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PREFACE

With the present shift in examination pattern of UPSC Civil Services Examination, ‘General
Studies – II and General Studies III’ can safely be replaced with ‘Current Affairs’. Moreover,
following the recent trend of UPSC, almost all the questions are issue-based rather than
news-based. Therefore, the right approach to preparation is to prepare issues, rather than
just reading news.

Taking this into account, our website www.iasbaba.com will cover current affairs focusing
more on ‘issues’ on a daily basis. This will help you pick up relevant news items of the day
from various national dailies such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Business Standard, LiveMint,
Business Line and other important Online sources. Over time, some of these news items will
become important issues.

UPSC has the knack of picking such issues and asking general opinion based questions.
Answering such questions will require general awareness and an overall understanding of
the issue. Therefore, we intend to create the right understanding among aspirants – ‘How to
cover these issues?

This is the Seventh edition of IASbaba’s Monthly Magazine. This edition covers all important
issues that were in news in the month of December 2015

Value add’s from IASbaba- Must Read and Connecting the dots.

‘Must Read’ section, will give you important links to be read from exam perspective. This
will make sure that, you don’t miss out on any important news/editorials from various
newspapers on daily basis.

Under each news article, ‘Connecting the dots’ facilitates your thinking to connect and
ponder over various aspects of an issue. Basically, it helps you in understanding an issue
from multi-dimensional view-point. You will understand its importance while giving Mains
or Interview.

“ We create our own Luck… Nothing great ever came that easy”

All the Best 

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INDEX

IMPORTANT ARTICLES (Pages: 5-14)

 Climate change and Agriculture

 Toxic Pesticides
 Leprosy & Social Stigma
 Supercomputing and India

NATIONAL (Pages: 15-77)

 Juvenile Justice in India: Rehabilitating Indian Juveniles

 Need for more Public Officials
 Tobacco and Pollution: Can we afford to breathe easy?
 Constitution day and the question of basic human rights
 Is India actually free of polio?
 Right to Education (RTE) Act: Issues and Challenges
 Significance of Palliative Care
 Disaster Management, Urbanization Issues and Governance – The Chennai Disaster
 Fundamental Duties—What the Citizens must do
 Disability Law & the Invisible People
 Villages — the bigger, the better
 Human Development Index (HDI)
 Retrograde step taken in the history of Panchayati Raj: Education qualification for
candidates contesting Panchayat polls
 Agriculture: What about ease of doing farming?
 Women Issues: India’s Daughters- Ashamed and Angry
 FIR and its Constituents
 Misdiagnosis of the Rajya Sabha malfunction: Legislative productivity vis-à-vis legislative
dissent
 How to fast forward the backward states?
 Inland waterways policy: Dredging through the silt
 UNDP & NITI- Good Practices
 Delhi’s traffic experiment – Will this reduce the Emission Levels?
 Is ‘Make in India’ is a mere slogan?

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INTERNATIONAL (Pages: 78-91)

 India-Bangladesh: Through Bangladesh, a development shortcut for Northeast India

 OPEC & the present Global Order
 INDIA-JAPAN TIES
 India Russia ties: New energy in old friendship

ECONOMICS (Pages: 92-123)

 Poverty in India: Methodology, Issues, Causes and Impact

 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy in India: Issues & Challenges
 How to fix Public Private Partnership (PPP) financing?
 Animal husbandry and Indian Economy
 Why high-speed rail is viable?
 Non-performing assets and recent steps to clean them up
 Recent Fed hike and its impact on the Global and Indian Economy
 Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations
 Post-Nairobi : WTO- Doha Development Agenda
 Working through the bankruptcy maze

ENVIRONMENT (Pages: 124-138)

 Global action against climate change

 Post Paris Summit: Roadmap of India— Climate Change
 Women and Climate Change
 Green Political Interest-Future Prospects

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / SECURITY (Pages: 139-154)

 Google and the Indian projects

 Nothing free or basic about ‘Free Basics’ (Facebook’s initiative)
 Raising “voice through internet connectivity HER”
 Roadmap: India’s policing & Intelligence Agencies
 India’s Military Prowess: Navies are for more than just fighting

MUST READ (Pages: 155-189)

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IMPORTANT ARTICLES

Climate change and Agriculture

With several climatic issues and other challenges facing Indian agriculture, stringent reforms
are need of the time. This is in the backdrop of phenomenon like El-Nino, constant floods,
cyclones and droughts etc. Under paper 3, issues and problems of agriculture, it is important
to cover this dimension.

 Indian farmers and agriculture is beset with many structural, legal, cultural,
economical and political issues. But above all recent climate change has affected it
much more adversely.
 India, one of the largest agrarian economies in the world, is deeply at risk from
climate change, and could see economic losses of up to 8.7% of its gross domestic
product (GDP) by 2100 if the world fails to respond to a host of climate threats, says
a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) climate and economics report for South Asia.
 With glacial and snow retreat in the Himalayas, many of the semi-arid mountains,
inhabited by some 170 million people, will lose some of their local springs and
streams, essential to villages and livestock grazing, while higher temperatures and
prolonged droughts will put immense strain on limited water resources and increase
competition between the agriculture and energy sectors. Currently irrigation water
accounts for 85% of total water demand and this is expected to keep rising.
 Farming has become even more complex with the drastic change in the weather
patterns. In between the cycle of floods and droughts has also come the El Nino
effect that has created havoc to the cropping pattern.
 Normal sowing cycle has been disrupted due to delayed arrival of monsoon. A more
worrisome feature under these circumstances is that farmers tend to switch crops in
order to survive the season, thus disturbing the balance.
 Another reason to worry is the uneven rainfall distribution.
 The challenges that farmers face today is best put in the words- Less land, less time,
more productivity. To get more production, unscientific measures are adopted like
exploitation of ground water in northern plain thus depleting the ground water
resource.

What needs to be done?

 To combat the changing weather patterns, farmers need to grow crops in a shorter
period. There are many examples in rice hybrids that have reduced the harvesting
cycle from 90-100 days to around 80-85 days with good yield and plant stand.

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 With the advent of the private sector, there has been an assortment of hybrids that
can withstand climate changes and grow throughout the year in sub-tropical or
temperate conditions.
 There are vegetable hybrids such as cauliflower, capsicum, hot pepper, tomato,
sweet corn that can either withstand various stresses or extreme climate conditions
and have reduced the growing cycle by almost 10-15 days. Advancements in
research have enabled a fruit like watermelon to be grown in all seasons.
 Many innovative water-efficient technologies, drought-tolerant seeds, crop
protection products and optimized irrigation systems are available today. There are
corn hybrids that use moisture more efficiently to give higher yields on drought-
stressed land.
 There are herbicides that reduce the need for ploughing and improving soil’s ability
to absorb water, protecting it against erosion and water run-off. It is important to
look at biotechnology also in this context.
 The GM technology, while introduced in crops, helps fight the various stresses that
affect growth and addresses them. The herbicide tolerant technology addresses
weeds that compete with the plant for sunlight, nutrients and water. The GM
technology addresses pests that affect plant productivity. There are others that
address various climatic stresses like moisture, drought etc.
 Several technologies have been developed in the field of water harvesting, resource
conservation technologies, integrated water and nutrient management, micro-
irrigation, integrated farming system models, including agroforestry policy 2014,
efficient cropping systems etc to enhance crop productivity in the country, including
dry land areas.
 New agronomic techniques such as direct and drum sowing of paddy seeds can help
farmers cope with the challenges posed by climate change as well as the water and
labour crunch

Steps by GoI

 The Government has also devised a scheme under National Initiative on Climate
Resilient Agriculture, where about 25,000 farmers have been trained on climate-
resilient agricultural practices/technologies. The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research have also established 638 Krishi Vigyan Kendras in the country for
technology application through assessment, refinement and demonstrations of
technology/products under different agro-ecosystems to facilitate faster adoption of
technologies developed by the National Agricultural Research System.
 Agri festival and interaction with agricultural scientists to gain first-hand knowledge
of new farming technologies- equipment is a good move. The mela will also provide
a chance to businessmen and financial institutions dealing in farm equipment,
fertiliser, pesticides and insecticides, and agricultural sciences to showcase their
products.

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Way ahead

 The need of the hour is to create an environment where the capabilities of the public
and the private sectors can be harnessed to its full potential.
 There is also a need to look at any technology adoption including biotechnology and
nano-technology not just from the point of food security but as a tool that is
essential for the very survival of the farmers.
 We are already faced with the situation where it is becoming difficult to motivate the
existing farmers to continue farming and it is only going to be difficult in future if we
do not equip them with the requisite technologies to break away from the cycle of El
Nino, floods and droughts.
 The public and the private sector need to come together to make available the entire
tool-box from genetics to chemistry and other technologies for the farming
community.

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Toxic Pesticides

India continues to use toxic pesticides like monocrotophos that is banned in developed and
poor nations on health grounds. Pesticide management bill is pending and there is no
regulatory mechanism to check its pervasiveness. The Indian justification goes to secure
food needs for its poor population that outweighs health concerns.

What is the issue?

 Few children were killed for having food under mid day meal that was because of
presence of monocrotophos, a banned pesticide by WHO and FAO.
 Also, excessive use of diclofenac has significantly reduced the number of vultures in
India, a severe concern for environment and ecosystem.
 Further due to lack of regulation, pesticides that are toxic are used in agriculture
business affecting soil health and indirectly spoiling our health.
 To combat this, many non-governmental organizations and individuals put voluntary
efforts but end up affecting themselves by developing skin diseases and irritations
due to lack of scientific awareness about particular pesticide.

Pesticides and management is done in India by?

 Agriculture ministry regulates the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of

pesticides,
 Health and family welfare ministry defines permissible residual limits of pesticides in
food commodities.
 Registration Committee of Central Insecticides Board approves the use of pesticides
and new formulations on crops and also advises central and state governments,
implementation of regulations is done by state governments, etc.
 But despite such systems and rules, the recent tragedy in Bihar, in which some 25
children died after eating pesticide-laced mid-day meal in school, shows there are
flaws in the present system and rules. Analysis shows that present structures and
rules promote the use of pesticides without giving proper consideration to
regulatory measures.
 Increased limits of pesticides above tolerance limits in food commodities, lack of
infrastructure and manpower to check for presence of pesticides, ineffective
implementation of food safety laws, lack of research on permissible levels of
pesticides makes the whole system ineffective.
 Deteriorating Soil Health is a cause of concern for agricultural lands.

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Consider the case of Endosulfan and Diclofenac (vulture case):

 Despite being toxic in nature, India stood against the decision to globally ban
endosulfan owing to pressure from its manufacturing companies as India is one of
the largest producer of endosulfan.
 Excessive use of diclofenac has caused severe decline in number of vultures which is
a catastrophic sign as vultures are significant decomposers and crucial part of food
web.
 To address the above issues, Pesticides Management Bill, 2008 has been placed in
Parliament, which will repeal the Insecticides Act, 1968.
 Increased inspection by pesticides inspectors, no registration of pesticides without
specifying tolerance limits, establishment of Central Pesticides Board, etc are some
of the provisions of the modified bill.
 To make the bill more appropriate, improvements can be made as awareness
generation among farmers of excessive use and side effects, more research on
permissible tolerance levels, strict enforcement of food safety laws etc.
 Integrated Pest Management is another approach to control use of pesticides.
 Implementation of Insecticide Act, 1968
 This act regulates the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of
insecticides with a view to prevent risk to human beings, animals and environment,
to ensure the availability of quality pesticides and bio pesticides to the farmers.
 Farmers are advised to purchase the pesticides from licensed pesticides dealers after
seeking expert advice from extension workers and insist for stamped and signed
Cash Memo with details of the batch number, date of manufacture/ expiry of the
pesticides etc.

Ensuring the Quality Control of Chemical and Bio- Pesticides

 Insecticide Inspectors are notified under Insecticide Act- 1968 by both State and
Central departments to ensure the quality of pesticides and bio-pesticides. So far
Government of India has notified 168 number of Central Insecticides Inspector to
enforce the Insecticide -Act. To ensure that only good quality pesticide is available to
the farmers, 68- State Pesticides Testing Laboratories (SPTLs) and two Regional
Pesticides Testing Laboratories (RPTLs) at Chandigarh and Kanpur and a Central
Insecticides Laboratory (CIL) at Faridabad have been established for the analysis of
pesticides samples.
 Public at large and farmers in particular are made aware of programmes thorough
print and electronic media & also by placing big sized hoardings at prominent places
to educate them about the safe and judicious use of pesticides.

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Leprosy & Social Stigma

To commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s selfless efforts to care for those affected by leprosy,
January 30, the day of his martyrdom, is observed as Anti-Leprosy Day. According to the
World Health Organization, India accounts for 58 per cent of the new leprosy cases in the
world. Also the problem of leprosy is constantly increasing in India. There are medical, social
and legal flaws in the system to address this issue. Thus important under health issues

What is Leprosy?

 Leprosy is the world’s oldest recorded disease. It affects the nervous system,
especially the nerves of the hands, feet and face, and is the leading infectious cause
of permanent disability. It is curable, but left untreated it can cause nerve damage,
loss of feeling, paralysis and blindness.
 It is a disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae, and is not hereditary. It
has an incubation period running up to 10 years before symptoms appear.
 The mode of transmission is still not conclusively proven, although person-to-person
spread via nasal droplets is believed to be the main route. A majority of people
contract it through close long-term contact with an untreated patient. It is not
transmitted by mere touch. Health care workers work for years with leprosy patients
without contracting it.
 Leprosy is not very contagious, and approximately 95 per cent of the people have
natural immunity. The earliest sign is a patch on the skin with loss of sensation. Left
untreated, it can progress to cause disabilities. Irrespective of age, gender and social
class, anyone could be hit.

Discrimination against diseased

 In a recent recommendation of Law Commission, it said “India needs to repeal or

amend urgently laws which discriminate against persons with leprosy, and stop the
official use of the word “leper”
 The Rehabilitation Council of India Act and the Persons with Disabilities Act do not
include all categories of persons with leprosy
 Under several personal laws of all religions, leprosy for more than two years serves
as a legitimate ground for divorce or separation between spouses. Under the State
Beggary Acts, persons with leprosy are put under the same category as those with
mental ailments, and medical examination, arrest and detention of persons affected
by leprosy is allowed.
 The Life Insurance Corporation Act charges higher premium rates from persons with
leprosy. Several State Municipal and Panchayat Raj Acts bar persons with leprosy
from holding or contesting civic posts

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 There are several antiquated, discriminatory provisions in the Indian laws violating
the rights of leprosy affected persons. For instance, in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
(Section 13 (v)), if one party has been suffering from a virulent and incurable form of
leprosy, it becomes one of the grounds for divorce. Similarly, in the Hindu Adoption
and Maintenance Act, 1956, (Section 18 (2) (c)), if a person is suffering from a
virulent form of leprosy, his wife is entitled to live separately from her husband
without forfeiting her claim to maintenance. Many States bar leprosy-affected
individuals from contesting elections

 Despite the disease, caused by bacteria that spreads through air and can lead to
severe deformity, being fully curable now, these laws continue to exist in India. For
one, the ‘Lepers’ Act (1898), which provides for the “exclusion, segregation and
medical treatment of pauper lepers” and for the establishment of “leper asylums,”
remains on the statute books of India, though many States have repealed it.

Challenges and Steps of GoI

 Leprosy caused by Bacteria, is one of the least contagious diseases because of

presence of natural immunity in human body. Nonetheless, despite of being
declared out of public health concerns in India, its majority cases continues to be
appeared in India.
 Government has come up with a number of dedicated policies on leprosy but the
results have not been satisfactory. China, on contrary to its huge population has very
less number of leprosy cases globally.
 The National Leprosy Education Program (NLEP) is the frontrunner of the public
health policies on leprosy. Since early intervention is the key-factor of successful
Leprosy cure, the NLEP emphasis on early detection and complete cure till the
complete eradication of leprosy.
 However, the poor infrastructure and inadequate medical workforce has limited the
impacts of NLEP early intervention strategy.
 Similarly, the decentralization of leprosy services with General Medical Services
(GMS) are very effective on letter, but at the ground level the General Medical
Services (GMS) are highly inadequate and not capable to carry out leprosy programs
in absence of robust supportive framework.
 The government’s efforts to conduct special campaigns and implement action plans
in districts with high burden in 2013 and 2014 have helped. But innovations such as
systematic contact surveys, molecular diagnostics, etc. should be stepped up

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 Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT), the effective drug combination strategy has been very
effective in containing the leprosy cases but the poor availability of combinations at
health centers has helped truly to bring down the leprosy cases in India.
 India has a number of discriminatory laws for leprosy patients. For example: Motor
Vehicle Act of 1939 which restricts leprosy patients from obtaining a driving license
and the Indian Rail Act of 1990 which prohibits leprosy patients from traveling by
train. These laws have serious implications on public participation against leprosy
and need to be repealed as soon as possible.
 Social stigma associated with Leprosy needs to be addressed as stated by Supreme
Court & Law Commission of India.

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Supercomputing and India

PARAM Yuva II supercomputer being ranked 1st in India, 9th in the Asia Pacific Region and
44th in the world among the most power efficient computer systems as per the Green500
List announced at the Supercomputing Conference (SC'2013) in Denver, Colorado, USA. In
this light it is important to discuss the performance and development of supercomputing in
India. Part of scientific developments under IT and Computers-Paper 3

What is a Supercomputer?

 A supercomputer is a computer with great speed and memory. This kind of

computer can do jobs faster than any other computer of its generation. They are
usually thousands of times faster than ordinary personal computers made at that
time. Supercomputers can do arithmetic jobs very fast, so they are used for weather
forecasting, code-breaking, genetic analysis and other jobs that need many
calculations. When new computers of all classes become more powerful, new
ordinary computers are made with powers that only supercomputers had in the
past, while new supercomputers continue to outclass them.
 Compared to USA and China, India’s performance has not been that significant in the
field of supercomputing. While USA and China have build world’s fastest
supercomputers long ago, India has been a late entry in doing so. China's Tianhe-2
supercomputer is the fastest in the world at 33.86 petaFLOPS, or 33.86 quadrillion
floating point operations per second.
 India has always strived to be technologically advanced in all aspects. Building of
supercomputers is no exception. PARAM, PARAMYUVA-2 etc are some of the
examples of supercomputers built by India for various purposes, like -
 Precise weather forecasting, especially in times where frequent occurrence of
natural hazards is devastating.
 Tapping of natural resources, like the KG basin sea fields.
 Designing of complicated drugs.
 Quantum mechanics and modeling etc

Challenges for India

 Indigenization of the technology is a great obstacle. There is no Transfer of

Technology in supercomputers field, as every country is competing against each
other.
 China's Tianhe-2 is the world's most powerful computer. Reaching that level of
performance is very tough for Indian mainframes with present infrastructure.
 C-DAC needs to get better technologies and better resources to compete in this field.

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 Rare earth metals are necessary for building such computers, of whose monopoly is
with the Chinese and Japanese.

Recent developments in this field have indeed been significant

 ParamYuva-2 has won the green award this year. This shows India's potential as a
manufacturer of complex equipment.
 Supercomputers are used as a “means” to get other “ends” like Disaster
Management. The race about the highest number of teraflops is not really necessary
for India as long as it satisfies its requirements.
 One significant development is that progressively more supercomputers from India
are making it to the top 500 list, recovering from a situation in November 2011
where only a couple of its machines had figured in it.
 Another development is that the number of Indian cities having supercomputers has
been increasing in recent years.

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NATIONAL

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States
and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections;
Governance Issues

Juvenile Justice in India: Rehabilitating Indian Juveniles

Nature of Juvenile Justice in India

 Due to the sensitive nature

of crimes, circumstances,
neither names nor any
information regarding the
identity of juveniles is
supposed to be made
public by police, courts or
other bodies like the media
 Juveniles are apprehended
and not arrested by police
in the event of an FIR
 They are sent to
correctional homes for stipulated periods of time which can go up to a maximum
period of 3 years.
 The crimes they have committed in the years prior to adulthood never feature in
their records or police clearance certificates.

Most contentious amendment

 Proposal that the minimum age for a child to be placed in the adult criminal justice
system should be lowered from the current 18 years to 16 years for certain crimes
 Matters will be presented to the Juvenile Justice Board on a case-by-case basis,
which will then decide — based on an assessment of the mental state of the child —
whether the crime was committed with/without an understanding of its
consequences.

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Reasons behind the increase in crimes like rape:

 Poverty leads to no school, and a high drop-out rate

 Broken families and lack of support system
 Biased gender perspective in the mind-set (women’s ‘only’ role)
 Unregulated access to Pornography
 Spending of several hours of the day in the company of adult anti-social elements
and getting inducted into the world of crime
 Lack of nuanced system of registration and recording of cases

In Favour of the Amendment- Why?

 Guidance by the shelter homes is an act which does not guarantee real learning to
the conscience of the guilty, to be responsive towards a different mind-set, notion
and thought processes altogether, at one go
 No proof of deterrence established as they go back into the same setting from where
they had come from
 The loosened grip ignores the intensity and severity of the crime committed on the
pretext of them being juvenile for which another girl pays the price of her life
 Generation gap and technology gap seems to have mixed up enormously and there
exists no veil between the two; ignorance of the maturity and the knowledge
disseminated needs to be taken into account and not the age-old mind-set of a
particular age group largely being innocent. Globalisation has not just crossed
borders, innocence as well has.

Criticism of the Proposed Amendment

Juvenile justice system actually provides an alternative system for trial and punishment of
juveniles in keeping with their age, physical and emotional status.

Social Reasons:

Children act anti-socially or break the rules of law mainly because of neglect, abuse and
poverty and there exists no innate human propensities that transform the child into a
criminal beyond redemption

No Adult Justice System:

 Proofs have been established that transferring children to the adult justice and
prison system does not reduce crime but increases recidivism as it exposes these
children to hardened criminals
 The brain is not completely developed till one is in one’s mid-20s and young adults
are actually more susceptible to peer pressure, and relatively unstable in emotionally
charged situations.

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 Proofs that more rehabilitative juvenile justice systems have repeatedly been found
to lead to lower re-arrest rates than the adult system, and, therefore, result in
lowering overall crime numbers.

National Crime Records Bureau data:

 Indicates that children from the marginalised sections of society will suffer the most
(as over 55 per cent children in the juvenile justice system come from families from
the lowest income bracket) if these amendments get passed
 Manifold impact on a number of young boys in consensual relationships, as they may
face incarceration in the adult prison system if their partner’s parents decide to file a
case against them under the proposed law
 The lack of efforts in ensuring the effective implementation of the envisaged
ecosystem for rehabilitating children through various institutions: Contributor
towards the rise in the crime

Violates India’s mandate and constitutional obligations: United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child

A pragmatic view of the law needs to be taken up and a case-by-case basis needs to be
holistically engrained in the juvenile Justice system

Shelter Homes—

 Development of individual care plan has to be developed for the rehabilitation and
reintegration of the child
 Segregation of the inmates according to age and behavioural pattern
 Upgradation of Security by installing CCTV cameras, perimeter cordon and increasing
the number of watchtowers and other proposed steps
 Inmates with serious behavioural issues need to be given proper attention and
special care
 Psychological support and direction of energy in better way: Family visits and
involvement in extra-curricular activities(dance, yoga, sports)

STATISTICS

National Crime Records Bureau data:

 36.1 per cent of cases against juveniles were pending disposal in courts while seven
per cent cases resulted in acquittals or were disposed of

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 Juveniles apprehended for alleged crimes in 2014 stood at 48,230 (5,000 more than
those apprehended in 2013)
 Total number of cases registered under various sections of the IPC or Special and
Local Laws (SLL): 38,565.
 Number of rape cases registered against juveniles: Approximately 2,000
 Cases of molestation: roughly 1,576
 Cases of causing grievous injury:1,576
 Theft ranked highest: 6,705

States which saw the highest number of juveniles accused of and apprehended for rape in
2014:

 Madhya Pradesh (343),

 Maharashtra (208),
 Uttar Pradesh (176)
 Rajasthan (149)
 Delhi stood at 120
 Registered cases of murder by juveniles was highest: Maharasthra at 121 followed
by Madhya Pradesh at (94)

Connecting the Dots:

 Should the Juvenile Justice Act be amended? Critically examine

 Does the current system serve the purpose of rehabilitation or deterrence against
future crime? Discuss

For more information on ‘Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (Pocso Act)’
related to child abuse, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-30th-october-2015/

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Role of civil services in a democracy

 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Need for more Public Officials

An index called ‘Money’

 A quick dig-up of the whole issue pertaining to the ‘bias’ exhibited by the 7 th Pay
Commission towards Civil Services-would lead us to not only decode the logic behind

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the prevalent corruption in the country but also reach the roots of it; with a full-
proof solution that has been lying ignored, since years.
 As citizens, we do expect that our civil servants work well, day in and day out but
when it comes to the actual accounts of their blood and sweat into the job, we shrug
our shoulders with the mind-set that it’s their job which they have chosen for
themselves.
 This attitude of making them work and still not paying them well- breeds fertile
ground for more opaqueness, less responsibilities shouldered efficiently as well as
more corruption
 There is, additionally, no system of good behaviour being consistently rewarded
which holds the potential to keep the officials on track and corruption at bay.

Widening governance gap

Minimise government to maximise governance:

 Government’s scope of existence must have an upper limit but minimizing

government does not mean minimizing the officials the government recruits.
 India has less number of civil servants-one of the lowest ratios of government
employees to population in the world; running through the Union, State and local
governments
 Vacancy in the Union Govt.: Overall vacancy of around 18 per cent; thus, proving the
fact that the even the sanctioned strength haven’t been filled thereby making the
task of transforming more individuals into public officials difficult.
 Adding strength to the machinery of the government will not only make the
machinery ready to speed up for delivering maximum governance but also, at the
same time, increase the efficiency of the government workings; leading to better
dissemination of the services to the citizens.

World Bank study (in the late 1990s): Salvatore Schiavo-Campo, Giulio de Tommaso and
Amitabha Mukherjee found that less than 1.5 per cent of India’s population was employed
in government, which was behind countries such as Malaysia and Sri Lanka (4.5 per cent)
and China (around 3 per cent). In fact, government employment ratios in the rich and better
governed West are much higher: around 15 per cent in Scandinavian countries and 6-8 per
cent in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Richard Posner: “[perhaps] the relation between a nation’s economy and the percentage of
its public workers is determined by a political and social culture that determines what tasks
are assigned to government, what incentives and constraints are placed on public workers,
and who is attracted to public service. Maybe, with the right combination, public service can
be as economically productive as private enterprise.”

Restructuring Bureaucracy:

2nd ARC Report states the reasons:

 Systemic rigidities and complexities

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 Over-centralization in the policy and management structures

 Hierarchical Structures
 Laxity in decision making
 Over-burdening of the decision –making system inviting delays and lack of efficiency

Synergy between Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) and Pay Commission’s
recommendations needs to be established for a better government and efficient
governance in the country. The better payment prospects can be seen in a bright light only
when the modernisation of the government takes place in the right way and at the right
time (now)

How to Restructure the Bureaucracy?

 Review of the work of the government employees- System of objective evaluation at

various levels
 Emphasize the importance of measuring result
 Highlight the outputs and outcomes rather than inputs and processes -Quantifiable
outcomes
 Fairer opportunity is provided to be considered for appointments
 Fixation of tenure to check arbitrary transfers
 ‘Key result areas’ approach needs to be mainstreamed in performance appraisal
 Role and inter-relationship between the political executive and civil servants needs
to be defined and codified

They will have to be given the new teeth to take up challenging tasks with renewed vigour
which is only possible if competition and fair play is ensured otherwise the same song will
keep on being played, to keep them glued to their actual duties- policy making, policy
implementation and governance.

Case of Civil Service Legislations

Why-

 To establish the core principles, values and characteristics which create the
distinctive culture and ethics of the reformed civil service
 To provide a legal basis for the legislatures in India to express important public
service standards, ethical values and culture they would want in the civil service, and
how these should be implemented.

They are-

 Commitment to the principles enshrined in the Constitution

 Adherence to the highest standards of probity, integrity and conduct
 Commitment to the citizens’ concerns and public good
 Impartiality and objectivity in all public dealings

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 Empathy for the vulnerable sections of society

IASbaba’s Views:

 The government would do well to accept the recommendations and establish a

proper bridge between both the recommendations—clearing the air w.r.t the need,
payment, numbers, and competency, capacity-building in order to restructure the
government machinery to stay abreast with the globalisation, the interdependency
as well as the integration exhibited by the world.
 There is a need to shift to effective governance with a focus on decentralization and
citizen-centricity; without much dependence on rules based approach and creating a
broader management-like framework by developing robust indicators to assess
performance and set a new tune for valuing them.

Connecting the Dots:

 Highlight the weaknesses in the present training system of the Civil Services
Professionals. Suggest a way ahead to sync their knowledge with the demand of
their chosen career
 A World Bank study of six measures of perceived quality of governance affecting per
capita GDP of more than 150 countries concluded that “results show a strong
positive causal relationship from improved governance to better development
outcomes”. Discuss the result bearing ‘Indian Governance’ in mind.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in

various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services
relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
 General Studies 3: Environmental pollution and degradation, Government
Budgeting.

Tobacco and Pollution : Can we afford to breathe easy?

 Today, air pollution has acquired critical dimensions, emerging as a global public
health problem, failing to meet WHO guidelines for safe levels, accounting for 3.7
million deaths in 2012.
 A recent study by Yale and Columbia University ranked India 126th out of 132
countries surveyed on environmental performance and worst air pollution; far below
all BRICS nations

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 From the additional risk of respiratory diseases to various other health problems
(lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, loss of vision,
cataracts, heightened risk of cardiovascular diseases, growth in stress levels as well
as non-communicable diseases, such as high blood pressure), it is identified as a
major environmental health hazard by agencies such as the World Health
Organization (WHO).

Case of Tobacco

Tobacco consumption in the global world today, forms one of the most preventable causes
of morality. Tobacco and its products are made entirely or partly of leaf tobacco as raw
material and all of them contain the highly addictive ingredient, nicotine.

WHO:

 Almost around 6 million people die from tobacco use and exposure to tobacco
smoke
 One death in every six seconds
 22% of the world’s population aged 15+ is smokers

SMOKING CAUSES:

 Cancer of lungs, urinary bladder, throat/oral cavity

 Bronchitis
 Emphysema
 Coronary heart diseases
 Gastric ulcer etc.

The Tobacco Industry:

 Game of ‘Numbers’: Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 revealed a trove of

internal tobacco industry memos, showing that the industry knew that tobacco
caused harm and death, and that tobacco control policies delivered public health
benefits. But the proof was of no use as they were put to fast-track death to protect
the sales and profits of the firms involved.
 Hypocrisy ran wild when tobacco giant Philip Morris established the Council for
Tobacco Research to promote alternative explanations for lung cancer in smokers.

The Impoverishment Debate

Economic Costs:

 Whether impoverishment of the communities outnumbers the impoverishment of

the general public- is a matter to be properly analysed.

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 It is very well established that the economic costs of tobacco-related diseases and
deaths total around $22 billion a year in India alone.
 As a way ahead, the European Union issued clean air regulations that are
economically beneficial: The European Union estimates its clean air policy package
will offer an economic benefit of €40-140bn per year in 2030, and deliver €3bn in
direct economic benefits.

Is it just a make-believe theory?

The tobacco industry claims it helps poor tobacco farmers and workers. But the reality of
the theory behind their upliftment is:

 Often work in degraded conditions,

 Earning mere subsistence wages and
 Susceptible to tobacco-related illness

Therefore, the argument holds not much of the reality as the tobacco giants and big
polluters seek to block international policy when it goes against their interests by hiding
behind the mere revelation of provision of not even an iota of their own income to these
communities and leading them to risk their life for a meagre amount of money.

Tobacco Fiscal Policy in India

 Tax hikes do not match increase in real income

 Multiplicity of tobacco taxes: Makes administration difficult and provides
opportunities for tax avoidance and tax evasion
 Differentials in tax rates on cigarette, bidis and smokeless products provide
consumers flexibility to shift to cheaper products when higher taxes are imposed
 Multiple slabs: Allows manufacturers to keep prices intact despite tax raises thereby
defeating the very purpose of putting up hikes in the first place

Bidi-smokers Value chain:

 Bidi consumers are more responsive to tobacco price increases than cigarette
consumers
 Excise on bidis can be increased by 100 percent of current excise, without any loss of
revenue
 Bidi VAT rates vary greatly across states and rationalization and equalization of bidi
taxes across the states is imperative to minimize adverse health costs and effects

Illegality:

India: World’s fifth largest market for illegal cigarettes (Euromonitor International)

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Do potential solutions exist- IASbaba’s Views

 There is an urgent need to consolidate voices to

 Expose industry tactics,
 Spread the truth about tobacco harm,
 Creating social movements,
 Litigate against industry violations and interference,

 Taxation:
 Tax increases on tobacco products should be indexed to bothconsumer price
indices/inflation and rise in incomes, to reducethe affordability of tobacco
products and to minimize incentives fortobacco users to switch consumption to
lower priced brands orproducts in response to tax increases
 Urgent reforms in removing the multiplicity of tax structure for improved tax
administration and regulation
 Introduce uniform value-added taxes on cigarettes and bidis across states
 Impose a special surcharge on their sales/profits and make them compulsorily
contribute towards cost of treatment of cancer in the public hospitals

 Use of alternative products (water pipes, smokeless tobacco & electronic nicotine
delivery system) are gaining in popularity and should be addressed by introducing
some control or regulation measures
 Crack down of cigarette smuggling
 Behavioural Approach needs to be developed to bring about an opposite trend of
staying away from it

Connecting the Dots:

 Is there a need to incorporate ‘gender’ into tobacco control measures? Discuss

 ‘The future of tobacco control rests on successfully enacting comprehensive tobacco
control measures’. Do you think steps taken by India can serve the purpose presented by
WHO incorporating a larger perspective?

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TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Modern Indian history- personalities

 General Studies 2: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution,
features, significant provisions and basic structure.
 Parliament functioning, conduct of business, powers issues arising out of these.
 Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and
betterment of the vulnerable sections.

Constitution day and the question of basic human rights

 In October 2015, while laying the foundation stone of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Memorial
in Mumbai, the Prime Minister announced that this year onwards, November 26
would be observed as Constitution Day.
 The Constitution Day events will be a part of the year-long nationwide celebrations
to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

Fruitful parliamentary debates on the constitution day:

Indeed on the constitutional day much ground was covered during the parliamentary
debates, including the need to move towards a comprehensive uniform civil code, systemic
corruption, legislative reservations for women, social security and justice in development.

Parliament failure over guaranteeing basic human rights to people

The basic human rights under question?

Articles 17,23 and 24 are considered truly to be the gifts of Ambedkar , which guarantee the
basic human rights to individuals.

Article 17:Abolition of Untouchability- Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any

form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an
offence punishable in accordance with law.

Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour

(1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are
prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in
accordance with law
Article 24: Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc- No child below the age
of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other
hazardous employment.

Article 17:

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Statutory measures taken by government to abolish untouchability and to secure social

justice

1. Protection of civil rights act

2. Prevention of atrocities act
3. Untouchability abolition act
4. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act

No game changer for the “untouchables”:

 However the above laws are not implemented with any firmness.
 Atrocities against “untouchables” continue, and these notably include arson, rape
and gangrape, mass and individual murder, stripping and parading as well as
thousands of unspeakable daily horrors.
 This is not to say that no change has occurred in the past six decades — it has, but at
a very slow pace.
 It now needs to be accelerated, indeed to a point and scale of war against
untouchability in all its forms; only then will a celebration of Constitution Day be
more apt.
Article 24:

The status of child labour:

 Census 2001 figures revealed 1.26 crore working children in the age group of 5-14, as
compared to the total child population of 25.2 crore, approximately 12 lakh children
work in hazardous occupations/ processes.
 Progress seems to have been made, if we take on board the National Sample Survey
Organisation’s 2004-05 data, which estimates the number of working children at
90.75 lakh, and Census 2011, which places the number of working children in the age
group of 5-14 years at 43.53 lakh, however it is not satisfactory.

Parliament failure to make note:

 Significantly, though the above aspects were almost missing in the debate, no
Constitution Day celebrations can be complete without a detailed recall of the
communities of rights-less peoples.
 These call for greater attention, alongside the varied groups of new rights-less
people now created by the forces of globalisation, of which the constantly re-
victimised people of the Bhopal catastrophe are, till today, the first grim reminders.
 The traditionally impoverished groups also include communities of misfortune,
such as people living with disabilities, people of different sexual orientation and
conduct, people declared guilty and under trials etc.

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Way Forward:

 The overall picture on the first constitutional day celebrations were distressing, as
even after six decades of independence, ratio and extent of vulnerable population
still continue to be higher.
 Parliament and the Executive by taking adequate measures should try to visualise
the basic human rights guaranteed to citizens in the constitution.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the contributions of Ambedkar to pre and post independent India.
 What are the basic human rights guaranteed in the Indian constitution? Explain the
measures taken by the government to promote them.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or

Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Is India actually free of polio?

 On November 30, 2015, the day India introduced an Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV) in
its routine immunisation programme, stating that it “will be an important step in
the Polio Endgame Strategy”, a case of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) was
reported from New Delhi.
 India has not reported a single case of polio caused by the wild polio virus (WPV)
since January 2012. It is important to note that it also received a polio-free
certificate from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014, after a nervous two-
year wait to establish that the country can indeed maintain its polio-free status.

A look into the history:

The virus:

Polio is caused by a human enterovirus called the poliovirus. Wild polioviruses are those
that occur naturally.

There are three serotypes of wild poliovirus – type 1, type 2, and type 3 – each with a
slightly different capsid protein.

Vaccination against polio:

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Expanded program in immunization(EPI):

 Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 for first time as Expanded
Programme of Immunization (EPI) which covered immunisation against few diseases
tetanus, measles, polio etc.
 By 1984, it was successful in covering around 40% of all infants, giving 3 doses of
monovalent OPV to each.

Polio vaccine:

Two polio vaccines, are used throughout the world to provide immunity to poliovirus. One
uses inactivated (dead) poliovirus and the other uses attenuated (weakened) poliovirus.

Oral polio vaccine (OPV):

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is an attenuated vaccine.

Types :

1. Monovalent OPV: vaccine against any one of WPV. It can be either type 1 or type 2
or type 3.
2. Bivalent OPV: vaccine against any two of WPV. It can type 1,2 , type 2,3 or type 1,3.
3. Trivalent OPV: vaccine against all three types of WPV.
Universal immunization program (UIP) :

 In 1985, by ending EIP, Universal Immunisation Program (UIP) was launched to

cover all the districts of the country.
 UIP became a part of child survival and safe motherhood program (CSSM) in 1992
and Reproductive and Child Health Program (RCH) in 1997.
 This program led to a significant increase in coverage, up to 95%.
 The number of reported cases of polio also declined from 28,757 during 1987 to
3,265 in 1995.

Polio eradication initiative by world health organisation (WHO), 1988

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national

governments and spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Its goal is to eradicate polio worldwide.

Pulse polio immunisation program:

In 1995, following the Polio Eradication Initiative of World Health Organization (1988), India
launched Pulse Polio Immunisation Program along with Universal Immunisation Program
which aimed at 100% coverage.

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Eradication of type 2 WPV:

In 1999, type 2 WPV was eradicated from India with extensive use of monovalent OPV.
However type 1 and type 3 WPV still prevailed.

2004: Use of monovalent OPV type 1 and monovalent OPV type 3 started as a part of
pulse polio initiative.

WPV type 1 came under control however the type 3 WPV did not come under control.

Introduction of Bivalent OPV, 2009:

 By 2010, WPV type 1 was eradicated and type 3 WPV was showing signs of decrease.
 Finally through sustained effort of government and other stakeholders the last WPV
case reported was on 13, January 2011.
 In 2014 India was awarded polio free country status by WHO.

The new challenge: The case of Vaccine Derived Polio Virus(VDPV)

Between January 2014 and March 2015, India reported four cases from four different
States, of vaccine-derived polio.

VDPV:

Vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) are rare strains of poliovirus that have genetically
mutated from the strain contained in the oral polio vaccine.

Spread of VDPV:

The VDPV is spreading at a faster rate which needs the attention of government.

Need to replace Bivalent OPV with Trivalent OPV and Injectable Polio Virus (IPV):

 Now in the immunization program, government has to replace the OPV with IPV in
order to tackle new strains of VDPV, which the government introduced on November
30,2015.

Connecting the dots:

 Still the fight against polio is not complete in India. Examine the above statement wrt
recent increase in cases of vaccine derived polio virus.
 Critically examine the vaccination strategy adopted by India to fight polio virus over
the years. Do you think there is a need to reconsider the strategy today.
Substantiate.

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TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services

relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Indian Constitution- significant provisions and basic structure.

Right to Education (RTE) Act: Issues and Challenges

Education in India:

Article 45, Indian Constitution:

“The State shall endeavour to provide within a period of 10 years from the commencement
of the Constitution, free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the
age of 14 years”

 National Policy on Education, 1968: First official document which attested Indian
Government’s commitment towards elementary education.

 National Policy on Education, 1986: Further emphasized on its due importance

 Mohini Jain Vs State of Karnataka: SC of India held that right to education is
concomitant to fundamental rights enshrined under Part III of the constitution and
that every citizen has a right to education under the Constitution
 Unnikrishnana, J.P. Vs State of Andhra Pradesh: Supreme Court held that “though
right to education is not stated expressively as a fundamental right, it is implicit in
and flow from the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 and must be construed in
the light of the Directive Principles of the constitution

Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

'Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory’

 This Article 26 (UN recommendation) has been reinforced in the provisions of the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act (2009), which came
into effect in India on 1 April 2010, enshrining in law for the first time the rights of all
Indian children aged between six and 14 years to free and compulsory elementary
education regardless of caste, class, gender, etc.

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Right to Education means:

(a) Every child/ citizen of this country has a right to free education until he/she completes
the age of fourteen years and

(b) After a child / citizen completes 14 years, his/her right to education is circumscribed by
the limits of the economic capacity of the State and its development

No-Detention Policy-

Section 16 of RTE Act8—Prohibits holding back and expulsion of a child from school till the
accomplishment of elementary education

The ‘no-detention’ provision in the RTE Act does not mean that children's learning will not
be assessed but makes provision of continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE)
procedure which will enable the teacher to assess the child’s learning and performance in a
more constructive way.

Controversy: Doing away with the No-detention policy till Class VIII that implies that
children can be held back from entry level- has met strong opposition from the
educationists, NGOs and experts; who have called it “damaging, regressive and counter-
productive” for school education.

Damaging-Giving quality Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) to ensure the child is

ready for the next level has become government’s priority and the Delhi Assembly argued
on the point that the planned changes in teacher training and curriculum are not in place
and can be counter-productive if we go ahead with the policy.

Regressive- It places the blame on the student for not being able to perform while absolving
the school of any blame; clearly depriving the poor children out of the benefits of the
mainstream from point one.

Issues:

 Activities conducted are very mechanical in nature and only aim at keeping children
busy without learning anything substantial

 Children come to these schools to get a free meal only (Period)

 Annual Status for Education Report (ASER) – Rural, 2012:Enrolment levels have
been 96% or more but 58.3% of children enrolled in Class V(government schools
across rural India) cannot even read Class 2 text

 Attitude of teachers:
‘Whether students learn anything or not, they are going to be promoted to the next
class as per the RTE Act. So nothing is in our hands’

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 Perceive passing of examination as a criteria for being promoted to the next

higher class.
 The muddled CCE guidelines and lack of training have caused confusion among
teachers on what their role is

Bhukkal Report:

 No detention has too often been read as “no assessment” or “no relevance of
assessment”, which reduces the significance of any testing that is conducted in the eyes
of all involved- parents, teachers and children
 Lack of a proper metric to measure student performance is compounded by the fact that
the CCE guidelines are badly defined
 Teachers are not equipped or trained to conduct evaluations within the CCE framework
and they do not know how to use the assessments to tailor lessons to student
capabilities
 Reduction in the likelihood of teacher involvement in a child’s learning at the individual
level

Geeta Bhukkal Sub-Committee Report: Given the declining learning outcomes of primary
schoolchildren, the no-detention policy should be implemented in a phased manner that
allows for students to be held back if they are lagging behind

RTE- Major hiccups

After elementary stage:

The long-term consequences of this revolutionary diktat have been left out unanswered.

What will be the fate of children from the weaker sections after they complete their free
elementary education in the elite schools, where the tuition fee would be more than the
annual income of their parents?

Minimum Infrastructure:

 Only recognised institutions with certain minimum infrastructure will impart school
education in the country (within 3 years; sections 18 and 19)
 Minimum Infrastructure:
 Minimum teaching personnel,
 At least one classroom per teacher
 A playground
 Stringent stipulations: Will result in a large number of unrecognised schools as also
aided schools being closed down

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Unrecognised schools—

 It is estimated that out of 12 lakh schools in the country today, almost a fifth are
unrecognised, filling in for the non-existent government schools as the standards in
government schools are dismal
 A comprehensive study of unrecognised schools in Kerala some years ago concluded
that, in general, children received a good education from well-qualified teachers, the
only criticism being that the teachers were not adequately paid.
 RTE Act: Has put all unrecognised institutions, the good and the bad, under threat of
closure

Treatment of the better Government schools:

An Act that claims to strike a blow for equal educational opportunities for all children has no
business to accord preferential treatment to these schools

Teaching quality:

 It is considered as the prime adverse factor affecting the spread of literacy

 More emphasis on physical infrastructure in schools but not on teaching standards
thereby giving little importance to teaching standards
 General statements:
 Central government “shall develop and enforce standards for training a teacher.”
 Ratified “relaxation in the minimum qualification required for appointment as a
teacher” for up to five years

Absolute power to the Education Department and local bodies to make or mar schools:

 Ideal tool for large-scale, systemic corruption

 Culture of school inspectors being “appeased” despite the school doing nothing illegal
 Implication: Large number of undeserving schools getting recognition and a good
number of meritorious schools shutting down.

IASbaba’s Views:

 More needs to be done on the front of creating an enabling and a learning environment
for the child by introducing a major component of experimenting with different methods
of student assessment and after adequately measuring learning progress, providing
remedial classes for those who need them
 Inclusion of more teachers as well as training teachers in the CCE concept, designing
student assessment methods and grouping students by learning levels rather than age
could do more to improve outcomes than promoting students only to set them up for
failure later. Also, teachers should be made understood that ‘pass' ‘fail' options are not a
necessary requirement for learning

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 The need of the hour is higher public investment in school education and a need to forge
partnerships among state, school functionaries, voluntary agencies, parents and other
stakeholders. Concerted efforts are required at all levels and the potential of the RTE
depends a great deal on the advocacy and mobilization campaigns initiated by
government, and the ability of parents and children to understand and exercise their
new role relationships w.r.t the elementary education.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social

Sector or Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Significance of Palliative Care

WHO Definition of Palliative Care:

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families
facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and
relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and
treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

What all does palliative care include?

Palliative care:

 provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;

 affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;
 intends neither to hasten or postpone death;
 integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;
 offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;
 offers a support system to help the family cope during the patients illness and in
their own bereavement;
 uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including
bereavement counselling, if indicated;
 will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness;
 is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that
are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and
includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing
clinical complications

Need for palliative care in India:

 The concept of palliative care is still in nascent stage in India.

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 In India only 20 per cent of patients require end-of-life care. For the rest of them, the
support requirements differ, from emotional to psychological or even rehabilitation.
 The need is a support structure not only for the patient but also for the family after
the death of the patient.

In palliative care, the role of a doctor or [a] physician is minimal, initially, as patients are
battling psychological, emotional and financial disturbances.

The need is a dedicated team of nurses and social workers who will help overcome the
shock of illness of patient in both the patient and their family.

The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 or NDPS Act and palliative
care:

 The Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 or NDPS Act has been
amended several times to include aspects of palliative care.
 The best thing that has happened in the country is the compulsory, single-window
clearance for procurement of drugs.
 A group of six medicines used for pain relief specifically can be purchased only
through the single window clearance.
 In each State, the State drug controller has discretionary powers. This kind of control
has helped in ensuring that the drugs are not only available but are also not misused.
 For decades, morphine was difficult to access even to treat cases of genuine pain.
 However now, registered medical institutions are being given licences to stock a
specific amount of morphine tablets and annual stocks are replenished on written
request from the institution.

Connecting the dots:

 What is palliative care? Explain the need for palliative care in India.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Social issues, urbanization, migration;

 General Studies 2: Governance issues, Municipalities and Municipal Corporations
 General Studies 3: Disaster Management, Floods, El Nino effects, Cyclones etc.

Disaster Management, Urbanization Issues and Governance – The Chennai Disaster

Reasons for the recent Chennai flooding

 A complete absence of urban planning, an inability to ensure effective compliance

with development rules, a lack of enforcement of fire safety mechanisms, and an

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abject failure to provide safe shelter to the homeless are some of the reasons for the
massive devastation in Chennai.
 The city's infrastructure was not built to face a catastrophe of this kind.
 In an effort to modernize towns and citites, transport systems are being constructed
illogically over lands bounding, sometimes on top of canals and rivers etc.
 The Coastal Regulation Zones have been mercilessly broken. Multi-storied buildings
have been constructed on environmentally hazardous lands. Natural drainage
systems have been blocked to enable a development which has become
unsustainable.

What are CRZs?

As per the official CRZ notification under Environment Protection Act, 1986, the coastal
land up to 500m from the High Tide Line (HTL) and a stage of 100m along banks of creeks,
estuaries, backwater and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations, is called the Coastal Regulation
Zone(CRZ).

Read this government website for more information on the regulations of CRZ -
http://envfor.nic.in/legis/crz/crznew.html

Urban infrastructure problems in large cities

 Violations of building rules, absurd constructions made over forbidden land and
purported encroachments made on the river-beds.

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 Metamorphosis from a largely rural country into an urbanising liberal democracy has
led to choking of cities and towns.
 Rampant urban migration is chaotic and managed by a creaky and corrupt state
infrastructure.
 Urbanisation in India has quickened because of the government's failure to boost
agricultural growth and rural economic opportunities.
 The political class sitting on the top of the system shut their eyes to illegal
constructions, unpaved roads and flawed flyovers. The money siphoned off through
corruption is used as their election expenses.

NDMA
 National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is an agency of the Ministry of
Home Affairs whose primary purpose is to coordinate response to natural or man-
made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.
 NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the
Government of India in December 2005. The Prime Minister is the de facto
chairperson of NDMA.
 The agency is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-
practices and coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities
(SDMAs) to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management.

IASBaba's Views:

 Enough economic activity must be generated in the rural sector to slow down the
rampant migration.
 For this, the government must focus on employment generation, improving
agricultural productivity and must reduce intra-regional inequalities.
 Once the unnecessary urbanisation deteriorates, growing cities will be less choked
and then the urban planning needs to be taken care of.
 Environmental rules and regulations to be followed during rampant construction. A
regeneration of lost lakes and aquifers is necessary for the rebirth of the natural
drainage systems.

Some Questions to Ask Ourselves:

 Are the missing drainages and shrinking water-bodies of Chennai a creation of our
corrupt masters?
 Has Chennai's misery been accentuated by the failure of the state to manage its
urbanisation?
 Will the Chennai disaster repeat itself in the coming days for the rest of the country?

Connecting the Dots:

 A link between global warming, climate change and frequent adverse environmental
disasters are inter-related.

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 Greenhouse gases emissions rooted in the aftermath of the industrial revolution can
be the cause for the rampant sociological issues emerged out of intense
geographical hazards and advanced by social issues such as urbanisation and corrupt
state infrastructure.
 A nexus of politicians-bureaucrats-construction companies can be blamed partly for
the devastation in Chennai.
 Critically comment on the need for governmental infrastructure towards disaster
management and resilience.
 Analyze the social phenomena, such as migration, on the effects of urban
deterioration.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution,

features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

 Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.

Fundamental Duties—What the Citizens must do?

 As citizens of independent India, we are fully aware of our guaranteed fundamental

rights exhibiting much significance due to its nature that portrays:
 Reassertion of the oppressed with a rare zeal from the ‘colonial oppression and a
state of absence of basic rights’
 Extension of rights to the domain of freedom of religion as well

 With the much highlighted significance of the fundamental rights of the citizens, the
due importance of ‘what the citizen must know’ or ‘how the citizen must be’ reached
a state of perpetual ignorance wherein the concept of an organized society was
subjected to be viewed only one-dimensionally ad the second dimension highlighting
the citizen’s ‘high sense of duty’ stayed— shadowed.

 Fundamental Duties and Fundamental Rights need to exist together; as in a

democracy like India there should absolutely be no space left for any element of
‘anarchy’ to creep in. They act as a disciplinarian force— reminding citizens of their
commitment and their role as not just a mere spectator but an active citizen in the
realisation of national goals.

Swaran Singh Committee:

This Committee was set up to fulfil the need and the necessity that was felt during the
operation of the internal emergency in the years 1975-1977

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Actions undertaken:

 Acceptance of the recommendations and enactment of 42ndConstitutional Amendment

Act in the year 1976
 Addition of Part IVA to the Constitution consisting of only one Article i.e., Article 51A
specifying ten duties of the citizens

Recommendations Rejected:

 Imposition of penalty or punishment for non-compliance or refusal to observe

mentioned duties
 The law imposing penalty cannot be called in question to any court on the ground of
infringement of any Fundamental Rights
 Duty to pay taxes

Nature of Fundamental Duties: A balanced mix of civic as well as moral duties incorporating
also, our traditional values; forms the core of Fundamental Duties suiting the Indian way of
living

Interventions till date:

 43rd Amendment Act (1977) and the 44th Amendment Act (1978)
 Verma Committee was set up in 1999 to identify the existence of legal provisions for the
implementation of some of the Fundamental Duties
 86th Amendment Act—Duty of every citizen of India to provide opportunities for
education to his/her child/ward between the age of 6-14 (Right to Education)

Note:

 Fundamental Duties are inspired by the Constitution of the erstwhile USSR

 The only democratic country Constitution in the world containing a list of duties of
citizens— Japan
 Fundamental Duties, in India, are confined to citizens only

IASbaba’s Views:

 There are number of schemes that have been implemented and the one’s which are
being implemented; but the crucial gap remains between the expected awareness
amongst the citizens and the ignorance that perpetuates in their consciousness.
 The perspective ‘ekam sat viprabahudhavadanti’ highlighting the fact—‘ultimately there
is one truth, but wise men say it differently’ should form the core of citizen’s duties
 There is a need for increased awareness and this should be taken care of since the
childhood by making the new generation aware of their duties and by also including the
essential aspects in the oaths and pledges.

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 These duties should be made binding, the ‘non-justiciable’ aspect attached with it
should be done away with and legal sanctions should also be established against their
violation.

Connecting the Dots:

 Has the inclusion of Fundamental Duties in the Constitution contributed effectively in

strengthening democracy? Discuss
 Trace the evolution of fundamental duties and put up a defending case upon its
inclusion in the Constitution

TOPIC:

 General Studies 3: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by

the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws,
institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these
vulnerable sections.
 Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs,
various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders; Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or
Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
 General Studies 1: Social empowerment

Disability Law & the Invisible People

 The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Act, 1995, (PWDA) completed two decades of existence and it still
feels like the much needed law needs to be put in place again, ironically.

 The success of any law depends upon the effectiveness with which it brings about
the desired changes and uplifts that section of the society. But the majority of
disabled people are undergoing issues like:

 Delay in availing the entitlements envisaged

 Inaccessible public places,
 Non-accommodative educational institutions
 Lack of employment opportunities for the disabled

UNCRPD: Defines persons with disabilities in Article 1 as being “those who have long-term
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various
barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with
others.”

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UN proclamation in 1981:
Subsequent declaration of Decade for Disabled and the Biwako Millenium Framework of
Actions, to which India is a signatory, is binding on the member countries to protect the
rights, provide equal opportunities and empower persons with disability.

Section 33 of the PWDA:

 Makes it mandatory for the government to provide 3 per cent reservation to the
disabled in public employment

 Calls upon Central and State governments to establish special employment exchanges
to facilitate easy and hassle-free placement for eligible disabled candidates.

But the implementation has been weak owing to the majority of state governments, such as
Bihar, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for the
largest proportion of the disabled, being biased against employing educated disabled
candidates.

Statistics Speak:

Disabled have: 3% quota in govt. job

Reality: Add up to only 0.12%

Out of over 24 lakh employees belonging to group A, B and C, the total number of persons
employed from disabled category was merely 5,014

 140 disabled category people were employed in group A, where total number of
such employees is around 77,000

 Out of around 1.90 lakh employees of group B category, only 712 were from disabled
category
 Representation of disabled people in around 22.60 lakh employees of group C
category was merely 4,162

 Percentage of disabled employees:

 Group A: 0.18 per cent
 Group B: 0.37per cent
 Group C:0.18 per cent

Hurdles in Mainstreaming

No research is undertaken to ascertain the woes of the disabled and no review of the
workings of the PWDA is taken to check the tardy implementation in place

 Lack of effective implementation of the employment provision

 Absence of penal provision for violation of the PWDA
 Lack of awareness on the part of major stakeholders: Public, Disabled and Bureaucracy

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 Marginalisation of women, SCs and STs in rural areas

 Lack of coordination between different government services
 Additional Costs act as a deterrence- Transport, support and other costs associated with
work

 Inflexible working environment-

 Difficulties with physical access to the workplace,
 Getting to and from work,
 Inadequate adjustments
 Adaptations to workplace equipment,
 Inflexible working hours

 Limited opportunities:
 Under-representation in the vocational, education and training systems,
 Limited scope and variety of jobs offered
 Lower possibilities for promotion
 Lower paying jobs
 Lower retention rates

 Guardianship system: Disabled people who have a guardian will have no standing
before the law as their rights will be taken over by the guardian and will be left with no
decision-making abilities.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which India
is a signatory, promotes full legal capacity. Choice of autonomy should be respected and
guardianship does not allow for this

Instead, the govt. should:

o Create support systems at every level

o Sensitise people to rights of the disabled

o Make information available

 Issues with the Bill:

 Failed to address the need for a rights-based statute which is focused on

eliminating barriers and discrimination, and recognizing equality for persons with
disabilities

 Fails to appreciate the articulations of the UNCRPD and instead, responded in a

manner that trivialized the draft law in question

 Change of the name of the Bill from ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill’ to
‘Rights of Persons with Different Abilities or Special Abilities Bill’, brought
discomfort to the community.

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What’s in a name?

First, referring to people as “differently or specially abled” diminishes the actual

experience of persons with disabilities. It suggests that the term “disability” should
be uncomfortable and avoided, and increases the stigma against persons with
disabilities by discouraging discussion about disability and what it means to be
disabled.

Secondly, using the term “differently abled” or “specially abled” is not only
patronizing, it reinforces the idea that there is one way to be human and that
anyone who falls outside of this norm is ‘different’ or ‘special.’

IASbaba’s Views:

 All the provisions under the Bill should be made applicable to the private sector to
enable the provision of education and reservation of jobs for persons with
disabilities

 Though the Bill has ushered in a new wave of advocacy and activism, governments at
the Centre and in states need to focus on how to reach out to persons with
disabilities in rural India. Sufficient financial allocation and strict monitoring of the
PWDA’s implementation can empower the disabled in far-flung areas as well

 Limiting the disabilities to a list shouldn’t be the way ahead and thus, a rights-based
model needs to be worked out and their effective participation should be ensured in
the society

 There is also an urgent need to work upon:

 Establishing a proper surveillance systems for national level registration and

identification system

 Need of systematic and organized community based rehabilitation facilities

to identify and take care of persons with disability

 Develop the evidence based guidelines to provide services for the effective
diagnosis, care, understanding the cause, management, treatment and
prevention of various types of disabilities; along with the need to evaluate
these health systems at the both primary and secondary levels

 Evaluation of the regulation of international and national policies and

guidelines for persons with disability to ensure their correct, effective and
fruitful functioning

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Connecting the Dots:

 Discuss the functions and workings of the Chief Commissioner for persons with
disabilities
 Does Mental Health Care Bill incorporate a rights-based approach? Critically evaluate

For more information on ‘Mental health Policy’ in India, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-11th-12th-october-2015/

TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Population and associated issues, poverty and developmental

issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies; Social empowerment
 General Studies 2: Development processes and the development industry
institutional and other stakeholders; Important aspects of governance,
transparency and accountability
 General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of
resources, growth, development and employment; Inclusive growth and issues
arising from it.

Villages — the bigger, the better

 A clear comprehension of rural development processes is missing in India.

 Available data clearly show residents of large villages are socio-economically
better developed than those of smaller villages, and have higher utilisation of
maternal and child health services.

Average village size in India

 Census 2011 reported that there are as many 6,40,867 villages in India out of which
597,483 are inhabited villages.
 Among them 82,149 villages have a population of less than 200.
 Nearly half the rural population is residing in 115,029 villages with population more
than 2,000 but less than 10,000.

Growing size of villages

 Over the years, the larger villages have rapidly grown in number, and there has been
a decline in the number of small villages in all the States.
 The intra-rural movement of population by village size also indicates an increase in
the population of the large villages.
 Very few people (0.98 per cent) are living in villages with ‘Less than 200’ people.

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Linkage between village size and development

 The provision of basic facilities like how well a village is connected with other areas,
availability of safe drinking water, presence of schools and health centres, among
others, are important for the development of rural areas.
 Naturally, the larger the size of a village, the more cost-effective it will be to provide
it with services.
 Hence, the changes in the distribution of population by village size may be thought
of as beneficial to rural development.

Why larger sized villages do better compared to smaller ones?

1. Population density is an important factor considered by policy makers to design

developmental schemes and in this larger size villages override smaller ones.
2. Larger sized villages are better, in terms of economies of scale, to provide the
facilities like education, drinking water and sanitation etc.

Smaller villages in a state are less likely to be connected by all-weather roads and to have
other facilities like schools and health centres.

 In the process of rural infrastructure development, the connectivity of a village,

through all-weather roads, seems crucial.
 If a village is connected by road, it increases mobility among its populace which in
turn can facilitate a variety of other activities to promote employment.
 In addition, better accessibility will have a beneficial impact on the education and
health of its residents.

Poverty rates and distance from city

 As distance from the nearest town increases, poverty for those villages also
increases as compared to villages which lie in closer proximity to a town.
 Distance can affect poverty through influencing both rural labour demand and
supply.
 More remote rural communities have more inelastic labour supply, which causes
them to have higher poverty when labour demand is weaker, but allows them to
capture more poverty-reducing benefits if they were to have stronger local job
growth.
 Further, distance and travel time to roads are not highly correlated with welfare,
while distance and travel time to urban centres are highly correlated with wealth
indices: welfare decreases rapidly as access to urban centres gets worse.

Way ahead:

 Rural development of a State can be more contingent on how well it formulates the
policies and implements the programmes.
 However, the process of development need not overlook the small villages.

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 It may be better, in terms of economies of scale, to provide the facilities to large

villages, but the government, as a custodian of society, also needs to have an
impartial view towards the well-being of all its citizens irrespective of size.
 Proper attention to the development of small villages will go a long way in narrowing
the existing inequalities in rural areas.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the various rural development strategies adopted by the

government since independence.

TOPIC:

General Studies 1: Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated
issues, poverty and developmental issues; Social empowerment

General Studies 2:

 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues
arising out of their design and implementation.
 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services relating
to Health, Education, Human Resources.
 Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

Human Development Index (HDI)

 HDI is a composite index meant to compare the well-being of people across

countries and was first introduced by the UNDP in 1990.
 It is calculated as the geometric mean of three indicators: life expectancy, education
and national income and uses this to create an overall score between 0 and 1.

 HDI combines:
 Life Expectancy Index:
Average life expectancy compared to a global expected life expectancy
Risen from 64.5 years (in 2005) to 68 years in 2014

 Education Index:
 Mean years of schooling measures access to knowledge; increased from 4.8
to 5.4 over the same period
 Expected years of schooling measures access to learning and knowledge;
stagnant at 11.7 years since 2011

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 Income Index (GNI at PPP; Std. of living)

The 2015 human development report has made use of new data released by the United
Nations Population Division in ‘The 2015 World Population Prospect’, which has led to
changes in life expectancy estimates. These revisions have impacted countries HDI values,
and thus their rankings.

HDI & India

2014: India ranked 130 of 188 countries, up marginally from 135 in 2013

Highest inequality in outcomes: Education

Wide-level appreciation: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme

(MGNREGA : Don’t dismantle, Reform-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-13th-november-2015/

Inequality pulls back India—India, as the average annual improvement in India's human
development index score in the last five years (2010-14) has slowed down markedly to 0.97
per cent, from the 1.67 per cent achieved in the earlier decade (2000-2010)

4% of its GDP only: Provision of ‘a basic and modest set of social security guarantees for all
citizens with—

 Universal pension
 Basic health care
 Child benefits
 Employment & Schemes related

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Report:
 Overall level of unemployment is lower
 Quality of employment (vulnerability) is poorer

Gender Inequality Index-GII:

India fares poorly in 2014, standing 130th among 155 countries

GII is based on

 Reproductive health (measured by maternal mortality and adolescent birth rates),

 Empowerment (measured by the share of parliamentary seats held by women and
attainment in secondary and higher education by each gender),
 Economic activity (measured by the labour market participation rate for women and
men)

Highlights:

 Global drop in the workforce participation rates for women, driven largely by
declines in the last decade in India and China(declined from 35% in 1990 to 27% in
2013compared to 79.9% for men
 Lesser income than men
 Less likely than men to be in leadership positions (Eg: 12.2 per cent of Parliament
seats are held by females
 Average adult man in India gets twice as many years of schooling as the average
adult woman (only 27 per cent of adult women have achieved education up to at
least the secondary level)
 Maternal mortality rate (MMR), or the number of deaths/100,000 live births: 190;
For every 1,00,000 live births, 190 women die from pregnancy related causes; and
the adolescent birth rate is 32.8 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19

Multidimensional Poverty Index:

 Identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in education, health and living
standards
 Over half (55.3 per cent) of India’s population is multi-dimensionally poor, while a
further 18 per cent are close to this line

IASbaba’s Views:

 There is an increasing need to forge a new social contract between governments,

society, and the private sector to ensure that all members of society have their needs
taken into account in policy formulation

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 A global deal need to be facilitated among governments to guarantee workers’ rights

and benefits around the world and a decent work agenda, that will help promote
freedom of association, equity, security, and human dignity in work can be formulated

Note:

Published By: UNDP;

Headquarter: New York

Formulated By:

 Indian Economist Amartya Sen

 Pakistani Economist MahbubulHaq

Connecting the Dots:

 What are the political and economic reasons behind the persistence of gender
inequality in Indian society? Comment

TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to
the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and
challenges therein;
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues
arising out of their design and implementation; Governance issues

Retrograde step taken in the history of Panchayati Raj: Education qualification for
candidates contesting Panchayat polls

 The Supreme Court approval of the Haryana government’s decision to prescribe

educational qualifications for candidates contesting panchayat polls is the most
retrograde step taken in the history of panchayat raj.

Haryana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Act 2015

Prescribed educational qualification:

 Minimum matriculation for general merit candidates.

 Eight standard for general women and scheduled caste male.
 Fifth standard for scheduled caste women.

Other grounds of disqualification:

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 Candidates who have failed to pay electricity bill arrears, or arrears to agriculture
cooperative societies will be disqualified.
 Those candidates who do not have a functional toilet at home stands to be
disqualified.

Supreme Court upholds the law

What did the judge observe?

Judge observed that it is education in human being that gives power to distinguish between
right and wrong, good and bad.

Impact of the judgement

The impact of judgement is it would make 68% of the scheduled caste women and 41% of
the scheduled caste men would be ineligible to contest panchayat elections.

Arguments against the judgement and law

1. Why not educational qualification for PM and Ministers ?

 If the argument is that educational qualifications are not necessary for legislators but
for panchayat representatives because they deal with executive matters, it follows
that educational qualifications are even more required for state and Central
ministers than for panchayat representatives.
 But apart from the provision that ministers have to be elected members of
legislatures, there is nothing in our law to suggest that you should be a PhD to be
PM, an MA to be a chief minister or cabinet minister, or a BA to be a state minister.
 If these very high offices do not require minimum educational qualifications, it seems
a terrible act of injustice that persons without the prescribed educational
qualifications be barred from election to panchayats.

2. The definition of OBC

 OBCs are defined in the Constitution as classes that are “educationally and socially”
backward.
 The definition itself shows that there are numerous classes in India, including in
Haryana, who are wanting in education.
 That is precisely why they are classified as “backward”.
 Are they not being discriminated against in panchayat elections when their very
status as “educationally backward” has caused the Constitution to demand
affirmative action in their favour?
 Is this not even more true of our SC/ ST communities?
 Yes, much has been done to improve their educational, but the ground reality will
show that the upper castes are dominant in the civil services and even in Parliament,

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and it is history and traditions that have rendered OBCs/ SCs/ STs as educationally
deprived, compared to those slotted higher in the varna system.
 Instead of resolving this deadweight on our society, the Haryana decision endorsed
by the apex court aggravates the social and educational discrimination faced by
these gravely disadvantaged sections.
Way ahead

 India today has nearly 15 lakh elected women representatives in our local bodies.
 There are more elected women representatives in India alone than in the rest of the
world put together.
 It is an achievement in gender empowerment that is without precedent in history
or parallel in the world.
 As a result of panchayat empowerment, millions of women have been enabled to
rise far higher in their social and family standing than their educational qualifications,
or lack of them, would have allowed pre-panchayats.
 This is most true for SC and ST women.
 The apex court has delivered a body blow to justice for those most in need of it.
 Parliament must intervene.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the impact of 73rd amendment on empowerment of rural women

in India.
 There is increase in demand from the people regarding imposing educational
qualification on legislators in the country. What is your opinion regarding, having
educational qualifications for legislators. Substantiate.

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TOPIC:

General Studies 2:

 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation; Issues relating to poverty
and hunger.

General Studies 3:

 Indian Economy, mobilization of resources, growth, development

and employment.
 Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of
irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural
produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
Public Distribution System

Agriculture: What about ease of doing farming?

 The Ministry of Agriculture was renamed recently as the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare.
 A welcome step and, perhaps, the Centre will devote better attention to farmers’
welfare and not just agriculture.

Bringing success of Make in India into farming:

 With the launch of Make in India mission, India performed well in manufacturing
with the recent (2015) ease of doing business released by World Bank ranked India
at 130 compared to 134 in 2014.
 Without making doing farming attractive, ease of doing business will be futile.
 The Make in India programme has made commendable progress and provides useful
lessons for improving farm sector.

Five objectives which would make farming easy:

1. Facilitate investment:

 Like any other business, investments could be attracted in agriculture if it offers

reasonable and predictable returns.
 It also has small, medium and large investors, with each category looking for a
different kind of support, like other businesses.

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Burden of subsidy:

 Subsidies have been provided to farmers for availing credit, procurement of inputs
and output price support, etc.
 Economic survey 2014-15 points out that subsidies have either zero effect or
negative effect, until and unless they are targeted and rationalised only to the
deserving farming community.

Effective implementation of agricultural schemes:

 Both Centre and State governments have developed several schemes for crop
insurance, measuring soil quality, their coverage and implementation remain poor.
 Large scale coverage and time-bound implementation is the key to inspire
confidence amongst the farming community.

2. Foster innovation

 Research and innovation is as important in agriculture as in any other industry.

 The Indian Council of Agriculture Research conducts research on climate resilient
agriculture, expert systems on crop management, State specific technological
interventions for higher agricultural growth, productive seed varieties, and nutrient
management.
 Perhaps, it has not been able to reach to the masses and enable commercialisation.
Focus on sustainable agriculture:

Sustainable agriculture should include use of non-renewable energy resources, and

balanced use of organic crops and high yield varieties of seeds, which needs to be promoted
through an effective communication strategy.

3. Enhance skill development

 The Make in India programme lays emphasis on skilling for industrial use.
 Equal emphasis, with the same vigour, is required to promote skill development in
agriculture and allied services such as dairy management.
 A spill-over effect will be reduced migration to cities.
 The government has already launched mKisan SMS portal to provide information,
advice and services relating to agriculture practices.
 Periodic evaluation and monitoring is necessary to ensure its effectiveness.
4. Protect intellectual property

 It is absolutely essential to protect and preserve traditional knowledge and

practices to ensure sustainable development of agriculture.
 Protection of plant breeders’ rights and new plant varieties is important.

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 Intellectual property rights (IPR) and technology are mutually reinforcing and
promotion of one results in development of other.
 We will not be in a position to launch another Green Revolution without a strong and
effective IPR regime.
5. Build infrastructure

 Like any other business, infrastructure is essential for the development of agriculture
as well.
 At a time when adequate infrastructure is essential to attract industry, why can we
not envisage similar facilities for agriculture promotion?
 Agriculture parks with requisite electricity connection, irrigation, road networks and
warehousing facilities, could be built to attract investments.
 While the government has initiated steps to set up an online national agriculture
market, the initiative should be completed in a time bound manner.
Way ahead:

 There is thus an urgent need for ‘ease of doing farming’ initiative to bring
agriculture back into policy discourse at the Centre and States.
 Competition among States to promote agriculture will not only do long-term good
for the economy, but will also ensure real success of Make in India.
Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the importance of agriculture to India.

 Analyse the various factors which determine agricultural productivity in India.
 Contribution of agricultural sector to GDP has remained stagnant at 14% over the
last decade. Critically examine the measures taken by government to promote
agriculture and increase its contribution to GDP.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Role of women and women’s organization

 General Studies 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by
the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws,
institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these
vulnerable sections.

Women Issues: India’s Daughters- Ashamed and Angry

Reuters Foundation: India is the fourth worst country in the world for women

Let the Numbers do the talking—

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 National Crime Records Bureau:2,096 rape cases in the city of Delhi in 2014

 2014: Out of the 11,000 FIRs filed in cases of crimes against women, Delhi Police has
filed chargesheets in only 3,500 till now

 Himmat App: Out of the 4,000 cases received, hardly four saw FIRs being filed

 RTI application: Revealed that of the 1.5 lakh complaints received against Delhi Police
officials in the past six years, FIRs were registered in only 95 cases

Plaguing Issues

96.7 per cent of rape cases are rapes by acquaintances:

Limits the role of the Police officials in preventing such crimes

Number of Policemen:
 Single investigating officer is made to handle more than 250 cases
 More than 40 per cent of the total strength of Delhi Police is engaged in VIP protocol
duties, training of staff, petty civil issues, etc.

Investigation:
 Marred with lack of sufficient manpower
 Forensic delays
 No. of laboratory in the Rape capital of India: ONE

Fast-track transforms into slow-track:

 Suffer from pendency’s amounting to over three years
 Long pendency because of a non-existing special courts for child rape or child sexual
assault
 Psychological Effect: Encourage a woman to report rape or punish her more by making
her wait?

Delhi’s fractured mandate:

 Prevents the Delhi government from ensuring coordinated decision-making and
demanding accountability from Delhi Police
 Article 239AA of the Constitution: The democratically elected government of Delhi
does not have control over Delhi Police, a subject that is otherwise on the state list
 Problems:
 Frequent instances of poor investigation,
 Non-filing of FIRs
 Insensitivity of personnel cannot be addressed in a timely manner

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To facilitate quick decision-making and cooperation between the various agencies

responsible for women’s safety and security: Establishment of a larger coordination body
(major stakeholder’s involvement)

Bureaucratic apathy: Almost Rs 3,000 crore of the Nirbhaya fund is lying unused (
bureaucratic obstinacy)

Public Transportation Neglected: Union ministry of women and child development (WCD),
the nodal agency for utilisation of Nirbhaya funds, rejected a proposal to install CCTV
cameras in DTC buses because it was not “gender sensitive”

Sidelined Gender Perspective—

Beijing Declaration + Platform for Action:
 Mainstream the gender perspective
 Create institutions that are sensitive to violence against women

Need for Systemic Reforms:

Facilitate dialogue, instead of opposition: Initiate sustained political will and a committed
polity working in concert with the bureaucracy and civil society

Map sexual violence: To develop & deploy right kinds of criminal justice and urban planning
capacities

Need to lose our assumptions:

2012- National Crime Records Bureau: 24,923 rape cases were registered across India-and
in 24,470 of those cases, the perpetrator was known to the victim

Idea that certain regional cultures are more rape-prone:

 Tamil Nadu: 2.18 per 100,000 women in 2012 (very low incidence of rape)
 Uttar Pradesh:2.02
 Bihar: 1.83
 Haryana: 5.60
 Kerala: 5.71
 Rape is not just a crime of culturally-depraved Hindi-belt migrants
 The highest population -- adjusted incidence of rape is in north-east states where
women are reputed to enjoy relatively high levels of personal freedoms and status:
 Mizoram ranks highest, with a rape rate of 20.81

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 Followed by Tripura with 12.77, and

 Meghalaya with 12.46 and
 Assam with 11.34

Urgent Need to be armed by Technology:

 Closed-circuit camera surveillance
 Establishment of Forensics Laboratories across the country
 Research & Development in the field of Forensics
 Data Science to be employed- To make intelligent public policy choices based on reality

Reforms in management of cases related to crime against women:

Rape Crisis Cell should be set up:

 Be immediately notified when an FIR in relation to sexual assault is made
 Must provide legal assistance to the victim.

Complains:
 All police stations should have CCTVs at the entrance and in the questioning room.
 A complainant should be able to file FIRs online.

Police officers:
 Be duty bound to assist victims of sexual offences irrespective of the crime’s
jurisdiction
 Be trained to deal with sexual offences appropriately
 Number of police personnel should be increased
 Community policing should be developed by providing training to volunteers

Medical examination of a rape victim:

Discontinuation of the two-finger test (conducted to determine the laxity of the vaginal
muscles)
Jonathan Kay has noted that sexual violence isn't driven by any one thing
"Is rape sex" he asks?
"Yes.
“Is it violence?
Yes.

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Therefore, Rape can be any twisted combination of those things, which is why the crime is
so tragically common, and so difficult to eradicate."

Connecting the Dots:

 Do you agree with the ban put on the movie ‘India’s Daughter’? Substantiate your
views with proper arguments.
 Explore the ethical issues related to marital rape and discuss the legal mechanism
present with the woman to seek justice

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance-

applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.
 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States
and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

FIR and its Constituents

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While discussing about the Juvenile Law (Amendment) in one of our previous Daily News
Analysis, we had made an attempt to analyse the various reasons behind the cases
registered to fight against and stand up to sexual assault.

Let us highlight the various irregularities with the help of the analysis of the Mumbai
Sessions Court rulings—

Types:

False cases foisted by parents—

 Against young couples who had eloped

 Breach of promise to marry

Men preying on children playing outdoors in slums

Irregularities:

 Wide variation in the sentences,

 Societal prejudices and vulnerabilities at play
 Tendency for investigating high-profile cases with greater rigour

Parents on the prowl

Most of the parents whose girl child has eloped with a boy have made false claims of the girl
being a minor. The reasons may range from the notion of their reputation at stake and
mostly because of inter-caste and inter-religious factor at play/

So, what starts as a love story meant to be reminisced about ends up in the following
manner—

If a girl runs away with a boy from the neighbourhood

Minor Kidnapped

Established sexual relations between the girl and the boy

Charges of Rape added

Subjectivity Trauma

Case Study 1— Rape & Kidnap

Mumbai& Delhi trial court judges— rarely convict in such cases, particularly if the girl does
not support the prosecution’s case throughout the trial

Six cases: chose to take a strict view of age,

Two cases: convicted for kidnapping

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Two cases: Pronounced rape

Two cases: Rape under the POSCO since the girl was under 18, irrespective of her consent.

Subjectivity creeps in—

When the girl is over 15 or 16 years of age and is implied that she is aware of the meaning of
her decisions, some judges have not pronounced harsh decisions. Why?

 Boy is considered guilty if she is a minor and now with the new law, the reduction of
sentences isn’t viable.
 The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, passed by Parliament in the wake of the
December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape set a minimum sentence of 10 years for rape in
the case of minors to take discretion in sentencing out of the hands of judges.

Societal prejudices at play

Societal condemnation of premarital sex: Analysing 644 cases since 2008 in which they had
studied or intervened in, Majlis found that 20 per cent of the cases involved breach of
promise to marry. In a quarter of such cases, the complainant was pregnant, highlighting the
vulnerability of her situation

Sexual abuse by close family members: (including the father or stepfather)

Mostly of minor girls out of which eight cases resulted in convictions

Five acquittals:

 In three the complainant and her mother turned hostile in court

 Remaining two: Court did not believe the testimony of the child and her mother in
one, while in the other, the three-year-old complainant was unable to explain her
injuries or the spot of the attack to the court
 Two cases: Involved the rape of a male child

Lapses during Investigation & Prosecution

16-year-old homeless girl said that she had been gang-raped—

Hospital to the police; made little attempt to:

 Properly collect evidence

 Correctly identify the accused

In the end: All five boys were acquitted

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Alleged rape of a nine-year-old boy in a slum by his 60-year-old neighbour:

Evidence By: Child + Mother + Medical Reports

In the end: The man was acquitted because the police had failed to have the child’s
statement recorded before a magistrate

Note:

Sexual assault cases can be filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections—

 354 (molestation),
 363 (kidnap),
 366 (kidnapping a woman for marriage),
 376 and 377 (rape) and
 Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act

IASbaba’s Views

 A crime should be seen just as a crime and not get tainted with the influence of it
being a high profile or a low profile case. Criminalization of genuine cases has to be
curbed if we want the social order of our country placed at a high pedestal.
 Interpretation of law needs to be done with a just view and the errors surrounding
subjectivity needs to be balanced with the correct understanding of the intention
behind the FIR’s registered in the first place.
 Once the case is established (and proven that the act was against/for the
victim’s/person-in-question), proper interrogation, investigation and medical
examinations needs to be established. Once the evidence goes against the accused,
he/she should be necessarily pronounced guilty (without a third party interference)

Connecting the Dots:

 Discuss the major faults and loopholes present in the cases that deal with sexual
assaults and rape in the country
 Do you agree with the viewpoint that the cases dealing with elopement has more to
do with the family’s prestige than the love harboured for the daughter/son?

For detailed analysis of ‘Juvenile Justice in India: Rehabilitating Indian Juveniles’, refer the
below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-21st-december-2015/

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TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business,

powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Misdiagnosis of the Rajya Sabha malfunction: Legislative productivity vis-à-vis legislative

dissent

 The 2015 winter session of the Rajya Sabha has been one of the least productive
sessions in recent times. The Goods and Services Tax Bill, could not be passed in the
process. This has triggered outrage, with some questioning the need for an Upper
House at all.
 Some others have opined that an indirectly elected body such as the Rajya Sabha
should not be allowed veto powers over a directly elected Lok Sabha. However,
mere opposition to a bill in the Rajya Sabha that has been passed by the Lok Sabha
cannot be an excuse to curtail its powers. It is important to separate the two issues,
legislative productivity vis-à-vis legislative dissent.

Argument in support of RS: Legislative dissent

 It was obvious even to our founding fathers that the “House of People” (Lok Sabha)
can fall prey to passionate rhetoric and thus felt a need for a “House of Elders”
(Rajya Sabha) to instil calm. The powers of the Upper House to delay and oppose
legislation passed by the Lower House were recognised and enshrined right from the
very birth of the Rajya Sabha that, the Rajya Sabha would an indirectly elected body
and would act as a balance to certain whimsical legislation of the people’s
representatives in the Lok Sabha was a conscious design of our founding fathers
 Next is this false narrative of indirectly elected members of the Rajya Sabha having
veto powers over the members of the Lok Sabha who are direct representatives of
the people.

In our first-past-the-post electoral system where a political party can form a government
without the majority of citizens voting for it, legislation passed by the Lok Sabha may not
necessarily represent the views of the majority. The percentage of seats won in the Lok
Sabha by a political party is not the same as percentage of Indians voting for that party, as
we all know. It then becomes even more pertinent and critical to have an active and vibrant
Rajya Sabha. This principle still remains very relevant for a large, diverse polity such as ours,
with a large number of regional parties

There is the argument that the Anti-Defection Act, which immediately disqualifies any
member of Parliament who either changes political parties mid-way or disobeys the whip of
her party, aggravates the chances of a dysfunctional Parliament.

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The core principle behind the Anti-Defection Act is to prevent horse-trading on the floor of
the House and penalise members who succumb to temptations from opposition parties.
This principle still remains very relevant for a large, diverse polity such as ours, with a large
number of regional parties.

The Lok Sabha recently held a discussion on a private member’s bill to de-criminalise
certain Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. There was no whip issued by the major parties
and members voted according to their choices, many times contrary to their party
colleagues. The choice of when to issue a whip rests with the party. The Anti-Defection Act
in itself cannot be made a villain for an internal matter of political parties over degrees of
freedom to be given to their members for voting in Parliament. But to argue that the
construct of the Upper House and the Anti-Defection Act need to be amended or done away
with lends credence to our founding fathers’ fears of lawmaking in a fit of frenzy.

Scope for reform: Legislative Productivity

 There has to be an outlet for opposition members to voice their protests without
disrupting productivity and to have designated day(s) in a week on which the
opposition can raise, discuss and debate issues rather than the government dictating
the order of business every day of the session.
 There can be innovative ways to create a framework within which the right to
protest is not taken away but is done constructively.
 Performance of Nominated MP's: According to PRS Legislative Research, Lack of
proper attendance of Nominated MP's such as Sachin Tendulkar and Actress Rekha
which is less than 10 percent as against the national average of 78 percent. Such low
attendance will make them inactive as far as engaging in debates on vital issues and
asking relevant questions to make the session active and passing vital bills which
would be the need of the hour.

Do these celebrities feel out of place in Parliament?

 In that case the process of selecting the nominated MP's must be reviewed. In
parallel, Reason for their absence must be identified and they must be encouraged
to participate in democratic process so that to engage them in the debate to review
bills and scrutinize the same.

Connecting the dots:

 Can Legislative dissent and Legislative productivity make both the houses of the
parliament responsive to the needs of the society in passing appropriate bills?
Comment.
 House of elders ( Rajya Sabha) is needed to comment and compliment the work
done by House of People (lok Sabha) to keep up the democratic spirit? Comment.

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Related Articles:

Rajya Sabha and Bad Monsoon memories

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-november-2015/

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges
pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local
levels and challenges therein.
 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

How to fast forward the backward states?

 The recent (2015) Bihar election was a fierce contest for political space.
 Much fierce would be the 2017 elections in UP, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
 Even after six decades of independence very less development can be seen in so
called BIMARU(Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP) states which will be going for
polls in 2017.

A look into BIMARU states

 Taken together, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha,
account for 45% of India’s population and 35% of its land area.
 But they contribute only 28% of national income and are home to 53% of the people
who live below the official poverty line in India.
 This represents an underutilization of our most abundant resource, people, and also
our most scarce resource, land.
 It also suggests that there is a vast potential for development, which could transform
India if only it can be mobilized.
2000-08: The era of development in BIMARU states

 Observers and analysts have highlighted the impressive growth performance of

these states since the early 2000s, as average annual output growth rates, in real
terms, were close to double-digit levels, until the downturn in the national economy
in 2008.
 However the growth performance did not help states to reduce the poverty levels
and promote inclusive growth.

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Reasons for divergence in incomes between rich states and poor states

 Between 2000-2008 , the growth in BIMARU states almost matched the rich
states(Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra).
 But still there existed divergence in incomes between rich and poor states. The poor
states were not able to capitalize on the growth rates due to two reasons

1. Output growth was rapid even in the richer states, while population growth
rates were significantly higher in the poorer states so that the growth in their
income per capita was distinctly lower, leading to the widening gap.
2. Not all regions in poor states contributed for economic growth. There
existed regional disparities within the poorer states.
LPG (liberalisation, privatization, globalisation) era: A cause for regional disparities

 It is in the logic of markets, driven by liberalization, which tends to widen regional

disparities because of a cumulative causation that creates market-driven vicious
circles.
 Regions that are better endowed with natural resources, physical infrastructure,
skilled labour or educated people, experience rapid growth. Like magnets, they
attract resources and people from elsewhere.
 In contrast, disadvantaged regions tend to lag behind and become even more
disadvantaged.
 Over time, the gap widens through such cumulative causation.
 This has happened in most developing countries that have experienced rapid
growth, whether China and Indonesia in Asia or Brazil and Mexico in Latin America.
Why growth matters?

 Growth matters because it is cumulative.

 If output growth, in real terms, is 10% a year, output doubles in seven years.
 If per capita income growth, in real terms, is 7% (or 5%) a year, per capita income
doubles in 10 or (14 years).
 But the complexity of economic growth cannot be reduced to a simple arithmetic of
compound growth rates.
 It is also important to consider what drives and sustains economic growth.

What do the underdeveloped states need?

The underdeveloped states need the following three conditions to kick start the
development process

1. Initial conditions.
2. Supportive government.
3. Good governance..

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1. Initial conditions:
 There are two aspects of initial conditions.
 The first is the creation of a physical infrastructure, led by the government,
through public investment in power, roads, transport and communications.
 The second is the spread of education in society, where primary and
secondary education should be the focus, with an emphasis on learning
outcomes.
 This will need a massive revival of public schooling systems that have lost
significance over the period of time.

2. Supportive government
 Development is about the well-being of people, the state governments
should concentrate on safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, and public
health in rural areas, to support social consumption for those who cannot
meet these basic human needs through private incomes.
 Development is about transforming the production capabilities of
economies, there is a role for these state governments in evolving policies,
developing institutions and making strategic interventions, whether as a
catalyst or a leader.

3. Good governance
 Good governance, is critical. Governance capabilities do matter.
 Indeed, the quality of governance is an important determinant of success or
failure at development.
 The most striking illustration of this proposition is provided by the wide
diversity in economic performance across states in India, despite common
policies, similar institutions, and the economic union.
 Public perceptions about governance shape electoral outcomes as people re-
elect, or out throw, incumbent governments.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically evaluate the reasons for wide spread regional disparities in India. Analyse
the measures taken by government to curb regional disparities.
 What do you understand by a backward state? Critically examine the various
committee recommendations wrt identification of backward states in India.

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TOPIC:

 General Studies 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.

 General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in
various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Inland waterways policy: Dredging through the silt

 The success of inland ports such as Duisburg (Germany) and Nanjing (China), which
have been competing well with sea ports, offer clear evidence of the merits of
leveraging Inland Waterway Transport (IWT).
 Inland waterways are far more efficient mode of transportation than either road or
rail, considering that just a single mid-sized barge (flatboat) has the dry-cargo
capacity equivalent to 50 trucks or over 10 railcars.

IWT in India and other parts of the world: A comparison

 In China, navigable inland waterways total more than 1,00,000 km and there are a
large number of inland port facilities with berths for large vessels, with the inland
waterways transportation making up to 47 per cent of the total transport available
there.
 In the European Union it is 44 per cent.
 Inland waterways transportation in India, however, is a paltry 3 per cent.
 The number of vessels carrying cargo that ply on inland waterway systems in China
and the EU are 2,00,000 and 11,000, respectively, while there are less than 1,000
vessels estimated to be using the Indian inland waterway systems.
 The crucial difference being that these countries have maintained and upgraded
their river systems on core routes that can support large modern vessel fleets up to
40,000 tonnes of cargo on a single voyage, even as India is struggling to create
depth in its river systems for vessels of 1,500 tonnage to go through.
 Even in Bangladesh, about 35 per cent of the freight movement is by inland
waterways and in Germany it is 20 percent.

The National Waterways Bill, 2015

Under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the central
government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways which are
classified as national waterways by Parliament by law.

Provisions of the bill

 The Bill identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways. The Schedule
of the Bill also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each
waterway.
 The bill recognises inland waterways as a fuel efficient, cost effective and
environment friendly mode of transport.

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 The bill provides statutory recognition for the existent six national waterways and
another 101 additional waterways, that will get established under the present bill.
 The bill provides for setting up of Statutory Autonomous Boards with
representatives of Central and state governments and technical experts to look into
management issues of each national waterway.
 The bill plans for creation of sustainable depth for waterways (existent and future)
which increases the usability of the waterways.
 Increased participation of state in development of waterways with 74:26 share of
centre and state respectively.

Way ahead:

 Transportation of cargo over inland waterways offers the advantage of both

lowering carbon dioxide emissions and curbing the rate of road accidents.
 Despite these tangible advantages, the policymakers have focussed on railways and
roadways by completely neglecting inland waterways.
 Implementation of provisions of National waterways Bill, 2015 can be a game
changer in development of inland waterways in India.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the advantages of Inland Waterways transport over other modes
of transport in India.
 Critically evaluate the provisions of the proposed National Waterways Bill, 2015.

Related Articles:

Inland Water Transport (IWT) in India : An analysis

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24th-september-2015/

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TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges;
Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance-
applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters,
transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

UNDP & NITI- Good Practices

In collaboration with the UNDP, Niti Aayog brought out a book titled Good Practices
Resource Book 2015 which focusses upon the social-sector delivery of services, which is an
integral part of the Niti mandate (dissemination of good practices)

Social-sector public expenditure (and delivery) is most of the times taken up as a State
subject and covers subjects befitting the broader ‘social security canvas’ like- education,
health, child protection, environment, financial inclusion, food security and public
distribution, infrastructure and development, local governance, social security, water and
sanitation, and women’s empowerment

A look into the various arms of the measures developed:

Child protection — Sampark (Odisha)

Education —

 Migration cards (Gujarat),

 Porta cabins (Chhattisgarh),
 Pratibha Parv (Madhya Pradesh)
 Saakshar Bharat (Andhra Pradesh)

Environment —(Update it in the Climate Change Notes)

 Avadi sewage treatment plant (Chennai),

 Dhara Vikas (Sikkim),
 Environment management (Andaman and Nicobar Islands),
 Forest-produce tracking system (Karnataka),
 Integrated basin development and livelihood promotion (Meghalaya),
 Lake restoration (Rajasthan and Karnataka),
 Well recharging (Kerala),
 Air quality forecasting (Delhi),
 Plastic waste management (Himachal Pradesh)

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Financial inclusion — Panchayat Banks (Jharkhand)

 Food security and Public Distribution —

 e-PDS (Andhra),
 Annashree Yojana (Delhi),
 e-Uparjan (MP)

Health —

 Care project for the chronically ill and infirm (Kerala),

 Healthcare for all (Sikkim),
 Decentralisation of ICDS (Odisha),
 Indira Bal Swasthya Yojana (Haryana),
 Preventing vision loss in premature infants (Karnataka),
 Malaria protection for pregnant women and children (Odisha),
 NRHM improvements (Assam)

Infrastructure and Development — Public transport (Mysore)

Local governance —

 24X7 metered water (Punjab),

 Entitlement-based district planning (Bihar)

Social security —

 Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (Andhra),

 Rehabilitation of manual scavenging (Uttar Pradesh),
 Land deeds to tribal people (Tripura),
 Placement-linked skill development (Jammu and Kashmir),
 Early intervention for disability (MP)

Water and Sanitation —

 Community-managed water supply (Gujarat),

 Open defecation-free villages (Jharkhand)

Women’s empowerment —

 Joint house ownership by husband and wife (Maharashtra),

 Organic rice production (Maharashtra)

Interventions & Documentation

 The specific interventions should be properly framed and documented so that we

have not only success stories to emulate and innovate upon but also failure stories

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to keep reminding ourselves of practices that went wrong and need not be
emulated.
 Documenting is also more about driving entrepreneurship as a social enterprise
model and synergising existing public expenditure schemes with the initiatives
 To disseminate and advocate its replication to eliminate the same problem being
faced somewhere else thus utilizing the available resources and eliminating the
barrier towards development. For example, the Badaun district initiative: The Daliya
Jalao initiative of Badaun is now being tried in 15 other UP districts
 More so, these interventions specifically, imparts an element of optimism to the
development and governance discourse which is of utmost importance in an
atmosphere tainted with doubts and pointed figures

Connecting the Dots:

 Enumerate the difficulties that a body/social enterprise can face while emulating the
above mentioned principles from the compilation of the good practices followed.

TOPIC

General studies 2:

 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation; Development processes and
the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups
and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders;
Governance Issues

General studies 3:

 Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.

 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation

Delhi’s traffic experiment – Will this reduce the Emission Levels?

 In the coming New Year (2016) Delhi will be subject to the much-discussed driving
restrictions, according to which between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. most private vehicle
operators will only be able to take their vehicles out on alternate days, from Monday
through Saturday, depending on whether their license plate numbers are odd or
even.
 The restrictions were devised after the Delhi High Court ordered the Delhi and
Central governments as well as the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to produce an
action plan to tackle the city’s alarming levels of air pollution.

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 In early December, the city, which had already been declared the world’s most
polluted city by the World Health Organisation, recorded a level of atmospheric
particulate matter that was 10-16 times higher than what is considered safe.

What are the experiments employed to manage traffic in other countries and their
outcome?

 Model employed In Mexico City’s Hoy No Circula (‘“Your car does not circulate
today”) programme instituted in 1989 to bring down record levels of ozone. The
restrictions, which have evolved over the years and continue today, mean that
almost all private vehicles are banned for one day per week.
 Outcome : There was no evidence that the concentration of pollutants declined.
Citizens did not sufficiently substitute their private car trips for subway, bus or taxi
rides. Instead, the number of vehicles in circulation increased, and with a greater
proportion of second-hand high-emitting cars.

Do these traffic restrictions make policy of pollution control effective?

 As per the recent study and empirical evidence do suggest that across the different
versions of driving restrictions, not only was there no significant improvement in air

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quality, there was actually a significant increase in the atmospheric concentration of

nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and ozone.
 The concentration of nitric oxide alone decreased in one version of the restriction.
 City residents buying second-hand vehicles or making more than one trip during
unrestricted hours to compensate for each trip forgone during restriction hours were
among the reasons for the policy’s ineffectiveness.

Change in aspiration & values

 In India, car ownership is an aspiration. At the heart of the longer term solution to
Delhi’s current transport pollution problem is a shift in attitudes and aspirations. This
is going to require a comprehensive government strategy, targeting all populations
in order to create a stronger culture of public transport across the board.
 When underlying values change, behavioural changes are often not far behind.
However, shifting values can take time, and transport mode-choice can be
influenced parallely at the behavioural level.
Bottlenecks and way ahead:

 According to a 2014 study by the Transport Research and Injury Prevention

Programme at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, over 80 per cent of metro
riders take long trips of more than 10 km, while only 17 per cent of trips in Delhi are
10 km or more. The research suggests that transport policies need to focus on
modes that cater to short trips, including non-motorised transport.
 Another finding is that the metro overestimated its ridership by at least 75 %.
 When car owners take buses, do carpooling, use the metro, they will have a first-
hand experience of the bottlenecks and frustrations of public transport like end
point connectivity, capacity, peak hours, ease of interchange from one mode of
transport to another, and so on. They will thus become stakeholders in the city’s
public transport in a direct way. This applies to the companies too.
 All these will put sufficient pressure on the city’s public transport's planning,
building, expanding Public transport at the earliest. This is also a wake-up call to
other cities to finish their unfinished metros, procure their electric buses, roll out
their intelligent transport systems and do whatever is necessary to prevent
themselves from landing in the entirely avoidable position Delhi finds itself in.

Connecting the dots:

 What are the harmful effects of vehicular pollutions in metro cities and suggest few
methods to reduce vehicular pollutions?
 Is Delhi prepared enough to implement its new found traffic restrictions on emission
levels? What substitutions citizens will make for private vehicle trips during
restriction hours?

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 Can change in values and aspirations in citizens’ help in traffic management and
reduction in pollution? Comment.

TOPIC:

General Studies 2:

 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Issues relating to development and management of Services relating to Education,
Human Resources; Governance Issues
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests

General Studies 3:
 Indigenization of technology and developing new technology; National Security
and challenges

Is ‘Make in India’ is a mere slogan?

In the Back drop of recent Prime ministerial visit to foreign countries, is being accompanied
by big-ticket defence purchases, such as

 India-Russia: Deals worth over $10 billion are expected to be finalised, bringing
Russia back on the list of top defence suppliers after a break of several years.
 India- US: Cabinet Committee on Security cleared deals worth over $3 billion,
approving the long-pending purchase of Apache and Chinook helicopters.
 India-France: 36 Rafale fighters from Dassault through a government-to-government
deal, overriding years of ongoing negotiations with the same company to buy 126
fighters under the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) open tender.

Above mentioned big-ticket defence purchases would help improve International Relations
and immediate military preparedness but may fall prey to legacy of past several decades in
defence procurements — import-dependent, risk-averse and corruption-riddled.

What is ‘Make in India’ initiative all about?

 A major national program, designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation,

enhance skill development, protect intellectual property, and build best-in-class
manufacturing infrastructure.
 From Automobiles to Agro-products, Hardware to Software, Satellites to
Submarines, Televisions to Telecom, Pharma to Biotech, Paper to Power Plants,

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Roads to Bridges, Houses to Smart Cities, Friendship to Partnership, Profit to

Progress. Whatever you want to make: Make in India.
Why there is a need for Make in India initiative especially in defence sector?

 India has the third largest armed forces in the world.

 India is one of the largest importers of conventional defence equipment and spends
about 31.5% of its total Defence budget on capital acquisitions.
 Around 65% of India’s defence requirements are met through imports.
 The defence budget is 13 % of the Central government’s total expenditure, and
almost 2 per cent of India’s GDP.

What are the reasons to invest in India to bring self-reliance in defence sector?

 India’s current requirements on defence are catered largely by imports. The opening
of the strategic defence sector for private sector participation will help foreign
original equipment manufacturers to enter into strategic partnerships with Indian
companies and leverage the domestic markets and also aim at global business.
Besides helping build domestic capabilities, this will bolster exports in the long term.
 Opportunities to avail defence offset obligations to the tune of approximately INR
250 Billion during the next 7-8 years.
 The offset policy (which stipulates the mandatory offset requirement of a minimum
30% for procurement of defence equipment in excess of INR 3 Billion) introduced in
the capital purchase agreements with foreign defence players would ensure that an
eco-system of suppliers is built domestically.
 The government policy of promoting self-reliance, indigenisation, technology up
gradation and achieving economies of scale and developing capabilities for exports
in the defence sector.
 The country’s extensive modernisation plans, an increased focus on homeland
security and India’s growing attractiveness as a defence sourcing hub.

Need of the hour: A missing military-industrial complex.

 India is probably the only large democracy without a robust military-industrial

complex. According to data released earlier this year by the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India accounted for 15 per cent of the volume of
global arms imports in the previous five years. In terms of financial value India was
only second to Saudi Arabia in 2014 on military purchases from the global market.
 India’s imports are three times that of China. China took dramatic turn from
importing defence equipment to major exporter of arms, increasing exports by 143
per cent over the period. Now, China is the world’s third-largest military exporter
today. China has rapidly built itself a very robust military-industrial complex.

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 The big-ticket purchases announced in world capitals are taking away a major pie
from the capital budget of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Already, most of the
capital budget is going towards committed liabilities — payment for contracts
concluded in the past. In 2014-15, 93 per cent of the capital budget went into
committed liabilities, leaving just 7 per cent for new purchases.

Pending Reforms:

 In the wake of Kargil conflict of 1999, among the major reforms was the effort to end
the stranglehold of government-run public sector units (PSUs) and the Ordnance
Factory Board over military supplies, with the Indian private sector allowed entry
into defence contracts. Over the years, the FDI limit has also been raised to 49 per
cent. However, none of it seems to have created enough momentum to create a
large domestic defence manufacturing base and any significant technology transfer.
 For instance, Larsen and Toubro has almost 1,000 skilled engineering staff who built
hulls for indigenous nuclear submarines; there are such capabilities on various fronts
with various Tata Group firms such as Tata Power SED (Strategic Engineering
Division), Kalyani Group, Mahindra Group, etc. But there is no clarity about how to
nurture the nascent capabilities in the private sector.

Way Ahead:

 Ultimately, the creation of a robust military-industrial complex would require an

overhaul of higher education to create well-trained manpower.
 A 10-member committee set up by the MoD in May 2015, to evolve a policy
framework for facilitating Make in India in the defence sector has come up with
several recommendations. Among its most significant recommendations is that
Make in India should not end up being “assemble in India with no IPR (intellectual
property rights) and design control”.
 A committee under Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, then scientific adviser to the defence
minister, had recommended that India should look at increasing its defence
acquisition from within India from 30 per cent to 70 per cent by 2005. The year was
1995. However, today indigenous acquisition is still hovering around 35 per cent. The
MoD expert committee has now suggested that 2027 should be the target year to
achieve 70 per cent self-reliance.

Discussions about guns versus butter (defence versus civilian goods) can be endless, but it
would be unrealistic to wish away the merits of an indigenous military-industrial complex,
especially given its repeatedly proven ability to better lives beyond the military realm, its
criticality for securing the nation state, and ability to bring down corruption in purchases.

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Connecting the dots:

 Are Big-ticket defence purchases with other countries making 'Make in India' a
distant dream in bringing self-reliance in Defence sector? Comment.
 Is missing military-industrial complex boon or bane? Suggest reforms to make India
to achieve self-reliance and become an exporter of defence equipment by next
decade?

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INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 India and its neighborhood- relations.

 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s
interests, Indian diaspora.

India-Bangladesh: Through Bangladesh, a development shortcut for Northeast India

Issue- Recently a cargo vehicle carrying a car and some goods made the first successful trial
run from Kolkata to Agartala through Bangladesh, reviving a route shut since Independence,
and cutting the travel distance by a thousand kilometres.

The author talks about how establishing connectivity with the help of Bangladesh helps in
development of north east.

Why the issue is significant?

 Last year PM signed a historic land boundary agreement with Bangladesh that will
solve all outstanding boundary disputes between two nations.
 Following this resolution of India's border dispute with Bangladesh, connectivity with
the north-east is set to become easier opening new vistas in Indo-Bangladesh
relations and an opportunity to connect with north east India

A brief about relations between India and Bangladesh

 India has extended a line of credit of US$ 800 million to Bangladesh for a range of
projects, including railway infrastructure, supply of Broad Gauge microprocessor-
based locomotives and passenger coaches, procurement of buses, and dredging
projects. US$ 150 million out of the US$ 200 million grant has already been released
to Bangladesh in three instalments for utilization in projects of priority to
Bangladesh.
 The proposed BCIM (Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar) economic corridor will pass
through northeast India after originating in Kolkata and passing through Bangladesh
before it enters Myanmar and finally China's Yunnan province is an added Philip to
existing relations between two nations
 This regional corridor is felt to be a game-changer for the economy of all four
countries. The most important thing about solving the Bangladesh border dispute,
which is to the benefit of India, is that, now we have overcome the difficulties to
connect with the north-east.

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Lack of development in north east has been attributed to lack of connectivity With the recent
signing of BBIN (Bangladesh,Bhutan,India,Nepal) motor vehicle agreement by transport
ministers of respective countries for the Regulation of Passenger, Personnel and Cargo
Vehicular Traffic among their countries, the situation of connectivity is bound to improve

Why connectivity is important?

 The “abundance” of natural resources in India’s north-east region has “huge

economic potentials that remained to be tapped
 North east people are deprived of fruits of development even after six decades of
independence and also there is a feeling of alienation among them To reduce the
present alienation of people and to enhance effort to bring them to mainstream is
the need of hour

Issues and prospects of rail-road connectivity

 Gauge conversion of railways which is being done priority-wise in Bangladesh,

demands intense labour and capital. The same applies to laying tracks for a proposed
second Maitrayee Express from Khulna to Benapole.
 The poor condition of roads in Bangladesh is a cause of concern for India and
hampers the growth of bilateral trade.
 The Motor Vehicles Agreement, signed at the 2014 SAARC Summit, prescribes that
country in the region iron out their respective issues in this regard.
 Ongoing unrest in India’s north-eastern regions also acts a hindrance to
development projects.
 Various individuals and agencies need to be paid for allowing any kind of work to
begin, raising the expenses.

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Issues and challenges of waterways

 Necessity of Dredging-Promoting this protocol route requires the regular dredging of

the rivers. (For instance, the Kolkata Port is an inland port and thus requires constant
dredging year-round; the same applies to the Kusiyara-Barak Rivers).
 Lack of Assured Freeways-Assured fairway with desired depth and width is the key to
year-round operation. Unsafe and uncertain fairways restrict speed and have been
found to cause frequent groundings that, in turn, result in higher fuel costs: the
system then becomes expensive and unreliable.
 Lack of Round-the-clock Navigation Facilities-The provision of night navigation
facility is essential for 24-hour navigation. This has been provided by the Inland
Waterways Authority of India between Dhubri and Pandu on NW-2.Night navigation
is an option rarely taken by Indian vessels plying Bangladeshi routes.

IAS baba’s Views:

 Enhancing bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh promises to provide

exponential benefits for both countries.
 For India, in particular, transit and transhipment across Bangladesh is important as it
is expected to boost the economy of India’s Northeast.
 Developments in connectivity hold a well of promise for transforming India’s
eastern and north-eastern states, including the city of Kolkata in West Bengal.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically analyse the impact of recently concluded BBIN motor vehicle agreement
 Discuss some of the outstanding issues in connectivity between India and
Bangladesh

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TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Effects of globalization on India; Distribution of key natural

resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent);
factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector
industries in various parts of the world (including India).
 General Studies 2: Indian Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests; Effect of policies and politics of
developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora;
Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
 General Studies 3: Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial
policy and their effects on industrial growth.

OPEC & the present Global Order

OPEC: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent,

intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14,
1960; presently headquartered at Vienna, Austria

Objective: To co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order
to secure

 Fair and stable prices for petroleum producers;

 An efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and
 A fair return on capital to those investing in the industry

Risks with the Global Oil Economy:

 Macroeconomic uncertainties
 Heightened risks surrounding the international financial system
 Escalating social unrest in many parts of the world
 Speculation and oversupply

Present Global Oil Order

Initially OPEC decided to take on upstart US shale oil producers by keeping output steady
and prices low and has gone ahead and raised its output ceiling at present

Renewed declaration of war?

Hardly—the organisation's member states were pumping more than its self-imposed quota,
producing about 31.4 million barrels a day yet the lifting of the ceiling caused a sharp drop
in the price of Brent crude

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Shocker— 3 elements

 Saudi Arabia was perceived by analysts to be softening its stance

 A report from Energy Intelligence suggested the kingdom was about to propose a cut
of one million barrels a day production if non-OPEC producers would cooperate
 Pressure being put on the Saudis by some member OPEC countries to cut output and
help drive up the price

False Signal as—

 Saudis have no choice but to keep pumping

 Price fluctuations are more evidence of these nations not being side-lined
 Saudi Arabia is still the global swing producer

OPEC: The Failing Giant??

 No explicit methods for enforcing discipline

 Disregard to the decisions by members especially the strongest, Saudi Arabia

Major Hold: By Saudi Arabia

 As the smaller producers need Saudi Arabia to stabilise the market when their own
output fluctuates
 Saudis need the smaller producers to wield outsize power in a market where four of
the five biggest producers are not OPEC members

Saudi Arabia's policy

"Saudi Arabia's output behaviour has varied over time in a systematic way, in response to
market conditions and also to interruptions within OPEC. Its behaviour differed between
'normal' periods and periods with interruptions. In normal periods, when faced with reduced
demand, Saudi Arabia cooperated with its OPEC partners to restrict output. During
interruptions, however, it would increase its output to offset reductions in the rest of OPEC,
not to match the reductions."

Mid-1980s: Cut exports trying unsuccessfully to hold up high global prices,

1990s: Kept output steady, allowing other OPEC countries to regain market share at their
expense

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But

Oil Market today—

Exporters:

 Face higher costs

 Big budget deficits
 Need a big output cut from the Saudis
 Willing to pitch in with their own small cuts as long as the price rises

Saudi Arabia has often obliged in the past but they will not at present. WHY?

 If they cut output, the enormous losses sustained by OPEC members in the past year
will go in vain
 US will increase production, which will lead it to lift its oil export ban, and OPEC
members to start losing their export markets
 The organisation's relevance will truly be at an end: Having lost its swing producer
status, Saudi Arabia won't be able to stabilise prices for other OPEC nations

Saudi Arabia— No cut in Output

US should not be able to claim the swing producer role

If the Saudis agreed to a production cut now and prices jumped, it would provide relief to the
frackers

 Prediction of International Energy Agency: US output of shale oil would drop by

600,000 barrels a day (the October estimate was a 400,000-barrel decline)
 Frackers: Cannot afford to hedge
 Credit markets are tightening for US oil producers, and oil and gas companies
now account for a third of total US distressed debt
 Rate increase on its way

OPEC members might get more revenue but they would face a battle for their traditional
markets- ‘boosted global demand and curbed growth in supplies of US shale oil’

Nature of current Oil Prices

 Structural in nature and one that can keep oil prices depressed for a long time
 The minute oil prices go up shale oil production will go up again to its previous levels
 OPEC: Can only slowdown its production
 Shale oil’s shortcoming: Its wells depletion rate

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The global demand for oil in 2015 has been increasing by 1.4 per cent translating into 1.3
million barrels a day or 1.4 million barrels a day which marks a good and positive
development but what is preventing the price from increasing – is that every time the price
shows signs of moving up, OPEC and particularly Saudi Arabia introduces more oil thus
exacerbating an already existing glut

Shale Invasion:

 Higher oil prices led to a search of an alternative source of oil and this gave birth to the
development of shale gas from newly developed technology, mainly in the US.
 From being an importer of oil, USA turned into a net exporter in less than a decade
 High oil prices gave the shale oil industry the incentive to innovate and start commercial
production.

Saudi Arabia:

Bluffed of refusing to cut production: Assumption that if prices fall, shale oil wells will shut
down and the companies will have to go in for bankruptcy. Initially it did work that way but
despite lesser wells running, oil production in the US touched a 43-year-old high of 9.6
million barrel per day.

An opportunity: For the shale gas producers to

 Cut down cost,

 Renegotiate their terms with service providers and
 Increased production as a way of generating more dollars- Technological advancement
in drilling led to more oil being produced from the same well

Shale oil is a fact of life and even if OPEC can slow it down but it is geology that keeps the power
within it, to eventually kill Shale oil.

OPEC & Global Oil Scenario (Estimated Data)

 Share of global supply will remain steady at 41% until 2020 and will rise to 44% by 2025
 Production growth from non-OPEC countries will slow over the next five years and halt
by 2020
 Price of crude - trading below $50 a barrel - may remain near current levels next year
and in 2017
 By 2040, OPEC could account for almost half of global oil production

India—need not worry with the fight for oil supremacy as:

 Keeps its oil imports bill low and

 Deficits under check

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Note: Double dip signals that prices are heading downwards and might touch the previous
low and are likely to stay there for some time

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Important Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India
and/or affecting India’s interests.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s
interests, Indian diaspora.

INDIA-JAPAN TIES

Background and Importance of India-Japan Ties:

 Relations between India and Japan go back to the 6th century AD. When Buddhism
which was born in India was introduced in Japan. Indian culture has left a deep
impact on Japanese culture.
 Indian Iron ore helped in Japan’s recovery after the World war. In return Japan
started providing Yen loans at lower interest rate and Assistance to development
projects and infrastructure.
 Both India and Japan are members of G4 Group of Nations with German y and Brazil,
who are jointly trying to be permanent members of UN Security Council with full
veto powers. The countries have realized that together they stand a better chance of
making it to the high table of the UNSC, rather than separately.
 India and Japan have signed a bilateral agreement on currency swap. Such
agreement will help to address short term liquidity problems of either country with
objectives such as: Firstly, to help each other in case of balance of payment crisis.
Secondly, to counter speculative attack on their respective currencies.
 India and Japan have come up with “Road map for New Dimensions to Strategic and
Global Partnership’ which seeks to strengthen ties in civil nuclear energy, political,
security, defence, economic, high technology, and disarmament.

Recent developments and Indo-Japan Summit:

 Generally, International conflicts arise due to non-transparency, suspicion and trust-

deficit. But, when two leaders meet face to face, it allows personalization of
relationship, adds warmth between two nations creates positive atmosphere and
reduces tensions and misunderstandings.

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Strategic Ties (Civil + Defence):

 In 1998: Japan had banned sale of HAL and other Indian defence companies (due to
Pokhran test). After Modi visit, they lifted ban from HAL and 5 other cos.
 Abe and Modi have intensified bilateral defence cooperation, which had begun in
the last decade. Besides an agreement on the sale of advanced amphibious aircraft,
the US-2, Delhi and Tokyo are also likely to sign a framework agreement that will
facilitate defence technology transfer and the co-production of weapons. This will be
Japan’s first overseas military sale in 50 years. In line with the Modi government’s
Make in India initiative, a broader defence agreement underpinning joint
development of weapon systems is also in the offing.
 Japan will intensify 2+2 strategic dialogue with India, involving foreign and defence
Secretaries. Japan also has similar with US, Australia, Russia and France.
 Apart from Bilateral ties, Japan is looking forward to join hands with India and US in
trilateral ties in terms of its participation in India-US Malabar Naval exercise.
 Both India and Japan want urgent reforms in UNSC- for increasing no. of permanent
and non-permanent members. Japan will help India get FULL membership in four
international export control regimes such as: Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile
Technology Control Regime, Wassenaar Arrangement, Australia Group.

Economy and Infrastructure:

 At present, China biggest producer of rare earth and it may limit its exports to
safeguard its local manufacturing units. Hence India is pitching in to supply rare
earth chloride to Japan- for making defence and high tech electronics.
 Japan will be investing $35 billion in many projects such as smart cities, bullet trains,
Ganga Cleaning etc. in next five years and proposal to double the Japanese FDI in 5
years. In parallel, 50 billion yen loan to IIFCL (India Infrastructure Finance corp. ltd)
for PPP projects.
 As per the recent meet between Abe and Modi, The agreement that is likely to have
the biggest and most visible impact is the $12 billion loan from Japan to help India
build its first high-speed railway project to connect Ahmedabad with Mumbai. The
500-kilometre-long railway line would be built within a period of seven years. The
agreement provides India not just over 80 per cent of the total project cost with loan
having incredibly low interest rate of 0.1 per cent over a period of 50 years, but also
technical assistance to build domestic capacity to manufacture coaches and tracks
before making them operational.
 Japan will help finishing the ongoing industrial corridor projects: Western Dedicated
Freight Corridor (DFC), Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), Chennai-Bengaluru
Industrial Corridor (CBIC), Japan will help to setup Industrial cities / townships in

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Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP and Madhya Pradesh. Japanese industrial townships will

give benefits similar or higher than SEZ and NIMZs in India. Japan will also help Road
connectivity, Forest resource Management, water supply improvement at North
East.

Nuke Deal:

Negotiations on civil nuclear deal have been completed. If signed, India will become the first
non-NPT country with which Japan has signed a nuclear deal. Issues like, should/can India
conduct another nuclear test like Pokhran after the deal, are yet to be addressed.

Why should Japan sign nuclear deal with a non-NPT country?

Japan has got about 54 nuclear reactors. Most of the reactors are shut after the recent
events of Tsunami, earthquake and radiation leak from Fukushima. They are shut due to
internal protests and for safety reasons. Now, the PM Shinzo Abe has been attempting to
open one or two of them. Besides, the Japanese economy is slowing down. It needs exports
and can transfer nuclear technology. India is the potential country where it can export.

Why does India want nuke deal with Japan?

 Japanese companies supply critical components to nuclear power plants and if we

can get these Japanese components and technology, it will be great in terms of
increase in nuclear-electricity generation.
 In parallel, Japan has huge stockpile of reprocessed plutonium which will be of
greater use in the long run.

Energy-Environment:

 Tie up in oil-gas exploration, Coal-fired power generation technology; Clean Coal

Technology (CCT); Super-critical coal-fired power project in Meja, UP; Super critical
thermal power plant in Barauni, Bihar; Assisting Gujarat in development of Canal top
solar power plants and Mega Solar Power project at Neemrana, Rajasthan.

Science-Space-Healthcare

 Japan will help in Outer space exploration via Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency
Forum (APRSAF); internet security; Joint ocean studies; Science Fellowship programs
for youth.

People 2 People contact:

 Kyoto-Varanasi partnership agreement: to develop Varanasi just like Japan’s

historical city Kyoto;
 JENESYS 2.0 program: Exchanging approximately 1500 youth;

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 Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) - will send nurses and medical help to
Mizoram.

Japan will also promote Tourism which is a potential domain to generate Forex and
employment in India; youth exchange; It also help in skill development of youth to reduce
educated unemployment due to mismatch between educational qualification and industrial
requirement.

It also helps in skill development of youth to reduce educated unemployment due to

mismatch between educational qualification and industrial requirement.

A unique feature of the understanding reached between Abe and Modi is that Japanese
money would be used to create manufacturing facilities in India. On similar lines committing
$12 billion of Japanese funds for creating such projects in India would be a big boost to
investments in an economy that is desperately looking for a pick-up in its investment rate.
More importantly, it will go a long way in implementing the Indian government's 'Make in
India' programme.

The China factor: Two things made Japan wake up to the India opportunity.

 First, the fact that countries like South Korea began to overtake Japan in the Indian
market.
 Second, the emergence of China as the world’s second-biggest economy, overtaking
Japan.

However, more than the change in the business environment in India, it is the growing
challenge posed by China’s rise that has finally forced Japan to invest in India’s rise.

India-Japan Vision 2025: statement of long-term bilateral engagement defined by shared

interests and values.

 First, the agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy ends years of painstaking
negotiations, delayed both by the Fukushima nuclear tragedy in Japan and India’s
own confused legislation of a nuclear liability law.
 Second, India’s decision to agree to “tied aid”, enabling Japanese funds to finance
Japanese investment, especially in infrastructure and high-speed railway projects.
 Third, India’s willingness to promote Japanese industrial townships aimed at making
India a more hospitable destination for Japanese business.

Shared strategic concerns:

 Japan is a member of the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and India is not,
both countries are engaged in creating a Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) and Japan has agreed to support India’s case for membership of

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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), even as the U.S. continues to drag its feet
over this.
 There are several interesting new initiatives that Mr. Abe and Mr. Modi have signed
on for. One of them is an agreement for Japanese funding of India’s own “belt-and-
road” connectivity projects across Asia.
 While committing itself to investing in infrastructure within India to improve road
and rail connectivity, Japan has also agreed to promote India’s “Act East” policy by
developing and strengthening “reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructures that
augment connectivity within India and between India and other countries in the
region” aimed at advancing Asian industrial networks and regional value chains with
open, fair and transparent business environment in the region.
 Japan and India can build road and rail connectivity across the Eurasian landmass,
running parallel to China’s own “One Belt, One Road” project.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the need of the Nuke deal between India and Japan and bring out
the positive outcomes of the deal which would address Energy security with best of
safety standards based on the recent mishaps?
 New found interest of Japan to Invest in India encouraging ‘Make in India’ initiative
will it be a new zeal in old friendship between India and Land of Rising sun?
Comment.

TOPIC: General Studies 2

 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s
interests, Indian diaspora.

India Russia ties: New energy in old friendship

 Recently India and Russia completed their 16th annual summit in December,2015.
 Relations with Russia are a key pillar of India's foreign policy, and Russia has been a
longstanding time-tested partner of India.
 India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of
cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship including security, trade
and economy, defence and science and technology.

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The recent indo- Russian agreements:

 Beyond 6 nuclear power reactors at Kudankulam, Russia welcomed progress in

identifying second site in India for additional 6 nuclear reactors

 Inter-governmental agreement for building Kamov-226 helicopters under Make In

India

 Joint Study Group for studying possibility of hydrocarbon pipeline system connecting
Russia and India

 Pact between Rosneft and ONGC Videsh Limited for acquiring 15% stake by OVL in
Rosneft's Vankorneft oilfields and discussions for further stakes in future

 Direct trade in diamonds between Russia and India, and creation of a Special Notified
Zone at the Bharat Diamond Bourse

 Finalised pact to issue six-month multiple entry tourist visas, based on reciprocity

 MoU between GLONASS and Centre for Development of Advance Computing for
cooperation in commercial applications through integration of Russian and Indian
satellite navigation systems

Courtesy: Business Standard

How can the recent agreements boost India Russia ties?

1. A series of defence acquisitions announced in the works will put Russia back on
top of military suppliers to India, a spot taken by the U.S. and Israel for more than
five years.
2. The deal for 200 Ka-226T Kamov helicopters will become the first big Make in India
project, which had been only on paper so far.
3. By investing time in the CEO summit that included several Indian players in the
energy and defence sector, India and Russia have shown a desire to involve the
private sector in areas that only saw government-to-government deals.

India Russia ties:

1. Defence cooperation
 India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in the field
of defence.
 India-Russia military technical cooperation has evolved from a simple buyer -
seller framework to one involving joint research, development and
production of advanced defence technologies and systems.
 BrahMos Missile System, Joint development of the Fifth Generation Fighter
Aircraft and the Multi Transport Aircraft, as well as the licensed production

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in India of SU-30 aircraft and T-90 tanks, are examples of such flagship
cooperation.

2. Economic cooperation
 Enhancing trade and economic cooperation between India and Russia is a
key priority for the two governments.
 Bilateral trade during in 2014 amounted to US$ 9.51 billion, with Indian
export amounting to US$ 3.17 billion (an increase of 2.6 % over 2013) and
imports from Russia amounting to US$ 6.34 billion (decline of 9.2 % over
2013).
 Major items of export from India include pharmaceuticals, miscellaneous
manufactures, iron & steel, apparels, tea, coffee and tobacco.
 Major items of import from Russia include defence and nuclear power
equipment, fertilizers, electrical machinery, steels and diamonds.
 Hydrocarbons is an active area for exploring cooperation between the two
countries.

3. Nuclear energy
 Russia is an important partner in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and it
recognizes India as a country with advanced nuclear technology with an
impeccable non-proliferation record.
 Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is being built in India with Russian
cooperation. KKNPP Unit 1 became operational in July 2013, and attained full
generation capacity in June 2014, while its Unit 2 is in the process of
commissioning in the later part of 2015.
 India and Russia have signed a General Framework Agreement on KKNPP
Units 3 & 4 and subsequent contracts are under preparation.
Way ahead

 It will take more than defence or power deals, though, to give the India-Russia
relationship the depth and significance it wishes to have.
 Though India’s relationship with the US is of enormous strategic significance, so too
is it’s relationship with key powers like Russia.
 In future, India will need a variety of regional and big-power partners to pursue its
interests in a complex world. Russia will, without doubt, be among the most
important of them.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the changing trend of India Russia relations in recent times.
 Do you think Russia is a natural friend of India? Substantiate
 Do you think USA is hindering development of India Russia relations to its fullest
potential? Substantiate.

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ECONOMICS

TOPIC:

General Studies 1:

 Population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization,

their problems and their remedies; Social empowerment

General Studies 2:

 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and

issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States
and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services
relating to Health, Education, Human Resources; Issues relating to poverty and
hunger.

General Studies 2:

 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,

development and employment.
 Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Poverty in India: Methodology, Issues, Causes and Impact

What does poverty mean?

 Poverty implies a condition in which a person is unable to maintain living standard

adequate for his physical and mental efficiency. Poverty erodes self-esteem and
opportunities to live life to the fullest. The cumulative effect is the wide gap between
haves and have not’s.
 The Human Development Report of 2010, measures poverty in terms of
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) replacing Human Poverty Index(HPI) being
used since 1987.
 According to World Bank, Poverty is deprivation in well-being and is multi-
dimensional. It includes low incomes and inability to acquire the basic goods and
services necessary for survival with dignity.

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Dimensions of Poverty:

Poverty may be defined as either absolute or relative. Absolute poverty or destitution refers
to the lack of means necessary to meet basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

 Absolute poverty is a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human

needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter,
education and information. It depends not only on income, but also on access to
services.
 Relative poverty views poverty as dependent on social context, hence relative
poverty is a measure of income inequality. Usually, relative poverty is measured as
the percentage of population with income less than some fixed proportion of
median income.

Poverty estimation:

The estimation of the poverty is done by the planning commission on the basis of large
sample survey of the consumer expenditure carried out by the National Sample Survey
office(NSSO) carried out after an interval of 5 years.

The Ministry of Rural development conducts the Below Poverty Line(BPL) Census with the
objective of identifying the BPL households in rural areas, who could be assisted under
various programmes of the ministry.

Different committees on Poverty estimates are:

•Alagh Committee (1977),

•Lakdawala Committee (1989)
•Tendulkar Committee (2005)
•Saxena committee
•Hashim Committee
•RANGARAJAN PANEL ON POVERTY ESTIMATES

Committees in detail:

Alagh Committee (1979): In 1979, a task force constituted by the Planning Commission for
the purpose of poverty estimation, chaired by YK Alagh, constructed a poverty line for rural
and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements. As per the recommendations
poverty line was devised to be as given below:

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Area Calories
Rural 2400
Urban 2100

Lakdawala Committee (1993): In 1993, an expert group constituted to review methodology

for poverty estimation, chaired by DT Lakdawala, made the following suggestions:

 consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as

earlier;
 state specific poverty lines should be constructed and these should be updated using
the Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) in urban areas and
Consumer Price Index of Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL) in rural areas;
 Discontinuation of ‘scaling’ of poverty estimates based on National Accounts
Statistics. This assumes that the basket of goods and services used to calculate CPI-
IW and CPI-AL reflect the consumption patterns of the poor.

Tendulkar Committee (2009): In 2005, another expert group to review methodology for
poverty estimation, chaired by Suresh Tendulkar, was constituted by the Planning
Commission to address the following three shortcomings of the previous methods:

 consumption patterns were linked to the 1973-74 poverty line baskets (PLBs) of
goods and services, whereas there were significant changes in the consumption
patterns of the poor since that time, which were not reflected in the poverty
estimates;
 There were issues with the adjustment of prices for inflation, both spatially (across
regions) and temporally (across time);
 Earlier poverty lines assumed that health and education would be provided by the
State and formulated poverty lines accordingly.

It recommended four major changes: (i) a shift away from calorie consumption based
poverty estimation; (ii) a uniform poverty line basket (PLB) across rural and urban India; (iii)
a change in the price adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with price
adjustment; and (iv) incorporation of private expenditure on health and education while
estimating poverty. The Committee recommended using Mixed Reference Period (MRP)
based estimates, as opposed to Uniform Reference Period (URP) based estimates that were
used in earlier methods for estimating poverty.

As per Tendulkar committee: Monthly percapita expenditure for Rural is 816 and for Urban
is 1000 rs.

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Rangarajan Committee: In 2012, the Planning Commission constituted a new expert panel
on poverty estimation, chaired by C Rangarajan with the following key objectives: (i) to
provide an alternate method to estimate poverty levels and examine whether poverty lines
should be fixed solely in terms of a consumption basket or if other criteria are also relevant;
(ii) to examine divergence between the consumption estimates based on the NSSO
methodology and those emerging from the National Accounts aggregates; (iii) to review
international poverty estimation methods and indicate whether based on these, a particular
method for empirical poverty estimation can be developed in India, and (iv) to recommend
how these estimates of poverty can be linked to eligibility and entitlements under the
various schemes of the Government of India.

As per Rangarajan Committee: Monthly expenditure of Family of Five: 4860(RURAL);

7035(URBAN)

Recent Update:

 A recent World Bank (WB) report brought out poverty ratios across countries.
According to these estimates, poverty in India in 2011-12 could be as low as 12.4 per
cent if we use “modified mixed reference period” (MMRP), in which there are three
recall periods depending on the nature of items.
 This contrasts with the Rangarajan committee estimates of 29.5 per cent.
 The poverty line (PL) used by the Rangarajan committee for India was around Rs
1,105 per capita per month.
 That translates to $2.44 per capita per day, in terms of purchasing power parity. As
such, the WB’s PL of $1.90 per capita per day is only about 78 per cent of the PL used
by the Rangarajan committee. The lower PL is the reason for the lower poverty ratio
estimated by the WB.

Causes of Poverty:

Rural poverty is a multi-dimensional social problem. Its causes are varied. They are as
follows:

1. Climatic factors:

Climatic conditions constitute an important cause of poverty. The hot climate of India
reduces the capacity of people especially the ruralites to work for which production severely
suffers. Frequent flood, famine, earthquake and cyclone cause heavy damage to agriculture.
Moreover, absence of timely rain, excessive or deficient rain affect severely country’s
agricultural production.

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2. Demographic factors:

The following demographic factors are accountable for poverty in India.

(i) Rapid growth of population:

Rapid growth of population aggravates the poverty of the people. The growth of population
exceeds the rate of growth in national income. Population growth not only creates
difficulties in the removal of poverty but also lowers the per capita income which tends to
increase poverty. The burden of this reduction in per capita income is borne heavily by the
poor people. Population growth at a faster rate increases labour supply which tends to
lower the wage rate.

(ii) Size of family:

Size of the family has significant bearing on rural poverty. The larger the size of family, the
lower is the per capita income, and the lower is the standard of living. The persistence of
the joint family system has contributed to the health and earning capacity of the ruralites.

3. Personal causes:

(i) Lack of motivation:

Lack of motivation is an important cause of rural poverty. Some ruralites do not have a
motive to work hard or even to earn something. This accounts for the poverty of the
ruralites.

(ii) Idleness:

4. Economic causes:

(i) Low agricultural productivity:

Poverty and real income are very much interrelated. Increase in real income leads to
reduction of the magnitude of poverty. So far as agricultural sector is concerned, the
farmers even today are following the traditional method of cultivation. Hence there is low
agricultural productivity resulting in rural poverty.

(ii) Unequal distribution of land and other assets:

Land and other forms of assets constitute sources of income for the ruralites. But,
unfortunately, there has been unequal distribution of land and other assets in our economy.
The size-wise distribution of operational holdings indicates a very high degree of
concentration in the hands of a few farmers leading to poverty of many in the rural sector.

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(iii) Decline of village industries:

At present consequent upon industrialization new factories and industries are being set up
in rural areas. Village industries fail to compete with them in terms of quality and price. As a
result they are closed down. The workers are thrown out of employment and lead a life of
poverty.

(iv) Immobility of labour:

Immobility of labour also accounts, for rural poverty. Even if higher wages are offered,
labourers are not willing to leave their homes. The joint family system makes people
lethargic and stay-at-home.

The ruralites are mostly illiterate, ignorant, conservative, superstitious and fatalistic. Poverty
is considered as god-given, something pre-ordained. All these factors lead to abysmal
poverty in rural India

(v) Lack of employment opportunities:

Unemployment is the reflection of poverty. Because of lack of employment opportunities,

people remain either unemployed or underemployed. Most of these unemployed and
underemployed workers are the small and marginal farmers and the landless agricultural
labourers.

5. Social causes:

(i) Education:

Education is an agent of social change and egalitarianism. Poverty is also said to be closely
related to the levels of schooling and these two have a circular relationship. The earning
power is endowed in the individual by investment in education and training. But this
investment in people takes away money and lack of human investment contributes to the
low earning capacity of individuals.

In this way people are poor because they have little investment in themselves and poor
people do not have the funds for human capital investment.

(ii) Caste system:

Caste system in India has always been responsible for rural poverty. The subordination of
the low caste people by the high caste people caused the poverty of the former. Due to rigid
caste system, the low caste people could not participate in the game of economic progress.

A Shudra was not allowed to become a trader and a Vaisya could earn his bread only by
trade.

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Birth would decide their occupation and their economic fate. K. V. Verghese rightly
observes, “Caste system acted as a spring­board for class exploitation with the result that
the counterpart of the poverty of the many is the opulence of the few. The second is the
cause of the first.”

(iii) Joint family system:

The joint family system provides social security to its members. Some people take undue
advantage of it. They live upon the income of others. They become idlers. Their normal
routine of life consists in eating, sleeping and begetting children.

In this way poverty gets aggravated through joint family system.

(iv) Social customs:

The ruralites spend a large percentage of annual earnings on social ceremonies like
marriage, death feast etc. As a result, they remain in debt and poverty.

(v) Growing indebtedness:

In the rural sector most of the ruralites depend on borrowings from the money-lenders and
land-lords to meet even their consumption expenses. Moneylenders, however, exploit the
poor by charging exorbitant rates of interest and by acquiring the mortgaged land in the
event of non-payment of loans.

Indebted poor farmers cannot make themselves free from the clutches of moneylenders.
Their poverty is further accentuated because of indebtedness. Such indebted families
continue to remain under the poverty line for generations because of this debt-trap.

Consequences of Poverty:

 Poverty has far reaching consequences on the society. People suffering from poverty
will generally have a low standard of living. They are not able to afford education
and lack access to health care and education. This will lead to a low quality of human
capital and thus compromise economic growth.
 Poverty takes a toll on poor children’s development. For example, poverty causes
malnutrition which would affect the development of a child’s mental thinking and
healthy body.
 Poverty may also lead to political instability and lead to increased risk of war, mass
emigration of population and terrorism.

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Measures taken by Govt to tackle poverty as follows:

MGNREGA:

• This scheme comes under Rural Development ministry.

• In a financial year this scheme promises minimum 100 days of unskilled manual work to
each rural household. Out of overall work force 1/3rd women participation is encouraged.
Unemployment allowance is also provided to those who don’t get work within 15 days.

National Rural Livelihood Mission / Aajeevika:

 Undertaken by Rural Development Ministry. Initially it was launched in 1999 under

the banner called Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). Later renamed to
National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) which in turn changed to Aajeevika.
 Motive is to lift rural families from abject poverty. By 2024, get one person
(preferably woman) from each household, into an income generating Self-help
groups (SHG), and empower the SHG by giving Bank loans n subsidy, training
required.

National Urban Livelihood mission:

Undertaken by Ministry of Housing and Urban poverty alleviation. The Scheme was earlier
called as Swarnajayanti Sahari Swarojgar Yojana. Later it was renamed as National urban
livelihoods mission, with following features: self-help groups will be provided bank credit,
subsidies, skill training required to start up a business to elevate poverty; street vendors also
get easy loans and skill training; Shelters for the homeless.

Connecting the dots:

 Explain the relation between poverty, unemployment and inequality. Comment on

the method of determination of poverty line in India?
 Why has the ‘Poverty line’ methodology given by the planning commission of India
become controversial? Is the criticism really justified? Examine critically

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TOPIC:

 General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in

various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 General Studies 3: Indian Economy and issues related to mobilization of resources,
growth, development and employment.
 Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their
effects on industrial growth, Investment models.

Special Economic Zones (SEZ) policy in India: Issues & Challenges

 India was one of the first in Asia to recognize the effectiveness of the Export
Processing Zone (EPZ) model in promoting exports, with Asia's first EPZ set up in
Kandla in 1965.
 With a view to overcome the shortcomings experienced on account of the
multiplicity of controls and clearances; absence of world-class infrastructure, and an
unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India,
the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000 and followed
by SEZ Act 2005.

Main objectives of SEZ Act:

(a)generation of additional economic activity

(b) promotion of exports of goods and services
(c) promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources
(d) creation of employment opportunities
(e) development of infrastructure facilities

Incentives and facilities offered to the SEZs

 Duty free import/domestic procurement of goods for development, operation and

maintenance of SEZ units
 100% Income Tax exemption on export income for SEZ units under Section 10AA of
the Income Tax Act for first 5 years, 50% for next 5 years thereafter and 50% of the
ploughed back export profit for next 5 years.
 Exemption from minimum alternate tax under section 115JB of the Income Tax Act.
 External commercial borrowing by SEZ units upto US $ 500 million in a year without
any maturity restriction through recognized banking channels.
 Exemption from Central Sales Tax.
 Single window clearance for Central and State level approvals.

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Failed SEZ policy:

 As of September 2014, there were 564 formally approved SEZs. But only 192 were
operational. Barring a few, we haven’t seen big investments.
 The incremental employment generated was about 11 lakh in nine years.
 Exports from SEZs grew by only 4% in 2013-14 and decreased by 6% in the next year.
 A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit last year found that 52% of the land
allotted has remained idle, even though permissions were given as far back as 2006.
 One severe indication from CAG was that 57% of SEZs were in the IT (information
technology) and ITES (information technology-enabled services) sector, and only
9.6% were for multi-product manufacturing sectors.

Some possible reasons for failure of SEZs:

1. The income tax benefits were neutralized by the introduction of the 20% minimum
alternate tax (MAT) and the 20% dividend distribution tax (DDT) in 2011-12.This led
to companies moving out from from SEZs.
2. The absence of complementary infrastructure outside the SEZs, like port
connectivity, proved to be an hinderent for manufacturing investment.
3. Export incentives like Focus Product and Focus Market Schemes were not extended
to SEZs, making them less attractive. Exports from outside SEZs, called the domestic
tariff area (DTA), enjoyed duty drawback and other duty neutralization.
4. The force of free trade agreements made import of manufactured goods much
cheaper than domestic manufacturing.
Why SEZs in china are doing better than Indian SEZs?

The SEZ model in India was inspired by China’s SEZs which were critical instruments of its
export-led growth. Reasons for better functioning of SEZs in china are

1. Location: All the zones in china are located strategically. Many are located close to
ports. This makes water transport cheaper than it already is. Only some are not
located close to ports. They are located close to borders. This facilitates easy trade
with nearby nations.
2. Size: China's zones are not many in number but they are huge in size. Hainan, a
province in china is one complete SEZ, which covers an area of 33,000 sq.
km. Mumbai covers an area of almost 1000 sq. km. This means that China has an SEZ
almost 33 times the area of Mumbai.
Size means everything in an SEZ. India has SEZs which are barely 10-20 hectares in
size.
3. Laws: China has amazingly business friendly laws. Corporates need to give only one
month's notice to an employee before firing him. Contrast that to India, where you
need to follow a lengthy to fire an employee if your company has more than 100
employees.

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China's labour laws are highly flexible to the detriment of the labour class. In India
the labour class is highly pampered because of the previous government's faulty
policies

Way Forward:

The SEZ policy needs a comprehensive overhaul. Piecemeal repair won’t do, and a non-
partisan holistic approach is a must.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the reasons for failure of SEZ policy in India.

 SEZ policy 2000, indicate a failed policy status. Comment on the need for
continuation of SEZ policy in India.
 Compare and contrast SEZs of China and India.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 3: Investment models; Indian Economy and issues relating to

mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
 General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in
various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation;
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability.

How to fix Public Private Partnership (PPP) financing?

 "Make in India" is the hallmark programme of the present Prime minister’s

administration.
 It envisages India increasingly becoming a global manufacturing hub, attracting
investment, and generating the employment needed to grow the economy and
power it to middle income status and beyond.

Investment matters:

 In order to envisage the dream, the government should try to mobilize investment
both domestically and international.
 One sector which needs huge investment is infrastructure.
 Until recently, public investment has been the main vehicle for infrastructure
development in India.
 Since 2012, however, the government has shifted some of the focus away from
public spending.
 The Twelfth Five Year Plan envisages the private sector contributing $500 billion -
about half of the $1 trillion of investment planned - primarily through public-private
partnerships (PPPs).

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Complex process of structuring infrastructure PPP’s:

Any infrastructure PPP include

 Optimal risk sharing among stakeholders to ensure a proper alignment of incentives.

 A detailed project feasibility studies negotiating complex land acquisition processes.
 Obtaining environmental and forest clearances and mobilising scarce equity.

And also delays in achieving project development milestones weaken project economics,
resulting in completion delays and reduced investor appetite.

A case study:

 A recent study commissioned by the Asian Development Bank found that on average
40 per cent of projects in major infrastructure sectors are delayed for reasons
beyond the project's control.
 The reasons include delays in land acquisition and obtaining environmental and
forest clearances beyond the time envisaged in the concession agreement, along
with interstate coordination issues and local protests.
 Delays of two years are the norm, resulting in average cost increases of around 30
per cent - mostly due to accumulating interest costs during the delay period and
cost escalation.
Due to this banks are increasingly unable and unwilling to lend further to infrastructure.

Proposed project completion risk guarantee scheme

 Drawing from global experiences in several PPP markets, notably in Latin America
and Indonesia, a potential solution that can be fashioned which could help both
investors and lenders is project completion risk guarantee scheme.

The scheme:

 The scheme entails establishing a facility that guarantees servicing interest to

banks during delay periods, so long as the delays are beyond the control of the
project.
 Under this arrangement, the project developer would apply for a guarantee from the
proposed facility against delayed interest payments by paying a fee prior to financial
closing, and negotiate a reduction in bank charges that would compensate for the
guarantee fee.
 Interestingly, this is also beneficial to banks because even though they are charging
lower rates, they are no longer subject to completion delay risk.

Merits of the proposed scheme:

1. The facility would secure developers' interest obligations due to delays and
potentially reduce the incremental equity needed to fund cost escalation.

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2. Because the risk profile of projects would improve, banks would be able to expand
financing for guaranteed projects.
3. Non-performing assets and restructuring would be reduced as interest payments
would be serviced through the guarantee facility.
4. The proposed facility would also accelerate financial closure and reduce delays
resulting from re-negotiating bank lending to already stressed projects.

Way ahead:

 For the government, getting investments into essential infrastructure projects will
help it to deliver on the promise of "Make in India".
 The proposed project completion risk guarantee scheme represents a win-win-win
situation for government, financiers and developers and is worth pursuing in the
interest of current and future generations of Indians.

Connecting the dots:

 Explain the importance of PPP in removing structural gaps in India.

 Critically analyse the role of PPP in GDP growth and economic development of India.
 Critically examine the various measures taken by government to promote PPP in
India.

For More information on ‘PPP model’ refer the below links-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24th-october-2015/

TOPIC: General Studies 3

 Economics of animal-rearing; Indian Economy and issues and employment;

agricultural produce issues and related constraints

Animal husbandry and Indian Economy

 Vast shrinkage of grazing lands and rapid deterioration in their vegetative cover are
matters of worry considering that animal husbandry constitutes a substantial
proportion of livelihood for small and marginal farmers and landless people.
 Most developmental plans and policies for the livestock sector have focused
primarily on promoting fodder cultivation for stall-fed cattle like maize etc.
 Hardly any attention has been paid to the protection and upgrade of pastures and
grasslands on which the bulk of the country's animal population subsists.

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A statistical outlook:

 According to the 19th livestock census conducted in 2012, the country has over 512
million animals of economic importance such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig,
equine, camel, mithun and yak.
 However, no reliable data is available for the pastures and grazing lands.
 Rough, unverified estimates indicate that such lands have dwindled from about 70
million hectares at the time of Independence to a mere 12 million hectares now.

Deterioration in quality:

 Most of the Pasteur lands are highly degraded with very low capacity to support
animals.
 Fodder available in these areas is generally poor in quality and is, therefore, unable
to provide the needed energy, protein and minerals to the productive animals.
 The area devoted to growing fodder, too, is meagre - less than five per cent of the
total arable land.
 Expansion in this land is neither feasible nor desirable in a country where land is
scarce and its demand for agriculture, infrastructure, housing, industries and other
uses huge.
 Proper upkeep of the available pastures and improvement in their productivity is
therefore indispensable.

Government apathy:

 The 23rd International Grassland Congress held in New Delhi last month (November,
2015) discussed the plight of grazing lands along with other critical issues concerning
grasslands.
 One of the major reasons for the poor condition of the pastures is that they do not
belong to any particular agency or government department for their maintenance.
 Even where the forest or revenue departments claim the ownership of such
community lands, they evade responsibility for their management.

Lack of comprehensive national policy:

 Although India has a national policy for almost every conceivable sector, none exists
for the grasslands.
 The old and abandoned Forest Policy of 1894 had laid down some guidelines for
grazing but these are applied only to the protected forests.
 The Forest Policy of 1954 generally sought to restrict the use of forest lands for
grazing and allowed it only under special circumstances where it was not deemed
harmful to the health of the forests.
 More or less the same position was maintained in the National Forest Policy of
1988 although it supported the concept of community's involvement in regulating
grazing on the forest lands.
 But non-forest lands, including village common lands, used traditionally for
grazing, are not covered in any policy formulated by the Centre or states so far.

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Way ahead:

 Since land is essentially a state subject (entry 18) under the Constitution, the major
onus of action lies with the states.
 At least the states having sizeable proportion of the population depending on
common grazing lands-based animal husbandry should come forward to initiate
programmes for the improvement of grazing lands.
 Otherwise, not only will the livelihood of millions of people be compromised but also
the agriculture sector's gross domestic product (farm GDP) might suffer, as nearly 30
per cent of agricultural GDP comes from the livestock sector.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically evaluate the importance of livestock in Indian agricultural system.

 Critically examine the changing trend in livestock population observed in the 19 th
livestock census 2012.
 Write a note on extent of dependence of Indian agricultural economy on livestock.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.

 General Studies 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various
sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation;

Why high-speed rail is viable?

 It has been reported that Japan has offered to finance the Mumbai-Ahmedabad
high-speed rail (HSR) corridor, estimated to cost about Rs 90,000 crore, at an interest
rate of less than one per cent.
 Whenever any news item on HSR appears, questions revolving around whether India
really needs HSR are raised.

A look into various questions that arise out when talking about HSR:

Why should we develop HSR when air travel exists for faster travel between cities?

 India's transport demand will triple or quadruple in the next three decades, and
given that the negative externalities in terms of energy consumption and emissions
are high for air travel, it is a great opportunity for India to go for low-energy and
low-emission modes such as HSR.
 HSR is comparable with air travel in terms of end-to-end travel time for most inter-
city trips of distances up to 600 km in case of HSR and 1,300 km in case of super-HSR
such as maglev.

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 In addition, India can also claim carbon credits for resorting to low-carbon transport -
without losing on travel time.
 Thus, HSR is a better option in terms of energy efficiency, carbon footprint and
inter-city travel time than air travel.
Is India at the state of economic development where it could build HSR?

 The rule of thumb for the timing of investment is that in the first year of
construction of HSR, the country's real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at
purchasing power parity (PPP) has to be at least $5,000.
 As reported by the World Bank, India's real per capita GDP at PPP was $5,244 in
2014.
 So India has reached the economic level where it is appropriate to time investment
into HSR.
 Moreover, there has been continuous upward mobility in terms of demanding more
comfortable and faster travel across all sections of society in India.

Why should the government spend money on HSR when there are other pressing needs,
including developing conventional rail infrastructure and social infrastructure such as
schools and hospitals?

 HSR has been planned on Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and its diagonal routes of
North-South and East-West corridors (NSEW), which are high-density corridors for
both passenger and freight traffic.
 Indian Railways has planned HSR only on these high-demand routes.
 The government has no intention of developing HSR using its own funds - it would
remain the facilitator in the execution of the project.
 As and when the corridors become financially viable, they would be taken up for
HSR execution either with 100 per cent foreign direct investment or through
public-private partnerships, or some other format where the government funding
would be nil.
 Thus the question of spending taxpayer's money on HSR projects does not arise at
all.
How do we handle land requirement and fencing of HSR lines?

 According to the International Union of Railways, to construct one kilometre of HSR

(two lines), 3.2 hectares per km is required, whereas to construct a six-lane
highway, 9.3 hectares per km is required.
 Given the difficulties associated with land acquisition in India for infrastructure
projects and the compensation being introduced with the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013, the lower land requirement of HSR for a transport corridor
with higher passenger carrying capacity is a boon.

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 The cost of about Rs 165 crore per km for HSR includes underground and elevated
tracks in congested urban areas as well as provisions for fencing, centralised safety
monitoring and other safety-related costs, among other things.
Way ahead:

 HSR would also reduce our crude oil import and dependency, energy consumption,
carbon emissions and pollution and increase the overall supply of rail transport.
 By diverting people from travelling by road, HSR would also reduce road accidents.
 It would be a great loss to the country as a whole, if the construction of HSR is
delayed indefinitely.
Connecting the dots:

 Economic survey 2014-15 pointed out to structural gaps for the low economic
growth of the country. What do you understand by structural gap. Substantiate.
 Critically examine the various measures taken by government to curb structural gaps
that persist in the country.
 Recently the government proposed to upgrade Delhi- Agra railway link into a high
speed railway link. At this backdrop critically examine the importance of high speed
railway links for India.

TOPIC:

General Studies 3:
 Indian Economy and issues relating to mobilization of resources, growth,
development

General Studies 2:
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation; Important aspects of
governance, transparency and accountability

Non-performing assets and recent steps to clean them up

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Raghuram Rajan, said earlier this month
that he expected banks to clean up their books in terms of stressed assets by the end of the
next financial year - that is, by March 2017. Stressed assets - which include both bad loans
officially classified as non-performing assets (NPAs) and those that are undergoing
corporate debt restructuring (CDR) - accounted for a worrying 11.1 per cent of total
advances as of last quarter.

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What does CDR mean?

The reorganization of a company's outstanding obligations, often achieved by reducing the

burden of the debts on the company by decreasing the rates paid and increasing the time
the company has to pay the obligation back. This allows a company to increase its ability to
meet the obligations. Also, some of the debt may be forgiven by creditors in exchange for an
equity position in the company.

What is the Need for CDR?

The need for a corporate debt restructuring often arises when a company is going through
financial hardship and is having difficulty in meeting its obligations. If the troubles are
enough to pose a high risk of the company going bankrupt, it can negotiate with its creditors
to reduce these burdens and increase its chances of avoiding bankruptcy.

What is NPA?

A classification used by financial institutions that refer to loans that are in jeopardy of
default. Once the borrower has failed to make interest or principal payments for 90 days
the loan is considered to be a non-performing asset.

Bank’s assets are the loans and advances given to customers. If customers do not pay either
interest or part of principal or both, the loan turns into bad loan.

But in terms of Agriculture / Farm Loans; the NPA is defined as under:

 Short duration crop loan : Loan is termed as NPA in this scenario if the loan either in
terms of installment or interest is not paid for 2 crop seasons, it would be termed as
NPA. Example: Agri loans such as paddy, jowar, Bajra etc.
 For Long Duration Crops, the above would be 1 Crop season from the due date.

Reasons for occurrence of NPA:

 Default by borrowers
 Bad lending practices
 Economic condition of a region effected by natural calamities
 Deficiencies risk management - Speculation is one of the major reason behind
default. Sometimes banks provide loans to borrowers with bad credit history. There
is high probability of default in these cases.
 Diversion of funds - Many times borrowers divert the borrowed funds to purposes
other than mentioned in loan documents.
 A banking crisis (as happened in South Asia and Japan)

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Implication of NPA:

 Depositors do not get rightful returns and many times may lose uninsured deposits.
 Banks may begin charging higher interest rates on some products to compensate
Non-performing loan losses
 Bank shareholders are adversely affected
 Bad loans imply redirecting of funds from good projects to bad ones. Hence, the
economy suffers due to loss of good projects and failure of bad investments.
 When bank do not get loan repayment or interest payments, liquidity problems may
ensue.
 The most important implication of the NPA is that a bank can neither credit the
income nor debit to loss, unless either recovered or identified as loss. If a borrower
has multiple accounts, all accounts would be considered NPA if one account
becomes NPA.
 The principle of customer care is neglected and customer torture begins. This brings
the borrower in a helpless situation and at the mercy of the Bank.

Measures taken to reduce NPA:

NPA and SARFAESI Act:

 The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of

Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act has provisions for the banks to take legal recourse to
recover their dues.
 When a borrower makes any default in repayment and his account is classified as
NPA; the secured creditor has to issue notice to the borrower giving him 60 days to
pay his dues.
 If the dues are not paid, the bank can take possession of the assets and can also give
it on lease or sell it; as per provisions of the SAFAESI Act.

NPAs and Asset Reconstruction Company:

 If a bad loan remains NPA for at least two years, the bank can also resale the same to
the Asset Reconstruction Companies such as Asset Reconstruction Company (India)
(ARCIL).
 These sales are only on Cash Basis and the purchasing bank/ company would have to
keep the accounts for at least 15 months before it sells to other bank.
 They purchase such loans on low amounts and try to recover as much as possible
from the defaulters. Their revenue is difference between the purchased amount and
recovered amount.

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Steps taken by RBI:

 Recently RBI, as regulator, has taken several steps to help banks deal with the
stressed-assets problem-
1. Strategic debt restructuring, in which the debt is turned into equity. However,
this can be only be an interim effort, given that banks do not have the managerial
competence or resources to effectively become private equity firms.
2. "5/25" system, by which loans to infrastructure companies are extended in
tenure. However, this has to be closely watched. Earlier, CDR assets did not have the
onerous provisioning requirements associated with NPAs, and so there was concern
that banks were playing around with the classifications to make their books look
better. The RBI has closed that loophole.

Way Forward:

 It is to be noted that, the problem of bad loans is particularly acute in public-sector

banks (PSBs). So it is the responsibility of the primary shareholder i.e., the
government to take necessary steps regarding this issue. The RBI cannot be left
doing all the heavy lifting. The problem is particularly acute in mid-sized PSBs like
Indian Overseas Bank or UCO Bank. The former reported NPAs at 11 % in the quarter
ended September (2015).
 It has also been reported that the government intends to use part of the proposed
National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) to bid for stressed assets that it can
then work to turn around, while simultaneously cleaning up bank books.

Connecting the Dots:

 How does NPA affect Indian economy? How can Government, Banks and RBI work in
sync in reducing NPA and reduce its effects on economy?
 Does loan (NPA) waiving done by govt given to farmers during agri distress help
them de-stress? Comment.

TOPIC:

General Studies 3:
 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,
development and employment; Inclusive growth and issues arising from it; Effects
of liberalization on the economy
General Studies 2:
 Governance Issues

Recent Fed hike and its impact on the Global and Indian Economy

 The most remarkable thing about the US Federal Reserve board’s decision to raise its
interest rate — the first hike since 2006.

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 By raising interest rates, the US central bank has bolstered the value of the dollar,
the currency used around the world to buy and sell most raw materials.
 Even with global surpluses and slowing economies keeping prices lower for
everything from crude oil to wheat, demand might weaken, especially from major
importers in Asia like China and India that have been key drivers of commodity
buying.

Why does Federal Reserve increase or decrease Interest rate?

 Federal Reserve, helps maintain high U.S. employment and stable prices for
consumers.
 The main tool the Fed uses to influence the economy is interest rates—the price
everyone pays to borrow money.
 High interest rates make borrowing more expensive, so you end up paying more for
things like home and car loans. Then again, there are upsides: The money you have
stashed in savings and money markets accounts will earn higher interest. When
interest rates are kept low, the opposite occurs. People earn lower interest on
savings, but they can more easily borrow money for things they want to buy—like
homes and cars.

What does Quantitative easing mean?

 An unconventional monetary policy in which a central bank purchases government

securities or other securities from the market in order to lower interest rates and
increase the money supply. Quantitative easing increases the money supply by
flooding financial institutions with capital in an effort to promote increased lending
and liquidity. Quantitative easing is considered when short-term interest rates are at
or approaching zero, and does not involve the printing of new banknotes.

Courtesy - http://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quantitative-easing.asp

What does FED Tapering mean?

 Fed tapering is the gradual reduction in the bond buying program of the US Federal
Reserves. In parallel reselling of Bonds and increase in interest rates will lead to
inflow of dollars into US Economy from other countries. Thus Dollar supply will be
reduced in the market (international) and Depreciation currency will be felt in the
economy.

How did it impact the Economy?

 Central banks can employ a variety of policies to improve growth, and they must
balance short-term improvements in the economy with longer-term market
expectations. If the central bank tapers its activities too quickly, it may send the

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economy into a recession. If it does not taper its activities, it may lead to high
inflation.
 Markets across the world, as well as in India, shrugged off the development, which
could mean capital moving out of several economies and into the US.
 On the face of it, a Fed rate hike should be a negative development for emerging
market economies like India since a capital outflow should lead to a depreciation in
the domestic currency.

How does it impact Indian Companies?

 For Indian companies, new overseas loans are likely to start getting costlier, and the
appreciation of the dollar could change corporate balance sheets as debt-servicing
gets more expensive.
 After the Fed move, depreciation pressure could build up for emerging market
currencies and this includes the rupee. This could then spill over to other markets
like stocks and bonds.

Impact of FED hike on India:

 India is better placed today (than many of its peers after the American central bank,
the US Federal Reserve, raised its key interest rates) in terms of real GDP growth,
lower inflation, lower current account deficit and ongoing fiscal consolidation.
 Minimal impact on Indian markets and should not lead to any large-scale outflow of
foreign funds.
 India's external balances have significantly improved since mid-2013, with foreign
exchange reserves rising by some $65 billion to $353 billion as of November 2015.
 India is benefiting from low crude prices and overall macroeconomic stability
 India is less dependent than several of its peers on commodity exports, and has thus
not been negatively affected by the global rout in commodity prices.
 Only a small part of India's sovereign debt is held by foreigners or is denominated in
foreign currency.
 India's favourable economic growth outlook makes India relatively attractive for
foreign investors.

Connecting the Dots:

 What do Quantitative Easing and FED tapering mean? How does it affect Indian
Economy in particular and Global economy in general?
 Differentiate between Appreciation and Depreciation of Currency? Throw light on
the impact of recent Federal Reserve Hike in its interest rate on Global economy and
also comment on how did/can India remain immune to its impact?

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TOPIC:

General Studies 3:

 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,

development and employment.
 Inclusive growth and issues arising from it; Effects of liberalization on the economy
 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues
of buffer stocks and food security

General Studies 2:

 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s
interests
 Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate
 Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations

 The 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has just
concluded in Nairobi over the weekend and the overall conclusion of the nature of
the event might just keep oscillating between being a modest success to an utter
failure.
 Outcomes of these conferences have always combined legally binding commitments
with an effective system of review and enforcement and the dispute-settlement
system of the WTO has always been acknowledged to be fair, efficient and effective

The long-stalled Doha round of negotiations have finally been reached, clearing the way for
the World Trade Organization to start focusing on smaller agreements with a better chance
of success

Major breakthrough for the rich countries with six ministerial-level decisions on
agriculture, cotton and other issues—

 Commitment to abolish export subsidies for farm exports,

 Public stockholding for food security purposes,
 A special safeguard mechanism for developing countries,
 Measures related to cotton and
 Preferential treatment for least developed countries in the area of services

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Major Roadblock: Failure of the final ministerial declaration to “reaffirm” a commitment to

the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), which was affirmed at the end of the Doha
Ministerial Conference of the WTO in November 2001

Key political issues:

Equity:

 In terms of the contributions/ commitments to be made by developed and

developing countries
 Basis for differential treatment lies in the historical responsibilities of developed
countries and the lower capabilities of developing ones; special and differential
treatment (S&DT) in the WTO for developed countries
 The contentiousness in the current negotiations arises from the remarkable changes
in the global economy over the last two decades with the substantially enhanced
role of emerging economies in global trade.
 Though, the demand for differentiation between emerging economies and other
poorer developing countries remains the same, as few economies may have become
competitive in some areas, they continue to struggle with poverty and
underdevelopment.

India’s View-point

Farm subsidy regime:

 India has always stood for its right to provide subsidies to her farmers as 85 per cent
of farmers have holdings of less than five acres, and that too given the backdrop of
rural distress after successive years of drought

 Nairobi conference:
 Members of developed countries have committed to removing export subsidies
immediately, except for a handful of agricultural products
 Developing countries will remove the subsidies by 2018, with flexibility to cover
marketing and transport costs for agriculture exports until the end of 2023 as
well as political feasibility which will have to be taken into account
 Status quo on some critical issues, including the "peace clause" for food stock
holding, has not been disturbed and the arrangement binds other countries to
refrain from challenging India's food-grains procurement operations at minimum
support prices and stock holding for the public distribution system, till this issue
is finally resolved.

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Issue of a special safeguard mechanism or SSM:

 It allows India to raise tariffs to protect the interests of local farmers against surges
in imports(meant to curb sudden increases in imports of commodities, which could
hurt domestic agricultural interests)
 Ministerial decision on SSM for developing countries: These countries will have the
right to temporarily increase tariffs in the face of import surges while committing
members to engage constructively in finding a permanent solution on public
stockholding for food security.

At a glance— Key Issues

 Issues of public stockholding of food crops and special safeguard mechanism in

agriculture have not seen major progress

 Rich nations want new issues to replace Doha Development Agenda

 The ministerial declaration effectively barricades Doha because the WTO procedures
mandate that any new resolution must garner the unanimous support of all member
countries

 WTO has recognised developing members' rights to have recourse to special

safeguard mechanism as envisaged under the Hong Kong ministerial

 Touted as the "most significant outcome on agriculture" in the WTO's history, the
declaration on export competition will see all countries reducing export subsidies
paid to farmer

IASbaba’s Views:

 India’s trade policy is a function of domestic reform and competitiveness and India
should make an effort to explore adequately the possibility of restructuring its farm-
support programmes to conform to Green Box requirements. The decisions are of
the nature of them being politically sensitive, but if successfully pursued, would free
India to follow other trade objectives
 India needs to also pursue the efficiency gains from domestic market integration in
various sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture. The GST is a vital instrument
and along with other initiatives, the looming danger might just surpass.
 Market integration is an important aspect that needs capacity building and that
which would lead to significant competitive gains, enabling countries in the region to
focus on their comparative advantage, thus creating thousands of jobs. The
government’s policy emphasis on “Make in India” needs to also be replicated in
services, thus generating greater potential for job creation in the economy.
 Formulation of a forward-looking trade policy based on India’s competitive strengths
and a clear vision for the future that India can shape the WTO’s agenda needs to be
speeded up.

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Connecting the dots:

 With the enhanced role of emerging economies in global trade in the recent
decades, does the ‘principle of equity’ hold relevance?
 What is the impact of the recent WTO negotiations on developed and developing
countries? What effect will this have on India’s trade policy?

Related Articles:

WTO and its relevance

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

TOPIC:

General Studies 3:

 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources,

growth, development and employment.
 Inclusive growth and issues arising from it; Effects of liberalization on the
economy
 Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices;
Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues
of buffer stocks and food security

General Studies 2:

 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests; Effect of policies and politics of developed and
developing countries on India’s interests
 Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate;
Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

Post-Nairobi : WTO- Doha Development Agenda

 Post-Nairobi- The work programme has very few substantive issues that can
meaningfully engage its 162 members

 Doha Development Agenda (DDA)- Faces the imminent threat of closure

The Doha agenda

Adopted in 2001; a collective articulation of the developing countries for working towards a
just and equitable trading system, to provide the opportunities to laggards in the global
trading system to benefit from engaging in trade.

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Redesigned Rules-
 Agriculture was stripped of all policy distortions with the high levels of subsidies that
provide unfair advantage to the large conglomerates controlling global trade in
commodities
 Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) would be amended to address smallholder
agriculture and give developing countries new instruments to address concerns
regarding-
 food security,
 protection of rural livelihoods and
 rural development
 India- Flexibility to adopt farmer-friendly policies as well as to operate a public
distribution system for implementing the National Food Security Act
 Agriculture & Industry- Developing countries would be granted flexibility while
reducing tariffs in both agriculture and industry, so as to ensure that these
enterprises are prevented from facing competitive pressures before they are
adequately prepared to do so
 India- Critical for the pursuit of the ‘Make in India’ programme
 Services- Most developing countries have been seeking ways to improve their
presence in the global services markets, especially through cross-border trade in
services and through movement of natural persons

Nairobi Declaration—

Lack of unanimous support for DDA’s continuance-

 Marked a significant departure from the fundamental WTO principle of consensus-based

decision making
 Developed countries, especially the US, are more in favour of new approaches to the
unresolved issues as well as for the emerging issues that are to be considered-
 e-commerce,
 global value chains,
 competition laws,
 labour,
 environment and
 investments

Future deliberations in the WTO if DDA weakened-

WTO members have reached agreements in pluri-lateral formats that present the
conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)-

 TPP is a 12-member arrangement, led by the U.S.

 Countries of vastly unequal strengths would be treated equally
 Ignores the presence of large policy distortions, for instance, the granting of high levels
of farm subsidies by the U.S. while pushing for opening of markets

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 Ability to earn unacceptably high rents through the exercise of the extraordinary rights
they have been promised for their intellectual property and their investments, for
example, life-saving drugs
 Trying cases against host countries before international arbitration panels when the
latter have tried to bring domestic regulations to check flagrant violation of norms

At a Glance—

Key political issues:

Equity:

 In terms of the contributions/ commitments to be made by developed and developing

countries
 Basis for differential treatment lies in the historical responsibilities of developed
countries and the lower capabilities of developing ones; special and differential
treatment (S&DT) in the WTO for developed countries
 The contentiousness in the current negotiations arises from the remarkable changes in
the global economy over the last two decades with the substantially enhanced role of
emerging economies in global trade.
 Though, the demand for differentiation between emerging economies and other poorer
developing countries remains the same, as few economies may have become
competitive in some areas, they continue to struggle with poverty and
underdevelopment.

India’s View-point

Farm subsidy regime:

 India has always stood for its right to provide subsidies to her farmers as 85 per cent of
farmers have holdings of less than five acres, and that too given the backdrop of rural
distress after successive years of drought
 Nairobi conference:
o Members of developed countries have committed to removing export
subsidies immediately, except for a handful of agricultural products
o Developing countries will remove the subsidies by 2018, with flexibility to cover
marketing and transport costs for agriculture exports until the end of 2023 as well as
political feasibility which will have to be taken into account
o Status quo on some critical issues, including the “peace clause” for food stock
holding, has not been disturbed and the arrangement binds other countries to
refrain from challenging India’s food-grains procurement operations at minimum

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support prices and stock holding for the public distribution system, till this issue is
finally resolved.

Issue of a special safeguard mechanism or SSM:

 It allows India to raise tariffs to protect the interests of local farmers against surges in
imports(meant to curb sudden increases in imports of commodities, which could hurt
domestic agricultural interests)
 Ministerial decision on SSM for developing countries: These countries will have the
right to temporarily increase tariffs in the face of import surges while committing
members to engage constructively in finding a permanent solution on public
stockholding for food security.

Key Issues

 Issues of public stockholding of food crops and special safeguard mechanism in

agriculture have not seen major progress
 Rich nations want new issues to replace Doha Development Agenda
 The ministerial declaration effectively barricades Doha because the WTO procedures
mandate that any new resolution must garner the unanimous support of all member
countries
 WTO has recognised developing members’ rights to have recourse to special safeguard
mechanism as envisaged under the Hong Kong ministerial
 Touted as the “most significant outcome on agriculture” in the WTO’s history, the
declaration on export competition will see all countries reducing export subsidies paid
to farmer

IASbaba’s Views:

 India’s trade policy is a function of domestic reform and competitiveness and India
should make an effort to explore adequately the possibility of restructuring its farm-
support programmes to conform to Green Box requirements. The decisions are of the
nature of them being politically sensitive, but if successfully pursued, would free India to
follow other trade objectives
 India needs to also pursue the efficiency gains from domestic market integration in
various sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture. The GST is a vital instrument
and along with other initiatives, the looming danger might just surpass.
 Market integration is an important aspect that needs capacity building and that which
would lead to significant competitive gains, enabling countries in the region to focus on

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their comparative advantage, thus creating thousands of jobs. The government’s policy
emphasis on “Make in India” needs to also be replicated in services, thus generating
greater potential for job creation in the economy.
 Formulation of a forward-looking trade policy based on India’s competitive strengths
and a clear vision for the future that India can shape the WTO’s agenda needs to be
speeded up.

Connecting the Dots:

 Discuss the relevance of DDA in the present context of the emerging pattern and
globalisation
 Can the ‘principle of equity’ be employed in the economic sphere? Critically examine

Related Articles:

Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-december-2015/

WTO and its relevance

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

TOPIC: General studies 2

 Separation of powers between various organs, dispute redressal mechanisms and

institutions.
 Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Working through the bankruptcy maze

 India’s financial distress resolution mechanism is broken.

 Companies that fall into hard times spend six or eight years trying to resolve the
situation(the case of kingfisher)
 Banks are burdened with massive amounts of non-performing loans that are a
drain on their resources and also affect their willingness to lend to new and
deserving projects.
 Ultimately, the honest and successful companies and individuals that borrow from
the banks pay for these inefficiencies in terms of higher interest rates.
 In light of this, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015, which has now been
referred to a joint committee of Parliament, is a significant step in the right direction.

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India’s insolvency regime: Historical outlook

 Over the past 20 years, there have been a number of attempts to reform India’s
insolvency regime.
 Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, the Recovery of Debts Due
to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993, and the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002
were laws made by parliament aimed at helping speed up the bankruptcy
resolution process.
 Corporate debt restructuring is a Reserve Bank of India-sponsored scheme that has
tried to sidestep the courts to resolve financial distress.
An epic fail:

 None of the above mentioned mechanisms have been fully effective.

 While one can find a number of micro reasons for their failure, the one overarching
reason (at least in the case of laws) is the lack of legal infrastructure to effectively
implement the laws.
The case of strong laws and weak implementation:

 The insolvency laws stated above laid emphasis on the courts to solve insolvency
issues.
 Our courts are overburdened, understaffed and lack basic physical infrastructure.
 Some of the Debt Recovery Tribunals are known to be operating out of car
showrooms.
 India is a classic case of strong laws diluted by weak implementation.

The new bankruptcy bill, 2015

How will a new law resolve this situation?

1. Privatisation of insolvency resolution process:

 The current Bill acknowledges the poor legal infrastructure present in India
and tries to overcome it by privatising the insolvency resolution process.
 The Bill proposes a new breed of insolvency professionals who will be
responsible for managing the process.
 The courts will be required to rule on a limited number of issues.
 This solution will work only if the private sector infrastructure develops and
the courts confine themselves to their limited role.

2. Time bound process:

 The other important aspect of the Bill is the strict, time-bound process that is
specified.

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 The Bill mandates that the decision between restructuring and liquidation
should be made by the bankruptcy professional within six months of a firm
being referred to the bankruptcy process.
 Under certain limited circumstances, there can be one extension of three
months after which the firm will have to be liquidated to settle its claims.
Way ahead:

 Barring few technical limitations (which can be overcome), the Bankruptcy Bill, as
introduced in the Lok Sabha in the winter session, is a significant step in the right
direction and should be enthusiastically welcomed.

Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the 4D solution for banking reforms, as envisaged in economic

survey 2014-15.
 Recently Supreme Court declared National Tax Tribunal Act as unconstitutional as it
keeps away judiciary from taking up issues that have substantial question of law. In
the light of above statement, examine the Bankruptcy Bill 2015.
 Critically examine the functioning of debt recovery tribunal in India over the years
with special reference to increasing NPA’s in banking sector.

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ENVIRONMENT

TOPIC:

General Studies 1:
 Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, cyclone
etc., changes in critical geographical features (including waterbodies and ice-caps)
and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

General Studies 2:
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation.
 Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs,
various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders;
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or
affecting India’s interests; Effect of policies and politics of developed and
developing countries on India’s interests; Important International institutions,
agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

General Studies 3:
 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact
assessment.

Global action against climate change

A new framework for collective global action against climate change has appeared and it
sets an over-arching target of keeping emissions in control so that global temperature rise
remains below 2 degree Celsius

Let us have a look at the important developments related to it.

Accountability:

CBDR—

 Principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” (CBDR) stays embedded in

the document
 CBDR is essential to enforce accountability for the historical emissions that have
already led to an increase of 1 degree Celsius in global temperature

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Emission Reduction Action

 Developed as well as developing countries have to take emission reduction

 Developing countries can determine the nature and quantum of these nationally
though; Should be able to provide a country-driven plan for adaptation and seek
finance from the developed world

Self-differentiation mechanism:

 Based upon the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) that were
submitted by countries prior to the Paris summit
 Countries can decide if they want to enhance their INDCs- if the total effort by all the
countries is found to be inadequate in the “global stocktake” that will begin in 2023
and, will be held every five years thereafter

Difference:

 INDCs submitted by the US and EU amount to just one-fifth of their fair share
 INDCs of the majority of developing countries, including India, either exceed or
broadly meet their fair share commitments.

Carbon budget available with the world is—

29,00 billion tonnes (bt) of which 1,900 bt has already been emitted

 US and European Union (EU) together account for close to 40% of all the emissions
between 1850 and 2011
 India’s contribution is a measly 2.8%

Issues

 Dilutes the principles of equity adopted by the Kyoto protocol in 1997

 Does away with the legally binding emission targets for the developed countries that
was agreed upon in Kyoto
 No accountability for the past
 Does not enforce any legally binding commitments from developed countries in the
future as countries will set their own targets and no penalties will be imposed for
failing to meet those
 Developed nations cannot be filed for liability or compensation for loss and damage
incurred by poorer nations as a result of historical emissions

Finance

 Developed countries will continue to help developing countries through climate

finance reaching an amount of $100 billion annually by 2020

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 Prior to 2025, a new climate finance goal will be adopted upwards of this amount

Issue:

OECD report: Total climate finance had risen to US $52 billion in 2013 and US $62 billion in
2014, thus giving the impression that developed nations were well on their way to meeting
the original US $100 billion by 2020 promise.

India’s Union Ministry of Finance: Argued that the OECD report had major methodological
issues of double-counting, mislabelling and misreporting, the paper indicated that the only
credible estimate was for US $2.2 billion in gross climate finance disbursements

(Has scarcely been made available to developing countries and there is no clause in the Paris
agreement that may alter the course)

It is necessary to “establish more credible, accurate, and verifiable numbers on the true size
of the mobilisation of climate change finance commitments and flows from developed to
developing countries”.

5-yr Assessment:

Every five years there shall be an (To arrive at “net zero emissions” between 2050 and
2100)

 Assessment of how the emission reduction actions of all countries collectively are
faring against the goal of keeping temperatures under control
 Assess the kind and volume of funds being provided by developed countries

Assessment Reports— Help countries to decide if and how they want to enhance their
nationally determined contributions for the next phase of the agreement

Technology Mechanism:
To help countries cooperate and foster collaborative research in future in developing and
deploying cleaner technologies and fuel sources over time

Market mechanism:

 A global market-based mechanism to reduce emissions be set up to allow a global

carbon-trade
 Countries get chances to take credit for emission reductions against their own
targets by paying for it in countries where emission reduction is cheaper to achieve

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Transparency Mechanism:
Uniform system in place to report on methods being adopted by countries:

 to fight climate change

 to achieve its nationally determined contributions

Article 4 mandates that each country should, in five-year cycles, prepare, communicate
and maintain an NDC.

REVISION

Promises as a whole

 To keep the rise of global temperature far below two degrees Celsius by the turn of
the century
 To ensure global emissions peak as soon as possible, with developed countries doing
so before others
 To ensure net greenhouse gas emissions become zero in the second half this century

The wins

 Differentiation between developed and developing world while reducing emissions

 No forcible ratcheting up of emission targets periodically
 India does not have to compulsorily provide climate finance
 No peaking of emissions before other countries
 Removing reference to decarbonisation of economies against fixed deadlines
 The Paris pact not entirely centred on mitigation, but it lays substantial stress on
other elements such as finance, adaptation, loss & damage

The losses

 Transparency mechanism brings equivalence between developed and developing

countries through the ‘back door’. Global financial flows for thermal power in India
will shrink with time
 Climate justice has been used just as a word.
 Carbon budget concept fails to find place
 No reference to reducing cost of IPRs

India’s Initiatives:

Important Areas to be focussed upon:

 Cleaner thermal power generation,

 Promoting renewable energy,
 Reducing emissions from transport and waste, and
 Creating climate resilient infrastructure

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 Building low-carbon cities,

 Using smarter electric and mass public transit,
 Investing in buildings efficiency and a digital, decentralised electric grid

Also, go through:

Climate Change and India- What to expect? – http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-

current-affairs-19th-20th-august-2015/

The Balancing Act: Paris Agreement—http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-

affairs-24th-october-2015/

TOPIC:

 General Studies 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

 General Studies 2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements
involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Post Paris Summit: Roadmap of India— Climate Change

India being a big, complex and the emerging leader for economic growth in the world, needs
to choose its path for development judiciously as this will also shape the global energy
markets.

Reality Noted:

Within Asia, 24 per cent of deaths due to disasters occur in India, on account of its size,
population and vulnerability. Floods and high winds account for 60 per cent of all disasters
in India” [Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002–07)]

But this points out towards many How’s:

 How’s of approach of the government

 How’s of reality
 How’s of aspirations

National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF)

India has taken a number of concrete steps to enable the transition towards a cleaner
environment and NCEFis one of the major initiatives taken, to provide an impetus for the
development of clean energy

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Introduced in the 2010-2011 budget

Objective: ‘funding research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies’

Progressive Steps—

Allocation and disbursement strategy: Need to be revisited annually to ensure balanced

distribution of resources between the identified thrust areas

Strengthening of the institutional set-up: To improve the effectiveness and performance of

the Fund

Raising awareness and strengthening broad-based support and action:

 By bringing Industry and research institutions on board
 Encouraging collaborative efforts to scale up impacts

Operational processes be streamlined:

 To reduce procedural delays
 Enhance effectiveness- Rule based + Transparent + Time-bound

Categorisation of projects should be introduced: To maintain a balance in the distribution

of resources

Consistent monitoring and evaluation: By employing clearly defined metrics to evaluate

progress

Ensure adequate allocations are made in the Union Budget keeping in mind anticipated
revenues, with necessary corrections made in the supplementary budget

National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE)—

The key focus for government action for energy efficiency and is divided into four
components:

 Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT): A scheme for trading in energy efficiency
certificates; mandatory for all large industrial units and facilities in thermal power,
aluminium, cement, fertilizers, chlor-alkali, steel, paper and pulp, and textiles
 Energy Efficiency Financing Platform
 Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency
 Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development

Case Study- India

Odd-even numbered vehicle

Objective: To arrest the rising levels of air pollution in the capital

Reason behind ownership of 2 cars or maybe more:

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 Safety, especially for women

 Lack of end-to-end connectivity through public transport
 Lack of cycling tracks

Government needs to:

 Build a comprehensive plan towards public transportation

 Incentivise future-fit solutions like private electric vehicles
 Disincentivise diesel-run private vehicles that only make the air quality worse

LED lighting programme:

Addressed

 Reality of need: By providing a modern energy source to everyone

 Reality of aspiration: By making LEDs an elite product and ensuring that its energy-
saving benefits are highlighted

Results:

 India transitioned from high-energy consuming incandescent bulbs to low-energy

consuming LEDs
 Created a working business model for its success

For a robust energy policy

Firstly, we need to make sure the ratchet mechanism sustains pressure on developed
countries to ramp up their efforts:

 By upgrading our ability to analyse other country contributions

 Actively shaping the fine print of implementing language for the Paris Agreement in
the coming years

Secondly, we have to build a robust and ongoing national process:

 To examine our energy and climate future

 To replace India’s current ad hoc, disconnected, process of energy planning and
policy
 To develop more cogent system of energy information gathering and analysis
 Exploring actions that bring synergies across development and climate outcomes
(such as energy efficiency and public transport) and those that come with direct
costs to the economy

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Key Issues

Stakeholder support: Necessitate improved coordination

Infrastructural hurdles:

 Land issues
 Difficulties pertaining to obtaining Right-of-Way, power evacuation facilities and
transmission lines to substations
 Lack of availability of skilled labour

Issues regarding obtaining finance:

 Prevailing high interest rate in India as technological Development for climate

technologies require large amount of capital
 Indian banks reaching their sectoral limits for the renewable energy sector
 Lack of availability of non-recourse funding

Capacity building for the financial community: Financial institutions & Banking industry
need to

 Increase information sharing through networking

 Initiate capacity building activities within the financial community

Towards a Low-Carbon Future

Clean energy- Centre-piece of India’s commitment

 Aims to install 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2022 and generate 40
percent of its power through non-fossil fuel sources by 2030
 Plans to increase forest and tree cover to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3
billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent by 2030
 Strengthening its comprehensive approach through its key missions on:
 Energy efficiency
 Solar energy- Targeting 100GW of solar by 2022
 Wind: Aims to install an additional 60 GW by 2022

To achieve the 175 GW clean energy target: Seeking up to $100 billion in investments by
2022

Promoting Green Buildings and Efficiency Standards

Indian cities are projected to increase by more than 400 million people by 2050, triggering
extraordinary growth in energy-intensive construction and infrastructure and therefore,

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 Mandatory nature of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) to spur energy-saving

building construction
 Adopting green building programs that require Green Rating for Integrated Habitat
Assessment (GRIHA) certification for new buildings
 Estimated 3,453 TWh of cumulative electricity could be saved by 2030, the equivalent of
powering as many as 358 million Indian homes annually between 2014 and 2030

Work on Climate Finance

 Create an independent coordinating agency: Plan, access, mobilise, disburse, and track
climate finance at the national level
 Undertake detailed quantitative needs assessment and cost-benefit studies to prioritise
mitigation and adaptation actions, and provide detailed cost estimates for their
implementation
 Step up private sector engagement
 Strengthen the capacity of DFIs to design, select, and fund national and state-level
climate change projects or programmes: To increase the coverage of climate-related
activities and to develop bankable projects to attract further investment
 Should include the use of public funds and instruments (grant, loan, equity, debt) of
finance when allocating funds to implementing entities
 DFIs should develop minimum accreditation standards for accessing and delivering
climate finance from international funding streams

Overall—

 Effective regulation to protect fragile ecosystems

 Regulating and guiding urban regional planning
 Limiting Urban growth- Evidence that the economic, social and environmental cost of
unstructured urban growth outweighs the benefits of urbanization
 Invest in Natural Infrastructure-
 Integrated Watershed Management
 Plant trees
 Leverage ecosystem services
 Restoration of degraded landscapes and watersheds

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IASbaba’s ‘Climate Change’ Series- MUST READ

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-december-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-9th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-2nd-3rd-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24th-november-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/07/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-01st-july-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-10th-november-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-2nd-december-2015/

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TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Role of women and women’s organization, developmental

issues; Effects of globalization on Indian society, Social empowerment
 General Studies 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by
the Centre and States and the mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies
constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
 General Studies 3: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it; Conservation,
environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Women and Climate Change

 The threat of climate change, manifested in the increase of extreme weather

conditions such as, droughts, storms or floods, has been recognized as a global
priority issue and has broad disparities existing among regions, between different
generations, income groups and occupations as well as between women and men.
 Women in rural areas in developing countries are highly dependent on local natural
resources for their livelihood, because of their responsibility to secure water, food
and energy for cooking and heating. The climate change and its effects thus, make it
difficult for women to secure these resources.

More women die than men during natural disasters

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Study: In a natural disaster, women and children
are 14 times more likely to die than men and the reason is cultural norms. For example, in
the 2004 tsunami in Asia, more than 70% of the dead were women.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has noted that in Sri Lanka, men
survived the tsunami more easily than women:

 Men are taught life-saving skills like swimming and climbing trees while women’s
role stays restricted as a perfect home-maker
 Taking care of others: The food and relief material are directed more towards men
with women also supporting the move (Compassion & care)
 Rate of death of women increases with the severity of the disaster as a study
exhibits the reduction in the normal life expectancy of a woman
 Alternate explanation: More men might die owing to the fact that they do take up
more risks during disasters (Trait of a saviour)

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Water stress impacts women more adversely

 Climate change leads to droughts and water scarcity, adversely affecting women’s
physical and emotional wellness.
 Burden of water collection and firewood collection largely falls on them: Finding and
fetching water can consume up to 85% of a woman’s daily energy intake.
 Drought: Search for water takes a toll not only on the time and health but also on their
psychological well-being

Climate change increases health risks for women

Women and children are more vulnerable to the health effects of climate change

Data for 2000 and 2012 from South-east Asia: The diarrhoeal diseases killed more women
than men (common during instances of flooding)

Perpetuation of gender inequality:

 Unequal access to health services

 General neglect of women’s health in unequal societies: Studies in India, Bangladesh
and Indonesia showed that the sex of a child influences the extent of the care given.
 Common for girls: Delayed hospitalization and lower rates of hospitalization

Women’s World 2015 Report: Certain effects of climate may affect older women more as
they tend to live longer

Cultural Norms at Play:

 Primary caregivers for families

 Responsibility increases during times of emergency and disaster
 More likely to suffer from malnutrition following a disaster:
Neglected nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers
More importance to food hierarchies that favour men

Women farmers face greater hurdles in adapting to climate change

Women make up 43% of the agricultural force and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
has noted that women suffer from the following issues citing Gender gap as the main evil:

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 Possess smaller landholdings

 Face greater hurdles in accessing farm credit
 Less knowledge of Technical know-how and extension services
 Difficulty in accessing, using, and supervising male farm labour
 Use less fertilizer and of lower quality
 Under-representation in decision making (+formal forest user groups)
 Lower access to management of natural resources

IASbaba’s Views:

 A gender analysis needs to be applied to all actions on climate change and the
gender experts should be consulted in climate change processes at all levels, so that
women's and men’s specific needs and priorities are identified and addressed.
 Women around the world must adapt their lives to a changing climate
depending upon the regional variations and availability of resources.
Vulnerabilities need to be tamed with the help of behavioural changes and more
changes on a personal as well as on an individual level.
 Women need to be made in control of their required resources as they possess a
strong body of over-the-years traditional and environmental knowledge while
helping, collecting and managing resources, and raising their families.
In control of resources:
 Women are more likely than men to use them for family health and
economic stability
 More likely to change strategies in response to new information
 Take decisions that minimize risk

Connecting the Dots:

 ‘Women are often in the frontline in respect to the impacts of a changing climate’.
Do you agree with the statement w.r.t India? Substantiate your answers with valid
explanations
 Discuss the factors behind the historical evils leading to women becoming more
vulnerable due to the climatic vagaries being experienced all over the world

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TOPIC:

General Studies 2:

 Pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity,
Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive
 Development processes and the development industry- the role of NGOs, SHGs,
various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other
stakeholders; Governance issues

General Studies 3:

 Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact

assessment.

Green Political Interest-Future Prospects

A sense of betrayal now exists when it comes to the environmental issues and thus, there is
an urgent need for a planned course of action- for all those who want to change the
narrative of a civilisation that is on a constant warpath with nature

Germination of the idea of a Green Party

Green Party?

A political party with ecological wisdom and participative democracy as its roots

Any living example?

German Green Party (now called Alliance ’90/The Greens), established in 1980, is one of the
oldest and most prominent of these groupings (having made it to their respective
Parliaments and some even to the European Parliament)

Do we really need a Green Party

A ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ situation: There is a crying need for environmental politics and
reorientation or a mere attenuation with the already flawed economic developmental
model will yet again leave a trail of ecological damages

The near-term viability: Almost all the recent issues that are being worked upon are
restricted to short-term models and the broader contentious topics such as industrialisation
and exploitation of natural resources, continue to divide people.

Knee-jerk emotional response: When we talk about environmental impacts we forget that
we are talking about issues at large, which not just affect local communities but also the

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world at large. While it’s natural for the local communities to jump into action, a proper
behavioural response is required, and this is missing.

Social Divisions: There exists a yawning divide; between urban and rural population,
between the rich and the poor, between the North Indians and the South Indians and thus,
it becomes difficult to move ahead with firstly, owning the cause as one’s own and secondly,
owning up to the mistakes committed- as the cause of every single member of the
community makes an impact upon an individual.

Can we follow the Western model:

The Elitist Viewpoint—Environmental concerns are the concerns of the urbane and the
educated as they belong to the post-materialistic world and thus forma a major roadblock
for India to follow the same footsteps.

Necessities of India—In India, the environmental concerns revolve around necessities and
have a greater effect on the rural poor. If green politics does not restrict itself as urban
environmental activism but emerges as a binding agent of all these groups and concerns, it
definitely has a future in India.

Way Ahead

Looking beyond conventional politics and politicians: There is an urgent need to

incorporate fresh infusion [of people] and fresh formations which can act as the political
and ecological conscience of society

Lessons from West: Pushing the boundaries of democratic space for a broad green alliance
should be made the code of the day for the activists and the politicians who are working
hard towards sustainable actions

Connecting the Dots

 Discuss the importance of interest groups in a democracy. Analyse the importance of

inclusion of ‘climate change’ in the pages of our election manifestos and more
importantly in the behavioural response of an individual.
 Is there a possibility for interest groups to form a political party advocating
environmental rights and conservation in India? If yes, what should be its nature and
objectives?

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / SECURITY

TOPIC: General Studies 3

 Science and Technology - developments and their applications and effects in

everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of
technology and developing new technology.
 Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-
technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Google and the Indian projects

The recent visit of Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, indicated that the tech giant has decided to
set great store by its investments in India as evident from the announcements made
regarding multiple India-specific projects aiming to create a transformational and disruptive
influence.

Thread dis-connecting Google & India:

 Low-bandwidth geography with relatively low Internet penetration

 Telecom system, power supply and other infrastructure which are less reliable

And the connection lies in:

 Large number of sophisticated surfers and skilled computer users exhibiting an

overwhelmingly mobile internet population
 Pilot projects catering to the above mentioned characteristics and the constraints
that can be scaled up massively to deliver similar services across India

Some of the projects named are

 "Project Loon", "Tap to translate", "Offline mapping" and "Asus Chromebit"-

possessing the cutting edge of technology
 Delivering free Wi-Fi at railway stations and a more streamlined search
 Establishment of a new campus in Hyderabad
 Training of two million Android developers generating employment and large
positive externalities

"Project Loon"

 Project to replace conventional cell towers and broadband infrastructure with an

internet grid of balloons

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 A balloon can be launched and tethered in places which are geographically

inaccessible and hard to connect with terrestrial infrastructure - thus providing high-
quality broadband access in remote locations
 Each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 40km in diameter
using a wireless communications technology called LTE or 4G
 Need for cost-effective solutions: Avoiding interference with aircraft routes
 Since Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, with its massive rural footprint, is partnering
Google we can hopefully witness it delivering stable, viable Wi-Fi at reasonable cost,
completely changing the dynamics of surfing and disrupting the business models of
conventional telecom service providers.

"Tap to translate"

 It is a fast, seamless, auto-translation service on mobile across multiple languages

(beneficial for India with its multitude of national and official languages)
 Make the service easily accessible so that it is used by anyone who can either see or
hear thus, making a big difference to the differently-abled

"Offline mapping"

 To deliver mapping and locational services to users who are not on the Internet
 India is currently the third-largest market for mapping services and Offline mapping’
would be a force multiplier for travellers, local businesses and emergency services as
well

“Asus Chromebit”

 Taps into the demand for a simple cheap computer

 Its central processing unit is the size of a chocolate bar costing just about Rs 8,000
 Can be hooked to almost any external monitor and keyboard and works off cloud
storage
 If Chromebit is hooked on to an old personal computer, it is a cheap and instant
upgrade.

The above-mentioned projects to be launched by Google hopes to create and refine the
required technologies that can act as a harbinger of growth in India’s Technological pursuits,
translating into vast gains for India's digital population.

Connecting the Dots:

 ‘The internet has tangible value’- Critically examine

 Enlist the various concerns and constraints posed by Google’s ambitions in
transforming and interconnecting rural India with the rest of the world?

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TOPIC

General studies 3:

 Science and Technology - developments and their applications and effects in

everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of
technology and developing new technology.
 Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-
technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

General studies 2:
 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and
issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Nothing free or basic about ‘Free Basics’ (Facebook’s initiative)

 Recently a massive protest was organised by students in Hyderabad against

Facebook’s initiative, free basics.
 Facebook (FB) had recently allowed signing an online petition by those who
support free basics.
 As per FB’s online petition, it urges users to send a letter to Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) supporting Free Basics.
What is free basics?

 Free Basics is part of the Internet.org by Facebook initiative.

 Free Basics is a platform (app) which makes the internet accessible to more people
by providing them access to a range of free basic services like news, maternal health,
travel, local jobs, sports, communication, and local government information.
Examples:

1. Babajobs
Babajobs, India’s largest blue collar jobs site, has seen tens of thousands of people come to
their site from Free Basics and a healthy amount of them resulting in job applications.

2. Maya

Maya is a mobile messaging based health and counselling service for women and has seen
an 18x increase in daily queries year-over-year since joining Free Basics.

In an app of free basics, services of babajobs, maya can be accessed without any data cost.

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What are the benefits of free basics?

 Try to get more people online mostly the unconnected masses. In India roughly
around 30% of population have access to internet, with the free basics initiative
more people can access online.
 More than 90% of population have access to mobile phones with majority having
smart phones, through an app like free basics which is free of cost, many services
like education, health care, jobs etc can be accessed by individuals easily.
 Improves digital literacy, which is one of the objective of digital India initiative by the
present government.
 Directly or indirectly, free basics try to empower the citizens by improving their
access to quality socio economic services.
What is the state of free basics in India now?

 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has stopped the service for now,
pending its public consultation on the subject.
 However Facebook is involved in influencing campaigns like online petition, public
forums etc to essentially influence the outcome of such consultation by TRAI.
Why people are against free basics?

1. Data as commodity:
 When users go online internet data is consumed.
 Personal data is the currency of the Internet economy.
 Data as commodity is the oil of the 21st century.
 Facebook and Google’s revenue model is based on monetising our personal
data and selling it to advertisers (like what we search more, which age
group etc).
 Facebook generates an estimated revenue of nearly $1 billion from its Indian
subscribers, on which it pays no tax (FB is a US based company for which it
pays no tax in India).

2. Free basics is not free and violates net neutrality:

 Free Basics is not free, basic Internet as its name appears to imply.
 It has a version of Facebook, and only a few other websites and services that
are willing to partner Facebook’s proprietary platform.
 With free basics the concept of net neutrality is violated.
 The internet service providers (ISP’s) by tying up with FB act as
gatekeepers, regulating what content we have to view and what we should
not.

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3. Basic flaw with the model:

 Facebook’s ads and advertorials talk about education, health and other
services being provided by Free Basics, without telling us how we are going
to access doctors and medicines through the Internet; or education.
 It forgets that while English is spoken by only about 12 per cent of the
world’s population, 53 per cent of the Internet’s content is English.
 If Indians need to access education or health services, they need to access
it in their languages, and not in English.
 And no education can succeed without teachers.
 The Internet is not a substitute for schools and colleges but only a
complement, that too if material exists in the languages that the students
understand.
 Similarly, health demands clinics, hospitals and doctors, not a few websites
on a private Facebook platform.

4. Monopolization of internet:
 Free basics has some limited apps which can be accessed without any cost
(zero rating).
 When more people log onto free basics as it has no data charge, indirectly FB
starts monopolising internet.
 Internet becomes FB and FB becomes internet.
 Who knows after monopolisation FB can charge money or data from people
for accessing its services.

Need of the hour:

Regulate price of internet data:

 While the Free Basics platform has connected only 15 million people in different
parts of the world, in India, we have had 60 million people join the Internet using
mobiles in the last 12 months alone.
 And this is in spite of the high cost of mobile data charges.
 There are 300 million mobile broadband users in the country, an increase fuelled by
the falling price of smartphones.
In spite of this increase in connectivity, we have another 600 million mobile subscribers who
need to be connected to the Internet.

 Instead of providing Facebook and its few partner websites and calling it “basic”
Internet, we need to provide full Internet at prices that people can afford.
 This is where the regulatory system of the country has to step in.
 The main barrier to Internet connectivity is the high cost of data services in the
country.
 If we use purchasing power parity as a basis, India has expensive data services
compared to most countries.

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 That is the main barrier to Internet penetration.

 Till now, TRAI has not regulated data tariffs.
 It is time it addresses the high price of data in the country and not let such prices
lead to a completely truncated Internet for the poor.

Way ahead:

 The danger of privileging a private platform such as Free Basics over a public Internet
is that it introduces a new kind of digital divide among the people.
 A large fraction of those who will join such platforms may come to believe that
Facebook is indeed the Internet, which is not.
 The British Empire was based on the control of the seas. Today, whoever controls
the data oceans controls the global economy.
 The same should not happen by promoting free basics initiative of Facebook.
Connecting the dots:

 Critically examine the role of free basics initiative in bridging the digital divide gap
that exists in India.
 What is net neutrality? Do you think free basics initiative by Facebook is a violation
of net neutrality? Substantiate.
 Comment on the pros and cons of free basics initiative by Facebook.

TOPIC:

 General Studies 1: Role of women and women’s organization, poverty

and developmental issues; Social empowerment;
 General Studies 2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and
accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and
potential; Government policies and interventions for development in various
sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
 General Studies 3: Awareness in the fields of IT; Science and Technology -
developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

Raising “HER” voice through internet connectivity

 The internet opens up a world of knowledge, from digital books and Wikipedia to
online courses.
 Research shows that when women have access to reading apps, they use them
significantly more than men.

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Case study of a 23 year old Bangladesh women:

 Earlier this year in 2015, a 23-year-old Bangladeshi woman needed help.

 She was pregnant and didn’t know if it was safe to drink the water from her local
well.
 She opened Maya — an app that answers anonymous questions about everything
from health to legal protection.
 She got the advice she needed, and she’s about to give birth after a healthy
pregnancy.

Advantages of being connected through internet:

1. Economic empowerment:
 Becoming connected opens up economic opportunities.
 In a survey of large developing countries, nearly half of the women who were
connected had applied for a job on the internet, and nearly a third had
earned extra income online.
 Women use the internet to start businesses.
Case study:

1. On the South African site SmartBusiness, which helps entrepreneurs, women make
up 28 per cent of the users — and ask more than 60 per cent of the questions.
Armed with information, women grow our economies.
2. In India, the online store PelliPoola Jada was started three years ago by three
women. Today, they employ 200 more.

2. Child welfare and development:

 Empowering women economically isn’t just good for them, it’s good for
everyone.
 Improving women’s access to income and technology improves child welfare
and nutrition.
 Research shows that countries with more equality in employment and
education have lower child mortality and faster economic growth.

3. Gives women HER voice:

 The internet also gives women voice — and allows their voices to be heard.

Case study:

1. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Hero Women set up their own internet
café to tell their stories, and they successfully petitioned for the appointment of a US
special envoy to the war-torn region.
2. In Kenya, women set up Her Voice to fight gender-based violence by advocating for
legal reform and working with victim support groups.

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3. In Brazil, women created I Will Not Shut Up, an app that maps assaults on women so
that community leaders can be held accountable.
Gender inequality in internet usage:

 Despite the fact that the internet helps women get educated, start
businesses, build communities, and assert their rights, access to this vital
resource is still restricted — and sharply divided by gender.
 Globally, four billion people lack internet access, most of them women. In
the developing world, nearly 25 per cent fewer women than men are
connected; in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s 45 per cent.
 This inequality of access is holding back progress towards a safer, fairer, and
healthier world.
 The internet gender gap is widening the global development gap.
Free Basics : An initiative to bridge digital divide

 Facebook’s Internet.org initiative uses the Free Basics app and website to connect
people in 30 countries.
 Free Basics makes basic internet services — including news, search and health
information available for free.
 It’s open to all developers, so anyone can create content for it.
Apps in free basics:

 Maya, which helped the woman in Bangladesh, is on Free Basics; so is BabyCenter,

which 3.4 million families have used to learn about parenting.
 In just one month in India, people on Free Basics accessed healthcare information
one million times.
 In rural Colombia, people are using a Free Basics service called 1DOC3 to speak to
doctors, many of them for the very first time.
Way ahead:

 A connected world is a world where all people can find a way to a better future for
themselves and their children.
 By working together to connect women, we can make that better future a reality.
Connecting the dots:

 The internet gender gap is widening the global development gap. Critically analyse
the statement wrt growing gender digital divide in India.
 Critically examine the concept of free basics by Facebook. Is internet.org initiative by
Facebook, a violation of net neutrality
 Free basics initiative has a good potential of reducing digital divide in India. Critically
analyse.

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TOPIC: General Studies 3

 Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

 Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media
and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security;
money-laundering and its prevention.
 Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized
crime with terrorism.

Roadmap: India’s policing & Intelligence Agencies

With the ever increasing national security threats that India confronts today; which are
much more diverse and complex— we need to enquire if strategic measure of these
challenges and the willingness and ability to confront them and, if required, pre-empt them
exists

Intelligence agencies

Major Requirements: Integrated mission + Enterprise management + Innovation

Limited Success of reform and restructuring in the Indian Scenario:

Internal Intelligence

 Beyond the capacity of a single agency

 Requires a multi-pronged approach to tackle— cross-border terrorism, Maoist
rebellions, insurgencies in North-east India, violent Islamic extremism, communal
and sectarian violence, illegal migration, human trafficking, narcotics smuggling,
money laundering
 Carries the burden of an intellectual infrastructure of pre-independence that has
failed to inculcate post-independence competencies to deal with a gamut of issues

RAW

 Limited ability in generating human intelligence

 Recruitment dependent on deputations from other central agencies
 Intake of scientists, cyber analysts and linguists- Below required levels
 Lack of lateral entry options
 Intelligence requirements framed in an ad-hoc manner

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Coordination between the Centre and the states

 Deficiency prevails, even after setting up new mechanisms like Multi Agency Centres
(MAC) and Subsidiary Multi Agency Centres (SMAC), to enable intelligence sharing
and coordination
 Need for higher level coordination which involves the Home and Police departments
working together with their Central counterparts

Shortage of personnel and recruitment

Skills:

 Lack of intellectual capacity and investment in education system

 Inability to recruit qualified specialists
 Lack of technical skills: Requires more focused effort inTECHINT (Technical
Intelligence) and HUMINT (Human Intelligence)
 Chronic shortage of military expertise
 Lack of customization of Big data analytics capabilities + Poor analysis of data in hand

Management:

 Poor cadre management

 Lack of co-ordination amongst the intelligence community
 Lack of engagement of private players for specialist tasks
 Culture of ‘No Accountability’- Need to counter this systemic flaw which exists due to
excessive secrecy making authority and accountability not letting work together
 Lack of political attention and effective guidance (inexperience and ignorance)

Way Ahead:

Need for strict guidance and supervision

Intelligence collection:

 Conducted in an ad-hoc manner

 Absence of clear-cut requirements from the consumers of intelligence

Counter-terrorism Issues

Inadequate capacity of the various states to deal with terrorism, both in terms of:

 Intelligence
 Terror strike

Problem of secrecy prevents assessing the real-time effectiveness

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Way Ahead

Intelligence agencies need to be governed by laws framed by the Parliament

To strengthen their accountability:

 Indian agencies function outside the purview of any legislation, making it
difficult to implement administrative, operational or financial accountability
 Due to the enormous power in the hands of these agencies, it is important to
legislate their functions and provide for means to guarantee the citizens
against their misuse.

Need for clarity in the functioning:

Powers provided to the agencies should be carefully spelt out to ensure that they are
not misinterpreted and spells out duties, responsibilities and authority effectively

Special forces capabilities need to be ramped up and their needs to take place a coordinated
mechanism housing the private sector in intelligence work to make up for the shortfall that
the agencies face

Duplication of resources and capabilities needs to be weeded out of the system (ineffective
coordination) and be rationalised to meet the economic costs

Also, one agency needs to focus on open source information and internet-based
communications covering all mediums (newspapers, radio, the internet and social media
sites)

Policing—Criminal Investigation:

1996 petition moved in the Supreme Court: Emphasised that “the present distortions and
aberrations in the functioning of the police have their roots in the colonial past and the
complete subordination of the police to the executive—an arrangement which was
designed originally to protect the interests of the British Raj, but which unfortunately
continues to this day”

PM Modi’s SMART Police-

 Strict and sensitive,

 Modern and mobile,
 Alert and accountable,
 Reliable and responsive,
 Trained and techno-savvy

Critical Issues:

Poor police-to-people ratio

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 India’s average police to people ratio is 1:761—one of the lowest is in the world
 UN recommends: 1 policeman for every 450 people
 Bureau of Police Research and Development’s standard: 1 for every 568 people
 VIP: At least three policemen

Criminal Investigation

 Investigations and conclusions of trials taking an abnormally long time

 Falling investigative standards

Long pending police reforms

None of the states have implemented Supreme Court’s directives—

Constitute a State Security Commission (SSC) to:

 Ensure that the state government does not exercise unwarranted influence or
pressure on the police
 Lay down broad policy guideline
 Evaluate the performance of the state police via pre-determined planning,
provisioning and rationalised performance parameters
 Reasons:
 No convention to measure the amount of political ‘supervision’ and ‘control’
 No rationale system for evaluating police performance against a set of pre-
determined criteria

Ensure that the DGP:

 Appointed through merit based transparent process (Arbitrary; personal preferences

dependant)
 Secure a minimum tenure of two years (uncertainty of office & tenure otherwise)
 Solution:
 DGP must be selected from amongst the three senior-most officers empanelled by
the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the post
 On the basis of the candidate’s: Length of service + Service record + Range of
experience

Ensure that other police officers on operational duties (including Superintendents of Police
in-charge of a district and Station House Officers in-charge of a police station) are also
provided a minimum tenure of two years

Separate the investigation and law and order functions of the police

Set up a Police Establishment Board (PEB) to decide:

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 Transfers, postings, promotions and other service related matters of police officers
of and below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police
 Make recommendations on postings and transfers above the rank of Deputy
Superintendent of Police
 Be a forum of appeal for disposing of representations from officers of the rank of
Superintendent of Police and above
 Review the functioning of the police in the state

Set up a Police Complaints Authority (PCA) at state level to inquire into public complaints
against police officers-

 State level Authority will inquire into cases of serious misconduct including incidents
involving
 Death + Grievous hurt + Rape in police custody by police officers of and above the
rank of Superintendent of Police
 District level Authority will inquire into cases of serious misconduct including incidents
involving
 Death, Grievous hurt and Rape in police custody
 Extortion + Land/house grabbing
 Any incident involving serious abuse of authority by police officers of and up to the
rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police

Set up a National Security Commission (NSC) at the union level to prepare a panel for
selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organisations (CPO) with a minimum
tenure of two years.

Way Ahead

Training:

 Need for advanced personnel planning and training facilities

 Institutions need to be upgraded in terms of facilities + equipment + technology
 Best officers must be encouraged to join as trainers
 Must be made mandatory for personnel, including officers, to undergo in-service
training before promotion

Intelligent Tools- Identify & Transfer

Tools to be developed for:

 Real-time situational awareness,

 Integrated information management,
 Simple communication enablers
 Gain insights into the behaviour of threat groups, individuals, analysts

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CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System)

 Impart proper training in computer skills

 Skills upgradation keeping in view the dynamic nature of technology

Crime-sharing Apps: Hyderabad

 Shows crimes like snatchings and burglaries in 24 hours within 100-metre radiusto
empower police personnel to get access to all data on a single click
 Synchronised with the Global Positioning System making the information dissemination
easier
 Hawk Eye: An Android app for the citizens to reach police on different issues

Organise Mass contact programme

 Reach out and learn problems and issues faced

 Break the net of exploiters (people with no formal education are exploited as they are
scared to go to a police station)
 Explain about various concepts of policing and work/initiatives being taken
 Breaking the shackles of fear (Anti-social)- History sheeters, land grabbers and eve-
teasers can be called and counselled in front of the people

Strengthen external and internal communication:

 Communication with people has to be maintained and strengthened

 Communication within the organisation must be improved

TOPIC: General Studies 3

 Security challenges, Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.

India’s Military Prowess: Navies are for more than just fighting

 In the context of a nation's military power, many people make the mistake of
summing up the capabilities of the army, the navy and the air force and producing
that aggregation as the country's capability.
 In today's environment, a country must have mechanisms that effectively counter
threats of terrorism, both indigenous and that sponsored from external sources, for
which stability and cohesion among forces is the need.

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The case of Indian navy:

 In the broad spectrum of issues that must confront any nation and, especially, one as
large and multi-dimensional as ours, the one capability that is easily visible and
usable, not just close to home but also quite far away, is the navy.
 Interestingly, it does not always need to sail away from home to be seen; it also
achieves that effect by staying in its own waters.
 For this, it must do a variety of things and the fields of training, joint exercises and
hosting ship visits are only a few of them.
 At the very top of this list, and something that cannot be done too often, is the Fleet
Review.
Fleet review:

A fleet review is a traditional gathering of ships from a particular navy to be observed by the
ruling monarch or his or her representative or the head of countries.

 Indian navy, like some others, has followed the practice. In theory, the event was
initially designed to show to the reviewing person that the navy was in fine fettle or
"good shape" as the sailors call it.
 In practice, however, it has also had ceremonial content which has grown over the
years. There are parades, band concerts and 'Beating Retreat' events and recently to
the list maritime security issues are added.

History of fleet review in India:

 The Indian Navy has been holding Fleet Reviews every five years for over four
decades, once during the tenure of each president.
 In 2001, for the first time it invited ships from several foreign countries to participate
in the event as well.
 Nearly 70 ships from some 21 countries were present in Mumbai harbour at this
first International Fleet Review (IFR).
 The chief dignitary sailed around the neatly formed lines of ships in the presidential
yacht; there was a parade by contingents of the foreign ships down Marine Drive
watched by thousands of people; a concert in which bands of several navies
performed; a seminar in which maritime cooperation and security issues were
discussed; and, of course, a "Beating Retreat' ceremony at the magnificent Gateway
of India followed by a display of fireworks.
 It was a proud moment in the history of the still young Indian Navy and the navy
displayed itself as a maritime power.
Second IFR:

 In early February 2016, the navy will host its second IFR at Visakhapatnam on the
east coast. But this time it will be much larger and more comprehensive.

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 P a g e | 154

 Ships from many nations would be present, including the ones from china. It would
be a prestigious moment for India to display itself as a maritime power in South Asia
and Indian Ocean.
What are the advantages of holding IFR for India?

1. IFR generates pride and confidence in one's own capabilities - operational,

organisational and administrative. These spectacles give joy and a sense of
achievement to the people who watch them, live or on television, and speak of what
they saw.
2. Such events would contribute to image of India’s maritime power and in future
would help India in promoting peace and prosperity in the region.
3. It promotes India as a regional superpower and allows India to take hold over the
energy security of Indian Ocean.
Way Forward:

 Navy is not just a combination of platforms that is geared to fight adversaries in war.
 It also acts as a messenger of goodwill and friendship as when ships deploy far
overseas, east and west.
 It is also there to bring relief and assistance to those in need of it during natural
disasters, as it demonstrated during the tsunami of December 2004 and in other
such incidents later.
With all the above things Indian navy is clearly an ocean of opportunities and this Indian
navy celebrated the navy day on 4th December 2015.

Connecting the dots:

 Explain the importance of Indian Ocean in promoting energy security of India.

Analyse the role of Indian navy in guarding the Indian Ocean.
 Explain the term “blue water navy”. Analyse the measures taken by the government
to create one such navy for India in Indian Ocean.

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 P a g e | 155

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http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-nepal-indo-nepal-talks-border/

For Detailed Analysis on ’India-Nepal Relationship’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-11th-12th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-4th-august-2015/

OR

‘IASbaba’s Monthly Magazine- August 2015’ for more analysis on Nepal Crisis

Chennai floods: Water under the bridge- In a tragic misjudgment, a usually parched city set about conserving
its water when it should have steadily released it

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/YwaOunv47g9Z1h1JxPaRDN/Chennai-floods-Water-under-the-bridge.html

For Detailed Analysis on ‘Disaster Management: Chennai floods ’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-9th-december-2015/

Lessons of 1963- Resumed India-Pakistan dialogue is welcome. They must take small steps, focus on tangible
achievements

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/lessons-of-1963/

When car-free is stay-at-home- In the absence of disabled-friendly public transport, Delhi’s car-free day and
odd-even formula will force upon me undesired holidays.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/delhi-odd-even-policywhen-car-free-is-stay-at-home/

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India to talk tough on food at WTO summit

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-to-talk-tough-on-food-at-wto-summit-
115121300766_1.html

WTO meet: striking a fair deal- It is time that all these countries came together to pursue outcomes that are in
the best interests of an overwhelming majority of the WTO members

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/WtFexMptCfPa12yZrhemsK/WTO-meet-striking-a-fair-deal.html

For more information on ‘WTO and its relevance ’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

‘Climate Change: Paris Summit’

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-december-2015/

A postscript on the NJAC

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-postscript-on-the-njac/article7988775.ece

For detailed analysis of NJAC, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-19th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-20th-october-2015/

India wants WTO to discuss farm subsidies of the rich

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/india-wants-wto-to-discuss-farm-subsidies-of-the-
rich/article7988796.ece

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/doha-development-round-world-trade-organization/

Since the meet at Nairobi has just begin today (15th December, 2015), this issue will be covered
comprehensively in the upcoming days.

www.IASbaba.com
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Get smart on diesel cars

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/get-smart-on-diesel-cars/article7988771.ece

The renewable energy revolution- The relatively rapid transition away from fossil fuels in China and India is
driven by the economic benefits renewable energy sources are perceived as conveying

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ok496BNid8JaMZxbkROUHK/The-renewable-energy-revolution.html

Peace in the pipeline

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/peace-in-the-pipeline/article7993609.ece

Like dynamite- Raghuram Rajan’s cautionary tale on debt should put the focus on bond markets and
governance standards

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/like-dynamite-rbi-governor-raghuram-rajan/

Paris triumph-The climate agreement strikes a fine balance between ambition, differentiation and finance

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/united-nations-paris-cliamte-agreement-triumph/

For detailed analysis of ‘Paris Summit: Climate change’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-december-2015/

Modi-Abe summit: Shaping the Indo-Pacific- The summit has added new dimensions to India-Japan
cooperation for regional peace and stability

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/modi-abe-summit-shaping-the-indo-pacific-
115121501069_1.html

For detailed analysis of ‘India-Japan Ties’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-15th-december-2015/

www.IASbaba.com
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Suffer the little children- Overall, to improve child nutrition it is vitally necessary to improve healthcare
services, women's empowerment, social protection and ensure better water supply and sanitation

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/subir-roy-suffer-the-little-children-115121501074_1.html

Ready to fight IS under U.N.: Parrikar

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ready-to-fight-is-under-un-parrikar/article7997913.ece

A plan for 2016- Policies, reforms and infrastructure need to be redesigned to boost domestic consumption

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-plan-for-2016/

Warning For Beijing: India-Japan rail diplomacy is a setback for China’s One Belt, One Road initiative.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/warning-for-beijing/

For detailed analysis of ‘India-Japan Ties’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-15th-december-2015/

Courting change- Supreme Court, as always, leads the way on environment reform. Now policy must catch up

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/courting-change/

For detailed analysis of the ‘Climate Change: Paris Summit’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-december-2015/

Sundar Pichai's eight steps to Net a billion Indians- Project loon, lite-products for 2G internet, internet on bike
for rural India, Railwire are some of the products Google plans to bring to India

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/sundar-pichai-s-eight-steps-to-net-a-billion-indians-
115121600553_1.html

www.IASbaba.com
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The end of the 2007-08 crisis? Economists warn of the impact that a Fed rate rise could have on emerging
economies

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/a-v-rajwade-the-end-of-the-2007-08-crisis-
115121601201_1.html

Xi defends China's 'cybersovereignty'- China employs one of the world's most exhaustive Internet censorship
regimes to suppress dissidence and other information deemed dangerous by the ruling Communist Party

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/xi-defends-china-s-cybersovereignty-
115121700026_1.html

The limits of control in Parliament- India’s opposition has little procedural room to do anything other than
exactly what it is doing now

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/pBckM1YyJAYtsDyxabhbNP/The-limits-of-control-in-Parliament.html

For detailed analysis of ‘Rajya Sabha and Bad Monsoon memories’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-november-2015/

Be afraid, disasters are waiting to happen

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/be-afraid-disasters-are-waiting-to-
happen/article8001998.ece

Centre contemplating launch of insurance scheme for farmers

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/centre-contemplating-launch-of-insurance-scheme-for-
farmers/article8002049.ece

Diesel engine ban: SC order clears paths for registration of small cars- Higher pollution tax for less than 2000cc
diesel vehicles to be decided on Jan 5

Business Standard

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 173

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/diesel-engine-ban-sc-order-clears-paths-for-
registration-of-small-cars-115121800046_1.html

India ranks 97th on Forbes' best countries for business list- Denmark topped the list of the 144 nations on the
'Best Countries of Business in 2015' list by the magazine

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-ranks-97th-on-forbes-best-countries-for-business-
list-115121700265_1.html

Governor’s overreach- In Arunachal Pradesh, Governor Rajkhowa's conduct invites accusations of partisanship

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/governors-overreach/

US doubles H-1B, L-1 visa fees for India cos- The money will be used to fund a biometric entry and exit
tracking system, and for treatment of 9/11 first responders

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/us-doubles-h-1b-l-1-visa-fees-for-india-cos/

Three charts that show why reservations are desirable- Scheduled castes are the most backward, followed by
scheduled tribes and other backward classes, shows NSSO data

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/vq7cTOUmxzDSB4x5QwguVL/Three-charts-that-show-why-reservations-
are-desirable.html

For detailed analysis on ‘Reservation’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-3rd-september-2015/

WTO talks enter overtime as consensus on agri issues elusive- Reports also indicated talks could be extended
by a day to allow trade ministers to reach a workable solution

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/wto-talks-enter-overtime-as-consensus-on-agri-
issues-elusive-115121900053_1.html

To know more about other issues related to WTO, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/06/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-24-june-2015/

www.IASbaba.com
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CBI: Always its master’s voice

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/always-its-masters-voice/article8006443.ece

To know more about other issues related to ‘Crisis of Credibility: CBI’, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-19th-october-2015/

European Parliament calls for sanctions against Maldives

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/european-parliament-calls-for-sanctions-against-
maldives/article8006279.ece

Not quite Congress’s 1977 moment

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/not-quite-congresss-1977-moment/article8011998.ece

Cure the doctor- Healthcare in India is a leading cause of poverty. The medical profession must own its share
of the blame

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/cure-the-doctor-healthcare-healthcare-in-india-indian-doctors/

For detailed analysis of the ‘Healthcare & Issues’, refer the below link

For Detailed Analysis ‘Healthcare issues & challenges’ refer the below links-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-25th-august-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-5th-6th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-11th-12th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-22nd-october-2015/

Art of a climate deal- Paris was no Copenhagen. But let’s now hope it is no Rio, where commitments made in
1992 were abandoned in due course.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/art-of-a-climate-deal/

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 175

For detailed analysis of the ‘Climate Change: Paris Summit’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-december-2015/

Dumping weighs down exporters- Competing economies like China have been dumping goods to keep their
factories running, at prices Indian exporters find difficult to match

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/dumping-weighs-down-exporters-
115122100011_1.html

Rough diamond trading might start in India soon- Currently, Indian diamantaires source rough diamond
through direct sight holding and participation in global auctions overseas

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/rough-diamond-trading-might-start-in-india-soon-
115122000537_1.html

Crop insurance or deficiency payments?- The most glaring implication of the proposed deficiency payments is
that it makes the state give up its responsibility of intervening in markets

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/AOBL4V83R6795TBl4N43vN/Crop-insurance-or-deficiency-payments.html

For more information on ‘Agriculture Credit & Insurance & Issues’ refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-12th-november-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-18th-december-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-18th-december-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbaba-press-information-bureau-30th-nov-6th-december-2015/

Don’t give up on fiscal consolidation- Deviation from the consolidation path will affect government’s
credibility

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/6Hr0OQt5WwLpf4zsi9EWRL/Dont-give-up-on-fiscal-consolidation.html

The politicisation of monetary policy

Business Line

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 176

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/the-politicisation-of-monetary-
policy/article8011859.ece

Failing the test of gender

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/failing-the-test-of-gender/article8015382.ece

Rajya Sabha’s winter of disquiet

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/rajya-sabhas-winter-of-disquiet/article8015377.ece

For detailed analysis of ‘Rajya Sabha and Bad Monsoon memories’ refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-november-2015/

In The Right Company- Despite their recent notoriety, Section 25 companies are not for profiteering

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/in-the-right-company/

Don’t appease the mob- The juvenile justice bill, to be debated by the Rajya Sabha today, confuses revenge
with justice

Indian Express 1

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dont-appease-the-mob/

Indian Express 2

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/for-our-children/

For detailed analysis of ‘Juvenile Justice in India: Rehabilitating Indian Juveniles’, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-21st-december-2015/

Dargah diplomacy- Few thought PM Modi would put religion and culture into the diplomatic mix with
Pakistan. He has sprung a surprise

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/raja-mandala-dargah-diplomacy/

www.IASbaba.com
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Lies and the Sensex- Why popular stock market indices are not an accurate barometer of the robustness of the
Indian economy?

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/lies-and-the-sensex/

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code- (IBC)- A legislation to promote investments, develop credit markets

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/insolvency-and-bankruptcy-code-a-legislation-to-
promote-investments-develop-credit-markets/

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/bankruptcy-bill-introduced-in-lok-sabha-as-a-
money-bill-115122200042_1.html

For more information on ‘Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code- (IBC)’, refer the below link-

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

Chabahar port: India in a hurry to clear $150-mn Iran credit line- Centre also fast-tracking bilateral
negotiations to seal further business alliance

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/chabahar-port-india-in-a-hurry-to-clear-150-mn-
iran-credit-line/

Will the juvenile ever walk free again?- An arbitrary cutoff- Mental capacity, not age, should determine if
juveniles ought to be tried as adults

Hindu 1

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/parliament-veers-away-from-history/article8019516.ece

Hindu 2

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/will-the-juvenile-ever-walk-free-again/article8019475.ece

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/an-arbitrary-cutoff/

For detailed analysis of ‘Juvenile Justice in India: Rehabilitating Indian Juveniles’, refer the below link-

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-21st-december-2015/

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 178

All India Radio

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/all-india-radio-23rd-december-2015/

Police Reforms: All that was discussed at Dhordo

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/all-that-was-discussed-at-dhordo/article8019474.ece

Related Articles

Paramilitary forces

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-27th-november-2015/

Roadmap: India’s policing & Intelligence Agencies

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-18th-december-2015/

Rs 3,000-crore plan to give fisheries a boost- Fisheries, classified as a sunrise sector, covers about 14.50
million people and had export earnings of Rs 33,441 crore in 2014-15 ($5.51 billion)

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/rs-3-000-crore-plan-to-give-fisheries-a-boost-
115122300060_1.html

Bengaluru start-up prints 3D tissue that functions like human liver- Pandorum is funded by the Department
of Biotechnology and incubated at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, Bangalore Bio-Cluster

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/biotech-startup-pandorum-tech-becomes-first-in-
india-to-develop-artificial-liver-tissue-115122200737_1.html

Oil prices and global growth- Why moderate oil prices have not provided a significant boost to worldwide
growth

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/kenneth-rogoff-oil-prices-and-global-growth-
115122201087_1.html

Defence reforms: time to execute the vision- India needs quick movement on reforms in defence services and
industry

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 179

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/A1TZTK7jhW6pqFDTEd4FII/Defence-reforms-time-to-execute-the-
vision.html

Rage of the self-righteous Republic

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/rage-of-the-selfrighteous-republic/article8023109.ece

An opportunity missed at Nairobi

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/an-opportunity-missed-at-nairobi/article8023107.ece

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/disappointed-on-dda-will-continue-fight-at-
geneva-sitharaman-115122301045_1.html

For more information on ‘Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations ’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-december-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

Sugarcane dues: Maharashtra growers protest, demand full payment- Even as some mills have started
complying with govt's 80:20 formula, the farmer bodies are demanding interest on the 80% FRP being paid

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/headline-face-off-between-maharashtra-sugar-
mills-farmers-bodies-on-frp-payment-115122300748_1.html

For more information on ‘Sugar industry of India under turmoil ’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-12th-august-2015/

Too much of financial inclusion push can hurt banking sector

Earlier, RBI had said banks, particularly PSBs, were not being fully compensated for the accounts being opened
under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/too-much-of-financial-inclusion-push-can-hurt-banking-
sector-115122300724_1.html

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 180

India has to brace for more volatility, currency war- The report warned that the world is heading towards
more uncertainties and India, expected to show gradual recovery, should be prepared

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/india-has-to-brace-for-more-volatility-currency-war-
115122400012_1.html

Supreme error- The court has misread the constitutional right to adult suffrage, which includes right to
contest and to vote.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/supreme-error/

For more information on ‘Haryana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Act 2015’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-16th-december-2015/

The Elders Rush In-Rajya Sabha has failed in its role as a delaying chamber for unwise legislation.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-elders-rush-in/

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/lawmaking-amid-moral-outrage/article8023106.ece

Winter chill- Parliament’s promise of greater mellowness and debate was belied this session. Rajya Sabha
did not live up to its mandate.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/winter-chill/

India should reclaim its space in Afghanistan - Ashraf Ghani’s appeasement of Pakistan army has been
fruitless so far

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/2IloHl9Mhmv4OE6H03PPGJ/India-should-reclaim-its-space-in-
Afghanistan.html

Disaster Management: Shock, but no awe

Hindu

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 181

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/shock-but-no-awe/article8027091.ece

Cess proceeds in a black hole

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/cess-proceeds-in-a-black-hole/article8027087.ece

Putting the House in order

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/putting-the-house-in-order/article8027092.ece

A Question For Parliament-Can the House deal with disruption instead of being held hostage to it?

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/parliament-winter-session-2015-rajya-sabha-lok-sabha/

Related Articles:

Parliament stalemate : An analysis

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-11th-august-2015/

Rajya Sabha and Bad Monsoon memories

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-november-2015/

Misdiagnosis of the Rajya Sabha malfunction: Legislative productivity vis-à-vis legislative dissent

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-december-2015/

The Missing Engagement and the upcoming Winter

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-25th-november-2015/

Liveable Cities Mission is what we need

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/liveable-cities-mission-is-what-we-
need/article8027093.ece

For Detailed Analysis on ‘Smart Cities’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-16th-september-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-monthly-yojana-september-smart-city/

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 182

http://iasbaba.com/2015/05/big-picture-smart-cities/

Upside down state- We seem happy to hollow out the public sector where we shouldn’t and regulate the
private in harmful ways

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/private-sectors-rbiraghuram-rajan/

Centre planning to replace RGESS with more ‘flexible’ equity scheme

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/business/business-others/centre-planning-to-replace-rgess-with-more-
flexible-equity-scheme/

Smart City project may give municipal bonds fresh lifeline- Issuances likely in five to six months; government
working on pilot project

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/smart-city-project-may-give-municipal-bonds-
fresh-lifeline-115122400828_1.html

India’s Nepal problem-Unending turmoil and sputtering democratic transition has made Nepal a playground
for powers hostile to India

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/awUYSbcXWgLI0K7gGyDjLN/Indias-Nepal-problem.html

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http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-28th-29th-september-2015/

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Continental shifts, fault lines -West Asia witnessed profound changes in 2015 which could, in the long run,
reshape the region. But in an amphitheatre intertwined with history, religion, ethnicity and power politics,
there are no easy solutions

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/continental-shifts-fault-lines/article8030137.ece

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India – Pakistan : A bold & laudable initiative

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-bold-laudable-initiative/article8030135.ece

Do right by India’s real NRIs

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/do-right-by-indias-real-nris/article8030136.ece

Which Ambedkar?- The ‘official’ Ambedkar is more and more different from the original, his sanitisation a
form of censorship

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/which-ambedkar-in-parliament-and-for-rss/

Down and out in Nairobi- Why did India cave in after starting well at the WTO meet?

Business Line

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/down-and-out-in-nairobi/article8030022.ece

For more information on ‘Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations ’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-december-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

The map of neighbourly outreach

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/the-map-of-neighbourly-outreach/article8035225.ece

IT sector worried; India to take up visa fee with U.S.: H1B and L1 visas

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/it-sector-worried-india-to-take-up-visa-fee-with-
us/article8035245.ece

The Year Of The Vienna Deal- Iran may transform from an insular security state to a regional power.

Indian Express

www.IASbaba.com
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http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-year-of-the-vienna-deal/

The National Herald story- The newspaper’s troubled run and end had little in common with its glorious
start

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-national-herald-story/

Two missteps- The court has erred in denying bail to Professor Saibaba and invoking contempt law against
Arundhati Roy.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/two-missteps/

Going back to the future- Economic legislation since 2001 will shape the stakeholder-business equation going
forward

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/going-back-to-the-future-115122700632_1.html

Real estate Bill: no pressure on officials?- On paper, the need for a real estate law that would "protect" the
buyers is sound. Real estate is the largest expense item for everyone, barring the super rich

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/debashis-basu-real-estate-bill-no-pressure-on-officials-
115122700633_1.html

For more information on ‘Real estate Bill’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-01-august-2015/

Letting startups scale up

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/letting-startups-scale-up/article8038252.ece

Hunger brews in Bengal’s tea estates

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/hunger-brews-in-bengals-tea-estates/article8038255.ece

www.IASbaba.com
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Raja-Mandala: Modi’s Pakistan opportunity- He must ignore the scepticism in Delhi. There is support, across a
large number of political constituencies, for his Pak policy

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/modis-pakistan-opportunity/

Simply put: Parliament and its many panels- What is a standing committee? How is it different from a select
committee? And why do Bills get sent to them?

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/simply-put-parliament-and-its-many-panels/

Onion lessons- Time to review utility of MEPs, and also other restrictions on movement, storage and
marketing of agricultural produce

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/onion-lessons/

Govt health insurance will only make pvt hospitals richer- Better health care is possible only if public health
care spending its scaled up

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/rethink-health-schemes-115122800991_1.html

The Smart City initiative is truly representative of how new initiatives move in India?

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/anjuli-bhargava-how-smart-is-it-really-
115122800980_1.html

For Detailed Analysis on ‘Smart Cities’, refer the below link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-16th-september-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-monthly-yojana-september-smart-city/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/05/big-picture-smart-cities/

NITI Aayog's ideas on farm sector should get a chance-Commission has envisaged a long-term agenda; the
ball is now govt's court

Business Standard

www.IASbaba.com
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http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/reforming-agriculture-115122800989_1.html

India- Pakistan: Secure the Line of Commerce with Pakistan

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/secure-the-line-of-commerce-with-
pakistan/article8043315.ece

Kerala’s ban on Liquor consumption- Only for the rich?

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/only-for-the-rich/article8043142.ece

Short-sighted hike in U.S. visa fee

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/shortsighted-hike-in-us-visa-fee/article8043143.ece

Welcome push on infrastructure - Global sovereign, pension funds to invest in NIIF

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/welcome-push-on-infrastructure/article6972017.ece

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/global-sovereign-pension-funds-to-invest-in-niif-
jaitley-115122900944_1.html

The LPG model- NDA’s subsidy reform in the sector sets a template for other areas of the economy.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/the-lpg-model/

A win-win move- Longer maternity leave for working women in the private sector will be good for women —
and company bottomlines.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/a-win-win-move/

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 187

Govt to issue notification on BS-V and BS-VI- The draft notification proposes BS-V norms to be implemented
by April 2019 for new vehicle models and April 2020 for existing vehicle models

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/govt-to-issue-notification-on-bs-v-and-bs-vi-
115123000026_1.html

Challenging year ahead for the Supreme Court- While problems multiply there is little stir for a radical revamp

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/m-j-antony-challenging-year-ahead-for-the-supreme-
court-115122900958_1.html

We need innovation and entrepreneurship beyond e-commerce

If sectors like healthcare are ripe for entrepreneurial disruption, then why is the reality different?

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/uzRPoR4rtIEr0hRnRQR4DI/We-need-innovation-and-entrepreneurship-
beyond-ecommerce.html

Jallikattu, the popular bull “taming” sport

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-stand-against-reason/article8046734.ece

Higher Education: The difference alumni can make

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/the-difference-alumni-can-make/article8046739.ece

Related Articles:

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-13th-august-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/09/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-12th-september-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/08/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-4th-august-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-16th-october-2015/

www.IASbaba.com
 P a g e | 188

India-Pakistan: A welcome’s hopeful afterglow

Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-welcomes-hopeful-afterglow/article8046737.ece

Related Articles:

http://iasbaba.com/2015/10/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-15th-october-2015/

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-27th-november-2015/

The double mistake-Government errs in announcing prohibition. Now, court upholds a misguided policy

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/the-double-mistake/

At Stake In Chhattisgarh- Antagarh expose is an opportunity to stem the rot, bring long-pending electoral
reform.

Indian Express

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/at-stake-in-chhattisgarh/

First, create capacity- Caution on reviving PPP model is warranted

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/first-create-capacity-115123001073_1.html

A detailed analysis of ‘Kelkar Committee w.r.t functioning of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in

infrastructure’ will be published shortly

The Free Basics debate- Trai should keep consumer interests in mind

Business Standard

http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/the-free-basics-debate-115123001072_1.html

For detailed analysis on ‘Nothing free or basic about ‘Free Basics’ (Facebook’s initiative)’, refer the below
link

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-30th-december-2015/?preview=true

The challenge for India at WTO-Since the WTO work programme is decided through consensus, the future of
DDA does seem to be in jeopardy

www.IASbaba.com
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Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/BJPwZ7b18uuyJPTsSbUPsK/The-challenge-for-India-at-WTO.html

For detailed analysis on ‘WTO, Nairobi meet’, refer the below links

Post-Nairobi : WTO- Doha Development Agenda

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-29th-december-2015/

Message from Nairobi- WTO Negotiations

http://iasbaba.com/2015/12/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-23rd-december-2015/

WTO and its relevance

http://iasbaba.com/2015/11/iasbabas-daily-current-affairs-14th-november-2015/

We need more state accountability- Accountability Yatra aims to cover all 33 districts of Rajasthan in 100
days, and to mobilize people join in and put pressure on the state government to bring in an accountability law

Live Mint

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/plzqanWDgWQguUsDF20fGM/We-need-more-state-accountability.html

www.IASbaba.com