1. RAM PRASAD BISMIL: REVOLUTIONARY AND A POET
TAG: GS 1: HISTORY
THE CONTEXT: Born on June 11, 1897, Bismil was a revolutionary freedom fighter with a poet’s heart. On his 126th birth anniversary, we remember Ram Prasad Bismil, whose words and actions have inspired generations of Indians.
EXPLANATION:
Who was Ramprasad Bismil?
- Ram Prasad Bismil was born on June 11, 1897 in a nondescript village in the United Provinces’ (now Uttar Pradesh) Shahjahanpur district.
- Fighting against the British Raj, he was involved in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918 as well as the more famous Kakori Train Action of 1925. He was hanged in 1927 by British authorities for his involvement in the Kakori Train Action.
- He founded the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, later Hindustan Socialist Republican Association).
- Today, he is a revered symbol of patriotism and Hindu-Muslim unit.
- He is one of India’s most revered freedom fighters, known as much for his revolutionary zeal as for his poetic profundity.
Early life and Arya Samaj connections
- He was born into a Rajput Tomar family, he learnt Hindi from his father and Urdu from a maulvi who lived nearby.
- He also went to an English medium school in Shahjahanpur.
- His exposure to multiple languages would develop his instincts as a writer and poet at a very early stage in his life.
- He joined the Arya Samaj and became a prolific writer and poet, penning patriotic verses in Hindi and Urdu under pen names like ‘Agyat’, ‘Ram’, and the one that is most known ‘Bismil’ (meaning ‘wounded’, ‘restless’).
- At the age of only 18, he penned the poem Mera Janm (My Birth), venting out his anger over the death sentence handed out to Arya Samaj missionary Bhai Parmanand.
The Mainpuri Conspiracy
- After graduating from school, Bismil got involved in politics. However, he would soon be disillusioned by the so-called moderate wing of the Congress Party.
- Bismil was not willing to “negotiate” or “beg” for his country’s freedom if the British did not accede, he was willing to take it by force.
- To achieve his ends, he started a revolutionary organisation called Matrivedi (The Altar of the Motherland) and joined forces with fellow revolutionary Genda Lal Dixit. Dixit was well-connected with dacoits of the state and wanted to utilise them in the armed struggle against the British.
- In 1918, Bismil wrote arguably his most famous poem, Mainpuri ki Pratigya, which was distributed across the United Provinces in pamphlets, bringing him adulation of nationalist locals and notoriety with the British.
- In order to collect funds for his fledgling organisation, he carried out at least three instances of looting at government offices in Mainpuri district. A massive manhunt was launched and Bismil was located which led to dramatic shootout at the end of which Bismil jumped into the Yamuna river and swam underwater to escape.
Founding the Hindustan Republican Association
- After his escape, Bismil would remain underground for the next few years, writing avidly but not undertaking any major revolutionary activity.
- During this time, he released a collection of poems called Man ki Lahar and also translated works such as Bolshevikon ki Kartoot (from Bengali).
- In February 1920, when all the prisoners in the Manipuri conspiracy case were freed, Bismil returned home to Shahjahanpur. There he initially worked gathering support for the Congress-led Non-Cooperation Movement but after Gandhi called it off post the incident at Chauri Chaura in 1922, Bismil decided to start his own party.
- Thus the Hindustan Republican Association was formed with Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Sachindra Nath Bakshi and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee as founding members. Figures such as Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh would also later join the HRA.
- Their manifesto, largely penned down by Bismil, was officially released on January 1, 1925 and titled Krantikari (Revolutionary).
- It proclaimed, ‘’The immediate object of the revolutionary party in the domain of politics is to establish a federal Republic of United States of India by an organized and armed revolution.”
- Their envisioned republic would be based on universal suffrage and socialist principles.
The Kakori Train Action
- Revolutionaries planned to rob the train between Shahjahanpur and Lucknow, which often carried treasury bags meant to be deposited in the British treasury in Lucknow.
- On August 9, 1925, as the train was passing the Kakori station, about 15 km from Lucknow, Rajendranath Lahiri, a member of the HRA who was already seated inside, pulled the chain and stopped the train. Subsequently, around ten revolutionaries, including Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, entered the train and overpowered the guard. They looted the treasury bags (containing approx Rs 4,600) and escaped to Lucknow
- However, the robbery both enraged the British and upset the Indian public. Due to a misfiring Mauser gun, one passenger (a lawyer named Ahmad Ali) was killed during the robbery – dampening the response to it from the public at large.
- British led a violent crackdown with almost everyone (with the exception of Chandrashekhar Azad) involved in the Kakori Train Action arrested. Bismil was picked up in October.
Death and legacy
- After an eighteen month long trial, Bismil, Ashfaqullah and Rajendranath Lahiri were sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out on December 19, 1927. Ram Prasad Bismil was just 30 years old when he died.
- Today, Ram Prasad Bismil has also become a symbol of communal harmony due to his close friendship with fellow revolutionary poet Ashfaqullah Khan.
2. DEFAULT LOSS GUARANTEE (DLG) IN DIGITAL LENDING
TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: The RBI has allowed banks to accept Default Loss Guarantee (DLG) in digital lending only if the guarantee is in the form of a cash deposit, or fixed deposits in a bank with a lien in favour of the RE(Regulated Entities), or a bank guarantee in favour of the RE.
EXPLANATION:
- The RBI, after examining First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG), permitted the arrangements between banks and fintechs or between two regulated entities (REs).
- The central bank said an RE can enter into DLG arrangements only with an LSP or other REs with which it has entered into an outsourcing (LSP) arrangement.
- The LSP-providing DLG must be incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 2013.
- Banks and NBFCs should ensure that the total amount of DLG cover on any outstanding portfolio does not exceed 5% of the amount of that loan portfolio.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed default loss guarantee (DLG), a safety-net arrangement among banks, non-banking finance companies, and lending service providers (LSPs, popularly known as fintech players) in the digital lending space.
- DLG is also known as First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG). The RBI nod for compensating banks in case of default is expected to boost fintech activity in the financial sector.
What is an FLDG arrangement?
- FLDG is an arrangement whereby a third party such as a financial technology (fintech) player (LSP) compensates lenders if the borrower defaults.
- The LSP provides certain credit enhancement features such as first loss guarantee up to a pre-decided percentage of loans generated by it.
- For all practical purposes, credit risk is borne by the LSP without having to maintain any regulatory capital.
What does an LSP do?
- Lending service providers are new-age players who use technology platforms in the lending space.
- They are agents of a bank or NBFC who carry out one or more of a lender’s functions (in part or full) in customer acquisition, underwriting support, pricing support, disbursement, servicing, monitoring, recovery of specific loan or loan portfolio on behalf of REs as per the outsourcing guidelines of the RBI.
3. CAPTAGON PILLS CRISIS
TAG: PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE
THE CONTEXT: Reports suggest that the Islamic State (IS) and Syrian fighters widely consumed Captagon to increase alertness and suppress appetite during their gruelling battles. Such use of amphetamine-type drugs isn’t a recent phenomenon though during World War II, Nazi Germany and the Allied forces provided their troops with amphetamines.
EXPLANATION:
- As global isolation of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad comes to an end with the Arab League reinstating Syria as its member, the discussions on the trade of Captagon pills have taken the centre-stage once again.
- Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-type drug, which is produced mainly in Syria and widely smuggled across West Asia.
- Sales of the drug have profited al-Assad, his associates and his family the pills have become a financial lifeline for them as Syria continues to struggle due to its economic crisis since the outbreak of the 2011 civil war.
- The reports of the rising prominence of Captagon first surfaced back in 2014, when it was found that the drug was being widely consumed by the Islamic State (IS) and Syrian fighters to increase alertness and suppress appetite during their gruelling battles.
What exactly is Captagon?
- Captagon is actually a counterfeit version of a medicine with the same brand name which was first produced in the 1960s by the German company Degussa Pharma Gruppe.
- They were manufactured to help treat attention deficit disorders, narcolepsy and other conditions.
- The original Captagon contained fenetylline, a synthetic drug of the phenethylamine family to which amphetamine also belongs.
- It was commercially sold in several countries until the 1980s and was banned due to fears of its highly addictive nature.
- In the following decades, new illicit tablets, mainly containing amphetamine, labelled Captagon surfaced in Bulgaria from where Balkan and Turkish criminal networks smuggled them to the Arabian Peninsula.
- The drug finally made a comeback post-2011 but this time in Syria, where a bloody civil war had plunged the country into an economic crisis.
What do amphetamine-based drugs do?
- Captagon pills, like other amphetamine-based drugs, stimulate the central nervous system, providing “a boost of energy, enhance someone’s focus, let someone stay awake for longer periods of time, and produce a feeling of euphoria.
- They don’t help someone gain “superhuman alertness, bravery, strength, or pain resistance” a person consuming any amphetamine-based drug might feel some sort of placebo effect though, which could lead to erratic behaviours.
- Captagon or other amphetamine-type drugs usually stay in the blood for around 36 hours.
- When taken orally, their peak effect occurs one to three hours after consumption, and effects last for as long as seven to 12 hours.
What are their side effects?
- Consumption of amphetamines can cause loss of appetite and weight, heart problems such as fast heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure, and heart attack, which can lead to death.
- They can also cause high body temperature, skin flushing, memory loss, problems thinking clearly, and stroke.
- The addiction, happens when the drug is consumed to get high or improve performance which can lead to tolerance.
How have militaries around the world used them?
- Although amphetamine was discovered in 1910 and chemically synthesised in 1927, its craze among militaries reached a crescendo during World War II.
- While Nazi Germany supplied Pervitin, a methamphetamine (now known as crystal meth) to its soldiers, the Allied forces gave their troops Benzedrine, which was amphetamine sulfate.
- The drug was also a significant part of their Blitzkrieg strategy, which involved carrying out a swift attack on the enemy and relentlessly pushing ahead with tank troops, day and night.
- The 2015 Vox report mentioned that the US Air Force still uses these performance-enhancing drugs.
4. DRIP IRRIGATION SCHEME
TAG: SCHEME
THE CONTEXT: Irregularities is noticed in Centre’s drip irrigation scheme in Jharkhand. The investigation found numerous violations Aadhaar cards were misused to create “ghost” beneficiaries with farmers completely unaware that money was being collected by private companies in their name; brand new equipment was gathering dust; and third-party verification by Nabcons was repeatedly falsified to beat the system.
EXPLANATION:
- An investigation has uncovered numerous violations and corrupt practices in the implementation of the “Per Drop More Crop — Micro Irrigation” (PDMC-MI) scheme in Jharkhand.
- Of the 94 beneficiaries who were tracked by this paper, only 17 were found to be actually utilising the scheme. Many apparent beneficiaries had no clue about their own enrollment in the scheme.
What is the “Per Drop More Crop” scheme?
- PDMC-MI is a central government scheme to promote micro irrigation drip or sprinkler systems which is implemented by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, with roughly 40% central funding. The rest is financed by states and farmers themselves; some states like Jharkhand and those in the Northeast have a different break-up.
- The scheme was launched in 2006 and was subsumed into the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojna (PMKSY) in 2015 as one of its four components.
- The main objectives of PDMC-MI are to enhance water-use efficiency and increase productivity, thus bolstering farmer incomes.
- The operational guidelines say the scheme is meant mostly for so-called water-guzzling crops like sugarcane, cotton, and banana, even though cereals and pulses may also be brought under its ambit.
- States are supposed to install irrigation infrastructure, conduct publicity campaigns, create market linkages, and provide training and other expert support.
- Drip irrigation systems are costlier than sprinkler systems. In drip irrigation, water is targeted directly at the roots of crops using emitters that are fitted on a lateral tube.
Why is this scheme important for Jharkhand?
- The state’s agricultural economy, especially its major crop, paddy, is predominantly rain-dependent.
- In 2022, Jharkhand suffered its worst drought in 122 years on record during the June 1-August 15 paddy sowing season.
- Drip irrigation can be of great help in this situation it enhances water-use efficiency by cutting water usage by roughly 70%, doubles productivity, assures energy savings, and helps directly deliver fertilisers to crop roots.
- Effective operation of PDMC-MI which was first introduced in the state in 2010-11 — can potentially reduce distress outmigration and deliver a climate-resilient solution for the agrarian economy.
How were the farmers and companies chosen?
- State governments are required to identify the places where drip/sprinkler irrigation can be used; then, companies that can provide the irrigation infrastructure, and the scheme’s beneficiaries are identified.
- In Jharkhand, the enrolment process is controlled by the companies, who in most cases reach out to farmers and apply to the agriculture department on their behalf, and then receive work orders from the district office of the department. This process often does not reflect the farmer’s opinion on drip irrigation or his willingness to buy into it.
- Companies are enlisted as PDMC-MI providers in the state for a period of five years through a tendering process, but each enlisted company has to re-register every year. Every district is allotted 4-5 companies.
How does the scheme work?
- The contracted companies install drip irrigation systems on the beneficiaries’ land, up to a ceiling of 5 ha (12.3 acres), contiguous or otherwise.
- Contract farmers, those who have taken land on lease, are also eligible if they can produce a lease agreement for a minimum period of seven years from the date of approval of the application. Beneficiaries to have already availed of the scheme are barred for the next seven years.
- The subsidy amount paid to the companies by the government depends on various factors, including water requirement, plant to plan spacing, water quality, and specific local factors.
Is there a verification process before and after installation?
- The process of applying for and receiving assistance under PDMC-MI incorporates various steps to ensure transparency and honesty within the system
- Pre-installation, the farmer fills out a form with all personal details, including Aadhaar, and attaches an affidavit detailing the land in possession. The mukhiya of the panchayat attests the documents, and a panchayat member or a government official certifies the authenticity of the details to the best of their knowledge.
- Post-installation of the drip irrigation infrastructure, the farmer writes a “satisfaction letter” stating that he has not received any subsidy, the installation is complete, and the requisite training has been provided to him. The farmer must also make a video statement, geotag it with the latitude and longitude of the farm with the drip irrigation equipment, and send it to Nabcons, the consultancy arm of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), for verification against the beneficiaries’ Aadhaar details.
- However, Nabcons relies on company agents/ representatives to reach the beneficiaries, which leaves scope for manipulation of data. The Investigation found that middlemen (company agents) and Nabcon verification personnel were in cahoots.
- Irrespective of the third party verification, the agriculture department is supposed to conduct verification exercises for 50% of beneficiaries this does not happen currently.
5. EU MIGRATION DEAL
TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
THE CONTEXT: European Union ministers agreed on how to handle irregular arrivals of asylum-seekers and migrants, a deal hailed as a breakthrough after almost a decade of bitter feuds on the sensitive matter.
EXPLANATION:
- EU states is blamed over providing for the new arrivals since more than a million people mostly fleeing the war in Syria caught the EU bloc by surprise by reaching it across the Mediterranean in 2015.
- The bloc has since tightened external borders and its asylum laws, and struck deals in the Middle East and North Africa to have more people stay there. U.N. data shows fewer than 160,000 sea migrants made to it Europe last year.
- The bloc hopes lower irregular immigration would allow EU countries to restart cooperation to spread more evenly the task of taking care of arriving refugees and migrants
WHAT IS NEW PACT?
- Each EU country would be assigned a share of the 30,000 people overall the bloc is expected to accommodate in its joint migration system at any given time.
- That will be calculated based on the size of the country’s GDP and population, the number of irregular border crossings including via sea rescue operations, and more.
- Countries unwilling to take in people would instead be able to help their hosting peers through cash at least 20,000 euros per person a year equipment or personnel.
- The agreement would introduce a new expedited border procedure for those deemed unlikely to win asylum to prevent them from lingering inside the bloc for years.
- Instead, they should be sent away within six months if their asylum applications fails, one of several shortened deadlines in the deal.
- That mechanism would apply to all those deemed dangerous, uncooperative or coming from countries with low asylum recognition rates in the EU like India or Serbia.
- EU countries could also apply the speedy procedure to people picked up in the sea, caught while trying to get in illegally or filing for asylum at the border rather than in advance
ISSUES:
- It can create more overcrowded migration camps on the edges of the EU.
- New plan could lead to protracted detention of minors and criticised it as focusing on keeping people away rather than helping those in need.
- There is opposition from Warsaw and Budapest, however, majority deal among the 27 EU countries. Spain will now lead more negotiations on behalf of the member states with the European Parliament.
