1. Revolutionary economist READ MORE
2. Gratitude & Happiness READ MORE

1. Environmentalists oppose proposed changes to Biological Diversity Act READ MORE
2. Insects help richly in ecological restoration READ MORE

1. Fifteenth Finance Commission’s Recommendations on Local Bodies: Far too Many Concerns READ MORE
2. The Geopolitics of the Democracy Summit READ MORE

1. The ties that bind religion, popular culture READ MORE  
2. Tackling mental health inequalities in our country READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. President Kovind inaugurates landmark Kalibari temple in Dhaka READ MORE
2. Bhutan confers its highest civilian award on PM Modi READ MORE
3. Explained: Why IMD has predicted a cold wave in Northwest India READ MORE
4. India-US announce support to innovations to tackle climate, clean energy challenges READ MORE
5. Parliament Passes Surrogacy Bill, Seeks To Constitute National Surrogacy Board READ MORE

Main Exam 

GS Paper- 1

1. The ties that bind religion, popular culture READ MORE  
2. Preserving the linguistic diversity of Northeast India READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Fifteenth Finance Commission’s Recommendations on Local Bodies: Far too Many Concerns READ MORE
2. The Geopolitics of the Democracy Summit READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Tackling mental health inequalities in our country READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The looming Russia-NATO confrontation READ MORE
2. India’s delicate balancing act between Russia and the US READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. When the chips are down: The Semiconductor Mission can power the development of the chip and display industry READ MORE
2. The challenge of achieving 9.5% growth rate: The key lies in the government’s ongoing emphasis on infrastructure spending as reflected in its capital expenditure READ MORE
3. From financial inclusion to financial integration READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Environmentalists oppose proposed changes to Biological Diversity Act READ MORE
2. Insects help richly in ecological restoration READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Not a licence to kill: The government should review AFSPA in Nagaland and other NE areas READ MORE
2. The What, Where, Why and How of AFSPA READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Revolutionary economist READ MORE
2. Gratitude & Happiness READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helpful in conservation of flora and fauna? (UPSC Mains 2018, GS-III)
2. Discuss how insects help richly in ecological restoration?
3. ‘India’s relations with Russia are not as multi-faceted as India’s ties with the U.S., Europe, or even Japan. They are focused primarily on energy and defense’. Critically examine.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Leadership is an action, not a position.
• The Semiconductor Mission can power the development of the chip and display industry.
• The key lies in the government’s ongoing emphasis on infrastructure spending as reflected in its capital expenditure.
• The ‘financially-included’ people must be offered products and services that are relevant to their needs.
• Insects help break down organic matter like corpses and animal faeces. This is important as it reuses nutrients, making them available for aerating the soil.
• Insects constitute a substantial part of our ecosystem but the number and diversity of insects are decreasing due to habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.
• Poverty brings with it stress and debt. The bidirectional relationship between poverty and mental health has been well-recognised and evidenced.
• India’s relations with Russia are not as multi-faceted as India’s ties with the U.S., Europe, or even Japan. They are focused primarily on energy and defense.
• The United States could show better understanding of India’s security concerns if it wants to consolidate the India-U.S. partnership and transform it into a virtual, if not a formal, alliance.
• Gandhian economics is difficult to explain as a coherent system of thought, but its ethical principles can never be ignored. Many of his economic thoughts stemmed from what he considered ethically right or wrong.
• The Fifteenth Finance Commission recommendations on local bodies, particularly those relating to urban local bodies, are a dampener.

50-WORD TALK

• Mental health in the current scenario is not a fairy tale. However, we all can strive to be the fairy godmother and provide the necessary mental health infrastructure to promote mental well-being. We must be the change we want to see and help write the next chapter in the book of mental health in an ideal world.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. THIRD ANNUAL DEFENCE DIALOGUE

THE CONTEXT: The third Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France took place between Defence Minister and his French counterpart in New Delhi. A wide range of bilateral, regional, defence and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed in the annual meeting.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Ministers reviewed the existing military-to-military cooperation, which has increased in spite of pandemic challenges. They discussed ways to increase defence cooperation in all domains.
• Defence industrial cooperation was discussed with a focus on future collaborations and co-production between the two countries.

France’s resolve to expand strategic cooperation with India came nearly two months after the unveiling of a new security alliance (AUKUS) by Australia, the UK and the US that had infuriated the French government.

Defence & Space Cooperation between the two countries

• Regular talks take place between the service chiefs of both nations. An annual defence dialogue at the ministerial level has also been initiated in 2018.
• Regular defence exercises take place between France and India. Such as
• Exercise Shakti (Army)
• Exercise Varuna (Navy)
• Exercise Garuda (Air Force)
• India also buys defence equipment from France, the most famous of them being Rafale aircraft and P-75 Scorpene project.
• There is a Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL) manufacturing facility at Mihan in Maharashtra, which is a joint venture between India’s Reliance Group and the French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
• France and India signed an agreement for the cooperation of the Gaganyaan mission. France space agency, CNES, will support scientific experiment plans and will provide french equipment, consumables, and medical instruments for Indian astronauts’ use.
• ISRO and CNES (the French space agency) have conducted joint research programmes and satellite launches. Examples of joint Indo-French satellites: TRISHNA, Megha-Tropiques, etc.
• France is a major supplier of equipment and components for the Indian space programme.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

2. IMD HAS PREDICTED A COLD WAVE IN NORTHWEST INDIA

THE CONTEXT: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cold wave in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh from mid-December 2021.

THE EXPLANATION:

What is a cold wave?

The IMD defines a cold wave qualitatively as “a condition of air temperature which becomes fatal to the human body when exposed.”

• The minimum temperature is likely to fall by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius in these places over mid December 2021.
• The IMD records a cold wave when the minimum temperature is equal to or less than 10 degrees Celsius at a weather station in the plains and is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal temperature for that period. A cold wave may also be recorded at a station in the plains when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 4 degrees Celsius.

Why do cold waves occur?

• Cold waves usually occur from mid-December to the end of February in northern India. Sometimes, a cold wave may set in before mid-December. According to IMD, that the cold waves depend on weather systems and wind patterns from the middle latitudes, that is from Europe or West Asia, since the winds from these regions bring cold weather.
• Also, it noted, the factors that bring cold waves to India include the movement of cold air masses brought about by upper-level winds. They can be triggered by strong westerly winds approaching northwest India and transporting cold air towards the southeast direction. The build-up of an extended area of relatively high pressure over northwest Asia can also bring cold waves.“Like heat waves, cold waves are hazardous to those who are exposed to the cold”.

How is it measured?

• For hilly regions, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 0 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal.
• In ‘severe’ cold wave conditions, where the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 degree Celsius and departs from the normal by 6.5 degrees or more.

 3. COVID-19 AND CLIMATE CRISIS

THE CONTEXT: Recently, Arctic Report Card was published by the Arctic Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where it stated that “the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges for Alaska natives in accessing traditional foods”.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Arctic Circle, one of the most climatologically important regions on the planet, has continued to warm at more than twice the rate as the
• rest of the world through 2021.
• The time between October 2020 and September 2021 was the seventh-warmest since the beginning of records. It was the eighth consecutive year since 2014 when the average temperature of the region was at least 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial average.
• The warming has also caused the rapid melting of sea ice. “Summer 2021 saw the second-lowest amount of older, multi-year ice since 1985, and the post-winter sea ice volume in April 2021 was the lowest since records began in 2010,” the report st
  ated.
• The decline in sea ice extent is one of the most iconic indicators of global climate change.
• The melting snow has in turn increased the discharge of the Arctic rivers by 12 percent over the average between 1981 and 2010, which could change the intensity of the water cycle of the region.
• The warming has also caused major disruptions in the ecology of the Arctic region. Scientists observed a higher ocean primary productivity than the long-term average between 2003 and 2020, in seven of the nine sub-regions of the Arctic.

• The green cover of the tundra biome of the Arctic region also increased in 2021. Beavers have been colonizing the Arctic tundra in western Alaska, transforming lowland ecosystems and degrading permafrost by increasing the amount of unfrozen surface water on the landscape in winter.
• The degradation of the permafrost can emanate huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that is much more (more than 25 times) potent than carbon dioxide.
• Other human interventions in the Arctic are also disrupting the region’s environment and its inhabitants. For instance, ships (mostly for trade) ferrying between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have increased. Ambient marine noise levels have been increasing in the frequency bands used by marine mammals.
• This causes discrepancies in their navigation systems, sometimes leading to the mass stranding of whales, dolphins and other species along the beaches of many countries in and around the Arctic region.

Value Addition:

What is the Arctic Council?

• It is an intergovernmental forum for discussing and resolving issues related to the Arctic region. The issues may include scientific research and the peaceful and sustainable use of resources in the region.

• It works on the overall objective of conserving the pristine environment, biodiversity and the interests and well-being of the local populations.
• It is not a treaty-based international legal entity like the UN organizations or trade or regional groupings such as NATO or ASEAN.
• It was set up by the 8 Arctic countries by means of the Ottawa Declaration of 1996. These countries are the US, Canada, Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

India and Arctic

• India became an Observer in the Arctic Council for the first time in 2013. And, India isn’t a full-time observer.
• India launched its first scientific expedition to the Arctic in 2007 and set up a research station ‘Himadri’ in the international Arctic research base at Ny-Ålesund in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway.
• It has two other observatories in Kongsforden and Gruvebadet. Himadri is manned for about 180 days a year.

4. INDIA-US ANNOUNCE SUPPORT TO INNOVATIONS TO TACKLE CLIMATE, CLEAN ENERGY CHALLENGES

THE CONTEXT: The launch of the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership in April 2021 reiterated the commitment of both nations to work together to achieve their ambitious climate and clean energy targets and to strengthen bilateral collaborations.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the Science and Technology Ministry, the programme aims to support India-US Science &Technology-based entrepreneurial initiatives that address the development and implementation of next-generation clean and renewable energy, energy storage, and carbon sequestration has been announced to tackle climate and clean energy challenges.
• The programme titled ‘Technology-based Energy Solutions: Innovations for Net Zero’ constitutes a call for Ignition Grants by the United States-India Science & Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF), in partnership with Social Alpha, a non-profit organization promoting S&T entrepreneurship. It will identify and support ‘technology showstoppers.

What is the need?

• Climate Change is one of the biggest challenges facing our world today, spurring the call for global collaborations to tackle this crisis. The launch of the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership in April 2021 reiterated the commitment of both nations to work together to achieve their ambitious climate and clean energy targets and to strengthen bilateral collaborations.
• India, the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, has been witnessing increasing extreme weather events, including flash floods in Uttarakhand, increasing cyclones on the western coast and heatwaves in Rajasthan and Delhi in 2021 so far.
• More than 75% of India’s districts, home to 638 million people–nearly half the population–have been identified as hot spots for extreme climate events. India also faces a risk of a 5-4.5% hit to the annual gross domestic product from impacts of extreme weather.

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

The US’s special envoy for climate action, visited India in April 2021 to discuss climate finance and action under the bilateral Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030Partnership. The partnership, launched in April 2021, aims to provide financial and technological support to India to meet its Paris Agreement goals on transitioning to renewable energy by 2030

Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE)

• In 2009, India and the US launched the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE), to accelerate low-carbon economic growth and deployment of clean industrial technologies, through sharing of knowledge and technology.
• PACE mobilized $2.5 billion (Rs 18,382 crore) in private and public investment in clean energy deployment in India. In 2016, both countries launched a $7.9 million (Rs 58 crore) PACEsetter Fund to provide grants for innovations in clean energy solutions.

THE PRELIM PRACTICE QUESTION

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. Competition Commission of India is a statutory body established under SEBI Act 1992.
2. It consists of a chairperson and 6 Members.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

        a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

FOR 17TH DECEMBER 2021 PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Answer: c)

Explanation:

• All subsidies which are supposed to distort production and trade fall into the amber box,i.e., all agricultural subsidies except those which fall into the blue and green boxes.
• These include government policies of minimum support prices (as MSP in India) for agricultural products or any help directly related to production quantities (as power, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc).

Answer: b)

Explanation:

Blue box subsidies:

• The conditions are designed to reduce distortions. Any subsidy that would normally be in the amber box, is placed in the blue box if it requires farmers to go for a certain production level.
• These subsidies are nothing but certain direct payments (i.e., direct set-aside payments) made to farmers by the government in the form of assistance programmes to encourage agriculture, rural development, etc.

THE CONTEXT: Many state legislatures have passed resolutions requesting the Central Government to withdraw various laws enacted by it including the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 and the Farm laws 2020. As the subject “citizenship” falls under the Union List, there is a view that the states cannot pass resolutions against a law enacted on this subject. This article examines this contention.

                                                WHAT ARE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTIONS?

A resolution is the decision of the legislature. It reflects the opinion of the assembly about an issue. The legislative businesses are taken up in the form of motions which when voted upon becomes resolutions. In other words, a voted motion is a resolution. The legislature is the highest and the most inclusive representative institution of the country. Thus, it deals with various issues of public interest and hence is called upon to decide and act on them. The resolution in this context reveals the intention and objective of the assembly and its members. The resolution thereby is a device of legislative business to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the assembly.  There are various kinds of resolutions that may be legally binding or non-binding or in between.

                                           WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTIONS?

• Resolution with a legal effect: The resolutions passed by the legislature and the Parliament carry legal consequences. For instance, the resolutions dealing with removal of Vice President, impeachment of President, removal Speaker, alteration of boundaries of the state, etc. It means the resolutions are binding in nature.
• Resolution with quasi-legal effect: These are resolutions regarding the control over the proceedings of the House itself. Although resolutions on procedure and conduct of the business of the House are not acts, they nevertheless have a binding effect only on the House, and the courts cannot enforce them.
• Resolutions having no legal effect: These are resolutions that do not have any legal effect but are sometimes capable of having a political effect.

THE CAA 2019 AND THE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTIONS

When the CAA was passed, the country witnessed massive protests and also many petitions were filed in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. In addition, many states passed legislative resolutions, a few supporting the CAA and others against it. For instance, Gujrat and Goa passed resolutions congratulating the Centre while the latter included Kerala, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan etc. The resolutions passed against the law was challenged in the Supreme Court in Samta Andolan Samiti Vs Union of India, 2020. The petitioner, an NGO claimed that the state legislatures do not have the authority to pass resolutions against a law passed by the Parliament. It contended that states lack legislative competence to pass resolutions on subjects in the Union List. In the instant case, the “citizenship” is covered under Entry 17 of List I and thus the NGO asked the SC to quash the resolutions and declare them null and void.

WHETHER THE STATE LEGISLATURES HAVE THE POWER TO PASS SUCH RESOLUTIONS?

• No legal effect: The resolutions passed by the states fall under the third category as mentioned above. Thus, the resolutions do not have any legal consequences and hence states can pass such resolutions.
• States’ Sovereignty: In Indian federal polity, the states are sovereign in their own defined spheres under normal circumstances. It means any unwarranted restrictions on the state’s power is against the constitutional scheme.
•  Union laws impact the states: In general, the states have a responsibility to enforce the Union laws. Thus, the states should also have the right to express the challenges through resolutions they might face while enforcing them.
• The SC observation: The SC while hearing the said petition prima facie commented that although the “Kerala Assembly has no jurisdiction to disobey the law by the Parliament, “they are only expressing an opinion here.” Moreover, the court observed that through these resolutions, the state legislatures “have not asked the people to disobey. They have only called upon the Parliament to abrogate the law.”
• Public Opinion: There has been growing public opinion against these laws across the country and especially in the above-mentioned states. As the legislature is the microcosm of the people, a responsible government in a modern democracy must reflect public opinion. Thus a resolution is a way of expressing the general public mood on the floor of the House.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    WAY FORWARD   

• Even though the Indian polity is described as quasi-federal due to the presence of a strong centre, states are not mere appendages of the Union. Thus, the states should have wide latitude in dealing with matters of general public interest.
• The Constitution itself provides for the power to the states to make laws contravening the provisions of Union laws under Art 254. Thus, to bar states from passing non-legal resolutions would be a retrograde step.
• The preliminary observations of the SC in the above-mentioned case indicate that the Court does not see any illegality in states passing such resolutions. So the matter is likely to be decided in the states’ favour. (as the case is still pending)

CONCLUSION:  Resolutions are as much a device of parliamentary business as they are expressions of the general public interest. The legislature being the most important deliberative and representative institution under the Constitution should have the freedom to decide its own procedure subject to explicit constitutional boundations.

QUESTIONS

1. The legislative distribution of power between the Union and the states under the Schedule VII of the Constitution extends also to the legislative resolutions passed by the states. Critically Examine.
2. Defining the concept of legislative resolutions, build a case for the power of states to pass them in subjects mentioned under the Union List.