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TRANSCRIPT
MANIFEST IAS FORTNIGHTLY MANIFESTO-ARTICLES ISSUE 25
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Table of Contents HISTORY, ART & CULTURE .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Udupi Mutt ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Jyotibha phule and Savitribhai phule........................................................................................................................................................ 4
INDIAN SOCIETY ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.................................................................................................................................................. 6
GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Dallol geothermal field..................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Bushfires of Australia .................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
INDIAN POLITY ......................................................................................................................................................................12
AFSPA extended in Nagaland..................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Compulsory Renewal of OCI ....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Guidelines to seek compensation of Damage..................................................................................................................................... 15
Cabinet committees ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 16
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, ISSUES & INSTITUTION .............................................................................................18
Kalapani issue ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
INDIAN ECONOMY.................................................................................................................................................................21
Sustainable Development Goals Index .................................................................................................................................................. 21
National Infrastructure pipeline (NIP) ................................................................................................................................................. 23
Restructuring railway board ...................................................................................................................................................................... 27
UPI and Rupay ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
SCIENCE AND TECHOLOGY .................................................................................................................................................32
Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman (C.V. Raman) ...................................................................................................................... 32
Har Gobind Khorana ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
ENVIRONMENT & DISASTER MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................. 1
Swachch Survekshan 2020 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1
INTERNAL SECURITY & DEFENCE ....................................................................................................................................36
Chief of defence staff (CDS) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 36
ETHICS & INTEGRITY ...........................................................................................................................................................38
Good Governance Index ............................................................................................................................................................................... 38
HISTORY, ART & CULTURE
Udupi Mutt Manifest pedagogy: Rama Swami Naicker is a prominent personality in the Indian National History and the
Regional History of Tamil Nadu. He is a pioneer in bringing about Radical changes in Tamil Society and Politics.
As UPSC is concentrating on alternative voices of the nation like that of Ambedkar, Narayan guru in this line
Periyar's voice is an important alternative voice.
In news:
MANIFEST IAS FORTNIGHTLY MANIFESTO-ARTICLES ISSUE 25
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Recently Tamil Nadu BJP had tweeted distasteful remarks on Periyar’s 46th death anniversary which
triggered a firestorm of protests in the state.
Placing it in syllabus:
Historical personalities
Dimensions:
His Political Ideology
Political organisations and Newspapers started by him
His Social Reform Measures
His opposition to Indian National Congress (INC)
Legacy left behind by him
Content:
Udupi as a cultural Centre:
Udupi city of Karnataka state is the heavenly
abode of Lord Krishna which has attained
international repute on the cultural frontage. It is
also known as the temple city.
Udupi is known as Rajata Peetha and Shivalli
(Shivabelle). Udupi is famous for its cuisine, which
differs from South Indian cuisine as it follows the
Satvik discipline of cooking.
It is upholding its exclusive ethnic traditions of
Yakshagana, Bhuta Kola, Nagaradhane, Aati Kalenja
and Karangolu.
Yakshagana: Yakshagana, which literally means ‘the
song of the Yaksha’ is a theater form wherein the
collage of music, dance, dialogue, costume, make-up
and stage techniques collectively presents a unique
performance. It emerged during the Bhakti
Movement and developed from the pre-classical
music and theatre prevailing in that era. The
Yakshagana Performances normally narrate the
stories from various Indian Epics and religious
scriptures such as the Puranas.
Bhuta Kola: It is a traditional ritual wherein the
spirits are worshipped and solicited for their
assistance in fertility and prosperity. The term
‘Bhuta’ means the supernatural beings while ‘Kola’
means worship.
Nagaradhane: ‘Nagaradhane’ means the worship of
the Nagas (Cobras and snakes) is believed to have
perpetuated by the Bunts of Tulu Nadu who claim
to be the descendants of the Nagavansha. Snakes
are enshrined in ‘Nagabana’ shrines and
worshipped as an emblem of fertility. It comprises
of two distinctive rituals namely ‘Nagamandala’ and
‘Aashleshabali’.
Aati Kalenja: It is a traditional dance form that is
basically performed during the rainy season to
protect the village from all the evil spirits.
Karangolu: Karangolu is a traditional dance form
that is performed by the members of the ‘Harijan’
community at the time of the second harvest in the
months of February or March for the prosperity of
the region and the well being of the people.
The biennial ‘Paryaya Festival’ performed at the
Udupi Krishna Temple once in every two years on
18th January is one of the most important religious
rituals. It is at this time the Puja rights and
administration of the Krishna Temple are handed
over from the Swamiji of one Matha to the Swamiji
of the other Matha.
Madhvacharya and his philosophy of Dvaita:
• Madhvacharya was born in 1238 AD to a
Vaishnavite Brahmin family in Karnataka.
• His childhood name was Vasudeva, later
became famous as Purnaprajana and finally
Madhvacharya.
• He became a monk in his teenage years and
went to Dwaraka in Gujarat and accepted
Chitra Preksha as his Guru.
• There he studied the Advaita literature and
Upanishads.
• However, he wasn't convinced with the dual
principles and philosophy of ‘God and
human soul’ are the same.
• He left the monastery and founded the
Dvaita school of Vedanta and called the
philosophy as ‘Tattvavada’.
• His analysis on holy books of Bhagavad Gita,
Upanishads and Brahman Sutras has been
written in the Sanskrit Language as 37
books. which are famous as Anuvyakhyana,
which was composed in poetic version.
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• His ideas were different to Adi Shankara’s
Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja’s
Vishishtadvaita philosophy.
• He travelled through India to propagate the
philosophy Dvaita Vedanta and in 1285 AD
he came to Udupi and established ashta
mathas (eight monasteries).
They are: Pejavara, Palimaru, Adamaru, Puttige,
Sodhe, Kaniyooru, Shirur, Krishnapura
• For each of the eight mathas, he appointed
one of his direct disciples to be the first
Swami, head of the matha.
• After him his disciples Jayatirtha, Vadiraja
Tirtha, Raghavendra Tirtha and Vyasatirth
spread the philosophy of Dvaita Vedanta.
• Another 24 mathas were also established
throughout India.
• The monks in the temple learn the Paryaya
system introduced by Madhvacharya.
• All the monasteries follow the traditions
and rituals, which were written by
Madhvacharya in Tantrasara.
• Madhvacharya died in 1317 AD in Udupi.
Shri Madhvacharya's Nine Teachings
1) Bhagavan Shri Krishna alone is the Supreme
Absolute Truth.
2) He is the object of knowledge in all the
Vedas.
3) The universe is real, satya.
4) The differences between Ishvara (God), Jiva
(soul) and Matter are real.
5) Jiva souls are by nature the servants of the
Supreme Lord Hari.
6) There are two categories of jivas - liberated
and illusioned.
7) Liberation (moksha) means entering an
eternal relationship of service to the
Supreme Lord.
8) Pure devotional service to Krishna is the
only way to attain this liberation.
9) The truth may be known by pratyaksha
(direct perception), anuman (inference or
logic), sabda (spiritual sound or Vedic
authority.
Carnatic music and its association with Udupi
(Haridasa movement):
• The Haridasa devotional movement
originated in Karnataka after Madhvacharya
and spread to eastern states such as Bengal
and Assam of medieval India.
• It was ushered in by the Haridasas and took
shape during the 13th and 14th centuries,
prior to and during the early rule of the
Vijayanagara empire.
• The main objective of this movement was to
propagate the Dvaita philosophy of
Madhvacharya to the masses through a
literary medium known as Dasa Sahitya.
• The Haridasas were saints who considered
themselves as slaves of their supreme lord -
Hari.
• The movement was a net result of earlier
devotional movements such as the
Veerashaiva movement of Vachana
literature in Karnataka led by Basavanna
(12th century) and the Alvar saints of Tamil
Nadu (10th century).
• Prominent Hindu philosophers, poets and
scholars such as Sripadaraya, Vyasathirtha,
Vadirajatirtha, Purandara Dasa and Kanaka
Dasa played an important role during this
time.
• Later, Vallabhacharya in Gujarat and Guru
Chaitanya were influenced by the teachings
of Madhvacharya.
• Their devotees started the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
- known as the Hare Krishna Movement.
• The Haridasa movement developed the
Carnatic music tradition as a distinct art
form from the Hindustani style.
• Purandara Dasa, one of the foremost of
Haridasas' is known as the "Father of
carnatic music" composed several Kirtane.
• Apart from Purandara Dasa, several later
Haridasas' composed songs adhering to the
same musical and philosophical traditions
which fell in one of the following categories:
Padagalu (devotional hymns), Kriti,
Ugabhoga, Suladi, Vruttanama, Dandaka,
Tripadi, Pattadi, Sangathya and Ragale.
• The tradition was elaborated and perfected
by the Trinity of Carnatic music (Tyagaraja,
Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri).
Essential characters of Carnatic music:
The main emphasis in Carnatic tradition is on vocal
music and most compositions are written to be
sung. It rests on four main elements.
Shruti: It refers to musical pitch. It is the note from
which all the others are derived.
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Swara: It refers to a type of musical sound that is a
single note, which defines a relative (higher or
lower) position of a note, rather than a defined
frequency. Swaras also refer to the solfege of
Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes,
"sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni".
Raga system: A raga prescribes a set of rules for
building a melody. It specifies rules for movements
up (aarohanam) and down (avarohanam), the scale
of which notes should figure more and which notes
should be used more sparingly etc...
Ragas may be divided into two classes:
• Janaka ragas (i.e. melakarta or parent
ragas)
• Janya ragas (descendant ragas of a
particular janaka raga
Tala system: Tala refers to a fixed time cycle set
for a particular composition, which is built from
groupings of beats. Talas have cycles of a defined
number of beats and rarely change within a song.
They have specific components, which in
combinations can give rise to over 108 varieties
allowing different compositions to have different
rhythms.
Mains:
1) What are the principles of Dvaita
philosophy? How did Haridasa movement
emerge in Karnataka?
Jyotibha phule and Savitribhai phule Manifest pedagogy:
Jyotibha Phule along with Savitri Bhai Phule are important social reformers in Indian History. There
contribution to an impact on Modern Indian history is commendable. They were pioneers in Lower caste and
Women movements which laid the foundation for later day evolution of alternative voices of the nation. There
is a good possibility of both Prelims and Mains questions on them.
In news:
- Savitribai Phule’s 187th anniversary was on 3 January, 2020.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Historical personalities
Dimensions:
- His Biography
- Savithribhai Phule
- His political ideology
- Their social outlook
- His writings
- Influences on him
- His contribution to dalit empowerment
Content:
His biography:
• Phule was born in Mali family of Poona in 1827.
• The Malis belonged to shudra Varna and were
placed immediately below peasant caste.
• He was educated at a Marathi school with a three
year break at a mission school in Poona.
• Phule completed his English schooling in 1847.
• He was married young at a young age of 13 to a girl
of his own community, Savithribhai Phule, who
was chosen by his father.
• He fought against the social stigma prevalent in the
society during the nineteenth century.
• He was the harbinger of unheard ideas for social
reforms.
• He started awareness campaigns that inspired the
personalities like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma
Gandhi, who later undertook major initiatives
against caste discrimination.
• Dhananjay Keer in 1974, penned down his
biography titled, ‘Mahatma Jyotiba Phule: Father of
Our Social Revolution’.
• The Mahatma Phule Museum in Pune has been set-
up in honour of the great reformer.
• Maharashtra Krishi Vidyapeeth at Rahuri, has been
renamed Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth.
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Savithribhai Phule:
• Savitribai Phule was born on 3 January 1831 at
Naigaon in Maharashtra’s Satara district.
• Savitri was not educated at the time of her
marriage, as she was from a backward caste and a
woman.
• Savitribai Phule was taught by Jyotiba at their
home.
• Later, she took a teacher’s training course at an
institute run by an American missionary in
Ahmednagar and in Pune’s Normal School.
• During that time there were only a few missionary
schools which were “open to all" and Brahmins
were the only caste group that received an
education.
• In this context Jyotiba and Savitri opened a school
for women in 1848.
• It was the country’s first school for women started
by Indians.
• She then started teaching girls in Pune’s
Maharwada, along with Sagunabai, a revolutionary
feminist and a mentor to Jyotiba.
• Savitribai was also a poetess and published Kavya
Phule in 1854 and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar
in 1892.
• In her poem, “Go, Get Education”, she urged the
oppressed communities to get an education and
break free from the chains of oppression.
• In 1852, Savitribai started the Mahila Seva Mandal
to raise awareness about women’s rights.
• Savitribai called for a women’s gathering where
members from all castes were welcome and
everybody was expected to sit on the same mat.
• Jyotiba and Savithribhai also started the Home for
the Prevention of Infanticide in her house, a place
where Brahmin widows could deliver their babies
safely.
• They also adopted a child, Yashwant, who was
born at the shelter.
• She simultaneously campaigned against child
marriage, while supporting widow remarriage.
His political ideology:
• The British rule opened up new employment
opportunities in the administration.
• The political power at local level was also being
given to the Indians.
• Phule who had worked as a member of the Poona
Municipality could visualise how lower castes
would be able to acquire power at local level
during the period of British rule and also enter the
colonial bureaucracy.
• He wanted lower castes to exploit the opportunity
and get rid of the tyranny of Brahmins.
• Phule assured the colonial rulers that if the
Shudras were made happy and contented, they
need not worry about the loyalty of the subjects.
• He wanted the British government to abolish
Brahmin Kulkarni's position, and a post of village
headman (Patil) filled on the basis of merit.
• Phule wanted Brahmin bureaucracy to be replaced
by non-Brahmin bureaucracy.
• But if the non-Brahmins were not available, he
thought that the government should appoint the
British men to these posts.
• The masses had not yet become politically
conscious.
• The high caste elites were claiming that they were
the true representatives of the people and
therefore were demanding political rights.
• This process, Phule thought, would reestablish the
political supremacy of the high castes.
• Phule advised his followers from the lower castes
not to participate in the movement for political
rights.
• He argued that the Indian National Congress or
other political associations were not national in the
true sense of the term because they represented
only high castes.
• In his Satya Shodhak Samaj, he had made it a rule
not to discuss politics.
• However, his efforts to organise lower castes
under the banner of Satya Shodhak Samaj should
be seen as a political activity.
• He gave preference to social reform rather than
political reform in the 19th century.
Their social outlook:
• In 1848, Phule began his work as a social reformer
when he started a school for girls of low and
untouchable castes.
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• In the 1850s, the Phule couple initiated two
educational trusts - the Native Female School, Pune
and The Society for Promoting the Education of
Mahars, Mangs and Etceteras.
• He, along with his wife opened two more schools
for girls in 1851.
• Phule established a school for untouchables and a
night school in 1852.
• He supported the movement for widow remarriage
in 1860.
• In 1865, he published a book on caste system
written by one of his friends Padval.
• Satya Shodhak Samaj was established in 1873 by
him and his colleagues to organise the lower castes
against the Hindu social order based on varna and
caste system.
• The government appointed him as a member of the
Poona Municipality in 1876 and continued as a
member till 1882 and fought for the cause of
downtrodden.
• The Phule couple along with Sagunabai started
their school at Bhide Wada, which included
mathematics, science and social studies instead of
Brahmanical texts like Vedas and Shastras.
• Jyotiba and his colleagues saw the need for an
organization that served the interests of non-
Brahmins and started Satyashodhak Samaj in
1873.
• After Jyotiba’s death in 1890, Savitribai carried
forward the work of the organization and also
chaired the annual session held at Saswad in 1893.
• She initiated the first Satyashodhak marriage -
marriage without dowry, Brahmin priests or
Brahminical rituals.
• Savitribai Phule died on 10 March 1897, while
caring for a patient in the clinic which she had
opened for the treatment of those affected by the
bubonic plague.
His writings:
• He wrote mainly in Marathi and that too in a
Marathi meant for the masses.
• In Brahmanache Kasab (1869) Phule has exposed
the exploitation of Brahmin priests.
• In Gulamgiri (1873) he has given a historical
survey of the slavery of lower castes.
• In 1883, he published a collection of his speeches
under the title Jhetkaryarlcha Asud (The
cultivator's whip-cord) where he has analysed how
peasants were being exploited in those days.
• A text of his philosophical statement can be found
in Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak (A book of True
Religion For All) published in 1891
Influences on him
British rule had brought to an end the tyranny of the last
Peshwa in Maharashtra and had not only established law
and order but also the principle of equality before the law.
The new rulers opened the opportunities in education and
mobility in occupation for the members of all castes.
New ideas of equality and liberty could reach the
moderately educated sections of the lower caste. Phule who
was concerned with the slavery of the lower castes
favoured the British rule
His writings reveal that his thinking on social and political
issues was influenced by Christianity and the ideas of
Thomas Paine (1737-1809). Phule was known for his
religious radicalism in England.
His contribution to dalit empowerment:
• He was worried about the condition of Shudras
who were deprived of their rights by the Brahmins
who kept them ignorant.
• Phule thought that selfish Brahmins had
prohibited women and dalits from taking to
education in order to continue their domination.
• He attacked the customs and practices such as
child marriage, polygamy, harassment of dalits and
even varna system and Vedic culture.
• He advised Shudra peasants not to have more than
one wife and not to marry their young children.
• He started schools for untouchables and promoted
their social development.
• His writings reflected his zeal to work for the
emancipation of dalits.
• As a recognition of his great work for the lower
castes, he was felicitated and a title of 'Mahatma'
was conferred on him by the people in Bombay in
1888.
Mains: 1) “The achievements of Jyotiba and Savithribhai
Phule is a challenge to Manuwadi culture”. Discuss.
INDIAN SOCIETY
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 Manifest pedagogy:
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Child marriage has been a key issue in India. Other issues such as POCSO, dowry and gender gap emerging from
household work done by girl child are also issues which deserve attention.
In news:
- SC has recently held that Section 9 of Child Marriage Act is only concerned with punishment for male
adult marrying a child.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Social issues
Dimensions:
- Interpretation of Section 9 of the Act
- Recent judgement by Supreme Court
- Its importance and drawbacks
Content:
Supreme Court held in a recent judgment that the
Child marriage act does not intend to punish a male
aged between 18 and 21 years for marrying a “female
adult”.
Interpretation of Section 9 of the Act:
Section 9 of the Child marriage act ( Punishment for
male adult marrying a child) states that - “ Whoever,
being a male adult above eighteen years of age,
contracts a child marriage shall be punishable with
rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years
or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees or
with both”
• In November, 2019 verdict, SC had held that a
provision of the child marriage law that
punishes a man aged between 18 and 21 years
for marrying an adult woman is not a correct
interpretation of the law.
• The bench held that punishing the male for
such a marital union on grounds that it
amounts to child marriage is against the
“legislative history” of the law.
• The legislative intent was to punish men who
married minor girls.
• Although both men and women are deemed to
be adults at the age of 18 under other laws, a
differential metric has been adopted in the
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which
says a man has to attain the age of 21 to be
considered an adult.
• Thus, even if the husband is between 18-21
years of age, the law treats it as a child
marriage and punishes the male.
• According to the SC bench this anomaly had
occurred due to the literal interpretation of
Section 9 of the Act that goes against the very
object of the Act.
Recent judgement by Supreme Court:
• The case at present was concerned a boy who
married a 21-year-old woman when he was
17 years old.
• The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set
aside its own order providing protection to
the couple.
• Prosecution was instituted against the boy for
contracting a child marriage, in which he
himself was the child.
• The Supreme Court set aside the HC order,
saying the intent behind Section 9 was not to
punish a child for contracting a child marriage.
• SC bench has said that neither does the
provision punish a child for marrying a
woman nor a woman for marrying a male
child because in Indian society decisions
regarding marriage are usually taken by the
family members of the bride and groom, and
women generally have little say in the matter.
• The SC bench held that the sole objective of
the provision is to punish a man for marrying
a minor girl.
• The intention behind punishing only male
adults contracting child marriages is to
protect minor girls.
• It said that the 2006 Act gives an option for
prospective grooms who are between 18 and
21 years old to opt out of marriages.
Importance of the Act and its drawbacks:
• Under the Act, child marriages will be
declared null and void if
• the injunction prohibiting a child marriage
from taking place is violated/ contravened
• the child is taken away from their lawful
guardian by enticement, force or use of
deceitful means
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• the child is sold or trafficked for the purpose
of marriage.
• The law makes child marriages voidable by
giving choice to the children in the marriage
to seek annulment of marriage.
• It gives a legal status to all children born from
child marriages and makes provisions for
their custody and maintenance.
• The law provides for all support and aid
including medical aid, legal aid, counselling
and rehabilitation support to children once
they are rescued.
• Section 11 of the Act provides punishment for
those who permit and promote child
marriages.
• Section 12 of the Act lays down that if
someone kidnapped and married a minor girl
and contested claim over the minor’s
guardianship in defense to charges of
kidnappings, in such cases the marriage would
be treated as null and void.
• Now the recent SC interpretation of Section 9
helps in dealing with the problem of men in
the 18-21 year age group being punished for
marriage with a woman.
Drawbacks:
• The Act has failed to make all child marriages
automatically void, instead making them void
only where the child is “taken or enticed” from
the care of a guardian, in cases of compulsion,
fraud or trafficking, and if performed in
violation of an injunction.
• The Act holds that a child marriage is voidable
only upon the filing of a petition for
annulment in district court. Hence it does not
automatically declare child marriages void,
only making them voluntarily voidable.
• The Act criminalizes criminalizes family
members who themselves are often living in
poverty, lack adequate education and may be
succumbing to social pressure.
Facts (UNICEF):
• While there has been a decline in the
incidence of child marriage nationally from 54
per cent in 1992-93 to 27 per cent in 2016, the
pace of change remains slow, especially for
girls in the age group 15-18 years.
• Child marriage is more prevalent in rural
areas (48 per cent) than in urban areas (29
per cent).
• The rates of child marriage are highest in the
central and western parts of India and lower
in the eastern and southern parts of the
country.
• Other states that have an incidence of child
marriage higher than national average are:
Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal,
Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka.
Mains:
1) How has the Supreme Court recently
interpreted the Section 9 of the Prohibition of
Child marriage Act? What is the importance of
the Act and the new interpretation?
GEOGRAPHY
Dallol geothermal field
Manifest pedagogy:
Dallol represents the region which is completely devoid of life. The physio-chemical conditions of such regions
could be asked at preliminary stage. Brief preparation of the above helps in answering Science &Tech
questions.
In news:
- Scientists recently discovered a place on earth which is devoid of any form of life.
Placing it in syllabus:
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- Geothermal energy
Dimensions:
- Dallol Geothermal Field
- Geographical location
- Itsphysio-chemical properties
Content:
Geothermal energy is the heat derived within the
sub-surface of the earth. Water and/or steam carry
the geothermal energy to the Earth’s surface.
Dallol Geothermal Field:
• Scientists have discovered that hot, hyperacid
ponds of Dallol Geothermal Field in Ethiopia
and the nearby magnesium-filled salt pools
have no life.
• The conditions here are so extreme that even
microbes cannot adapt to survive.
• The importance of this finding is that it could
help us understand the limits of habitability of
life on Earth despite the presence of liquid
water.
• This place has extreme conditions of heat
(daily temperatures soar over 45 degrees
Celsius even in winters) and dryness that the
study experts have proposed it as a terrestrial
analogue of early Mars.
• It is also one of the lowest land points on
Earth which lies 410 feet below the mean sea
level.
Its geographical location:
• Dallol lies in the evaporitic plain of the
Danakil depression at the Afar Triangle.
• It lies in the prolongation of the Erta Ale
basaltic volcanic range.
• The intrusion of basaltic magma in the marine
sedimentary sequence of Danakil resulted in
the formation of a salt dome structure, where
the hydrothermal system is hosted.
• The wider area of Dallol is known as one of
the driest and hottest places on the planet.
• Other known hydrothermal features nearby
Dallol are Yellow and Black Lakes.
• Earlier findings had shown that
microorganisms cannot survive in the
magnesium-rich Black and Yellow lakes.
Physio-chemical properties of Dallol field:
• The hydrothermal springs of Dallol discharge
anoxic, hyper-acidic, hyper-saline (almost 10
times more saline than seawater), high
temperature brines that contain more than 26
g/L of iron.
• The pH scale measurements even reach
negative readings at times.
• The main gas phases emitted from the springs
are CO2, H2S, N2, SO2 and traces of H2, Ar,
and O2.
• The coexistence of such extreme
physicochemical characteristics has left Dallol
to be one of the very few ‘poly-extreme’ sites
on Earth.
• Parts of the region are nearly sterile, except
for a diverse array of "ultrasmall" archaea.
• In contrast to other hydrothermal systems
known for their colorful pools (e.g.
Yellowstone), where the colors are generated
by biological activity, the color palette of
Dallol is produced by the inorganic oxidation
of the abundant iron phases.
• It has a wide array of unusual mineral
patterns like salt-pillars, miniature geysers,
water-lilies, flower-like crystals, egg-shaped
crusts, and pearl-like spheres.
Mains:
1) What is the characteristic feature of Dallol
geothermal field? Why is it considered a poly-
extreme site on earth?
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Bushfires of Australia Manifest pedagogy:
Bushfires are becoming more deadlier in recent times. Climate change induced by human activities is the cause
for greater instances of forest fires. The topic especially the ways of tackling it could be asked in mains.
In news:
- Australia is currently engulfed with smoke due to bushfires.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Natural disasters
Dimensions:
- What is bushfires/forest fire?
- Causes for bushfires
- Climate change and bushfires
- Ways to tackle it
Content:
What is bushfires/forest fire?
• A forest fire/ bushfire is an unclosed freely
spreading combustion, which consumes the
natural fuels of a forest that consist of duff,
grass, weeds, brush and trees.
• It is a natural disaster and poses a threat to
the forest wealth, disturbs the biodiversity
and ecology of a region.
• Natural fires have been a disturbance of
several ecosystems throughout evolution thus
plants have adapted to this regime.
• Though man-made fires have also coexisted in
equilibrium with ecosystems for centuries, the
unmanaged fire caused by stakeholders, has
led to adverse consequences for the diversity
and structure of forests.
Incidents of forest fire in recent times
• El-Nino events and extensive forest fires of
Australia in 2010
• Forest fires of Uttarakhand and Himachal
Pradesh in 2016
• Forest fires of Western Ghats 2015 and 2017
• California forest fire of 2018
• Scandinavian forest fire in summers of 2018
• Amazon forest fire of 2019
• Australian bushfires, 2019-2020
Australian bushfires:
- The wildfires that Australia is experiencing
are a result of man-induced global warming.
- More than 5.25 million hectares (13 million
acres) of land has been burnt (more than
twice the area that burned in the Amazon
forest fire of August 2019).
- Australia saw the hottest and driest season in
2019 with the temperature reaching almost
50 degrees celsius in December.
- According to reports over 8,000 koalas, which
is approximately 30 percent of the total
population in mid-North Coast region have
been lost to fire.
- Over 480 million birds, animals and reptiles
have already been lost.
Causes for bushfires:
Natural Causes:
- Lightning which set trees on fire
- High atmospheric temperatures and dryness
(low humidity)
- In the dry season, friction leading to sparks by
rolling stones in the mountainous areas may
lead to forest fires
- In bamboo areas, forest fires may occur by the
rubbing together of clumps of dry bamboo.
- Volcanic eruptions
- The presence of El Nino conditions affecting
the monsoon movements
Man-made causes:
- Practice of shifting cultivation
- The use of fires by villagers to ward off wild
animals
- Forest fires are started by smugglers and
poachers to hide the stumps of illicit felling.
- Gatherers of various forest products start
small fires to obtain good grazing grass as well
as to facilitate gathering of minor forest
produce like flowers of Madhuca indica.
- Accidentally discarded cigarette butts
- Stubble burning - when these fires are not put
out completely, it may spread to the adjoining
forest areas.
Climate change and bushfires:
Bushfires are exacerbated by the effects of global
warming. The Climate Council, an independent,
community-funded climate organization, suggests
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that drought conditions and record-breaking
temperatures have contributed to the fires'
unprecedented scale and intensity.
Longer bushfire seasons, drought, dried fuels and
soils and record-breaking heat increases the risk of
bushfires.
Australia experienced its hottest year on record in
2019, climbing 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the
average. These rising temperatures increase the risk
of bushfire and Australia is experiencing a
catastrophic fire danger for the first time ever.
Bushfires release carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas,
into the atmosphere which is exceptionally good at
trapping heat. In just three months, Australia's fires
are estimated to have released 350 million metric
tons of carbon dioxide. Experts opined that a century
or more will be needed to absorb the carbon dioxide
released.
The main climate driver behind the heat has been a
positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) - an event where
sea surface temperatures are warmer in the western
half of the ocean, cooler in the east. The difference
between the two temperatures is currently the
strongest in 60 years.
As a result, there has been higher-than-average
rainfall and floods in eastern Africa and droughts in
south-east Asia and Australia.
In addition to this, the bushfires in Australia are so
big that they are generating their own weather, in the
form of giant thunderstorms that might start more
fires.
Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds have developed to
altitudes over 16km and these fire-induced storms
can spread fires through lightning and generation of
severe wind outflows according to experts.
Ways to tackle it:
• By creating fire breaks by clearing a section of
trees around a town area.
• Removing the fuel of a bushfire from the town
area.
• Growing trees that are not so flammable.
• Ensure building codes and laws to make
houses more fire resistant.
• Ensure a good town emergency plan.
• Ensure there is a good local fire fighting force
that is well planned and prepared to fight any
on coming fires.
• Create watch towers during bushfire seasons.
• Track fires from satellites in space
Strategies followed based on fire intensity are:
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• Smaller fires are fought directly, by
firefighters applying water to the flames,
either from the ground or the air.
• Fire intensity less than 800 kilowatts per
metre can be suppressed with hand tools with
water support as a direct attack.
• More intense fires of up to 2000 kilowatts per
metre can be suppressed directly by
machines, tankers and water bombers as a
direct attack.
• As the intensity increases indirect attack
methods are employed which include the use
of tracked machines to build wide fire breaks,
water bombers and fire itself.
• As intensities exceed the suppressible limit,
fire-fighting actions focus on the containment
of fire flanks and protecting lives and
property.
Another way to try and contain a fire is to
deliberately burn sections of the fuel in its path, so
that there’s no flammable material left to fuel it.
Mains:
1) What are bushfires? How is the climate
change and bushfires interrelated?
INDIAN POLITY
AFSPA extended in Nagaland
Manifest pedagogy:
AFSPA is an anomaly in the Indian Democratic and Constitutional set up. The special powers that armed forces
get, the criticisms against the violation of Human Rights are always in the public discourse. The issue is very
important for both Prelims and Mains.
In news:
- AFSPA has been extended in Nagaland for six months
Placing it in syllabus:
- Law and order
Static dimensions:
- AFSPA provisions
- Process of declaring a Disturbed Area
- Criticisms
- Solutions
Current dimensions:
- What is the issue about?
Content:
• The entire state of Nagaland has been
declared a "disturbed area" for six more
months, till June, 2020, under the AFSPA.
• According to the Home Ministry notification
the decision was taken as killings, loot and
extortion was going on in various parts of the
state which necessitated the action for the
convenience of the security forces operating
there.
• The AFSPA has been in force in Nagaland for
decades.
• It has not been withdrawn even after a
framework agreement was signed on August
3, 2015 by Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM
general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and
government interlocutor R N Ravi in presence
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The framework agreement was a result of
over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18
years with the first breakthrough in 1997
when the ceasefire agreement was sealed.
AFSPA provisions:
• Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),
1958 gives armed forces the power to
maintain public order in “disturbed areas”.
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• The Act came into force in the context of
increasing violence in the Northeastern States
decades ago
Provisions:
• Any suspect can be arrested without a
warrant.
• Armed forces can search any house without
any warrant and required force can be used to
search for it.
• The armed forces have the authority to
prohibit gathering of five or more persons in
an area.
• The forces can open fire on the disturbing
factors after giving due warning if they found
any suspicious person.
• If a person is a repeated offender and tries to
disturb the peace of the area then armed
forces are entitled to use force till his death.
• If the Armed Forces suspect that any militant
or offender is hiding in any house/building
then the site or structure can be destroyed by
the forces.
• Any Vehicle can be stopped and searched.
• Even in the case of wrongful action by the
armed forces, legal action is not taken against
them.
As on January, 2019 AFSPA is operational in entire
States of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (except Imphal
Municipal area), three districts namely Changlang,
Tirap and Longding of Arunachal Pradesh and the
areas falling within the jurisdiction of the eight police
stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh,
bordering the State of Assam.
Process of declaring a Disturbed Area:
• A “disturbed area” is one which is declared by
notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA.
• As per Section 3, it can be invoked in places
where “the use of armed forces in aid of the
civil power is necessary”.
• An area can be disturbed due to differences or
disputes between members of different
religious, racial, language or regional groups
or castes or communities.
• The Central Government or the Governor of
the State or administrator of the Union
Territory can declare the whole or part of the
State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs would usually
enforce this Act where necessary, but there
have been exceptions where the Centre
decided to forego its power and leave the
decision to the State governments.
• Army and armed forces are sent in the area
only after the implementation of this law.
• As per the Section (3) of the AFSPA, it is
mandatory to seek the opinion of the state
government that whether an area is disturbed
or not.
• If an area is declared as the disturbed area, it
will be under the control of special forces for
at least 3 months.
Criticisms:
• The Act has been described as a draconian law
that encourages the Army to carry out human
rights violations with impunity.
• Section 4 empowers officers to “fire upon or
otherwise use force, even to the causing of
death” not only in cases of self-defence but
against any person contravening laws or
orders.
• Hence it is criticized for providing sanction to
soldiers for excessive use of force that is in
contravention to international norms.
• This section is also said to be in violation of
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
• Section 6 of the Act prohibits prosecution or
other legal proceedings without the sanction
of the central government.
• Hence it is argued that this provision gives
blanket immunity to soldiers.
• Many times the armed forces are blamed for
conducting fake encounters and sexually
exploiting women in the disturbed areas.
Solutions:
In 2012, the UN asked India to revoke AFSPA saying
it had no place in Indian democracy.
Santosh Hegde commission on Manipur encounter
deaths (2013):
• The probe showed that none of the victims
had any criminal records.
• The committee suggested fixing a time frame
of three months for the central government to
decide whether to prosecute security
personnel engaged in extrajudicial killings or
unruly behaviour in insurgency-hit regions.
• The commission also said the law needs to be
reviewed every six months to see whether its
implementation is actually necessary in states
where it is being enforced.
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Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission (2005)
recommended to repeal AFSPA as "the Act is a symbol
of hate, oppression and instrument of high
handedness”.
Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC)
in its fifth report on "Public Order”, recommended
repeal of AFSPA to remove sentiments of
discrimination and alienation among the people of the
North East India. It supported a new doctrine of
policing and criminal justice inherent in an inclusive
approach to governance.
Supreme Court in its judgements have told that any
encounter carried out by armed forces in the garb of
AFSPA should be subjected to thorough inquiry and it
does not matter whether the victim was a common
person or a militant or a terrorist.
The basic requirement of a democracy is the
preservation of the rule of law and the preservation of
individual liberties. So it is time for the government to
look at a new legislation that strengthens both respect
for human rights, as well as assures a protection to
the soldiers.
Mains:
1) How an area is declared as “disturbed” under
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA),
1958? Why is the act often criticised?
Compulsory Renewal of OCI Manifest pedagogy:
Citizenship is an important and controversial issue in India today. It has a lot of Nuance and numerous clauses
and provisions and it is an issue which is continuously developing. In this context the issues like OCI and PIO
are beyond the scope of standard texts. This article covers the entire issue of OCI.
In news:
- Compulsory Renewal of OCI card goes
Placing it in syllabus:
- Citizenship Act
Static dimensions:
- OCI and features
- OCI and PIO merge
Current dimensions:
-What is the issue?
Content:
OCI and features:
• The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
Scheme was introduced by amending the
Citizenship Act, 1955 in August 2005.
• It was launched during the Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas convention 2006 at
Hyderabad.
• The Scheme provides for registration as OCI
of all Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who
were
- citizens of India on 26th January, 1950 or
thereafter or
- were eligible to become citizens of India on
26th January, 1950 except who is or had
been a citizen of Pakistan, Bangladesh or
such other country as the Central
Government may specify.
Features:
• A registered OCI is granted multiple entry,
multi purpose, life-long visa for visiting
India.
• He/she is exempt from registration with
Foreign Regional Registration Officer for
any length of stay in India.
• He/she is entitled to general parity with
Non-Resident Indians in respect of all
facilities available to them in economic,
financial and educational fields except in
matters relating to the acquisition of
agricultural or plantation properties.
• He/she can also apply for a Permanent
Account Number (PAN) card.
• OCI is not to be misconstrued as 'dual
citizenship'.
• It does not confer political rights.
• The registered OCI shall not be entitled to
the rights conferred on a citizen of India
under article 16 of the Constitution.
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• It is mandatory for registered OCIs to carry
their passports which carry the Universal
visa sticker for entry into/exit from India.
OCI and PIO merger:
• From January 9, 2015, the PIO card scheme
was merged with the OCI card scheme.
• The PIO and OCI schemes were merged to
maximize benefits and reduce immigration
procedures for non-resident Indians (NRIs)
visiting India.
• Now all PIO cardholders are deemed OCI
cardholders and anyone holding a PIO card
at the time of the PIO and OCI merger as a
result inherits the benefits and rights of the
OCI card scheme.
• This service was made available until
September 30, 2019 after which the PIO
card would be deemed invalid and traveling
without a valid OCI card is not advisable.
Benefits of PIO and OCI merger
• Existing PIO cardholders will be free from
various procedural requirements like
registration and reporting obligations.
• PIOs who wish to travel India can apply for
the OCI category and assume the benefits
that are available to the OCI.
• This will provide PIO Card Holders visa-free
travel to India, rights of residency and
participation in business and educational
activities in the country.
A total of 32,53,912 foreign nationals have been
registered as OCI cardholders and 4,14,906 OCI
cards have been issued in lieu of PIO cards till
March 2019.
What is the issue?
• The Union Home Ministry has relaxed the
provisions for OCI card holders that made it
compulsory for those aged above 50 and
below 20 to renew their cards on renewal of
their passports.
• The move was taken as several OCI card
holders were not able to travel to India due
to this issue and many were stopped by
airlines and immigration authorities at
various airports due to the mismatch.
• A recent order by Home Ministry has stated
that OCI card holder is required to re-
register each time a new passport is issued
until 20 years of age and once after 50 years
of age.
• However re-issuance of OCI registration is
not mandatory each time a new passport is
issued between the ages of 21 and 50.
• This requirement has been relaxed till 30th
June, 2020.
• The OCI cardholders should carry existing
OCI card along with old and new passport.
Mains:
1) What is Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI)
scheme? What changes have been brought
about recently to benefit OCI card holders?
Guidelines to seek compensation of Damage Manifest pedagogy:
Right to free speech, assembly and the Right to strike are the issues in the public discourse. The provisions of
the Prevention of damage to Public Property Act and the legal route taken to get the damages recovered is
something which is important for UPSC mains as UPSC has gone into these kind of niche areas many a times.
In news:
- The Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to ask alleged vandals to pay damages or face the seizure of
their properties has been opposed.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Fundamental rights
Dimensions:
- What did UP government do?
- How does UP government actions violate Supreme Court guidelines?
Content:
What did UP government do?
• After protests broke out across Uttar
Pradesh against the Citizenship Amendment
Act (CAA) in December, CM Yogi Adityanath
MANIFEST IAS FORTNIGHTLY MANIFESTO-ARTICLES ISSUE 25
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had declared that his government would
auction off the properties of protesters.
• So far the administrations of four different
districts have issued notices to over 130
people accused of rioting to pay up around
Rs 50 lakh in damages.
• The UP administration has also warned
residents that defaulting on the payment
would result in the attachment of their
properties.
• In Sambhal, several civil society leaders,
educationists and political workers have
been issued notices by the UP government
for the payment of Rs 15.35 lakh.
• This move has been criticised as civil
society leaders who happen to be Muslims
have been targeted and there is little or no
evidence of their involvement in the
destruction of public property.
• It is also alleged that many damages were
perpetrated by the police themselves.
How does UP government actions violate
Supreme Court guidelines?
Supreme Court in a similar issue of destruction of
public property had considered Justice K.T. Thomas
and Nariman committee reports and had suggested
to amend the Prevention of Damage to Public
Property Act (1984).
For the destruction of public property during a
riot, the Supreme Court had taken the view that
ultimately people who are instigators of such riots
should be taken into account and damages should
be recovered from them. Hence the confiscation of
property is normally after a criminal trial and there
cannot be any ipso facto confiscation.
But the UP government’s “stern intention” to
ensure that “every protester will cry out” have been
fulfilled at the cost of the legal process itself. Its
decision to ask alleged vandals, even before their
guilt has been proven, to pay damages or face the
seizure of their properties has been opposed as it
lacks any backing of the law.
Though there must be some penalties when
protests descend into violence, in UP’s case the
state is pitting itself against those who express
dissent. The law and order machinery has been
used as an agent of revenge.
Supreme Court allowed confiscation action
against instigators and not perpetrators. But recent
move in UP is unconstitutional and illegal as action
was taken without even a fair trial and confiscation
was done to curb dissent.
Mains:
1) How the Uttar Pradesh government’s recent
move to ask vandals to pay damages is
against Supreme Court guidelines on
Prevention of damage to Public Property
Act?
Cabinet committees
Manifest pedagogy:
The role of Cabinet Committees as an instrument to fast track governance reforms and thereby accelerating the
pace of economic development is not new. In light of this, the topic serves needs across domains such as polity,
governance and economy.
In news:
- The newly-formed Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth (CCIG) held its first meeting recently.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Cabinet committees
Static dimensions:
- What is a cabinet committee?
Current dimensions:
- New cabinet committees under NDA2
- Need for new committees
Cabinet committees importance
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Content:
What is a cabinet committee?
• Under the Government of India Transaction
of Business Rules (TBR), 1961 an executive
arm of the government was assigned the
task of conducting the business of it.
• These Rules emerge out of Article 77(3) of
the Constitution, which states: “The
President shall make rules for the more
convenient transaction of the business of the
Government of India, and for the allocation
among Ministers of the said business.”
• Thus Cabinet Committees are formed which
are instrumental in reducing the workload
of the Cabinet.
• These committees are extra-constitutional
in nature and are nowhere mentioned in the
Constitution.
• There are two types of cabinet
committees:
Standing Cabinet Committees which are
permanent in nature with a specific job. These are
specified in the First Schedule of TBR. The Cabinet
Ministers are called its ‘members’ while the people
without the rank of Cabinet Committee are called
‘special invitees’.
Ad hoc committees of ministers, including Groups
of Ministers (GoMs), may be appointed by the
Cabinet or by the Prime Minister for specific
matters. They are temporary in nature and are
formed from time to time.
• The Prime Minister constitutes Standing
Committees of the Cabinet and sets out the
specific functions assigned to them.
• He can add or reduce the number of
committees.
• The composition of a Cabinet Committee
varies from 3 to 8 people.
• Even Ministers who are not part of the
Cabinet can be added to a Cabinet
Committee.
• The members of the Cabinet Committee can
be from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya
Sabha.
New cabinet committee under NDA-2:
• PM in his first term had scrapped four
cabinet committees by a cabinet secretariat
order of June 26, 2014.
• During his 2nd term, PM has constituted
two new committees- Cabinet committee on
investment and committee on skill
development.
• Currently, there are eight Cabinet
committees.
• The PM is not a member of either the
committee on parliamentary affairs or
accommodation.
Need for new committees:
NDA2 has set an ambitious target of making India
a $5 trillion economy by the year 2025 and
committed to a capital investment of Rs 100 trillion
in the infra sector by 2024.
However, the GDP growth is slowing (4.5%),
which is a six-year low, as investment, exports and
consumption have declined in the country. Moody's
has put 2019-20 growth at 4.9 percent and the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates it at 5.1
per cent.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey of the NSSO has
shown that the unemployment rate in the country
was 5.3% in rural India and 7.8% in urban India,
resulting in an overall unemployment rate of 6.1%
during 2017-18
In addition, interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank
of India are not being adequately transmitted to
lending rates because of the credit squeeze caused
by a disruption in the non-bank financial sector.
Hence to address the challenges of slowing
economic growth and inadequate job creation, PM
constituted two Cabinet committees and both the
new committees will be chained by him.
Cabinet committees’ overview and their
importance:
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• Cabinet committees are established to
reduce the workload of the Cabinet
Ministers.
• These committees facilitate deep
examination of the policy issue and effective
coordination.
• Such committees are based on the principle
of division of labour.
Overview:
Cabinet Committee on Appointments - This panel
makes appointments to the higher posts in the
government including the three service chiefs. It
decides on all important empanelments and shift of
officers serving on Central deputation
Accommodation: This Committee determines the
guidelines or rules with regard to the allotment of
government accommodation.
Economic Affairs: This committee is supposed to
review economic trends, problems and prospects
“for evolving a consistent and integrated economic
policy”, coordinate all activities requiring policy
decisions at the highest level, deal with fixation of
prices of agricultural produce and the prices of
essential commodities.
Parliamentary Affairs: This committee draws the
schedule for Parliament sessions and monitors the
progress of government business in Parliament. It
scrutinises non-government business and decides
which official Bills and resolutions are to be
presented.
Political Affairs: This committee addresses
problems related to Centre-state relations. It also
examines the economic and political issues that
require a wider perspective but have no internal or
external security implications.
Security: It deals with issues relating to law and
order, internal security and policy matters
concerning foreign affairs with internal or external
security implications. It also goes into economic
and political issues related to national security.
Investment and growth: It will “identify key
projects required to be implemented on a time-
bound basis”, involving investments of Rs 1,000
crore or more or any other critical projects, with
regard to infrastructure and manufacturing.
It will prescribe time limits for giving requisite
approvals and clearances by the ministries
concerned in identified sectors. It will also monitor
the progress of such projects.
Employment and skill development: It is supposed
to provide “direction to all policies, programmes,
schemes and initiatives for skill development aimed
at increasing the employability of the workforce
and mapping the benefits of demographic
dividend”.
The panel will set targets for expeditious
implementation of all skill development initiatives
by the ministries and to periodically review the
progress in this regard.
Mains:
1) Explain the importance of cabinet
committees. Why are the new cabinet
committees constituted
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, ISSUES & INSTITUTION
Kalapani issue
Manifest pedagogy:
India and Nepal are historical friends with common culture and interests. But in recent decades with the fall of
the Monarchy in Nepal and emergence of communists and other forces the relations have been a little rough. In
the context of China's overbearing attitude in Indian neighbourhood we need to resolve all the issues amicably
with our neighbours. In this context we need to concentrate upon some of the important issues like the
Kalapani Issue.
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In news:
- India, Nepal to hold talks on Kalapani issue
Placing it in syllabus:
- India-Nepal relations
Static dimensions:
- Kalapani historical aspects of conflict
- Agreements signed to solve the issue
Current dimensions:
- Why is the conflict lingering?
- Solutions
Content:
Kalapani historical aspects of conflict:
• In 1816, the East India Company and Nepal
signed the Treaty of Sagauli under the
conclusion of the Anglo-Nepalese War and
Nepalese territories including Darjeeling
were handed over to the British East India
Company as concessions.
• The treaty defined river Mahakali as the
western border of Nepal.
• Several tributaries of River Mahakali merge
at Kalapani.
• India claims that the river begins in
Kalapani as this is where all its tributaries
merge.
• But Nepal claims that the river begins from
Lipulekh Pass, the origin of most of its
tributaries.
• Hence Nepal has laid claim to all areas east
of the Lipu Gad — the rivulet that joins the
river Kali on its border.
• According to Nepal, the Kalapani area was
included in the Census of Nepal until 58
years ago.
• According to some sources, the late
Nepalese King Mahendra had “handed over
the territory” to India in 1962 in the wake
of the India-China war.
• Nepal has claimed that India had occupied
an additional 62 sq km land.
• However a map of 1879 shows Kalapani as
part of British India and India on its part
has presented administrative and tax
records dating back to 1830s to back its
claims.
• Nepal has also raised concern over Lipulekh
Pass, which has been made a trading tri-
junction route between India and China,
reportedly without Nepal’s consent, since
2015.
• However the Indian side claims that
Lipulekh pass has been referred to as a
border trading point since 1954.
Though in 1981, a Joint Technical Boundary
Committee was formed, no final settlement could
be reached. In 2014, joint commission meeting was
led by the foreign ministers. In 2016, an Eminent
Persons Group was formed to look into several
bilateral issues.
Why is the conflict lingering:
• As the Indian government released the new
map of India on November 2, 2019,
following the reorganization of Jammu and
Kashmir, the bone of contention now is a
35-square km area within Uttarakhand.
• Nepal claims that the Limpiyadhura,
Lipulekh and Kalapani areas shown in
India's maps lie within its territory.
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• Nepal's Supreme court has ordered the
government to submit the original map
exchanged with India during the signing of
the Sugauli treaty in 1816.
• It has also asked the authorities to furnish
other official maps either exchanged with
various countries or with international
organisations including the United Nations.
• It has directed to submit the original map
exchanged while signing a Boundary Treaty
with India in 1960, the map published by
the East-India Company on February 1,
1827 and a separate map published by the
British Government in 1847.
• However India has rejected allegations and
has said that the map accurately depicts the
sovereign territory of India and has in no
manner revised its boundary with Nepal.
• With Kalapani dispute, the Susta territorial
dispute has arisen as a result of the shifting
of the course of the Gandak river.
• The Treaty of Sagauli defined Gandak as the
international boundary between India and
Nepal and at that time Susta was on the
right bank of the river Gandak which falls in
Nepal territorial control.
• But, in due course of time, the river has
changed its course and Susta now falls on
the left bank of the Gandak, which is
controlled by India.
Importance of Kalapani
The 35-square kilometre region plays a strategic
role in this tug-of-war. Kalapani is a trijunction
meeting point of India, Tibet and Nepal borders.
Since 1962, it has been manned by the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP).
Lipulekh Pass in Kalapani serves as an important
vantage point for India to keep an eye on Chinese
movements. India’s surveillance of Chinese
movements are aided by the height of the Lipulekh
pass.
Solutions:
The latest maps have nothing to do with Nepal and
were published to reflect the recent bifurcation of
the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). According to
There is no change in the depiction of India-Nepal
boundary.
Though in the past, Nepal had claimed territory in
the Kalapani area and Susta (in Uttar Pradesh) as
its own, both sides had agreed that these
differences should be resolved through friendly
negotiations and their foreign secretaries were
mandated to undertake this exercise.
In recent years, Nepal has blamed India for
interfering in its internal matters. The relationship
deteriorated considerably after the unofficial 135-
days trade blockade of Nepal in 2015.
Despite this, India still enjoys great leverage with
Nepal. India is Nepal’s largest trading partner and
the two countries are culturally intertwined. In the
past, India has played a considerable role in
maintaining stability and development in Nepal
Since the free movement of people is permitted
across the border, Nepal enjoys immense strategic
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relevance from India’s national security point of
view. Therefore, stable and friendly relations with
Nepal is one of prerequisites which India can’t
afford to overlook.
Nepal has proposed foreign secretary-level talks
with India in mid-January on the boundary issue. It
is therefore imperative to resolve the issue by
peaceful negotiations which will be a win-win
situation for both the countries.
The existing bilateral treaties between India and
Nepal have not taken the shifting of Himalayan
rivers into consideration. Hence both nations
should try to resolve the dispute by taking into
account all shared environmental characteristics.
Mains:
1) What are the historical aspects of Kalapani
dispute? How is it disturbing the India-
Nepal relations now?
INDIAN ECONOMY
Sustainable Development Goals Index
Manifest pedagogy:
Sustainable Development Goals are an important tool to gauge performance of India vis a vis other countries.
This is also important considering the agenda for sustainable and more inclusive growth in India. It is a
keystone in the socio economic development agenda in the post reform period with MDG’s forming its
backbone.
In news:
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index and rank list has been released
Placing it in syllabus:
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Static dimensions:
- SDGs
- Timeline
Current dimensions:
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- SDG rankings
- Role of niti aayog
- India and SDGs
Content:
SDGs:
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) define
global sustainable development priorities and
aspirations for 2030 and seek to mobilize global
efforts around a common set of goals and targets.
They call for worldwide action among governments,
business and civil society to end poverty and create a
life of dignity and opportunity for all. The SDGs
succeeded Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The 17 SDGs are:
• End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition, and promote sustainable
agriculture
• Good Health and Well-being
• Quality Education
• Gender Equality
• Clean Water and Sanitation
• Affordable and Clean Energy
• Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
• Reducing Inequality
• Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Responsible Consumption and Production
• Climate Action
• Life Below Water
• Life On Land
• Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
• Global partnership for sustainable
development
Establishing SDGs was an outcome of the Rio+20
summit held in 2012.
Timeline:
• In June 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, more than 178 countries
adopted Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan of
action to build a global partnership for
sustainable development.
• In September 2000 in New York, member
states unanimously adopted the Millennium
Declaration and eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted to
reduce extreme poverty by 2015.
• At the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012, Member States
adopted the outcome document "The Future
We Want".
Rio+20:
• The United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development (UNCSD), also known as Rio
2012/ Rio+20/Earth Summit 2012 was the
third international conference on sustainable
development aimed at reconciling the
economic and environmental goals of the
global community.
• Hosted by Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, Rio+20 was
a 20-year follow-up to the 1992 United
Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) and the 10th
anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in
Johannesburg.
• They decided to launch a process to develop a
set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
to build upon the MDGs and to establish the
UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development.
• The UN Sustainable Development Solutions
Network (SDSN) was set up in 2012 which
mobilizes global scientific and technological
expertise to promote practical solutions for
sustainable development and the
implementation of SDGs.
• In January 2015, the General Assembly began
the negotiation process on the post-2015
development agenda.
• The process culminated in the subsequent
adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, with 17 SDGs at its core, at the
UN Sustainable Development Summit in
September 2015
SDG rankings:
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network
(SDSN) and Bertelsmann Stiftung have published the
Sustainable Development Report 2019.
The SDR 2019 has generated seven major findings:
1. High-level political commitment to the SDGs is
falling short of historic promises.
2. SDG implementation can be organized along
the following transformations: 1) Education,
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Gender, and Inequality; 2) Health, Wellbeing,
and Demography; 3) Energy Decarbonization
and Sustainable Industry; 4) Sustainable Food,
Land, Water, Oceans; 5) Sustainable Cities and
Communities; 6) Digital Revolution for
Sustainable Development.
3. Trends on climate (SDG 13) and biodiversity
(SDG 14 and SDG 15) are alarming.
4. Sustainable land-use and healthy diets require
integrated agriculture, climate and health
policy interventions.
5. High-income countries are generating high
environmental and socio-economic spillover
effects
6. Human rights and freedom of speech are in
danger in numerous countries.
7. Eradicating poverty and strengthening equity
remain important policy priorities.
Top scorers in SDG Index: Denmark (85.2), Sweden
(85)
Bottom scorers: Central African Republic (CAR), Chad
India is ranked 115 with score 61.1.
Role of NITI aayog:
• India is committed to achieve the 17 SDGs and
the 169 associated targets, which
comprehensively cover social, economic and
environmental dimensions of development.
• At the Central Government level, NITI Aayog
has been assigned the role of overseeing the
implementation of SDGs in the country.
• NITI Aayog has organized several national and
regional level consultations to bring together
stakeholders and build capacities for the
realization of SDGs.
• The NITI Aayog releases the Baseline Report
of the SDG India Index, which
comprehensively documents the progress
made by India’s States and Union Territories
towards implementing the 2030 SDG targets.
• It has constructed the SDG India Index
spanning across 13 out of 17 SDGs (leaving
out Goals 12, 13, 14 and 17).
• The Index tracks the progress on a set of
National Indicators, measuring their progress
on the outcomes of the interventions and
schemes of the Government of India.
India and SDGs:
NITI Aayog recently released the SDG India Index,
2019. It has given India a composite score of 60
points, (was 57 in 2018) mainly for progress in clean
energy and sanitation (88), peace, justice and strong
institutions (72) and affordable and clean energy
(70).
Out of 232 indicators developed by the UN to
measure compliance on the part of member nations
Niti Aayog has adapted its monitoring approach to a
set of 100 indicators.
Highlights:
• Kerala has topped the chart with a score of 70.
• Himachal Pradesh has taken the second spot
while Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Telangana have shared the third spot.
• Bihar, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh are
the worst performing states.
• Among UTs Chandigarh maintained its top
spot with a score of 70.
• In 2018, three states - Himachal Pradesh,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu were placed in the
category of Front Runners (with a score in the
range 65-99). In 2019, five more states have
joined this league – Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Karnataka, Sikkim and Goa (in
total eight).
• With regard to poverty reduction, states
which have done well include Tamil Nadu,
Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya,
Mizoram and Sikkim.
• On ‘zero hunger’ parameters, Goa, Mizoram,
Kerala, Nagaland and Manipur were the front
runners.
• Ending hunger and achieving gender equality
are the areas where most states fall far short
and all-India scores for these goals are 35 and
42 points respectively.
• On levels of hunger and nutrition, 22 of the
states and UTs have scored below 50, with the
central Indian states of Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh scoring
below 30.
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• On gender equality, almost all states have
fared poorly except Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh and Kerala who have
managed to cross 50 points.
• Related to clean water and sanitation SDG all
states and union territories except for Delhi
have scored above 65.
Mains: 1) Explain the role of NITI aayog in achieving
Sustainable Development goals (SDGs). How
have the Indian states performed in SDG India
Index, 2019?
National Infrastructure pipeline (NIP) Manifest pedagogy:
Infrastructure spending has been a driver of economic growth. The vision of spending 105 lakh crores in the
coming years required better policy and implementation procedures and thus a need was felt to get National
priorities in terms of the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
In news:
- Roadmap for National Infrastructure Pipeline has been released by the government.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Infrastructure
Static dimensions:
- Infrastructure spending in india
- Highlights about important sectors
Current dimensions:
- National Infrastructure Pipeline
- $5 trillion economy
Content:
NITI Aayog has designed ‘The Ease of living Index’
comprising 37 measurable indicators, which takes
into consideration the UN 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). In order to meet the
growth aspirations and provide improved standard of
living, the infrastructure investments should be
increased.
Infrastructure spending in india:
Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian
economy which is highly responsible for propelling
India’s overall development. Infrastructure sector
includes power, bridges, dams, roads and urban
infrastructure development.
In 2018, India ranked 44th out of 167 countries in
World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI). It is
currently ranked 70 out of 140 for infrastructure
quality in World economic forum’s Global
Competitiveness Index.
India is expected to become the third largest
construction market globally by 2022. FDI received in
Construction Development sector (townships,
housing, built up infrastructure) from April 2000 to
March 2019 stood at US$ 25.05 billion.
India has a requirement of investment worth Rs 50
trillion in infrastructure by 2022 to have sustainable
development in the country. The Government of India
has allocated Rs. 4.56 lakh crore for the infra sector in
Union Budget 2019-20.
Constraints faced by infrastructure sector:
• availability of funds for financing large
projects,
• lengthy processes in land acquisition and
payment of compensation,
• environmental concerns, time and cost
overruns due to delays in project
implementation,
• procedural delays and lesser traffic growth
than expected increasing the riskiness of the
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projects,
• Stalled or languishing projects and shortfall in
funds for maintenance.
Overcoming the deficiencies in infrastructure and
improving the quality of services provided in both
urban and rural areas in India will help in realising
the full potential of the growing urban economy thus
raising its contribution to India’s GDP.
National Infrastructure Pipeline (105 lakh crore
plan):
• Honourable PM Narendra Modi in his
Independence Day speech 2019, had said that
Rs.100 lakh crore would be invested on
infrastructure over the next 5 years.
• A task force headed by Economic Affairs
Secretary was set up by the Finance ministry
to prepare a roadmap for the "National
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP)" from 2019-20
to 2024-25 to form Rs.105 lakh crores plan.
• The task force has identified Rs 102 lakh crore
of projects.
• Another Rs.3 lakh crore of projects are likely
to be added in the NIP by the states.
• The Centre and states' contribution to the NIP
would be 39 percent each as well as 22 per
cent by the private sector which is expected to
increase to 30% by 2025.
• Sectors such as power, railways, urban,
irrigation, mobility, education, digital and
health sectors form the bulk of the proposed
projects.
• This is the first time that an infra pipeline has
been proposed and NIP helps making India a
$5 trillion economy by 2025.
• Reform suggestions by various working
groups under the infrastructure task force
including reforming the PPP based contracts,
enforcement of contracts and dispute
resolution process will be considered.
Highlights about the sectors:
Energy:
• This sector will get about 24 per cent of the
total investments.
• India aims to take the current installed power
capacity of 356 GW to 619 GW.
• The share of thermal installations is expected
to go down from 66 per cent to 50 percent.
Roads:
• 19 percent of the investments will be
channelised to this sector.
• The target is to add 50 percent total length to
the existing National Highways, with 12x
more Expressways constructed.
• The ownership of roads will tilt in favour of
asset aggregators and financial investors as
opposed to the public authorities today.
Urban and Housing:
• About 16 percent of the NIP investments will
go towards improving urban infrastructure
and running housing programmes.
• The government aims to cover 100 percent
urban and rural households with piped water
supply.
• 100 percent of all municipal waste is expected
to be treated.
• More than 25 cities will get operational metro
projects.
• Affordable housing projects will continue to
remain in focus.
Railways:
• This sector gets 14 percent of the total
investment outlay.
• The vision for Railways includes healthy
private sector participation with targets of 30
percent net cargo volumes, 500 private
passenger trains and 30 percent of 750
stations privatised.
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• The two dedicated freight corridors (DFCs)
will be fully operational, while the
construction of East-West, North-South, East
Coast, and South-West DFCs will be underway.
• Railways also expects to electrify 100 percent
of its network.
Irrigation:
• This sector will get about 8 percent of the total
investment outlay.
• The target is to bring 61 percent of India’s
cultivable land under irrigation from the
current 49 per cent.
• Higher investments will be earmarked
towards drip and sprinkler irrigation.
Other sectors include:
Ports:
Airports:
Digital infrastructure:
$5 trillion economy:
• The path to a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25
has been laid down in the recently released
NIP report.
• GDP by the end of 2024-25 has been projected
to be around Rs 365.5 lakh crore ($5.15
trillion).
• GDP is expected to grow at an average
nominal rate of 12.2% over the next five years
to 2024-25.
• Even considering 4.5% inflation, the
government is expecting the GDP growth rate
to be around 6% in the next financial year,
touching 8.5% in 2024-25.
• However economists and analysts have raised
doubts over the target.
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Path to $5-trillion economy
Though the NIP brings about an overarching vision
to infrastructure development in India, its success will
depend on a plethora of factors including
administrative reforms, financial success, judicial
reforms and intervention and general governance
reforms. Hence the states and the central government
should work in tandem to achieve the NIP targets.
Mains:
1) Explain the importance of National
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) in achieving the
envisaged $5 trillion Indian economy by 2025.
Restructuring railway board
Manifest pedagogy:
Indian Railway and its legacy are both historic and contemporary in nature. In light of new initiatives,
disruptions in logistics and aspirations of the nation at large it was imperative to bring in operational changes.
The restructuring of the Railway board is one such transformative paradigm.( The restructuring gained traction
after the train 18 controversy
In news:
- Union Cabinet has approved restructuring of Railway Board
Placing it in syllabus:
- Railways reforms (explicitly mentioned)
Static dimensions:
- Merger of railway budget
- Committees on railways
Current dimensions:
- Restructured railway board
- Merger of cadres
- IRMS
Content:
Merger of railway budget:
• On 21 September 2016, Government of India
approved the merger of the Railway Budget
with the Union budget of India.
• The committee headed by economist and NITI
Aayog member Bibek Debroy had
recommended that the British-era practise
should be phased out.
• The decision of merger was taken keeping in
mind the long-term interest of both the
railways and the country’s economy.
• On 25th February 2016, Suresh Prabhu
became the last railway minister to present a
separate Railway Budget in the parliament.
• On 1st February 2017, Arun Jaitley became
the first Finance Minister to present a
combined railway and general budget.
Reasons for Merger as per committee report:
- As the size of the Railway Budget had
shrunken when compared to the overall
general budget, presenting it separately was
not required.
- India was the only country in the world with a
separate Railway Budget.
- Railway Budget is not a legal or constitutional
requirement like the Union Budget.
- Over the years the spending of other
ministries such as defence, road transport,
petroleum and natural gas had overtaken the
spending of Indian Railways, even though
these ministries functioned without a separate
budget.
- It was used as a political tool and decisions on
new trains, routes, fare hikes were getting
influenced because of political considerations.
Committees on railways (safety, modernisation,
restructuring):
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On safety (Dr Anil Kakodkar committee):
• There should be an independent body like
Railway Safety Authority.
• A robust and powerful Safety Architecture
should be there to have a safety oversight on
the operational mode of Railways.
• Elimination of both manned and unmanned
level crossings within the next five years.
• Monitoring of all the bridges in terms of
scientific measurements of
deflections/displacements, water level and
flow velocity on a continuous basis.
• An advanced signalling system should be
there based on continuous track circuiting and
cab signalling similar to European train
control system.
On modernisation (Sam Pitroda committee):
• Modernisation of 19,000 km of existing tracks
• Strengthening of 11,250 bridges to sustain
higher load at higher speed
• Eliminating all level crossings
• Implementation of automatic block signalling
on major routes
• GSM-based mobile train control
communication system
• Stress on complete upgradation of railway’s
communication system
• New generation locomotives
• Train sets for high speed intercity travel
• Green toilets on all passenger trains
• Modernisation of 100 major stations
• Real time information system and internet
facility at 342 railway stations
• Development of public private partnership
(PPP) models and policies in various areas of
railways to attract private investment
• High speed railway lines
• Elevated rail corridor
• Railways should venture into captive power
generation through the PPP route
On restructuring (Bibek Debroy):
• Establishment of Railway Regulatory
Authority of India (RRAI)
• Transition to commercial accounting
• Streamline recruitment & HR processes
• Decentralisation
• All the existing production units should be
placed under a government SPV known as the
Indian Railway Manufacturing Company
(IRMC).
• Encouraging private entry
• Railway restructuring
• Joint Venture with State governments
Restructured Railway board:
• The Union Cabinet has approved the
downsizing of the strength of the Railway
Board from eight to five, including the
chairman, who will be the chief executive
officer (CEO).
• There will be four other members, in charge of
infrastructure, rolling stock, finance and
operations, and business development.
• There will be some “outside talent",
independent members, comprising experts
helping the Board to set a “strategic
direction".
• The chairman will be the cadre controlling
officer responsible for human resources (HR)
with assistance from a DG (HR).
• All the remaining posts of the Railway Board
shall be open to all officers regardless of the
service to which they belong, thus ensuring
equal opportunity for all.
• The Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS)
will be renamed the Indian Railway Health
Service (IRHS).
Impact of restructuring:
- It will ensure end of departmentalism and
promote smooth operations and expedite
decision-making.
- It will lead to end of turf wars among the
different cadres and departments which was
harming railway operations.
- Restructuring has set the path for Indian
Railways to move on a very high-growth
trajectory as it would be a unified
organisation that will work single-mindedly.
- This will end the culture of working in ‘silos’
and mark the beginning of a new and unified
railway with a coherent vision for the future.
Merger of cadres:
• Cabinet has approved the merger of eight
‘Group A’ services into one central service
called the Indian Railway Management Service
(IRMS).
• Currently, the Indian Railways is organised
into departments such as traffic, civil,
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mechanical, electrical, signal & telecom,
stores, personnel, and accounts.
• These departments are vertically separated
and are each headed by a secretary-level
officer (member) in the Railway Board.
• Unification of services will streamline
operations and provide flexibility in how they
deploy people.
• The decision to merge the services is to
ensure that officers put railways first instead
of their service.
• The Railways will have just two departments -
Railway Protection Force and Medical Service
Department.
• All other departments will come under one
Railway Management System.
IRMS:
• The creation of the IRMS will be done in
consultation with the department of
personnel and training (DoPT) and Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) to facilitate
recruitment.
• Unification of eight existing services of Indian
Railways for IRMS will be done at all levels.
• However, modalities for unification and
assignment of inter se seniority will be
decided by Alternative Mechanism.
• Ministry of Railways and DoPT will together
work out the necessary formula before it is
taken up by Alternative Mechanism.
• Officers of IRMS only will be eligible to
become the Functional Members and
Chairman/CEO of Railway Board.
• All new recruits in railways will be inducted
through the UPSC civil services exams.
• The candidates aspiring to get into railways
will have to appear for their prelims after
which they will indicate their preference for
IRMS under five specialities.
• The first batch will be recruited in 2021.
Mains: 1) What are the new features of restructured
Railway board? What impact does this
restructuring have on working of Railways?
UPI and Rupay
Manifest pedagogy:
The transformation towards a less cash economy along with possible downstream benefits of using electronic
payments in terms of Fastag, broadening of tax collections and operational efficiency, the innovation made
through UPI/RUPAY have been a step in the right direction. India has been able to establish itself in the fintech
sector and beyond with these initiatives.
In news:
- With a view to promote digital payments, no MDR charges will be applicable on Rupay and UPI from Jan
1, 2020.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Cashless economy
Static dimensions:
- Digital payments
- Demonetization
Current dimensions:
- MDR
MDR rules for UPI, rupay
Content:
Digital payments:
• “Faceless, Paperless, Cashless” is one of
professed role of Digital India.
• As part of promoting cashless transactions
and converting India into less-cash society,
various modes of digital payments are
available.
• These modes are: Banking Cards, USSD,
Aadhar Card, AEPS, UPI, Mobile Wallets, Banks
Prepaid Cards, Point of Sale (PoS), Internet
Banking, Mobile Banking, Micro ATMs.
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The Reserve Bank of India has forecast an outcome
of 50 per cent increase in mobile-based payment
transactions as per its '2021 vision document’.
According to global advisory KPMG, digital
payments in India are witnessing thriving growth
with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7
per cent in the number of non-cash transactions.
One of the key factors which played a
transformational role and democratised mobile
payments in India was the role played by wallet
players. Another factor that has led to the next wave
in mobile payments is the Unified Payments Interface
(UPI)-based real time payments.
Some factors such as inter-operability and
possibility of origination across different platforms
such as mobile wallets, are further fuelling the growth
of UPI transactions. The volume of UPI transactions
have increased at a CAGR of 246 per cent during the
period from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
Demonetization:
• Demonetization is a process of stripping a
currency unit of its status as a legal tender.
• Once demonetized, the currency unit will no
longer be valid as legal currency.
• Usually, a new currency replaces the old
currency unit/s.
• In 1946, the Reserve Bank of India had
demonetized Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 10,000
currency notes which were then under
circulation.
• In 1954, the Government introduced new
currency notes of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000, and
Rs. 10,000 which were demonetized in
1978.
• On November 8, 2016, honourable PM
Narendra Modi announced the
demonetization of the currency notes of Rs.
500 and Rs, 1,000.
Benefits:
- It will help formalize India’s informal
economy and help in the creation of a less-
cash economy.
- It will plug financing to terrorists.
- It will help unearth black money.
- Will expand the fiscal space of the
government.
- It will help in increasing savings.
- It will help in reducing interest rates in the
banking system.
- Reduce counterfeit currency notes.
Merchant Discount rate (MDR):
- MDR is a fee charged from a merchant by a
bank for accepting payments from customers
through credit and debit cards in their
establishments.
- MDR compensates the card issuing bank, the
lender which puts the PoS terminal and
payment gateways such as Mastercard or Visa
for their services.
- MDR charges are usually shared in pre-agreed
proportion between the bank and a merchant
and is expressed in percentage of transaction
amount.
- Since 1 January, 2019 small merchants pay a
maximum MDR of 0.4% of bill value and larger
merchants pay 0.9%.
MDR rules for UPI and Rupay:
• In order to promote digital payments, no MDR
charges will be applicable on transactions
through RuPay and UPI platforms from
January 1, 2020.
• RuPay and UPI will be notified soon as the
prescribed mode of payment for digital
transactions without any MDR by the
Department of Revenue (DoR).
• The business establishments with annual
turnover of Rs 50 crore or more shall offer
such low-cost digital modes of payment to
their customers and no charges shall be
imposed on customers as well as merchants.
• Now indigenously developed digital payment
medium like RuPay and BHIM UPI will have
edge over the payment gateway promoted by
foreign companies.
• RBI and banks will absorb these costs from
the savings that will accrue to them on
account of handling less cash.
• Two laws- Income Tax Act and the Payments
and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 have
already been amended to give effect to these
provisions.
Criticisms:
• According to the Payments Council of India,
there will be a significant negative impact on
the payment ecosystem - innovation, job
losses and a slowdown in the expansion of the
digital payments.
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• If there is zero revenue to be made from the
over 500 million-plus active RuPay debit
cards, service providers will start
withdrawing PoS terminals to cut their losses.
• Multinational electronic payment companies
such as Visa and Mastercard are likely to face
losses.
• The move could affect credit card companies
in the long run as more people will be
influenced to make payment through cheap
UPI platforms.
Mains: 1) What do you understand by Merchant
discount rate (MDR)? What are the recent
measures taken by the government to
promote digital payments?
SCIENCE AND TECHOLOGY
Sir Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman (C.V. Raman) • Raman was an Indian physicist who carried
out ground-breaking work in the field of light
scattering.
• He was born on 7th November 1888 in
Trichinopoly, Tamil Nadu.
• Because of his father's interest, he appeared
for the Financial Civil Services (FCS)
examination and topped it.
• In 1907, he went to Calcutta and joined as
Assistant Accountant General.
• Meanwhile he conducted research at the
Indian Association for the Cultivation of
Sciences on the areas of vibrations and
acoustics.
• He got an opportunity to join the University of
Calcutta in 1917, as the first Palit Professor of
Physics.
• He held the position of permanent visiting
professor at BHU.
• On 28 February 1928, Raman led an
experiment with K. S. Krishnan, on the
scattering of light, when he discovered what is
called the Raman effect.
• It gave further proof of the quantum nature of
light.
• The field of Raman spectroscopy came to be
based on this phenomenon and Ernest
Rutherford referred to it in his presidential
address to the Royal Society in 1929.
• Raman was president of the 16th session of
the Indian Science Congress in 1929.
• He won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics "for
his work on the scattering of light and for the
discovery of the Raman effect".
• He was the first Asian and first non-white to
receive any Nobel Prize in the sciences.
• In 1933, Venkatraman became the first Indian
director of the Indian Institute of Science
(IISc).
• In 1943, he started a company called
Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co.
Ltd. (now known as TCM Limited) which
manufactured potassium chlorate for the
match industry.
• In 1947, he was appointed as the first National
Professor by the new government of
Independent India.
• Raman retired from the IISC in 1948 and
established the Raman Research Institute in
Bangalore in 1949.
• He served as its director and remained active
there until his death in 1970.
His works:
Raman Effect:
Raman conducted research about light scattering in
gases, liquids and solids. He and his team used
monochromatic light – sunlight that had been filtered
to leave only a single color – and found that a variety
of different liquids indeed changed the color of the
light. They first observed this in April 1923, but very
weakly.
When light meets particles that are smaller than the
light's wavelength, the light spreads in different
directions. This occurs when photons encounter
molecules in a gas. In 1928 C.V.Raman discovered that
a small portion of the scattered light acquires other
wavelengths than that of the original light.
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This is because some of the incoming photons' energy
can be transferred to a molecule, giving it a higher
level of energy. His team experimented to find a
particularly strong color change in light scattered by
glycerol. They observed the effect in gases, crystals
and glass. In Raman’s work the light scattered by
liquids was polarized, which ruled out the possibility
of fluorescence.
This phenomenon which came to be known as the
Raman effect – a color change accompanied by
polarization, had never been seen before. The
inelastic scattering was a very strong confirmation of
quantum theory.
(A) Blue light approaches a molecule, and then (B)
Lower energy green light leaves the molecule.
This is inelastic scattering, i.e. the light has given
some of its energy to the molecule, causing it to
vibrate more strongly. Only about 1 in ten million
photons undergoes inelastic scattering.
Raman Spectroscopy (1929)
Raman showed that the energy of photons scattered
inelastically serves as a ‘fingerprint’ for the substance
the light is scattered from. Raman spectroscopy is
now commonly used in chemical laboratories all over
the world to identify substances. It is also used in
medicine to investigate living cells and tissues, even
detecting cancers without causing harm. Laser light
rather than sunlight is used as the source of photons.
Work on acoustics
Raman worked on the acoustics of musical
instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse
vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of
superposition of velocities. He was also the first to
investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of
Indian drums such as the tabla and mridangam. He
also investigated the propagation of sound in
whispering galleries.
Raman-Nath theory
Raman and his student, Nagendra Nath, provided the
correct theoretical explanation for the acousto-optic
effect (light scattering by sound waves), in a series of
articles. Modulators, and switching systems based on
this effect have enabled optical communication
components based on laser systems.
Other investigations carried out by Raman were
experimental and theoretical studies on the
diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic and
hypersonic frequencies (published b/n 1934–1942)
and those on the effects produced by X-rays on
infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary
light.
Honours:
• India celebrates National Science Day on 28
February of every year to commemorate the
discovery of the Raman effect in 1928.
• He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in
1924.
• He was knighted in 1929 for his discovery of
the Raman Effect, becoming Sir
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.
• In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
• In 1941 he was awarded the Franklin Medal.
• In 1954 he was awarded the Bharat Ratna.
• He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in
1957.
• He resigned from the Fellowship of the Royal
Society in 1968 for unrecorded reasons, the
only Indian FRS ever to do so.
• The American Chemical Society and the Indian
Association for the Cultivation of Science in
1998 recognised Raman's discovery as an
International Historic Chemical Landmark.
• Postal stamps featuring Raman were issued in
1971 and 2009.
Har Gobind Khorana
• Har Gobind Khorana was a world renowned
biochemist famous for his work in the field of
genetics and DNA.
• He was the first person to demonstrate the
role of nucleotides in protein synthesis.
• H. G. Khorana was born in Punjab (now part of
eastern Pakistan) in January, 1922.
• He studied at the Punjab University in Lahore
where he obtained an M. Sc. degree.
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• In 1945 he was awarded a scholarship by
the Government of India to study at the
University of Liverpool.
• He went to England where he worked for a
Ph.D degree at the University of Liverpool
under the supervision of Roger J.S. Beer.
• He earned his Ph.D in 1948.
• By 1949, he obtained a fellowship to work
with Dr. G. W. Kenner and Professor A. R.
Todd where his interest in both proteins
and nucleic acids took root.
• In 1952, he got a job offer from Dr. Gordon
M. Shrum of British Columbia and he went
to Vancouver.
• With Dr. Shrum’s inspiration, encouragement
and scientific counsel from Dr. Jack Campbell
of the University of British Columbia,
Khurana in a group began to work in the
field of biologically interesting phosphate
esters and nucleic acids.
• In 1960, he moved to the Institute for Enzyme
Research at the University of Wisconsin and
then became a naturalized citizen of the
United States.
• He became the Professor of Biology and
Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in 1970 and remained
there until his retirement in 2007.
His works:
During the 1960s he delved deeper into his
experiments in nucleic acids found in RNA, a
chemical that translates the genetic information
contained in DNA. RNA is composed of four
chemical bases represented by the letters A, C, U, and
G.
Using chemical synthesis to combine the chemical
bases, Khorana deduced that the code for amino acid
serine was UCU and that for leucine was CUC. He
showed that the genetic code consists of 64
distinct three-letter words.
Biochemist Marshall W. Nirenberg had
independently been working on genetics and Khorana
confirmed the former’s findings that four different
types of nucleotides are arranged on the spiral
staircase of the DNA molecule.
He proved that the nucleotide code is transmitted in
groups of three, called codons to the cells. Some
codons are responsible for signaling to the cells to
start or stop the manufacture of proteins.
He was successful in constructing the first ever
artificial gene in 1972. A few years later he made the
artificial gene function in a bacteria cell.
During his later years he experimented on the
molecular mechanisms underlying the cell signaling
pathways of vision in vertebrates. He primarily
studied the structure and function of Rhodopsin, a
light sensitive protein found in the eye.
Honours:
- He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 1968 "for the interpretation of
the genetic code and its function in protein
synthesis”.
- He shared the Prize with Marshall W.
Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley for
research that showed how the order of
nucleotides in nucleic acids which carry
the genetic code of the cell, control the
cell’s synthesis of proteins.
- Khorana and Nirenberg were also awarded
the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from
Columbia University in the same year.
- The Khorana Program was founded in his
honor in 2007 by the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, the Government of India,
and the Indo-US Science and Technology
Forum, with the mission to build a community
of scientists, industrialists, and social
entrepreneurs in the US and India.
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ENVIRONMENT & DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Swachch Survekshan 2020
Manifest pedagogy:
The achievements under various initiatives such as smart city, swachch bharat etc zero down to a broader
aspect of ease of living, healthy life and socio economic development in the country. The rankings not only
encourage greater sense of responsibility and participation but also motivate u to try harder towards
fulfillment of these goals.
In news:
- Swachh Survekshan 2020, has commenced from 4th January, 2020 across India.
Placing it in syllabus:
- Swachh Bharat mission (SBM)
Static dimensions:
- SBM and rankings
Current dimensions:
- Survekshan 2019, 2020
Content:
Swachh Bharat mission(SBM):
• Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India
mission) was launched on 2nd October
2014 to honor Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of a
Clean country.
• The major objectives of Swachh Bharat
include eliminating open defecation
through the construction of household-
owned and community-owned toilets and
establishing an accountable mechanism of
monitoring toilet use.
• It aims to achieve an "open-defecation free"
(ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th
birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by
constructing 100 million toilets in rural
India at a projected cost of ₹1.96 lakh crore.
• The mission also contributes to India
reaching Sustainable Development Goal 6
(SDG 6).
• The action plan for SBM is laid by the
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
(now Ministry of Jalshakti).
At the core of this mission lie six components:
- Individual household toilets;
- Community toilets;
- Public toilets;
- Municipal Solid Waste Management;
- Information and Educating Communication
(IEC) and Public Awareness;
- Capacity Building
The Urban Clean India mission seeks to eradicate
open defecation, convert insanitary toilets to flush
toilets, eradicate manual scavenging and facilitate
solid waste management.
The Rural mission, known as Swachh Bharat
Gramin, aims to make Village Panchayats open
defecation free by October 2, 2019. It aims to
provide all rural households with individual
latrines and build cluster and community toilets on
public-private partnership mode.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has in its
report stated that at least 180,000 diarrhoeal
deaths were averted in rural India since the launch
of SBM. According to a National Statistical Office
(NSO) survey, 71% of rural households had access
to toilets as of 2018.
Rankings:
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban affairs
(MoHUA) and the Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB) of India, annually published
National City Rating under the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan scheme based on
cleanliness index.
• The rating includes around 500 cities,
covering 72 percent of the urban population
in India.
• Until 2017, India was divided into five
zones for the purpose of this survey and
each city was scored on 19 indicators.
• From 2017-18 survey, the parameters of
assessment were modified and cities are
categorised based on population into
metropolis, large, medium, and small cities.
• The latest ranking of 2019 by SBM has been
released and Indore is declared the cleanest
city in India for a third time.
Swacch Survekshan 2019 (SS2019):
• Swachh Survekshan is a ranking exercise
taken up by the Government of India to
assess rural and urban areas for their levels
of cleanliness and active implementation of
SBM initiatives.
• Swachh Survekshan conducted since 2016,
is the world’s largest urban sanitation and
cleanliness survey.
• The surveys are carried out by Quality
Council of India.
• The primary goal of Swachh Survekshans is
to encourage large scale citizen
participation and create awareness
amongst all sections of society about the
importance of working together towards
making towns and cities better places to
reside in.
• The Ministry of Urban Development,
Government of India takes up the Swachh
Survekshan in urban areas and the Ministry
of Drinking Water and Sanitation in rural
areas.
• SS 2019 covered 4,237 cities in a record
time of 28 days, in a completely paperless,
digital format for data collection.
• Indore has been awarded the cleanest city
in the country in the SS 2019 awards while
Bhopal has been declared as the cleanest
capital.
- Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh was awarded
the second India's Cleanest City overall and
became a role model for other towns in the
state, followed by Mysuru of Karnataka as
the third cleanest city.
- Ahmedabad was named as the Cleanest Big
City (more than 10 lakh population).
- Ujjain bagged the award for being the
Cleanest Medium City (3 lakh to 10 lakh
population).
- The New Delhi Municipal Council area was
given the 'Cleanest Small City' Award.
- Uttarakhand's Gauchar was bestowed as the
'Best Ganga Town' in the cleanliness survey.
- Chhattisgarh emerged as India’s top
performer among states, followed by
Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
Swacch Survekshan 2020:
• SS League 2020 results have been
announced.
• The objective is to sustain the onground
performance of cities along with continuous
monitoring of service level performance in
cleanliness.
• SS League 2020 has been conducted in 3
quarters: April- June, July – September and
October- December 2019.
• It has 2000 marks for each quarter
evaluated on the basis of monthly updation
of SBM-U online MIS by cities along with
citizen’s validation on the 12 service level
progress indicators.
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• Ranks have been assigned into two
categories, namely, cities with a population
of one lakh and above (with two sub-
categories of 1-10 lakh and 10 lakhs and
above) and cities with a population of less
than 1 lakh.
• The performance of cities in SS League 2020
is crucial to their ranking in Swachh
Survekshan 2020 as 25% weightage of the
quarterly assessments will be included in it.
SS 2020:
• Under SS 2020, cities will be ranked out of
the total of 6,000 marks as opposed to
5,000 marks in SS 2019.
• The data will be collected from five different
sources –
- citizen feedback,
- direct observation,
- service level progress,
- certification for garbage and open
defecation free (ODF), ODF plus and ODF
plus plus cities
- the average score of SS league 2020.
The new entrant in the marksheet is the SS league
2020.
• 25 percent weightage that is 1500 marks
have been allotted to citizens’ feedback.
• 1500 marks are in the hands of the
independent agency visiting the city and
making crucial observations on the ground.
• Under service level progress, all the cities
will be evaluated on various parameters
like
– Collection and transportation of municipal solid
waste
– Processing and disposal of municipal solid waste
– Sustainable sanitation
– IEC (Information, Education and Communication)
– Capacity building
– Innovation and best practices
– By-laws
• Under certification introduced by the
MoHUA, 500 marks have been allotted to
the cities that have successfully achieved
ODF, ODF plus, and ODF plus plus status.
• 1000 marks have been allotted to ‘star
rating’ achieved by garbage-free cities as
per the protocol released by MoHUA.
• The star rating protocol is based on 12
parameters and follows a SMART
framework – Single metric, Measurable,
Achievable, Rigorous verification
mechanism and Targeted towards
outcomes.
• Cities are rated as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 star
based on their compliance with the protocol
conditions specified for each of the rating.
• While cities can self-declare themselves 1, 2,
or 4 starred cities, MoHUA will give 3, 4, or
7 star rating only after a verification done
by an independent third party.
Mains: 1) What is the Swacch Sarvekshan (SS) league,
2020? How are cities ranked under SS
2020?
INTERNAL SECURITY & DEFENCE
Chief of defence staff (CDS) In news
- The government has appointed General Bipin Rawat as country's first chief of defence staff (CDS).
Content:
• The CDS will act as the Principal Military
Adviser to the defence minister on tri-services
matters.
• The CDS was one of the 99 recommendations
made by Lt. Gen. (retd.) D.B. Shekatkar
Committee, which submitted its report in
December 2016.
• The Army, Navy and IAF chiefs will have
operational command of their forces.
• He is the single-point military adviser to the
government.
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• CDS is a four-star general like the three
chiefs, the CDS will be the 'first among
equals’ in the hierarchy.
• CDS would come in the ambit of RTI Act,
2005.
• The government has amended rules putting
the maximum age limit of 65 years for the
CDS by making changes in the Army Rules,
1954.
Role and responsibilities of CDS
• The broad mandate of the CDS includes
bringing about jointness in “operations,
logistics, transport, training, support services,
communications, repairs and maintenance of
the three Services”.
• CDS has been assigned the task of integrating
different assets and resources of the armed
forces.
• The CDS would not exercise any military
command including over the three Service
Chiefs.
• In his capacity as the Permanent Chairman,
COSC (Chiefs of Staff Committee), the CDS
would administer tri-Services organisations,
special operations, cyber and space.
• Special Operations Division, headquartered
in Agra, will be headed by the Army.
• The Defence Cyber Agency (DCA), based in
Delhi, will be headed by the Navy.
• Defence Space Agency, based in Bengaluru,
headed by the Indian Air Force.
• The CDS will also head the Department of
Military Affairs (DMA) within the Ministry of
Defence (MoD) and function as its Secretary.
• The CDS will be a member of the Defence
Acquisition Council chaired by the Defence
Minister and Defence Planning Committee
chaired by the National Security Adviser
(NSA).
• The CDS will be a member (Military Adviser)
of Prime Minister-led Nuclear Command
Authority which looks after nuclear weapons
of the country
Department of Military Affairs (DMA
• A Department of Military Affairs has been
created in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
• It will be the fifth department in the MoD.
• The existing ones are the Department of
Defence, the Department of Defence
Production, the Department of Defence
Research and Development and the
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
• The DMA would deal with
- the armed forces;
- the integrated headquarters of the MoD,
comprising the Army, Naval and Air;
- defence staff headquarters;
- the Territorial Army and
- works relating to the three Services and
procurement exclusive to them except capital
acquisitions.
• The DMA’s mandate includes promoting
jointness in procurement, training and staffing
for the Services, facilitating restructuring of
the military commands for optimal utilisation
of resources and promoting the use of
indigenous equipment.
Note: At present, India has 17 single-service
commands and only two tri-Service commands -
Andaman and Nicobar Command, a theatre or
regional command, and the Strategic Forces
Command, which handles the nuclear weapons.
Apart from being much more cost-effective, theatre
commands are required for the conduct of
synergized land-air-sea operations with unity of
command in modern-day warfare. PM Modi in his
speech on Kargil Vijay Diwas, 2019 had stressed on
“jointness” and had called for a connect among three
Services in terms of “action and system.”
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Hence CDS is expected to inject much-needed
synergy in planning, procurements, training and
logistics among the Army, Navy and IAF. It helps in
inter-Service prioritization to systematically build
the country’s military capabilities within budgetary
constraints.
Mains:
1) Explain the importance of newly created Chief
of Defense Staff (CDS) in bringing synergy
among tri-services.
ETHICS & INTEGRITY
Good Governance Index
Manifest pedagogy:
Good Governance and its impact on socio economic development is far and wide. The need for better
governance sets apart institutions which are lasting, able to get on with development at the grassroots and
inclusive at the same time.
In news:
- ‘Good Governance Index’ was launched by the government on the occasion of ‘Good Governance Day’
(December 25th).
Placing it in syllabus:
- Good governance
Static dimensions:
- Good governance
Current dimensions:
- Good governance Index
- Reforms in Railway board
- Governance reforms in India
Content:
Good governance:
• Governance is the process of decision-
making and the process by which decisions
are implemented (or not implemented).
• Government is one of the actors in
governance.
• Other actors involved in governance vary
from landlords, associations of peasant
farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research
institutes, religious leaders to media,
lobbyists, international donors,
multinational corporations, etc…
• All the related actors play a major role in
decision- making or in influencing the
decision-making process.
Good governance assures that corruption is
minimized, the views of minorities are taken into
account and that the voices of the most vulnerable
in society are heard in decision-making. It has 8
major characteristics.
• Participation: Participation by both men
and women is a key cornerstone of good
governance. Participation could be either
direct or through legitimate intermediate
institutions or representatives.
• Rule of law: Good governance requires fair
legal frameworks that are enforced
impartially.
• Transparency: The decisions taken and
their enforcement are done in a manner
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that follows rules and regulations. It also
means that information is freely available
and directly accessible to those who will be
affected by such decisions and their
enforcement.
• Responsiveness: Good governance
requires that institutions and processes try
to serve all stakeholders within a
reasonable time frame.
• Consensus oriented: Good governance
requires mediation of the different interests
in society to reach a broad consensus which
is in the best interest of the whole
community.
• Equity and inclusiveness: A society’s well
being depends on ensuring that all its
members (especially vulnerable) feel that
they have a stake in it and do not feel
excluded from the mainstream of society.
• Effectiveness and efficiency: The
processes and institutions produce results
that meet the needs of society while making
the sustainable use of resources at their
disposal.
• Accountability: The governmental
institutions, private sector and civil society
organizations must be accountable to the
public and to their institutional
stakeholders.
India is ranked 111 in World Bank’s Global
Governance Indicators (GGI) in 2016.
Good Governance Index (GGI):
• It is a uniform tool across States to assess
the Status of Governance and impact of
various interventions taken up by the State
Government and UTs.
• It was released on the Good Governance
Day which is observed on the birth
anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Objectives of GGI:
• To provide quantifiable data to compare the
state of governance in all states and UTs.
• Enabling the states and UTs to formulate
and implement suitable strategies for
improving governance.
• Encouraging states to shift to result
oriented approaches and administration.
Criteria followed while selecting indicators:
• Easy to understand and calculate,
• Citizen-centric and result driven,
• Leading to improved results,
• Uniformly applicable to all states and UTs.
In total 50 indicators are used to measure the
following 10 governance sectors:
1) Agriculture and Allied Sectors
2) Commerce & Industries
3) Human Resource Development
4) Public Health
5) Public Infrastructure & Utilities
6) Economic Governance
7) Social Welfare and Development,l
8) Judicial and Public Security
9) Environment
10) Citizen centric governance
The states and UTs are divided into three groups:
• Big States
• North-East and Hill states
• UTs
Though the states and UTs are ranked on all
indicators separately, composite ranking is also
calculated for these states and UTs under their
respective groups based upon these indicators.
Findings of the report:
• Top performers among the big states are
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• The bottom three states are Odisha, Bihar,
Goa.
• Among the North-East and Hill states top
performers are Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Tripura.
• The bottom three states are Meghalaya,
Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Among the UTs, Pondicherry is top
performer followed by Chandigarh and
Delhi.
• Lakshadweep is at the bottom among the
UTs.
Sector-wise ranking:
Environment sector:
Top three states - West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
Bottom three states - Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Goa
Judicial and public security ranking:
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chattisgarh are at the top of the
chart.
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Public Infrastructure:
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab topped the chart.
Economic governance:
Karnataka is at the top under this category.
Health:
Kerala is at the top under this category.
Commerce and industries:
Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana topped the
chart.
Reforms in Railway board:
• The Union Cabinet has approved the
downsizing of the strength of the Railway
Board from eight to five, including the
chairman, who will be the chief executive
officer (CEO).
• There will be four other members, in charge
of infrastructure, rolling stock, finance and
operations, and business development.
• There will be some “outside talent",
independent members, comprising experts
helping the Board to set a “strategic
direction".
• The Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS)
will be renamed the Indian Railway Health
Service (IRHS).
• Eight ‘Group A’ services will be merged into
one central service called the Indian
Railway Management Service (IRMS).
Impact of reforms:
- It will ensure end of departmentalism and
promote smooth operations and expedite
decision-making.
- It will lead to end of turf wars among the
different cadres and departments which
was harming railway operations.
- Restructuring has set the path for Indian
Railways to be a unified organisation that
will work single-mindedly.
- This will end the culture of working in ‘silos’
and mark the beginning of a new and
unified railway with a coherent vision for
the future.
- Unification of services will streamline
operations and provide flexibility in how
they deploy people.
Governance reforms in India:
The government had set up 10 Sectoral Groups of
Secretaries (SGoS) in June, 2019 and had tasked
them with finalising the 100-agenda and five-year
vision documents of ministries and departments.
Some of the recommendations that are readying to
submit to the council of ministers include:
• Lateral entry of private sector experts in
central government services at director and
deputy secretary level,
• “Horizontal entry” or free movement of
officials in CPSUs instead of restricting it at
board level,
• Merging of boards of CPSUs ( in line with
the Jawahar Wattal committee
recommendations) by March 30, 2020,
• Creation of an All India Judicial Service,
• A new modern and technology backed
legislation on emigration,
• Pre-departure orientation training for more
than 500,000 Indian emigrant workers,
• Bharat Drive on the lines of the Google
Drive,
• Dedicated central prabharis or in-charges
for the Northeast,
• Convergence of more ministries (as in the
case of Jal Shakti ministry which was
formed by merging Water resources, River
development and Ganga rejuvenation
ministry, and Drinking water and sanitation
ministry),
• 10 mega social sector campaigns,
• Scaling up of Ayushman Bharat to open up
the national health insurance scheme to
every citizen.