idea Development, Evaluation & Application Laboratory in
Institutions
 E-Shodh Sindhu (Subscription to e-Journals)

BUILDING CONSENT: POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION REGULATIONS 2021

Context:
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest organisation of doctors in India, has
demanded that the National Medical Commission (NMC) withdraw the draft
Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations 2021.

More in Detail:
 In its current form, it notes that there shall be common counselling for admission in all
medical educational institutions to all Post-graduate ‘Broad-Specialty’ courses
(Diploma/MD/MS) on the basis of the merit list of the National Exit Test.
 Currently, admissions to such programmes are based on the post-graduate NEET. Half
the seats to the various courses are based on the all-India quota and the rest are
admitted by the State governments, which comply with reservation norms.
 The IMA contends that the draft regulations leave States with no power or
discretion to manage admissions to State medical colleges, which rely on State
funds.
 If States did not have the freedom to decide on student intake, they would find it
hard to provide quality medical services to the local population. The proposed
regulations follow from the provisions of the National Medical Commission Act,
2019, that itself replaced the Medical Council Act of India and was a subject of
extreme friction between medical professionals and the Centre.
 In both instances, the heart of the objection is States’ discomfort with ceding powers
to the Centre. The familiar argument of the States is that health care is a State
subject.
 Through the decades, while the Centre plays the critical role of funding and
conceiving targeted programmes to ameliorate disease and improve overall health-
care standards, the matter of implementation has always been left to the States.
 The Centre has an important role in setting standards and amplifying best practices so
that minimum — but ever improving — standards of health care are delivered across all
States. Much like cadres of the IAS are deputed to States based on centralised
examinations, there is, in principle, no reason for such a system not to be effective, but
the Centre needs to be extremely responsive to States’ views on the same.
 The very real problem, laid bare during the pandemic, is the shortage and extremely
uneven availability of quality health care.
 Through the years, attempts are being made to improve this by trying to bridge
alternative systems of medicines with modern medicine, but these have always been
marred by political and religious overtones, and a convergence seems unlikely in the
near future.

92
 The import of the proposals should not be made hostage to a Centre-States power
struggle. Efforts must be made to build more consensus involving stakeholders, such as
the IMA, State medical councils and representatives of health-care groups.

HACKATHON TO FIND OUT SOLUTIONS FOR INTEL BODIES

Context:
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), in coordination with the All
India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched an online hackathon “Manthan
2021”, for identification of innovative concepts and technology solutions to address the
challenges faced by intelligence agencies.

More in Detail:
 Manthan 2021 will be held in two phases. In the first phase, the participants will
submit their concepts against the problem statements which they want to solve on the
portal.
 The ideas will be evaluated by a group of experts and only the innovative ideas will
be selected for the second round.
 During 36-hour online hackathon, the selected youth from education institutions across
the country and registered start-ups will participate to offer strong, safe and effective
technology solutions using their technical expertise and innovative skills. Total prize
money worth Rs. 40 lakh will be given to the winning teams.
 The participants will have to develop digital solutions under six themes for 20
different challenge statements mentioned in the website, using new technologies like
artificial intelligence, deep learning, augmented reality and machine learning.

CENTRE TARGETS FIVE AREAS FOR REFORMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Context:
The Union government and the education regulator have identified five key areas of focus
in the next phase of reforms in the higher education sector.

More in Detail:
 These areas, education finance, administration, accounting system, a central higher
education data repository, and internal autonomy, will act as catalysts to reduce
compliance burden in the sector and instil self-discipline.
 The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the education ministry believe that there
is a need to streamline the compliance system, reduce unwanted interference,
and involve institutions to find solutions to these five key areas of concern.
 UGC wrote to all universities and colleges, asking them to brainstorm and share
feedback to aid the government in its reform initiative. The regulator has already held
meetings with stakeholders, including vice chancellors. Based on the observations made
by the participants, certain areas have been identified for streamlining and reduction of
compliance burden.
 Higher education institutions (HEIs) should initiate new reforms for simplification of
methods in administration and finance.

93
 India has a massive higher education sector with nearly 51,000 colleges, institutions,
and universities catering to almost 38 million students.
 The education ministry, which has traditionally been criticised for overregulation, is
embarking on a process to ease the traditional burden and move on a path of reform.
 The move is in sync with the new National Education Policy (NEP) and some reforms
such as the autonomy of the Indian Institutes of Management effected in the past few
years.
 The fresh move comes almost after the ministry met stakeholders, including universities,
academicians, regulators, industry chambers, and private education players, to address
core areas of concern to ease compliance.
 There are several compliances and issues that both institutions and students
would like to reduce to make it easier to function. In a changing environment, the higher
education administration needs to evolve and take stakeholders along instead of
creating roadblocks.
 The financial reform will push universities to raise money from the market through
collaborations, industry projects, and sponsored projects. The move looks like a push to
reduce government spending on state-run institutions, but it may be counter-
productive if done in haste.
 The education regulator further said that a “centralised repository for pooling of
data regarding HEIs", “streamlined automated system for accounting reforms in
HEIs", and “autonomy within the institutions" are other areas of focus.
 UGC has also underlined that there is a growing thrust on accessibility to internet
facilities in rural areas, an issue that was exposed during the pandemic as schools and
colleges closed their campuses to curb the spread of the virus. The move severely hurt
education delivery, more so outside cities.
 Access to digital infrastructure will be key to implementing next-generation
reforms, at least in education delivery as the Centre pushes for technology adoption in
the education sector in a big way, implementation of the hybrid model of education,
establishment of an academic bank of credit and even the creation of an online
university like system in the near future.

NO SC, ST, OBC QUOTA FOR NRIS APPEARING FOR NEET

Context:
Recent clarification by the Health Ministry states that aspiring candidates for NEET
(National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) can only opt for one quota category.

More in Detail:
 NEET is the qualifying test for MBBS and BDS
programmes in Indian medical and dental colleges. It
is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
 NRI students belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities
can no longer enjoy the reservation benefits provided to
them in the upcoming NEET examinations.
 Aspiring NRI students have also pointed out how they
are denied seats under NRI quota in central, state and

94
 deemed institutions if they opt for ‘Indian’ as their nationality. Such method of
classification discriminates against NRI even though they hold an Indian citizenship.

IITs TOP CENTRE’S RANKINGS FOR 2021

Context:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras was ranked the best higher
education institution in the country for the third year in a row by the Education Ministry,
which released its India Rankings 2021 under the National Institutional Ranking
Framework.

More in Detail:
 In fact, IITs dominated the overall rankings, with seven of the top 10 positions. The
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru ranked second, followed by IIT-Bombay,
IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee and IIT-Guwahati. Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) closed out the top 10 at rank nine
and 10 respectively.
 Among universities, IISc was ranked one, followed by JNU, BHU, Calcutta
University, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore, Jamia Millia Islamia in New
Delhi, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Jadavpur University, University of
Hyderabad and Aligarh Muslim University at rank 10. Delhi University was placed 12 in
the university rankings and 19 overall.
 Among engineering institutions, IIT-Madras remained number one, followed by IIT-
Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Guwahati, IIT-
Hyderabad, National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Tiruchirappalli and NIT-Karnataka.

Management institutions:
 For management institutions, Indian Institute of Management (IIT)-Ahmedabad was
ranked one, followed by IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta, IIT-Kozhikode, IIT-Delhi, IIM-
Indore, IIM-Lucknow, Xavier Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur, IIT-Kharagpur
and IIT-Bombay. Jamia Hamdard was ranked one for pharmacy, followed by Panjab
University. Manipal College of Dental Sciences was ranked the best in the dental
category.
 All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi scored the top rank for
medical institutions, followed by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research in Chandigarh, Christian Medical College in Vellore, National Institute of Mental
Health and Neuro Sciences in Bengaluru, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of
Medical Sciences in Lucknow, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, BHU, Jawaharlal Institute of
Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry, King George’s Medical
University in Lucknow and Kasturba Medical College in Manipal.
 Among institutions teaching law, National Law School of India University in Bengaluru
was ranked number one, followed by National Law University in Delhi, NALSAR
University of Law in Hyderabad, West Bengal National University of Juridicial Sciences,
IIT-Kharagpur, Gujarat National Law University, Jamia Millia Islamia, National Law
University in Jodhpur, Symbiosis Law School in Pune and Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology in Bhubaneswar.

95
 IISc was ranked the best research institution, a category included for the first
time.
 Miranda House in Delhi remained the best college, followed by Lady Shri Ram
College for Women and Loyola College.

Regional ranking frameworks:

 While releasing the rankings, there was need for developing regional ranking
frameworks and increasing participation by institutions. The Ministry launched the
rankings in 2016 and has added more categories over the years.
 The Ministry said in a statement that 4,030 institutions had applied for rankings this
year. The institutions are assessed on their teaching, research, graduation outcomes,
outreach and inclusivity and perception.
 A noticeable increase in institutional participation in the rankings exercise this year
indicates its recognition amongst institutions of higher education in India as a fair and
transparent ranking exercise.
 Number of unique applicants to India Rankings has increased from 2,426 in 2016 to
4,030 in 2021.

96
RIGHTS ISSUES - HUMAN RIGHTS AND
NHRC
GATEKEEPER MODEL MOOTED TO PREVENT SUICIDES IN PRISONS

Context:
In a bid to prevent suicides triggered by mental health issues in prisons across the country,
the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru,
has recommended the “Gatekeeper Model” where selected inmates, trained to identify
prisoners at risk of suicide, would refer them to treatment or supportive services.

More in Detail:
 Acting on the request of the Ministry of Home Affairs, NIMHANS, an Institute of National
Importance, issued a set of guidelines on the management of mental health issues of
the prisoners and prison staff. Referring to the Bangalore Prison Mental Health Study,
the advisory pointed to the prevalence of mental illness and substance use disorder in
about 80% of the prison population.
 NIMHANS experts said prisoners with mental disorders had to be regularly assessed for
severity of suicidal risk and also put on regular and supervised medication. To address
the prisoner’s mental health needs, the correctional facility should have links to
community-based initiatives like the District Mental Health Programme.

Buddy system:
 The advisory said the concept of a ‘Buddy System’ — social support through trained
prisoners called “buddies” or “listeners” — was found to have a good impact on the
well-being of suicidal prisoners. Periodic telephone conversations with friends and family
would also foster support.
 These initiatives were part of several other recommendations made by NIMHANS to
effectively manage mental health issues among prisoners and staff.
 Communicating the guidelines to all States, the MHA said the COVID-19 virus had posed
unique challenges to the world and prisons and correctional facilities were also affected
by the pandemic.
 Though appropriate measures were taken by the authorities to check the spread of
the virus in prisons, there was a need to continue monitoring the situation rigorously
without letting the guard down and provide care to inmates and prison staff.
 Emphasising on the mental health of prisoners, the Ministry said incarcerated people
could face many vulnerabilities during the pandemic such as anxiety, stress, deprivation
of support from family, concern about the well-being of their loved ones etc., which
might impact their mental wellbeing.
 The prison staff was working under tremendous pressure and faced challenges in
performing their duty while safeguarding themselves from contracting the infection.
 Taking cognizance of the challenges faced by prison inmates and staff, the MHA said it
had engaged with the Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, requesting them to prepare

97
 guidelines for addressing the mental health needs of prisoners and staff with focus
on empowering them to handle issues during the pandemic.

e- Mulakat:
 The State was in the forefront in the implementation of e-Prisons initiatives which had
several modules, including e-Mulakat that was an online platform enabling
relatives/friends/ advocates of prisoners to book prior appointments for interviewing
prisoners through the National Prisons Information Portal.
 This was in addition to the video/voice call facility through mobile phones/telephone
booths.

THE CRIME OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES MUST END

Context:
The democracy movement in Myanmar is at a critical juncture. In February 2021, the
military launched a coup d’état to overthrow the democratically elected government led by
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.

More in Detail:
 The military is committed to suppressing the people’s movement, and the police are
carrying out unimaginable acts of violence and oppression against those demanding
freedom of expression and the restoration of democracy.
 Since the coup, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances (WGEID) has received reports of enforced disappearances from the
family members of victims. There is concern that there will be a plethora of cases of
enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, and even murder if the situation
continues to deteriorate.
 Myanmar is not the only country in Asia that enforced disappearances are becoming a
major concern. There are other leaders and regimes that have the mistaken notion that
they can do anything to maintain their power. Regretfully, this includes using enforced
disappearances as a tool to suppress the people.

Concerns around minorities:

 In China, the Working Group has received numerous reports from family members and
concerned civil society organisations that a massive number of enforced disappearances
have occurred in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
 Under the pretext of re-education to prevent terrorism, members of the Uyghur
minority ethnic group are forcibly sent to what Chinese authorities call ‘vocational
education and training centers’, with no information on their whereabouts and fate
given to their families.
 The Working Group Chair has met many people from the region who are trying to find
out what happened to their family members and they are living in fear. It is especially
concerning because the basis for such forced disappearances is often very trivial.
 For example, having relatives living abroad or maintaining international contacts
could lead to an enforced disappearance. ‘Residential Surveillance at a
Designated Location (RSDL)’ under Article 73 of the amended Criminal

98
 Procedure Law, is used against individuals accused of endangering state security,
and is another issue of serious concern.
 Because RSDL places individuals under incommunicado detention without disclosing
their whereabouts, it may amount to a form of enforced disappearance.

Post-conflict issues
 Sri Lanka has experienced more than three decades of domestic conflict, which was
accompanied by various forms of enforced disappearances. It seemed that there was
some hope developing because of efforts by the government to confront its history.
 However, recently, the government is weakening initiatives it previously started to
search for and investigate enforced disappearances and has now returned to
promoting a culture of impunity for these crimes.
 It is also disheartening to point out that enforced disappearances are being committed in
the name of counter-terrorism measures. Increasing numbers of enforced
disappearances are being reported in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and it does not
seem that the situation will improve in the near future.
 Enforced disappearances became widely known to the world in the 1970s and the early
1980s during the ‘Dirty War’ in Argentina where the Argentine military dictatorship
committed the forceful disappearances of some 30,000 of its own citizens while denying
that they kidnapped, tortured, and murdered them. To fight against these gross and
systematic human rights violations, the UN Commission on Human Rights
established the Working Group in 1980 as the first special procedure mechanism of
the UN Commission on Human Rights.
 An enforced disappearance is defined by several constituent elements.
 First, it is characterised by the deprivation of liberty, where persons are arrested,
detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty.
 Second, there are grounds for seeking governmental responsibility for the act,
including of officials of different branches or levels of government or by organised
groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or
indirect, consent or acquiescence of, the government.
 Third, such an act typically occurs in the context of a state’s continuous refusal to
take relevant action, including refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the
persons concerned or refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which
places such persons outside the protection of the law.

Remedial measures:
 Under the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced
Disappearance (1992), the Working Group works to assist families of disappeared
persons to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared and to assist and
monitor states’ compliance.
 Additionally, with the assistance of the secretariat members based in Geneva, the
Working Group monitors states’ compliance, and documented cases of enforced
disappearance.
 The Working Group receives individual petitions from victims’ families and civil
society members, and channels them through to the relevant governments to

99
 demand searches for the disappeared persons, investigations, and punishment for
those responsible.
 The WGEID presses states to offer remedies, including compensation and a
guarantee of non-recurrence of the violations.
 The Working Group has serious concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on enforced
disappearances. Not only have enforced disappearances continued during the pandemic,
but it has generated new contexts for enforced disappearances and has reduced the
capacity of all actors to take the necessary action to search for and investigate cases of
disappeared persons.

Ratifying the Convention:

 To protect the right to be free from enforced disappearances, the international
community adopted the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons
from Enforced Disappearance in 2006, which became effective in 2010.
 However, the number of participating states is still very low compared to other
treaties. Among 63 member states of the treaty, only eight states from the Asia-
Pacific region have ratified or acceded to the treaty.
 Only four East Asian states — Cambodia, Japan, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka have
ratified it.
 Asian countries should consider their obligations and responsibilities more seriously and
reject a culture of impunity in order to eradicate enforced disappearances. They should
also understand that their domestic criminal law systems are not sufficient to deal with
the crime of enforced disappearance. An enforced disappearance is a continuous crime
that needs a comprehensive approach to fight against it.

PROTECTING PRISONERS: OVERCROWDING OF PRISONS

Context:
If overcrowding of prisons has been a perennial problem in this country, high
occupancy levels can only mean bad news amidst a pandemic.

More in Detail:
 The Supreme Court has been intervening from time to time to address this problem, but
its latest order directing the interim release of eligible prisoners acquires salience in view
of the uncontrolled second surge in the raging pandemic.
 In 2020, the Court ordered all States to take preventive steps as well as constitute
high-powered committees to determine the class of prisoners who could be released
on bail or parole for a specified period.
 Besides identifying more prisoners for release, the same set of prisoners be given
parole in 2021 too, the Court continues its trend of seeking to protect prisoners as
well as those guarding them from getting infected.
 There have been significant initiatives to prevent any uncontrollable spread
within the congested jails, ranging from stopping the practice of transporting
remand prisoners to court for periodical extension of custody and hearings to asking
authorities to prepare readiness and response plans.

100
  The Court’s order is welcome, both as a move to decongest jails and a measure that
protects the right to life and health of the prisoners. Now that the issue of reducing
occupancy in the prison is once again under focus, and not merely for the usual
reason of overcrowding, but also in view of the vulnerability of prisoners and prison
staff to infection and disease, a comprehensive look at imprisonment practices in the
country may be in order.
 There have been reports of prisoners testing positive and getting hospitalised. How far
the regular testing and medical treatment available to inmates across the country is
effective is unclear.
 Further, even political prisoners, such as those jailed in the Bhima Koregaon case
without any direct link to any act of violence, are being repeatedly denied bail, solely
because stringent laws have been invoked against them.
 Some political activists in Delhi are also in jail under anti-terrorism laws for alleged
complicity in riots early last year. The courts must take into account their vulnerability to
infection and consider bail.
 In its order, the Supreme Court has rightly emphasised the need to adhere to the
norms it had laid down in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (2014) under which
the police were asked not to effect unnecessary arrests, especially in cases that
involve jail terms less than seven years.
 In the past, the Court has also asked authorities in all districts in the country to give
effect to Section 436A of the CrPC., under which undertrials who have completed half of
the maximum prison term prescribed for the offence may be released on personal bond.
 Effective follow-up action is needed to audit these measures so that these are not
implemented selectively or arbitrarily.

CASTE CENSUS NEEDED FOR MUSLIMS TOO

Context:
Demands for a caste census are not just emanating from political parties in various States
but also from organisations connected with the Pasmanda Muslim community, with the All
India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz raising the demand that not just Hindus, all religions in
India be counted according to their caste category.

More in Detail:
 Various bodies claiming to represent the backward sections of Muslims demanded that
any caste census should include Muslims and claimed that the community like Hindus is
also divided along different castes and sub-castes.
 Like the Hindu community, Muslims are not a monolith social group and are divided
among different castes and sub-castes.
 A booklet was released on the occasion that also demanded that Scheduled Castes
benefits should be extended to "dalit" sections of Muslims and Christians.
 A number of political parties have pitched for caste census, saying it is necessary to
effectively implement welfare schemes for the backward sections of society and identify
the extent of their backwardness.

101
HOLDING TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE

Context:
The UN working group on ‘human rights, transnational corporations (TNCs) and other
businesses’ has published a new report on human rights-compatible international
investment agreements.

More in Detail:
 It urges states to ensure that their bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are compatible
with international human rights obligations.
 It emphasises investor obligations at the international level i.e., the accountability of
TNCs in international law.
 Given the enormous power that TNCs wield, questions about their accountability have
arisen often. There have been many instances where the misconduct of TNCs has come
to light such as the corruption scandal involving Siemens in Germany.

Past efforts:
 Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in 1975 in the UN General Assembly
that the international community should articulate standards of conduct for TNCs.
Subsequently, an audacious effort was made at the UN to develop a multilateral code of
conduct on TNCs. However, due to differences between developed and developing
countries, it was abandoned in 1992.
 An integral feature of the neoliberal project was to use international law to
institutionalise the forces of economic globalisation, leading to the spread of BITs.
These treaties promised protection to foreign investors under international law by
bestowing rights on them and imposing obligations on states.
 This structural asymmetry in BITs, which confer rights on foreign investors but
impose no obligations, relegated the demand for investor accountability.
 In 2014, the UN Human Rights Council established an open-ended working group with
the mandate to elaborate on an international legally binding instrument on TNCs and
other businesses concerning human rights.
 Since then, efforts are being made towards developing a treaty and finding ways to
make foreign corporations accountable. The latest UN report is a step in that
direction.
 BITs can be harnessed to hold TNCs accountable under international law. The issue of
fixing accountability of foreign investors came up in an international law case,
Urbaser v. Argentina (2016). It involved a concessionaire that was looking after the
supply of water and sewerage services in Argentina, in which Urbaser, a Spanish
environment management company, was a shareholder.
 Argentina adopted emergency measures to ward off a financial crisis in 2001, which
caused losses to the concessionaire, ultimately leading to its insolvency. Urbaser
brought a claim against Argentina alleging breach of its rights guaranteed under the
Argentina-Spain BIT.
 Argentina filed a counterclaim charging the investors for floundering in ensuring the
required level of investment in the services provided and thus violating the
international human right to water.

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  The tribunal held that corporations can be subjects of international law and are under
a duty not to engage in activities that harm or destroy human rights.
 However, as regards the question of whether the foreign investor was under an
international law obligation to provide drinking water and sanitation, the tribunal
held that only states have a positive obligation to meet the human right to water;
corporations only have a negative obligation in this regard unless specific human
rights obligations are imposed on the foreign investor as part of the BIT.
 The case played an important role in bringing human rights norms to the fore in BIT
disputes. It also opened up the possibility of using BITs to hold TNCs accountable
provided the treaty imposes positive obligations on foreign investors.
 In the last few years, states have started recalibrating their BITs by inserting provisions
on investor accountability. However, these employ soft law language and are hortatory.
They do not impose positive and binding obligations on foreign investors. They fall short
of creating a framework to hold TNCs accountable under international law.

Lessons for India:

 The recent UN report has important takeaways for India’s ongoing reforms in BITs.
India’s new Model BIT of 2016 contains provisions on investor obligations.
 However, these exist as best endeavour clauses. They do not impose a binding
obligation on the TNC. India should impose positive and binding obligations on foreign
investors, not just for protecting human rights but also for imperative issues such as
promoting public health.
 The Nigeria-Morocco BIT, which imposes binding obligations on foreign investors such as
making it mandatory for them to conduct an environmental impact assessment of their
investment, is a good example.
 These reforms would help in harnessing BITs to ensure the answerability of
foreign investors and creating a binding international legal framework to hold TNCs to
account.

HUMAN RIGHTS ARE EVERYONE’S BUSINESS

Context:
The ongoing protests by farmers against the three hastily promulgated agriculture laws
have drawn international attention, with the denial of democratic rights to them by the
government’s construction of military-grade barriers and shutting down of the Internet at
protest sites getting strong statements of support from numerous international celebrities.

More in Detail:
 The official response of the Ministry of External Affairs was disproportionate to the
provocation, but it was not merely the reaction of a thin-skinned government. The
argument put forth by the government pushed a more fundamental premise- it warned
the concerned global voices that these matters — democracy and human rights, left
unstated — were India’s ‘internal affair’.
 The recent arrest of the 22-year-old environmental activist, Disha Ravi, for amplifying
the farmer protests internationally, unmasked the government’s designs to criminalise
those who speak for human rights.

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  This attitude was also visible in the Home Ministry’s directions to social media
companies to block accounts of those expressing a point of view contrary to that of
the government. A democracy which does not ensure and secure universal rights for
all is a democracy only in name.
 Being respected, not having their dignity violated and having a sense of security is what
everyone, anywhere should get, whether it is Syrians on an Italian shore, the Rohingya
in Myanmar, Hindus in Pakistan or stateless refugees on a border in Mexico.
 No government has immunity because it violates human rights in its jurisdiction. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi could not have been more misplaced as he was, when he spoke
of ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’ in Parliament to refer to global concerns for rights
of protesting farmers.
 The belief that what India or what any other nation does to its people is an ‘internal
matter’, is as misdirected a defence as the one a wife-beating husband deploys with
his neighbours — that it is not their business.

Nation and the idea of rights:

 India played a signature role in drawing the world together to oppose the apartheid
government of South Africa, and it took till 1962 to override the sovereignty shield used
by the government to continue oppressing the Black population.
 India stayed firm from the 1950s till a resolution was adopted and a United Nations
Special Committee Against Apartheid was set up by the United Nations. India’s
work, in consistently creating awareness and resistance against the demonisation of
Nelson Mandela via the Rivonia trial in 1963, checked the Apartheid regime from
awarding him the death sentence.
 The principle document signed in the last century, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights laid down the terms for the post-war world, it enshrined the rights and the
freedoms of all people, living everywhere.
 It was not something that was forced down India’s throat by its colonial rulers. India
was a member of the first Human Rights Commission, which was to draft the
‘international bills of rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was
drafted from January 1947 till December 10, 1948, when it was eventually adopted
by the General Assembly.
 Along with the Charter of the United Nations that was signed earlier in San
Francisco in 1945, Indian freedom fighters did their best to influence it and make its
brief wider and more effective.
 Mahatma Gandhi issued a press statement in April 1945 which was directed at
participants of the San Francisco conference and he extensively quoted from the All
India Congress Committee resolution of August 8, 1942: “While the AICC must
primarily be concerned with the independence and defence of India in this hour of
danger, the Committee is of opinion that the future peace, security and ordered
progress of the world demand a world federation of free nations, and on no other
basis can the problems of the modern world be solved.”
 A line is particularly evocative – “Thus the demand for Indian independence is in no
way selfish. Its nationalism spells internationalism.”
 At the time of the conference, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit who went on to become the
first woman President of the UN General Assembly, was on a year-long lecture

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 tour of the U.S., and she had a deep impact on African-Americans battling entrenched
racism at the time. Pandit powerfully advocated Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru’s ideas and
emphasised their universality and the indivisible nature of rights that all human beings
must enjoy.

Rights are indivisible:

 The makers of the Indian Constitution did not invoke paranoia about respecting Indian
tradition, customs or hiding perverse practices. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan famously
said while commending the Objectives Resolution, or the basic road map of the
Constitution, to the Assembly, that the endeavour was “a fundamental alteration in the
structure of Indian society, to abolish every vestige of despotism, every heirloom of
inorganic tradition.”
 The triad of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ engraved in the Preamble, drew
significantly from the slogan which had proved influential following the French
Revolution.
 It flowed from the realisation, in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s words, that given the vice-like
grip of the “graded inequality” of the caste system, all three elements, together,
were absolutely essential if Indians were to realise their full potential.
 To quote B.R. Ambedkar who on the eve of the adoption of the Preamble explained
how Liberty, Equality and Fraternity were connected and locked into each other
firmly- “Without equality, liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the
many. Equality without liberty would kill individual initiative. Without fraternity,
liberty would produce the supremacy of the few over the many. Without fraternity,
liberty and equality could not become a natural course of things. It would require a
constable to enforce them.”

New Delhi’s recent moves:

 To cite Atmanirbhar as a counter to international concerns about freedoms, equality and
the right to dissent amounts to hiding behind the flimsy excuse of sovereignty to escape
the bitter truth of the slithering slope of democratic rights India appears to be going
down.
 The case the Indian government is making is all the more specious as its own immediate
concern expressed, officially by its External Affairs Minister when visiting Sri Lanka, on
the Sri Lankan government needing to do more to safeguard Tamil lives belies this
principle.
 The starkest case where India made human rights of citizens of other countries its
business was in 2019 when the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, offered a home for
certain persecuted citizens of three foreign countries.
 When it comes to universal human rights and international attention, the premier
example is of the liberation of Bangladesh which India led and shepherded by invoking
these principles.
 That India chose to and continues to host the Dalai Lama, who attracts visible
support from high-profile global celebrities, is a testament to New Delhi’s
commitment to human rights.

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  That the public concern from international celebrities is tantamount to foreign
‘intervention’ carries no weight, as this is not about the Central Intelligence Agency
or Vladimir Putin’s Russia meddling in Indian electoral processes.
 In fact, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been cavalier about amending the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act, or FCRA, rules permitting itself, a political party,
to whitewash foreign funds with retrospective effect, in 2016.

The issue is a reality problem:

 The Prime Minister and his government have actively courted foreign approval. Two
dozen foreign envoys were taken on a guided tour of Kashmir last week because getting
a favourable opinion from foreigners matters to the government.
 At the height of tensions and the shutdown there, before Indian Members of
Parliament were allowed, a delegation of far-right European Parliament members
was bussed around deserted streets.
 The Prime Minister has personally appeared with celebrities in foreign lands during
his numerous trips, seeking their approval. The craving for approval is natural for
any publicity-seeking politician, but a democracy cannot be reduced to only
demanding praise from the rest of the world and raising the bogey of ‘internal
matters’ when international voices express solidarity with dissenters and raise
serious concerns.

Conclusion:
 Global concerns about democratic rights in India cannot be dealt with by arresting
messengers, bullying ‘amplifiers’ or shutting down social media accounts. India does not
have an image problem; it has a reality problem.
 Changing the reality and adhering to best democratic practices inside is the only durable
solution if the Modi government wants its image ‘fixed’.

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ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION - GHGs,
OZONE DEPLETION AND CLIMATE
CHANGE
WHERE WILL CLIMATE CHANGE STRIKE?

Context:
In one of the most categorical statements from a scientific body in the U.N. system, a
working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report
released that human activities were unequivocally the principal driver of changes in the
atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere, in other words, of climate change.

Background:
 Man-made emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), led by carbon dioxide, methane and
nitrous oxide since the industrial era, were altering the climate system, raising average
surface temperature globally.
 The contribution of Working Group I to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report is one of the
three such technical reports, the other two being on impacts, adaptation and
vulnerability (WG II) and mitigation (WG III) expected later this year, ahead of a
synthesis report in 2022.

What is the key message from Working Group I?

 The WG I report asserts, leaving nothing to doubt, that the contribution of GHG
emissions from various activities is the scientific basis for global warming and climate
change. These actions include the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transport,
emissions from agriculture and waste, and energy profiles of buildings.
 Compared with the period 1850-1900, the increase in global surface temperature for the
decade 2011-2020 is estimated to be 1.09°C, an indication of how much the world has
warmed.
 This must be viewed against the consensus under the Paris Agreement of the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that the world should act
to limit warming compared to levels that existed before the industrial revolution to
well below 2°C, and preferably 1.5°C.
 The WG I report devotes itself to assessing what impacts would accrue to various
dimensions of the planet, such as land, oceans, mountains, polar regions, glaciers
and water cycle, under different emissions scenarios.
 Even in the best case scenario, the global surface temperature increase averaged
between 2081 and 2100 could be 1.0°C to 1.8°C, while in a high emissions scenario, it
could go to a searing 3.3°C to 5.7°C.
 Since the original pledges of the Paris Agreement are insufficient to keep warming to
well below 2°C, deep and early cuts to greenhouse gas emissions are necessary.

What will be the effect of continued global warming?

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 A warmer world is estimated to have a big impact on extremes of temperature and
rainfall with implications for human health, ecosystem survival and sustainable
economic activity.
 The report says it is “virtually certain that hot extremes (including heatwaves) have
become more frequent and more intense across most land regions” as witnessed since
the 1950s, while cold extremes (including cold waves) “have become less frequent and
less severe”.
 Scientific confidence is now high that human-induced climate change is the main
driver of these changes. There are other impacts too. Climate change has contributed
to increases in agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions due to increased
land evapotranspiration, the report says.
 Enhanced warming is expected to amplify thawing of permafrost (subsurface soil in the
Polar Regions that remains below freezing point year-round), and loss of seasonal snow
cover, of land ice and of Arctic sea ice.
 Under scenarios of rising CO2 emissions, two of the big carbon sinks on the planet —
the oceans and land — may become less effective at slowing the accumulation of
CO2 in the atmosphere.
 Continued warming would influence the global water cycle, further intensifying it,
with consequences for “its variability, global monsoon precipitation and the severity
of wet and dry events”, the WG I report adds.

What could be the consequences for India?

 India’s major concerns are centred around the health of the annual monsoon, the fate of
Himalayan glaciers, heating over land, floods, droughts and overall impact on people’s
well-being, agriculture and food production.
 The report says with medium confidence that “heatwaves and humid heat stress will be
more intense and frequent during the 21st century” and both annual and summer
monsoon rainfall will rise, with a higher degree of variability between years.
 Such a situation creates a lot of uncertainty. It is important to note that over South
Asia, among other regions, aerosol emissions notably from human activity had a
cooling influence during the 20th century, which in turn counteracted increases in
monsoon rainfall produced by warming.
 That aerosol effect could be overcome by persistent warming, leading to
future high levels of rainfall. For the snow-covered areas, the outlook is, again,
alarming.
 Snow volumes are forecast to decrease in most regions of the Hindu Kush Himalaya
during the 21st century and the snowline elevations to go up while glacier volumes are
likely to decline, with greater mass loss in scenarios of higher CO2 emissions.

CLIMATE CHANGE, A CATALYST FOR ARCTIC COOPERATION

Context:
It is tempting to view the current geopolitics of the Arctic through the lenses of the ‘great
power competition’ and inevitable conflict of interests.

More in Details:

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 Interestingly, the current geopolitical scenario is, to a certain extent, mirrored in the
Arctic region as well. This is mainly about the growing tensions between North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and Russia.
 There are eight countries that have direct access to the Arctic resources, i.e., Canada,
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United
States. In 2013, six Observers joined the Council, including China, Japan, India, Italy,
South Korea, and Singapore, bringing their total number to 13.

Security concerns:
 By the end of the Cold War, the geopolitical tensions and security concerns in the Arctic
were almost forgotten.
 In October 1987, during a visit to the Kola Peninsula, Mikhail Gorbachev, then
Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party, acknowledged the end of the Cold
War era and promoted a ‘zone of peace’ in the Arctic.
 The perceived ‘harmony’ was broken in 2007, when the Russian explorers planted their
flag on the seabed 4,200m (13,779ft) below the North Pole to articulate Moscow’s claims
in the Arctic.
 This move was certainly viewed as provocative by other Arctic States, and the
Canadian Foreign Minister, Peter MacKay, said “this is not the 15th century”, and
“countries cannot just go around, plant their flags, and claim the territories”.
 The regional tension increased after the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2014.
Consequently, relations between the U.S. and Russia reached their lowest point again.
The rhetoric of the bilateral mistrust was transferred ‘up to the North’ and created
anxiety among other stakeholders in the Arctic.
 After the events in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has been increasingly viewed as a ‘rule-
breaker’, ‘revisionist power’ and an ‘untrustworthy player’. Besides, Russia’s
intention to re-establish the military might of its Northern Fleet also creates the security
concerns and features prominently in the Norwegian foreign policy.
 On the other hand, some Russian military experts believe that the Barents Sea can
serve as the launching area for a western seaborne attack; therefore, the Russian
Navy should ensure the readiness of its anti-submarine forces in the Arctic Ocean.

The eco-dimension:
 In the last decades, we have been confronted with the multiple ‘wake-up calls’ that are
related to climate change; and these calls are getting louder. The summer of 2021
would be recorded in history as one of the most devastating seasons of our times, when
ferocious floods and wildfires were destroying communities in many parts of the world.
 Due to the environmental transformations, natural catastrophes occur
unexpectedly — on an unprecedented scale, and in unusual geographic locations. For
example, the extreme heat in North America or wildfires in Russian Siberia (Yakutia),
where the winter temperature can be below minus 40°.
 The Arctic region also bears the brunt of climate change. At the same time, it
provides a platform for scientific research that can help to get to the bottom of
natural calamities around the world.
 Keeping in mind the existential threats, the environmental challenges should be an
absolute priority for all players in the Arctic region. These considerations should

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 outweigh military and economic issues and unite countries for the sake of eliminating
the potential (and real) dangers attributed to climate change.
 According to The World Climate and Security Report 2020 (the first report of the
Expert Group of the International Military Council on Climate and Security, or the
IMCCS), ‘the Arctic is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the planet with
consecutive record-breaking warm years since 2014. The Arctic is likely to begin
experiencing ice-free summers within the next decade, with summers likely to be
completely free of sea ice by mid-century’.
 There should be concerted efforts to minimise the adverse effects on the fragile
Arctic ecosystem. A good example to be highlighted is the recent case of a Norwegian
drilling project; it was taken to the European court by the group of environmentalists.
Their main argument is that the negative impact of mining activities can spread beyond
the continental shelf of Norway.

The geopolitical vs strategic:

 The environmental transformation and rapid ice melting have also opened up new
opportunities in the region, which includes trans-Arctic shipping routes.
 These opportunities have inevitably attracted all stakeholders in the region, both the
Arctic and non-Arctic states. China, for example, with its self-proclaimed status of a
‘near Arctic state’, has been actively engaged in various projects across the region.
 The importance of the Arctic region for China mostly stems from its energy security
issues and the need to diversify shipping lanes. Transport routes from China to Europe
through the Arctic are not only much shorter but also free from the challenges
associated with the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
 In the latter case, China will continue facing a backlash from many Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, supported by U.S. forces.
 Given the significance of the region, the Arctic will continue to draw increased attention.
Apart from pursuing national interests, participating nations should also be concerned
about the future developments in the region and their larger implications for humanity.
 Hence, they should refrain from mutual provocations, excessive militarisation, and quid
pro quo tactics. All the Arctic actors should have a long-term vision and strategic
goals as compared to immediate short-term gains.
 Instead of creating a potential battleground that is reminiscent of the Cold War, the
parties concerned should utilise their expertise and create the required synergy to
achieve shared goals. Climate change and its dramatic consequences must be a catalyst
for Arctic cooperation.

NEGOTIATING THE NEW GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICY

Context:
The policy significance of the recent report of the United Nations (UN)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is that reaching net zero alone is
not enough as it is the cumulative emissions up to net zero which determine the
temperature that is reached, and that a global policy which considers only current emissions
will not limit global warming and its adverse effects.

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Restricting well-being:
 For 30 years, climate negotiations have struggled with a frame that created an
imbalance between countries sharing global carbon space, the only limited natural
resource.
 Development depleted carbon space causing the climate problem and developing
countries are being pressured to limit their use of the remaining space as the
solution. At the G20 Climate and Energy Ministerial meeting in July 2021, India
proposed that major economies bring down their own per capita emissions to the
global average by 2030.
 Reframing negotiations in terms of bringing per-person emissions, or human well-being,
as the essential first step highlights that merely achieving net zero of current emissions
by 2050 — the proposal of the G7 — restricts well-being and is unacceptable as global
policy.
 Varying levels of per-capita emissions converging to a common point will allow those
who have already used more than their fair share of the carbon space a larger share of
the remaining space than countries such as India which need the remaining carbon
space to grow to comparable levels of well-being.

Per capita emissions:

 The policy significance of the imbalance becomes clear when per-capita emissions are
compared. The world’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are 6.55 tonnes of
carbon dioxide.
 India’s per capita emission at 1.96 tonnes is less than one-third; emissions of the United
States, Canada and Australia are more than two-a-half times; Germany, the United
Kingdom and France are above, and China, at 6.4 tonnes, is just below the global
average. Accepting ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050 effectively prevents India’s
urbanisation and shift of the rural population into the middle class.
 India is rightly objecting to the obfuscation, as the Objective of the Climate Treaty is
“stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations”. By contributing over 60% of
global cumulative emissions, with just one-fourth of the global population, North
America and Europe are responsible for nearly 970 billion tonnes of carbon emissions.
 Whereas, the world’s remaining carbon budget — the total amount we can emit to have
a chance of limiting warming to 1.5° C — is only 400 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, and
the U.S. alone has contributed this amount for its high standard of living. For a global
consensus, such countries will need some flexibility in the new climate policy.

Emission sources:
 The reframing should stress ‘essential’ emissions to justify the flexibility and the need.
Infrastructure, or construction, essential for urbanisation and quality of living is
responsible for two-fifths of global carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion and
25% of emissions overall.
 These emissions arise from energy intensive cement production and half of the steel
produced which is used in construction, both having no substitutes.
 The varying levels of per capita emissions are accounted for by expressways and the
urban boom in the U.S. and Europe between 1950 and 2000, before China began its
infrastructure push, leading to per-capita material use that is four times that of China.

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 The U.S. first recognised the implications of its way of life preparing for the Stockholm
Summit in 1972, but then shaped the global agenda in terms of current emissions
which were going to grow in developing countries as they urbanised, rather than the
scientifically correct stabilisation of cumulative emissions, to draw attention away from
its own urbanisation and lifestyle.

Ideas and implications:

 New ideas such as ‘climate justice’, coming from India have three strategic
implications.
 First, a focus on drivers and patterns of natural resource, not just anthropogenic
emissions, highlights that as against measuring emissions when considering solutions,
the causes become important, in particular, the shift of the human population from rural
to urban areas.
 Second, the IPCC report has reiterated that impacts such as a rise in sea level,
variability of rainfall and temperature increases will not be reversible for some time
even after emissions fall. The adverse effects of climate change, or adaptation, are no
longer a local but a global concern.
 Third, consequently, multilateral cooperation will shift from common rules
monitoring emissions based on international environmental law to common goals of
human well-being as a universal human right based on a policy consensus.
 Shifting from environmental damage and its implications for well-being to comparable
levels of well-being within global ecological limits provides a very different conceptual
frame to understanding climate change and the negotiations.
 First, there is a need for a debate on what society values and whether societal
priorities or market exchange and pricing mechanisms determine what is to be
valued, produced, and consumed.
 Second, with consumption of the urban middle class now more important than
production in terms of GDP, it has become clear that the rising prosperity of the poor
and its need for infrastructure is not endangering planetary life support systems as
stress on population and national emissions suggests.
 Third, with different civilisational values, consumption of the middle class in
developing countries is less wasteful than in the first phase of urbanisation. These
socio-economic trends are not captured in the models based on natural sciences
designed for countries whose emissions have peaked with questionable global policy
relevance.

For a new policy objective:

 It took 25 years for the ‘Paris Agreement’ to reverse the defining feature of the
‘Framework Convention’, the division of countries into ‘annexes’, while providing for a
‘common cause’ instead of commitments. India’s proposal supports this evolution.
 Moving away from regulating emissions to recognising ecological limits makes the
subsidiary bodies for scientific advice and implementation review established to ratchet-
up commitments redundant.
 Sharing prosperity should be the objective of new intergovernmental mechanisms, with
the involvement of the private sector, for example, supporting solar energy, joint
research in new crop varieties and exchanging experiences on infrastructure viability.

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Conclusion:
 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.

WHY ARE HYDROPOWER PROJECTS IN THE HIMALAYAS RISKY?

Context:
The Environment Ministry has disclosed that it has permitted seven hydroelectric power
projects, which are reportedly in advanced stages of construction, to go ahead. One of
them is the 512 MW Tapovan Vishnugadh project, in Joshimath, Uttarakhand that was
recently damaged by a flood in February 2021.

What’s the history of hydropower projects in the Himalayas?

 In the aftermath of the Kedarnath floods of 2013 that killed at least 5,000 people, the
Supreme Court had halted the development of hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand
pending a review by the Environment Ministry on the role such projects had played in
amplifying the disaster.
 A 17-member expert committee, led by environmentalist Ravi Chopra, was set
up by the Ministry to examine the role of 24 such proposed hydroelectric projects in the
Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basin, which contains the Ganga and several tributaries.
 The Chopra committee concluded that 23 projects would have an “irreversible
impact” on the ecology of the region.
 Following this, six private project developers, whose projects were among those
recommended to be axed, impleaded themselves in the case on the ground that
since their projects had already been cleared for construction before the Kedarnath
tragedy, they should be allowed to continue.
 The SC directed a new committee to be set up to examine their case. This committee,
led by Vinod Tare of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, concluded that these
projects could have a significant environmental impact. The Environment Ministry in
2015 set up yet another committee, led by B.P. Das, who was part of the original
committee, but had filed a “dissenting report”.
 The Das committee recommended all six projects with design modifications to some,
and this gives lie to the Environment Ministry’s current stance. The Power Ministry
seconded the Environment Ministry’s stance.
 The Water Resources Ministry has been consistently opposed to hydropower projects in
the Ganga. In charge of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, the Water Ministry
has maintained that the cleanliness of the river was premised on minimum levels of
water flow in all seasons and the proposed projects could hinder this.
 By 2019, however, the renamed Jal Shakti Ministry had changed its stance to
accommodate seven out of the 24 projects. Its current position however is that barring
these, it is “not in favour” of new projects in the Ganga river basin.
 Though hearings in the SC are ongoing, this is the first time that the government has
a formal uniform position on hydropower projects in the Uttarakhand region.

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What are the challenges such projects face?
 Following the break in the Raunthi glacier that triggered floods in the Rishiganga river
in Uttarakhand in February 2021, which washed away at least two hydroelectric power
projects — the13.2 MW Rishiganga hydroelectric power project and the Tapovan project
on the Dhauliganga river, a tributary of the Alakananda — environmental experts have
attributed the glacial melt to global warming.
 Glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are projected to decrease the stability of
mountain slopes and increase the number and area of glacier lakes. Climate change has
driven erratic weather patterns like increased snowfall and rainfall.
 The thermal profile of ice, say experts, was increasing, which means that the
temperature of ice that used to range from -6 to -20 degree C, was now -2 degree C,
making it more susceptible to melting.
 It was these changing phenomena that made infrastructure projects in the Himalayan
regions risky, and made expert committees recommend that there should be no
hydropower development beyond an elevation of 2,200 metre in the Himalayan region.
 Moreover, with increased instances of cloudbursts, and intense spells of rainfall
and avalanches, residents of the region were also placed at increased risk of loss of
lives and livelihood.

How can these conflicts be resolved?

 The challenges facing development in the Himalayan region are multi-faceted. The
Uttarakhand government has said that it’s paying over Rs. 1,000 crore annually to
purchase electricity and therefore, the more such projects are cancelled, the harder for
them to meet their development obligations.
 Several environmentalists, residents of the region, say that the proposed projects being
built by private companies allot only a limited percentage of their produced power for
the State of Uttarakhand itself.
 Thus the State, on its own, takes on massive environmental risk without being
adequately compensated for it or its unique challenges accounted for.
 Though the Centre is committed to hydropower projects because it’s a renewable source
of power, the ecological damage combined with the reduced cost of solar power means
that it has in recent times said on multiple occasions that it is not in favour of greenfield
hydropower projects in the region.
 Several environmental activists say that the Centre has frequently changed its position
and will continue to prioritise infrastructural development in the region, even if it comes
at a heavy environmental cost.

INDIA MUST COMMIT TO NET ZERO EMISSIONS

Context:
India is at the risk of being cast globally as an outlier on climate action, with negative
fallout.

More in Details:
 With over 50% of the global economy already committed to net zero emissions by 2050
— and China committing to be so before 2060 — this is not where you want to be.

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 The pace and scale of climate action is only set to increase, with the recent
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report unequivocal on the
need for urgent and stronger responses.
 Events around the world underline the point — towns washed away in Germany,
subways turned into storm water drains in China, forests fried in the United States and
so many more lives lost to flooding in India.

Massive opportunities
 It is not only governments that are increasing climate action. The business world is too,
not just to protect themselves against the risks of climate change but also to take
advantage of the massive opportunities arising as the global economy shifts to net zero
emissions.
 In 2020, investors injected over $500 billion into climate transition. In my country,
Australia, the number of major companies that have put in place a target of reaching
net zero emissions by 2050 has more than trebled in the past year.
 The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow is shaping
up to be the most important climate meeting since the Paris Agreement in 2015. It is
squarely focused on supercharging global ambition and action on climate change, as all
countries, including India, agreed to do in the historic Paris Agreement.
 Over 100 countries have already committed to net zero emissions by 2050, with
more expected at COP26. Two key holdouts are India and Australia.
 India may shoot itself in the foot by resisting net zero by 2050.
 First, India itself has a national interest in ambitious global and national climate
action. Like Australia, it is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change and,
therefore, should be among the more active against the threats.
 India faces harmful impacts related to sea level rise, heat stress, drought, water
stress and flooding, biodiversity and natural disasters. Climate change is not coming
— it is here.
 Second, as a rising power, India naturally seeks stronger influence globally. Being
an outlier on the global challenge facing our generation does not support this aim. India
is already the third largest emitter in the world, and is set to be the largest as the
United States, China, and the European Union are all now signed up to net zero.
 This will become a significant drag on India’s international diplomacy. This applies
not just to key relationships like with the U.S., where President Joe Biden’s
administration is mainstreaming climate action into its economic, foreign and security
policy, but also with much of the Group of 77 (G77) states, who are increasingly
concerned to see climate action, and in multilateral groupings such as the United Nations
and ASEAN-APEC.

No longer a trade-off:
 There is no longer a trade-off between reducing emissions and economic
growth. For example, the U.K. has reduced emissions over 40% and grown its economy
over 70% since 1990. Solar energy costs have fallen 90% in recent years, providing the
cheapest electricity in India ever seen.
 Also, given the negative impacts, addressing climate change in India’s economic
development is now central to success, not an added luxury to consider.

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  For example, agricultural policy that does not consider adaptive approaches to
maximise productivity in the face of increased flooding and drought due to climate
change is derelict.
 The transition of the global economy to net zero emissions is the biggest
commercial opportunity in history. In just the energy sector alone, an estimated $1.6
to $3.8 trillion of investment is required every year until 2050.
 China gets this, which is why it is investing heavily in gaining an advantage in the
technologies of the new economy, be it renewable energy and storage, electric and
hydrogen transport, low emissions industry, green cities or sustainable agriculture.
India needs to be riding this wave.
 It is not as if India is at a standing start. It is set to significantly exceed its Paris
Agreement commitment of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% below
2005 levels by 2030, providing ready room for higher ambition.
 India impresses the world with its leading roll-out of renewable energy and target for
450GW by 2030, linked to its leadership on the International Solar Alliance and
recent national hydrogen strategy.
 Indian corporates are also stepping up, with the Tata Group winning awards on
sustainability, Mahindra committing to net zero by 2040 and Reliance by 2035. There
is plenty on which to build.
 India should not be expected to build alone. India’s national interests on climate
action are now engaged in ways that go significantly beyond waiting for donor support
to drive ambition, notwithstanding reasonable arguments about historical responsibility,
per capita emissions and equity.
 With growing wealth and stature, India is increasingly disinclined toward handouts.
But that does not mean well-targeted donor investments and international
partnerships should not be a factor in raising India’s climate ambition.
 In fact, they should be, as it is more and more obvious that the world needs to work
together for success.
 This could come in many guises, from stronger political engagement and dialogue to
policy support in areas of mutual challenge such as energy policy, carbon markets and
post-COVID green economic recovery.
 Practical support and cooperation in areas like rolling out renewable energy and
integrating it with the national grid, zero emissions transport, decarbonising hard to
abate sectors like steel, cement and chemicals and decarbonising agriculture offer
significant scope to raise ambition.
 As does working with India on innovative green financing for decarbonising
investments, including using donor support to mobilise private sector finance,
green bonds and climate transition funds. Whichever it is, they need to be
lasting partnerships that deliver results.
 Yet, in the end, India’s tryst with destiny rests in its own remarkable hands, as it always
has been. In a land where the earth is called mother, and Mahatma Gandhi, major
religions and the Constitution enshrine environmental care, commitment to net zero
emissions by 2050 should almost be foretold. The world hopes we will see it soon.

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INDIA – AFGHANISTAN
THE SURGE

Context:
The rapid territorial gains made by the Taliban over the months should worry both the
Afghan government and the regional powers who are invested in the country’s long-term
stability.

More in Detail:
 The Taliban started their latest offensive on May 1, the day the remaining U.S. troops
started withdrawing as part of President Joe Biden’s plan. With 90% of U.S.
withdrawal complete, the Taliban have taken control of 195 of Afghanistan’s 407
districts, and are contesting 129 others.
 Most of their recent victories are in the northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar,
which had resisted Taliban rule in the 1990s. In several northern districts, Afghan troops
have either surrendered or retreated.
 If the north, home to Afghanistan’s elite power brokers and leaders, is lost, the risk
of a total collapse of the government in Kabul would increase.
 The government still controls most of the provincial capitals and cities but is
practically surrounded by the Taliban. Given the pace of the Taliban’s advancement
in the countryside, it is possible they could launch an offensive to take the population
centres once the foreign troops are out.
 The Taliban’s strategy is still not clear. Their political office in Doha, which started peace
talks with Afghan government representatives in September 2020, continues to say they
are committed to the dialogue. But on the battlefield in Afghanistan, they continue a
relentless campaign aimed at capturing more territories.
 Part of the problem was the total abdication of leadership and responsibility by the
U.S., which invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago.
 When direct talks between the U.S. and the Taliban began, the U.S.’s focus was not
on finding a peaceful settlement to the crisis that it partly created, but on exiting the
war. Therefore, instead of putting pressure on the Taliban to extract concessions, the
U.S. struck a deal with them, completely ignoring the concerns of Kabul.
 Now, the Taliban are much more powerful on the ground and even if the peace process
is revived after American pullout, they would negotiate from a position of strength. But
that should not stop Kabul and regional powers China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India
from seeking a political settlement.
 A violent takeover of the country by the Taliban, like in 1996, would not serve anybody’s
interests. The Taliban would also not find international legitimacy if they capture Kabul
through bloodshed.
 Afghan’s past experiences suggest that one-party regimes — the communist regime,
Mujahideen or the Taliban — failed to stabilise the country or sustain themselves
in the long term. Now that the invading troops are exiting Afghanistan, the warring
parties’ focus should shift towards settlement and building lasting structures of power.
Else, Afghanistan would fall into another cycle of violence.

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INDIA MUST DIRECTLY ENGAGE WITH TALIBAN 2.0

Context:
With the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan in process, New Delhi has
decided to ramp down its civilian presence in the war-torn country, bracing for a full-blown
civil war.

The Taliban’s sway:

 India has ‘temporarily’ closed its consulate in Kandahar and evacuated its diplomats and
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel stationed there. This follows the
decision to suspend operations in the Indian consulates in Jalalabad and Herat. As a
result, India today is left with its Embassy in Kabul and the consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif.
 These developments indicate two things: New Delhi’s decision to partially “withdraw”
from Afghanistan shows that betting only on the government in Kabul was a big
mistake, and that New Delhi realises the threat Taliban poses to Indian assets and
presence in Afghanistan.
 Either way, India’s Afghan policy is at a major crossroads; to safeguard its civilian
assets there as well as to stay relevant in the unfolding ‘great game’ in and around
Afghanistan, New Delhi must fundamentally reset its Afghanistan policy.
 India must, in its own national interest, begin ‘open talks’ with the Taliban before it is
too late. The time for hesitant, half-embarrassed backchannel parleys is over.
 To be fair, New Delhi has been steadily abandoning its puritanical policy towards the
Taliban over the past few years. In late 2018, when Moscow organised a conference
which had the Taliban, members of the Afghan High Peace Council, and other
countries from the region in attendance, India sent a ‘non-official delegation’ of two
retired diplomats to Moscow.
 Thereafter, in September 2020, India’s External Affairs Minister joined the inaugural
session of the intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha. Recently, reports indicated that
India has started reaching out to the Taliban which was indirectly confirmed by the
Ministry of External Affairs when it said “we are in touch with various stakeholders in
pursuance of our long-term commitment towards development and reconstruction in
Afghanistan”.
 However, such half-hearted, half-embarrassed, ideologically-hesitant meandering
outreach to the Taliban is hardly sufficient to safeguard Indian interests in a rapidly
shifting Afghan geopolitical landscape.
 Open dialogue with the Taliban should no longer be a taboo; it is a strategic
necessity. Therefore, the outreach must now be direct and unambiguous.

Rationale for indirect talks:

 There are at least five possible reasons why New Delhi appears to want to keep the
Taliban engagement slow and behind closed doors.
 For one, if New Delhi chooses to engage the Taliban directly, it could make
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, thus far India’s trusted partner, uneasy. This
could potentially nudge him to look towards China and the Shanghai Cooperation

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 Organisation (SCO) for national security and personal political survival. So, in New
Delhi’s calculation, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 Two, decision makers in New Delhi are also faced with the dilemma of who to
talk to within the Taliban given that it is hardly a monolith. New Delhi may have little
access to the members of the Quetta Shura or the fighters on the ground in
Afghanistan. So, the only option might be the Doha-based Taliban negotiators or
leaders such as Abdul Salam Zaeef whose beef with Pakistan is well known.
 Third, given the global opprobrium that Taliban faced in its earlier avatar and the
lack of evidence about whether the outfit is a changed lot today, New Delhi might
not want to court the Taliban so soon.
 More so, there is little clarity about what the Taliban’s real intentions are going
forward and what they would do after ascending to power in Kabul.
 Finally, it would not be totally unreasonable to consider the possibility of
Pakistan acting out against India in Kashmir if India were to establish deeper
links with the Taliban.
 New Delhi’s rationale is not entirely erroneous. And yet, there are more compelling
reasons why India should engage with the Taliban more proactively and openly.
 For one, whether we like it or not, the Taliban, one way or another, is going to be
part of the political scheme of things in Afghanistan, and unlike in 1996, a large
number of players in the international community are going to
recognise/negotiate/do business with the Taliban.
 So, basic statecraft requires that we follow that route as well. Making peace with the
fait accompli is not always a bad thing especially in the absence of better
alternatives.

The Pakistan factor:

 Two, the Taliban is looking for regional and global partners for recognition and
legitimacy especially in the neighbourhood. So the less proactive the Indian engagement
with the Taliban, the stronger Pakistan-Taliban relations would become. Put differently,
and bluntly, letting the Pakistani deep state exclusively deal with the Taliban is an
inherently bad idea.
 Third, even though the Taliban is widely considered to be propped up by Pakistan, it
would be a mistake to think that the Taliban will continue to be Pakistan’s
servile followers upon gaining power in Kabul. A worldly-wise and internationally-
exposed Taliban 2.0 would develop its own agency and sovereign claims including
perhaps calling into question the legitimacy of the Durand Line separating Pakistan
and Afghanistan, something Pakistan was always concerned about.
 More so, contrary to what many analysts assume, a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan,
next door to its Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-infested tribal areas, may not really end
up becoming a happy space for Pakistan.
 In other words, the Taliban would want to hedge their bets on how far to listen to
Pakistan. That is precisely when New Delhi should engage the Taliban.
 Four, India needs to court all parties in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, if it
wants to ensure its security of its civilian assets there. It makes neither strategic nor
economic sense to withdraw from Afghanistan after spending over $3 billion, something
the Government seems to be prepared to do.

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  Withdrawing from Afghanistan now because the Taliban is on the rise (and we do not
want to have relations with them) will go on to highlight how weak our strategic
resolve is.
 Five, India’s outreach to the Taliban should have started years ago before the
Taliban had many suitors as they do today. So, if India is not proactive in Afghanistan at
least now, late as it is, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China will emerge as the shapers of
Afghanistan’s political and geopolitical destiny, which for sure will be detrimental to
Indian interests there.

Open the congested frontier:

 Finally, and perhaps most importantly, opening up the congested north-western
frontier is key to bringing India’s continental grand strategy on an even keel, a
process New Delhi has already started. Backchannel talks with Pakistan and a
consequent ceasefire on the Line of Control, political dialogue with the mainstream
Kashmiri leadership, secret parleys with Taliban all indicate that New Delhi is opening up
its congested north-western frontier. Proactive engagement of the Taliban will provide
this effort with more strategic heft.
 Except for the strategic foray into the Indo-Pacific, India is strategically boxed in the
region and it must break out of it. Afghanistan could provide, if not immediately, India
with such a way out.
 In the end, India’s engagement with the Taliban may or may not achieve much, but
non-engagement will definitely hurt Indian interests. In an ideal world, the Taliban,
given its bloody past, should not have been anywhere near governing Afghanistan, but it
is neither an ideal situation nor is the Taliban stoppable from gaining power in Kabul.
 So New Delhi must exorcise the demons of IC-814 (the December 1999 hijacking)
from its collective memory and engage with the Taliban 2.0 — there is no need to be
secretive or embarrassed about it.
 And yet, open engagement of the Taliban is neither tolerating nor accepting the
condemnable atrocities committed by the Taliban.

EVALUATING INDIA’S OPTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN

Context:
It is not a coincidence that the United States is exiting Afghanistan at the same time that
the focus of its foreign policy is shifting to East Asia.

More in Detail:
 There is growing consensus in Washington DC that the U.S., instead of staying engaged
in the lost wars, which adds little value to American power, should now urgently prepare
itself for the unfolding geopolitical contest with China.
 America’s strategic response to China’s rise is its Indo-Pacific strategy, which seeks
to build a bloc of Indian and Pacific Ocean democracies aimed at containing China’s rise
and challenging its high-functioning single party dictatorship. The U.S. wants India to
play a key role in this bloc, which along with Australia and Japan, make up the so-called
Quad grouping.

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 But there is one problem. India, unlike the other members, is the only continental
Asian power in the Quad, which shares a contested land border with China and is
vulnerable to the geopolitical changes in the Eurasian landmass.
 The U.S. may have retreated from Afghanistan as part of a grand strategy to take on
China in maritime Asia, in which it needs India’s involvement, and India might find it
tempting to join the ranks, especially after China’s aggression on the Line of Actual
Control last year.
 But the irony is that the American withdrawal and the vacuum it leaves in
Afghanistan and continental Asia in general — which is being filled by China and
Russia — is reinforcing India’s identity as a continental Asian power.
 Barring a brief interregnum in the 1990s, India has historically enjoyed good ties
with Afghanistan, which go back to the 1950 Treaty of Friendship. Indian interests
and influence suffered when the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, captured Kabul in 1996.
But India was back in action as soon as the Taliban were ousted from power after the
U.S. invasion in 2001.
 It has made huge investments and commitments ever since, which run into over $3
billion, and cultivated strong economic and defence ties with the Afghan government.
 Now, it is again staring at uncertainty with the U.S. pullback having effectively
changed the balance of power in Afghanistan and the Taliban making rapid territorial
gains.
 The U.S.’s strategic objectives in Afghanistan were limited, as U.S. President Joe Biden
himself pointed out earlier this month — killing Osama bin Laden and disrupting al-
Qaeda networks. Defeating the Taliban and nation-building were part of the
neoconservative ideological project, which has evidently failed.
 This means, the U.S., having met its realist objectives, can abandon the Afghan
government and exit the theatre — which is what Mr. Biden is doing. But India
cannot.
 It has to protect its investments, prevent Afghanistan from becoming
another safe haven for anti-India terrorist groups, and also check Pakistan
deepening its influence in Kabul.

Talking with the Taliban:

 One option, as many commentators have already pointed out, is to hold talks with the
Taliban. India has already established contacts with the Taliban in Doha. Talking to them
would allow New Delhi to seek security guarantees from the insurgents in return for
continued development assistance or other pledges (in the 1990s, India had backed the
anti-Taliban Northern Alliance) as well as explore the possibility of the Taliban’s
autonomy from Pakistan.
 At this point, talking to the Taliban looks inevitable. But India should not overlook the
deep ties between Pakistan’s security establishment and the Haqqani Network, a major
faction within the Taliban that’s driving the successful campaigns on the battlefield.
 The U.S. overlooked it while fighting the Taliban along with Pakistan, and it paid a heavy
price for it. There is no guarantee that India’s quest for engagement with the Taliban
would produce a desirable outcome. So India should broad-base its options.

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 While talking to the Taliban to protect its interests, New Delhi should also enhance aid to
Afghanistan’s legitimate government and security forces and work with other regional
powers for long-term stability in the country.

Kabul versus the Taliban:

 True, the Taliban now control or contest most of Afghanistan’s countryside. But still, it is
not a foregone conclusion that they could take Kabul easily. The Afghan military has
some 200,000 battle-hardened soldiers, including the highly trained special forces.
 In the cities, which saw relative freedoms and rights compared to the dark period of the
Taliban regime, the government, despite its infighting, corruption and incompetence,
still commands support. There is no Northern Alliance this time.
 The Taliban have already taken northern districts, including Badakhshan and Takhar.
The only force that is standing up to the Taliban is the Afghan National Defense and
Security Forces.
 India should urgently step up training Afghan forces and provide military
hardware, intelligence and logistical and financial support so that Kabul can continue to
defend the cities.
 New Delhi should also coordinate with other regional powers to support the Afghan
government because if the government forces crumble before the Taliban, the prospects
for a political settlement would be narrowed.

Regional solution:
 There is a convergence of interests between India and three key regional players —
China, Russia and Iran — in seeing a political settlement in Afghanistan. These three
countries have already opened public, direct talks with the Taliban. But these contacts
are largely tactical in nature.
 For China, whose restive Xinjiang province shares a border with Afghanistan, a jihadist-
oriented Taliban regime would not serve its internal interests. Russia, which fears that
instability would spill over into the former Soviet Republics, has already moved to secure
its Central Asian perimeter.
 For the Shia theocratic Iran, a Sunni Deobandi Taliban with which it had almost gone to
war in 1998, will continue to remain an ideological, sectarian and strategic challenge.
 None of these countries would like to see the Taliban taking over Kabul militarily,
which means there would be an isolated Sunni Islamist regime in a country with
fractured ethnic equations. There would neither be legitimacy for a Taliban regime
nor peace in Afghanistan.
 India, to break this impasse, should take a layered approach. Its immediate goal should
be the safety and security of its personnel and investments. The long-term goal
should be finding a political solution to the crisis.
 And if a political solution is not achieved, it should seek non-conventional methods,
like what it did in the 1990s, to offer support to its allies within Afghanistan and
retain some influence. None of this can be achieved unless it works together with the
regional powers.
 Russia has cultivated links with the Taliban in recent years. India would need Russia’s
support in any form of direct engagement with the Taliban. When it comes to
Afghanistan, Iran is an irreplaceable country.

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  It shares a long border with Afghanistan and has built contacts through several
stakeholders in the country, especially the ethnic minorities. The original objective of
India’s Chabahar project in Iran was to create a direct access to Afghanistan,
bypassing Pakistan.
 This direct access is critical for India in all different scenarios — move supplies to
Kabul in larger quantities, retains its presence in the event of a civil war or carries
out covert operations if the Taliban take power by force.
 But India, under pressure from the U.S., slowed down on the Chabahar connectivity
projects, which finally prompted Iran to drop India and go ahead. Building
strategic ties with Iran, irrespective of the U.S.’s policy towards the Islamic
Republic, is essential for India’s Afghan bets.
 Finally, India should talk with China, with the objective of finding a political
settlement and lasting stability in Afghanistan.
 Central to this approach is India striking the right balance between its continental
realities and the U.S.’s pivot to maritime Asia. The U.S. and the West in general, are
done with Afghanistan.
 India, as one of the countries that would be impacted by the consequences of American
withdrawal, has to work with Eurasian powers to protect its interests and stabilise
Afghanistan.

NEEDED, A MORE UNIFIED ASIAN VOICE FOR AFGHANISTAN

Context:
As the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) end their
presence in Afghanistan and set off a churn in the neighbourhood, Central Asia is emerging
as a key player that the global Troika of the United States, Russia and China are turning to.

Factoring in the Taliban:

 The decisions of the Troika have kept India out of a leading role in Afghanistan. Since
2019, the Troika has met with Pakistan (Troika plus) in order to discuss Afghanistan’s
future, one in which the Taliban — with which New Delhi has had no ties — gains an
important if not controlling role in Kabul.
 The same powers that invaded Afghanistan post 9/11, and declared the Taliban
leadership as United Nations Security Council-designated terrorists, are now not only
advocating talks with the Taliban, entreating their Pakistani hosts of the past two
decades to help, but actively paving the way for the Taliban’s return to power.
 India’s efforts to build on trade with Afghanistan, shore up development projects and
increase educational and training opportunities for Afghan youth have been appreciated,
but these cannot grow bigger due to a number of factors.
 New Delhi’s original hesitation in opening talks with the Taliban, which even
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani had suggested, has cut India out of the current
reconciliation process.
 The end of any formal dialogue between India and Pakistan since 2016 and trade
since 2019, have resulted in Pakistan blocking India’s over-land access to
Afghanistan.

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  India’s alternative route through Chabahar, though operational, cannot be viable or
cost-effective also long as U.S. sanctions on Iran are in place. India’s boycott of
the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2017, and now tensions at the
Line of Actual Control after the Chinese aggression in 2020, makes another route to
Afghanistan off-limits.
 Meanwhile, the U.S. has announced a new, surprise formation of a “Quad” on regional
connectivity — U.S.-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan that does not include India, and
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is conducting
trial runs of truck convoys from Tashkent to Karachi and back.
 With so many doors slamming shut, the hope is that the Central Asian window, with the
“Stans” (as the five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are sometimes referred to) will open new possibilities, but
here too, there are some caveats.

Uzbekistan’s view:
 To begin with, it is clear that Tashkent (Uzbekistan) sees the rise of the Taliban in a
different light from New Delhi.
 After a whirlwind round of negotiations in his own region since coming to power in
2016, where he mended relations and ended border disputes with each of the other
Central Asian States, and outreaches to the U.S. and China to shift the traditional tilt
towards Moscow, Uzbekistan President has made purposeful moves on Afghanistan.
 In 2018, his government became one of the first countries to publicly invite a Taliban
delegation from Doha, Qatar to visit, while at the same time he has promoted a number
of ambitious trade and connectivity initiatives with the Ashraf Ghani government.

A push for connectivity:

 Speaking at the Central and South Asia conference in July 2021, Uzbekistan President
spelt out his plans for a modern version of the “the ancient northern trade route known
as the Uttara Patha, connecting the Indo-Ganges Plain with the southern
territories of the Eurasian continent through the historical cities of Takshila,
Gandhara and Termez.”
 He spoke of the old Silk Routes that once bound Central and South Asia together,
and called Afghanistan the key link in “practical connectivity” for them.
 Significantly, while he mentioned the salience of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-
Peshawar railroad, the Trans-Afghan railroad to connect to China’s BRI, and the
International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) via the Iranian port of
Bandar Abbas as key elements of the “architecture of connectivity”, he did not
mention the Chabahar route that India has espoused.
 The Uzbekistan-Pakistan memorandum of understanding on Transit Trade — or the
Agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan on Transit Trade (AUPTT) —
was also signed the same day, which would give Uzbekistan access to the Pakistani
seaports of Gwadar and Karachi, rather than Iranian ports.
 Uzbekistan’s calculations, and by extension, those of its other Central Asian neighbours,
are three-fold:
 First is that prosperity for these land-locked countries can only flow from access
through Afghanistan to the closest ocean, i.e. the Indian Ocean.

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  Second, that all transit through Afghanistan depends on guarantees of safe passage
from the Taliban, backed by the group’s mentors in Pakistan.
 Third, each of the “Stans” are now a part of China’s BRI, and tying their connectivity
initiatives with Beijing’s will bring the double promise of investment and some
modicum of control over Pakistan.

Shared concerns:
 Given the odds, New Delhi’s room for manoeuvre with these five countries on
Afghanistan appears limited but not without hope.
 To begin with, India and the Central Asian States share common concerns about an
Afghanistan overrun by the Taliban and under Pakistan’s thumb- the worries of
battles at their borders, safe havens for jihadist terror groups inside Afghanistan and
the spill-over of radicalism into their own countries.
 It is necessary for India to work with them, and other neighbours to shore up finances
for the government in Kabul, particularly to ensure that the government structure does
not collapse.
 It is only a matter of time before the COVID-19-weary international economies tire of
funding Afghanistan, as the last donors conference in Geneva (November 2020)
showed.
 As part of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), India must also step
up its engagement with the Central Asian countries on fighting terror. While the
Narendra Modi government has made it clear it will not send Indian boots to the ground
in Afghanistan, it can support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces
(ANDSF) where it needs it most- in terms of air power.
 India’s previous gift of a few helicopters is far from adequate, given commitments made
as Afghanistan’s first Strategic Partner 10 years ago, and there must be more that New
Delhi can support, especially in conjunction with other countries that depend on Soviet-
made arms, including helicopters and planes, weaponry, ammunition and spare parts.

Dealing with Pakistan:

 Finally, South Asia must learn from Central Asia’s recent example in knitting together
this region more tightly, a task that can only be completed with better ties between
India and Pakistan. New Delhi’s furtive discussions with the Taliban leadership in Doha
make little sense unless a less tactical and more strategic engagement with Pakistan is
also envisaged.
 Most importantly, countries of Central Asia and South Asia need to find a more unified
voice, as they have in recent weeks. Afghanistan’s future will affect both regions much
more than it will the distant global powers that currently dominate the debate.
 Travelling to Kazakhstan in 2015, Indian Prime Minister spoke of why the Silk Road that
connected the two regions faded away. The end of the Silk Road did not just come about
from the rise of sea-based trade of the new European powers.
 It also happened because Central Asia was no longer a bridge between regions, but
the new fault line between great empires to the east, west and south.
 Ensuring a similar rupture is not wrought in Afghanistan is essential, which today has
the potential to become that bridge or the biggest boulder between Central and
South Asia.

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THE LEGAL CHALLENGES IN RECOGNISING THE TALIBAN

Context:
The Taliban’s horrific takeover of Afghanistan has triggered a new debate in international
law on the issue of recognising an entity that claims to be the new government of a state.

More in Detail:
 This debate assumes significance because China and Russia, two of the five
permanent United Nations Security Council members, have seemingly shown
readiness to recognise a Taliban-led government whereas countries like Canada have
opposed it.
 Questions of recognition do not arise when change of government within a state
occurs when political power is transferred through legal means.
 However, things are different when the change of government happens through
extra-legal methods like ousting the sitting government using unconstitutional
means. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan squarely falls in this category.
 Recognition of governments under international law is vital for several reasons. It is
important to know who the governing authority of the state is, who has the
responsibility for effectually carrying out domestic and international legal
obligations ranging from pursuing diplomatic relations to the protection of human
rights, and so on.

Government versus state

 A salient point to remember is that recognition of the government should not be
confused with recognition of the state under international law. As Malcolm Shaw, the
celebrated international lawyer, writes, “a change in government, however
accomplished, does not affect the identity of the State itself.”
 Thus, in the current debate, the issue is not about the recognition of Afghanistan,
whose legal personality remains intact.
 Whether countries recognise the Taliban regime or not will depend on their political
considerations and geo-strategic interests, as evident from the Chinese and Russian
overtures.
 However, certain criteria have evolved in international law on deciding the issue of
recognition of governments and these need to be prudently looked at.

Tests in international law

 Traditionally, the test used in international law to make a decision about the recognition
of a new government is that of ‘effectiveness’. According to this principle, to recognise a
government means to determine whether it effectively controls the state it claims to
govern.
 In other words, it means to determine whether the government has effective
control over the state’s territory (or a part of it), a majority of the population,
national institutions, the banking and monetary system, etc. with a reasonable
possibility of permanence.

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 The inherent assumption is that effective control means the people of the country
accept, or at least acquiesce to, the new regime; if they did not, they would overthrow
it. Under this doctrine, it is immaterial how the new government occupied office
(whether through civil war, revolution, or a military coup).
 Since there is hardly any doubt that the Taliban now effectively controls Afghanistan, as
per this test, it would be recognised as Afghanistan’s government for international law
and thus, international relations.
 A doctrine competing with the effective control theory is that of democratic
legitimacy. According to this doctrine, recognition of a government also depends on
whether it is the legitimate representative of the people it claims to govern.
 So, governments that capture power through non-democratic means —
notwithstanding their exercising de facto control over the country — should not be
recognised by states.
 The end of the Cold War, the subsequent spread of democracy in the world, and the
growing demand for universal respect for human rights gave an impetus to this
doctrine in the last three decades.
 This doctrine has led many countries to bestow de jure recognition (legal recognition) on
governments in exile in place of governments exercising effective control.
 Two recent examples can be offered. First, many countries recognised Yemen’s
Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi government in exile since 2015 on the ground that the
rebellious separatists acquired power in Yemen through illegal means.
 Second, the Nicolás Maduro government in Venezuela is not recognised by several
countries due to the alleged lack of democratic legitimacy.
 The Taliban regime, despite exercising effective control over Afghanistan, lacks
democratic legitimacy. Thus, it would fail to be recognised as the legitimate
representative of Afghanistan if the doctrine of democratic legitimacy is applied.
 Things would become even more complicated if the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani,
who fled the country when the Taliban entered Kabul, were to announce a
government in exile.
 However, some international lawyers like Erika de Wet doubt whether the doctrine of
democratic legitimacy, notwithstanding its worth and instinctive appeal to the champions
of liberal democracy, has become a binding part of customary international law
when it comes to the recognition of governments.
 In other words, governments may rely on the doctrine of democratic legitimacy to
refuse de jure recognition of the Taliban. Nevertheless, there is no binding legal
obligation on countries to withhold recognition of the Taliban on the ground
that it does not enjoy democratic legitimacy.
 Thus, if Russia and China were to formally recognise the Taliban regime due to its
effective control of Afghanistan, it would be consistent with international law.

Options for India:

 Given the Taliban’s brutal past, its extremist ideology, and profound absence of
democratic legitimacy, India is within its right to withhold de jure recognition of the
Taliban regime.
 Nonetheless, it will have to find a way to engage with the Taliban given India’s huge
investments in Afghanistan and stakes in the South Asian region. India should adopt a

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clear policy that it will deal with the Taliban simply because it is the de facto
government, not because it is a legitimate one.
 This principle should be followed for bilateral relations and also for multilateral
dealings such as within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

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