(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. What the World Malaria Report says about India READ MORE
2. COP28: What is Global Stocktake — and why is it important? READ MORE
3. RBI monetary policy: Why is the Monetary Policy Committee likely to leave repo rate unchanged? READ MORE
4. BCG revaccination study in high-risk adults to begin in 23 States READ MORE
5.  ‘India will be the largest cotton producer’ READ MORE
6. COP28 climate meet | India not among 118 nations that pledged to triple green energy READ MORE
7. Lithium supply strategy: India’s initiative with Argentina’s CAMYEN gains traction READ MORE
8. Natural superhero fungi boosts crop yields by 40% READ MORE
9. After COVID break, Centre approves fourth phase roll-out of GIAN scheme READ MORE
10. India agreed to withdraw soldiers from country, says Maldives President Muizzu READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Re-criminalising adultery as a gender-neutral offence READ MORE
2. Weather Report: East India braces for wet days ahead as Cyclone Michaung builds up; North India to remain dry READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The legal net to trap peddlers of deepfakes READ MORE
2. Private job quota for locals ends with order READ MORE
3. Role of Governors in focus again READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. India, disability inclusion and the power of ‘by’ READ MORE  

 INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Kissinger: Cold warrior of realpolitik READ MORE  
2. Time for a reset in India-US ties READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Growth surprise points to status quo on repo rate READ MORE
2. Economy well on track but growth not yet broad-based READ MORE
3. Why government is not worried about missing disinvestment target READ MORE
4. How Indian economy has silenced ‘perennial pessimists’ READ MORE
5. India’s geo-digital age is here – tech partnerships, data protection, semiconductors READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Why India will continue to rely on coal for foreseeable future READ MORE  
2. India reduced emissions intensity 33% in 2005-2019, shows new submission to UN READ MORE
3. COP28 must put global climate action back on track READ MORE
4. Will COP28 UAE shape climate justice amid clash between urgency and economic realities in global climate action? READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. The transformative benefits of population-level genome sequencing | Explained READ MORE   
2. Artificial Intelligence: Benefits outweigh the detriments READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Combating cybercrimes READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. The Uttarakhand tunnel workers have been rescued. It’s time to ask hard questions about the project READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Panacea for grief: Realise the eternity within READ MORE
2. Your anger, your energy READ MORE
3. Serve Param Purush READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. A bottom-up approach to disability inclusion is needed to ensure that persons with disabilities are recognised as active members of society and the economy. In the light of the statement critically examine the schemes established as part of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016).
2. The goal of social justice cannot be achieved without the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all spheres of development, starting with rural areas and rural resilience. Comment.
3. The historic marginalisation of persons with disabilities and the backsliding of the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, a fundamental shift in commitment, solidarity, financing and action is critical. Discuss how the voices and needs of persons with disabilities be prioritised at the centre of the global development agenda.
4. ‘Strategic Autonomy’ deployed by India in recent times owes itself to the foundational principle of realpolitik, as it allows the practitioner to not get closeted within the linear grouping. Critically examine the statement.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.
• There needs to be more inclusive opportunities and employment in the rural areas as a majority of persons with disabilities live here.
• The first step is awareness to ensure last-mile connectivity of the benefits enumerated for people with disabilities by the government, which begins with the capacity-building of community leaders who can advocate for this at the grass-roots level.
• A bottom-up approach to disability inclusion is crucial to build productive pathways out of poverty and ensure that persons with disabilities are recognised as active members of society and the economy.
• The goal of social justice cannot be achieved without the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all spheres of development, starting with rural areas and rural resilience.
• A bi-directional link to poverty, nutrition, and hunger, and as a consequence, there needs to be more inclusive opportunities and employment in rural areas.
• The historic marginalisation of persons with disabilities and the backsliding of the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, a fundamental shift in commitment, solidarity, financing and action is critical.
• It is about time that the voices and needs of persons with disabilities be prioritised at the centre of the global development agenda.
• Though the domestic economy is on a stronger footing, inflation needs to sustain at 4 per cent for interest rates to be cut.
• Though the domestic economy is on a stronger footing and global headwinds are not too threatening as to upset inflation-growth dynamics, the lingering El Nino impact on the farm sector could be a cause of concern.
• ‘Strategic Autonomy’ deployed by India in recent times owes itself to the foundational principle of realpolitik, as it allows the practitioner to not get closeted within the linear grouping and associated puritanism of ‘allies’ to which a sovereign subscribed.
• As India meanders and navigates its rise in global relevance and animus simultaneously, it would do well to mull over and keep pace with the evolving nature of diplomacy.
• The extent of moral compromises, leniencies and even suppressions done by Superpowers in their quest to assert their geopolitical agendas and interests, is even more pronounced.
• It is imperative to foster a constructive working relationship to resolve the disharmony between the Centre and the states.
• Instead of engaging in public arguments, Chief Ministers and Governors should create a more conducive environment for the federal structure to operate seamlessly. Establishing a positive and productive relationship is crucial for the efficient functioning of the state.
• The core commitment of COP28 is to conceptualise a sustainable socio-economic model that will substantively decouple itself from conventional reliance on the fossil-related energy model.
• The alignment of AI use cases with the vision of the organisation is the most important aspect of the adoption of AI.
• The development of AI should not be an ad-hoc process but a part of a well-thought-out strategy which has the support of the top management and confidence of all stakeholders as a tool for reducing their burden rather than replacing them or their work.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: its starting point.

50-WORD TALK

• Tamil Nadu police have a new target. It’s called ED. Scenes of police raiding ED office upend the playbook of what has become so routine and partisan that nobody even ponders anymore. It shows how broken the federal compact is. The primary responsibility of repairing centre-state balance lies with centre.
• China has become the first nation to accept the Taliban’s ambassador, starting the normalisation of the outfit in the global order. This is the destiny of Afghanistan that everyone will have to accept, even as efforts continue to sustain international pressure on the Taliban for women’s rights and curbing terrorism.

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 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.

RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS:GS3: ENVIRONMENT: CONSERVATION, ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AND ISSUES

THE CONTEXT:  Stubble burning by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh (UP) creates seasonal pollution in northern India. This situation is very serious in northwest India and critical in the National Capital Territory Region.

WHAT IS STUBBLE BURNING?

Stubble (parali) burning is a method of removing paddy crop residues from the field to sow wheat from the last week of September to November.

• It is a process of setting on fire the straw stubble, left after the harvesting of grains, like paddy, wheat, etc.
• It is usually required in areas that use the combined harvesting method which leaves crop residue behind.
• The process of burning farm residue is one of the major causes of air pollution in parts of north India, deteriorating the air quality.
• The rice stubble burning is highest in the state of Punjab followed by Haryana, whereas Uttar Pradesh ranks higher in wheat stubble burning.

HISTORY:

Dry fodder: Till a few decades ago, crop residue, including stubble, was used as dry fodder for livestock or as fuel for the kitchen or incorporated in-situ in soil. It wasn’t burnt, at least not on a large scale.

During the 1990’s: Things started changing in the 1990s. Two factors contributed:

• Free or highly subsidised power supply for groundwater extraction.
• Power supply to the farm sector in Punjab has been free since 1997, while in Haryana, it is subsidised.
• With access to assured irrigation, paddy acreages in Punjab grew from 50 per cent of the net sown area in the mid-1990s to 75 per cent in recent years.
• In Haryana, this jumped from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

• In the absence of cheap labour, machines like the Combined Harvester appeared:
  • Paddy harvesting and threshing are labour-intensive and this pushed up the demand for labour.
  • This machine only picked the plant’s top part (panicle) and left the remaining stalk of about 2-3 feet (stubble) standing in the field.
  • Clearing this stalk required a separate round of harvesting, collection and disposal and the easy solution was to set it on fire.
  • Manual harvesting: In Manual harvesting, stalks are harvested close to the ground. They were later collected at one place and grain was recovered through manual beating.
  • The remaining stalk was piled in a corner of the field where it decomposed slowly.
  • This occupied a small area and farmers did not mind sparing that for storage of paddy straw.

IMPACT:

• There have been incidences of stubble burning wherever a combined harvester has been used.
• Such incidents are being reported from paddy fields in central and eastern Indian states as well.

Pollution: Stubble burning emits toxic pollutants in the atmosphere containing harmful gases like:

• Carbon Monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
• These pollutants disperse in the surroundings and eventually affect air quality and people’s health by forming a thick blanket of smog.

Soil fertility: Soil becomes less fertile and its nutrients are destroyed when the husk is burned on the ground.

Heat penetration: Stubble burning generates heat that penetrates into the soil, causing an increase in erosion, loss of useful microbes and moisture.

Silica content in paddy straw: Paddy straw has high silica content and is not preferred as animal feed. If ploughed back into the field, it interferes with subsequent crop operations. Only some farmers use farm machines like happy seeder and straw management machines to incorporate the stubble back into the soil instead of setting it on fire.

INITIATIVES:

• Applying a decomposer to encourage in-situ management of stubble.
• Using the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique.

Baling machines (balers) for paddy straw:  These machines are already in use in Punjab and Haryana, which has made it feasible to put paddy and other crop straws in the value chain.

• The total cost of procuring the entire stubble burnt in the field in Punjab comes to Rs 2,000 crore and, in Haryana, about Rs 1,000 crore.

Production of biofuel: A small market for paddy straw sold in compact bales has already emerged in both the states (Haryana and Punjab) for production of biofuel such as Bio CNG and ethanol and as direct fuel in brick kilns, furnaces, and thermal plants. Some enterprising farmers have sold parali(stubble) at Rs 180 per quintal this season.

MEASURES TO REDUCE POLLUTION DUE TO STUBBLE BURNING:

The Commission on Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) has developed a framework and action plan:

In-situ Crop Residue Management: CRM machines procurement, setting up of Custom Hiring Centers, high yield and short duration paddy varieties, staggering of harvesting schedule, extensive use of bio-decomposer by IARI.

Ex-situ Crop Residue Management: Biomass Power Projects, Co-firing in Thermal Power Plants, Feed stock for 2G Ethanol plants, Feed stock in Compressed Biogas plant, fuel in industrial boilers, WTE plants, packaging materials etc.

• Prohibition of stubble /crop residue burning.
• Effective monitoring /enforcement.
• Schemes to reduce the generation of paddy straw.
• IEC activities for the plan of action.
• Standard protocol for recording and monitoring of fire counts.

THE WAY FORWARD:

Finding an alternative to paddy: An alternative crop like maize will also produce large amounts of stubble like paddy, and only a small part of that will have demand as dry fodder.

Reducing the duration of the rice crop: It is believed that early harvest would leave a longer period for the next crop. It would address the farm-fire problem. It will mitigate the environmental problem to a small extent.

Rethinking the policy: Rethinking the policy of providing free power. This is also needed to avert the over-exploitation of groundwater.

Direct Cash/benefit transfer (DBT): A simple shift to a metered supply of power will not be acceptable without compensating farmers’ income for the cost of power. One possibility is to give a direct cash/benefit transfer (DBT) instead of a power subsidy. By indexing the DBT amount to inflation in power tariffs, this amount can grow annually and remain relevant for farmers. This will make diversification away from paddy feasible.

Creating a market: Create a market for paddy straw/stubble. Unless stubble is made valuable for farmers, they will continue to burn it. We need to create an effective market for stubble that at least compensates them for the extra effort and cost involved in its harvest, collection and disposal.

Subsidised supply of machinery: Further modifications and subsidised supply of machinery for in-situ use of paddy stubble will also be very helpful in preventing farm fires in some areas.

Happy seeder: Mounted on a tractor, this machine is used to cut and lift straw, sow wheat and rice in soil and deposit straw over the sown area, instead of burning the stubble.

Law against the burning: A law against the burning of any crop straw should be strictly enforced.

THE CONCLUSION: With market avenues for crop residue, legal backing against polluting practices and administrative support, the proposed system can work to prevent stubble burning while saving the health of millions of lives and contributing to the economy.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

1. Q) What are the major reasons for declining rice and wheat yield in the cropping system? How crop diversification is helpful to stabilize the yield of the crop in the system? (2017)
2. Q) How do subsidies affect the cropping pattern, crop diversity and economy of farmers? What is the significance of crop insurance, minimum support price and food processing for small and marginal farmers? (2017)

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

1. Q) Comment upon the various measures taken by the Union and the state governments to address the problem of stubble burning. What more needs to be done according to you to find a permanent solution to this problem? Explain

SOURCE: How to solve the problem of stubble burning | The Indian Express

TOPIC 1: RHODODENDRON

TAG: GS 3: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT  

THE CONTEXT: The rhododendron flower in Uttarakhand, is portrayed as an integral part of the region’s culture, rituals, mythology, and even culinary practices.

RHODODENDRON AS A CULTURAL SYMBOL:

• Cultural and Ritual Importance:
  • The rhododendron is deeply embedded in Uttarakhand’s culture, being an essential part of local rituals and mythology.
  • Its presence in rituals and temples signifies purity and endurance, demonstrating the reverence people hold for this flower.
• Pilgrimage Significance:
  • The flower is central to the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, a significant pilgrimage in Uttarakhand that occurs every 12 years.
  • This underscores the strong bond between the local people and their natural environment.

UTILIZATION BEYOND AESTHETICS:

• Culinary and Medicinal Use:
  • Beyond its visual appeal, the rhododendron finds usage in regional cuisine, with its blossoms being used to create sweets, drinks, jams, and juice.
  • Its distinct flavour and purported cooling properties make it popular among locals and visitors alike.
• Environmental Concerns:
  • Climate change-induced alterations in temperature and precipitation patterns are impacting the rhododendron’s growth and flowering cycles.
  • Consequently, conservation efforts are gaining importance, with initiatives in place to safeguard these Himalayan flowers, including the establishment of conservation zones and promoting eco-friendly travel practices.

ECONOMIC AND TOURISTIC VALUE:

• Cultural Tourism:
  • The rich cultural connection with the rhododendron offers a unique opportunity for cultural tourism.
  • Visitors are drawn not only to the natural beauty but also to the rituals and traditions associated with the flower.
• Local Economy:
  • The utilization of rhododendron in cuisine and traditional practices also contributes to the local economy, providing opportunities for culinary ventures and indigenous products.

IMPLICATIONS:

• Cultural Heritage Preservation:
  • The importance of preserving not just the flower itself but also the associated cultural heritage and traditions has been emphasized.
  • The emphasis on conservation and sustainable practices reflects a holistic approach to safeguarding this floral emblem and the surrounding ecosystem while acknowledging its cultural significance.
• Sustainable Development:
  • Balancing conservation with tourism and economic activities is crucial to ensure sustainable development, where efforts to protect the rhododendron align with the promotion of eco-friendly practices.

SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/the-power-of-the-rhododendron/article67529485.ece

TOPIC 2: ONATTUKARA SESAME

TAG: GS 3: AGRICULTURE

THE CONTEXT: Efforts are being made to expand the cultivation of Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged Onattukara sesame in the Kerala region.

INITIATIVE TO EXPAND SESAME CULTIVATION:

• Increase in Cultivation Area:
  • The Onattukara Vikasana Agency (OVA) plans to significantly increase the area under sesame cultivation.
  • It aimed to expand it to 2,000 hectares from the current 600 hectares in the region encompassing three districts of Kerala: Alappuzha, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta.
• Incentive Scheme:
  • To encourage farmers, a financial assistance program has been announced, offering ₹40 for a cent of land for cultivating sesame within the Thekkekara Krishi Bhavan limits.
  • This incentive is expected to attract individuals, farming collectives, Kudumbashree groups, self-help groups, and joint liability groups towards sesame cultivation.
• Collaborative Efforts:
  • The initiative is a joint venture involving local Krishi Bhavan, Onattukara Vikasana Agency (OVA), Onattukara Regional Agricultural Research Station (ORARS), Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kayamkulam, and Mavelikara Thekkekara Panchayat.
  • Collaboration between these entities indicates a concerted effort to promote sesame cultivation.
• Support Mechanisms:
  • Farmers and groups engaging in sesame cultivation are offered additional support.
  • It also includes access to workforce from Thekkekara Karshika Karma Sena and tractor rental at a nominal charge of ₹750 per hour.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ONATTUKARA SESAME:

• Geographical Indication (GI) Tag:
  • The Onattukara sesame holds a GI tag, signifying its unique characteristics and origin from a specific geographical location, adding value to its identity and quality.
• Medicinal and Nutritional Value:
  • Studies by the Kerala Agricultural University reveal the medicinal value of Onattukara sesame.
  • It contains high levels of Vitamin E, antioxidants, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitoleic acid, promoting good health.
• Varieties Cultivated:
  • Apart from the traditional Ayali variety, farmers in the region are cultivating varieties like Kayamkulam-1, Thilak, Thilathara, and Thilarani, developed by the Onattukara Regional Agricultural Research Station (ORARS).

POTENTIAL BENEFITS:

• Economic Development:
  • Expanding sesame cultivation holds the potential to boost local economies, generate employment opportunities, and contribute to the agricultural sector’s growth in the region.
• Health and Nutritional Benefits:
  • Highlighting the nutritional and medicinal values of Onattukara sesame could create consumer awareness, potentially increasing demand for this particular variety.
• Collaborative Approach:
  • The joint efforts involving various agricultural institutions, local governance bodies, and farmers’ groups indicate a coordinated strategy towards agricultural development and sustainability.
• GI Tag and Quality Assurance:
  • The GI tag signifies quality, authenticity, and unique characteristics associated with the geographical region, contributing to the promotion and branding of Onattukara sesame.

SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/measures-on-to-expand-cultivation-of-gi-tagged-onattukara-sesame/article67551308.ece/amp/

TOPIC 3: INDIA-UK FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (FTA)

TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

THE CONTEXT: External Affairs Minister of India discussed the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Britain’s Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary recently.

EXPLANATION:

• The agreement is under negotiation and has not been signed yet.
• When signed, the India-UK FTA will serve as a template for an agreement with the European Union (EU).

INDIA-UK FREE TRADE AGREEMENT:

• Strategic Importance as a Template for EU Agreement:
  • The FTA between India and the UK is seen as a model for a similar pact with the European Union, India’s second-largest trade partner.
  • It signifies a shift in India’s trade strategy towards Western nations and African countries rather than solely focusing on the East, as previously done under the UPA government.
• China Factor and Supply Chain Disruptions:
  • The disruption in supply chains during the pandemic has prompted Western companies to reconsider their over-dependence on China, leading to a ‘China-plus one’ strategy.
  • This shift has motivated countries like Australia and the UK to seek stronger economic ties with India.
• Brexit-Induced Insecurities for the UK:
  • Brexit has created uncertainties for the UK, making an FTA with India crucial to compensate for the loss of access to the European Single Market.
  • However, concerns exist regarding offering work permits to Indian service sector workers due to political reasons.
• Potential Gains and Challenges for India:
  • For India, the FTA presents an opportunity to revive declining sectors like apparel and gems/jewellery by reducing tariffs in the UK.
  • However, concerns have been raised about the impact on Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Bangladesh if India gains zero-duty access for its textiles.
• Beneficial Aspects for the UK:
  • The UK aims to gain deeper access to the Indian market, especially for goods like cars, Scotch whisky, and wines, which currently face significant tariffs.
  • Elimination or reduction of tariffs on these goods could enhance British exports to India.
• Tariff Disparity and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs):
  • There exists a substantial tariff disparity between goods imported from India into the UK and vice versa.
  • The FTA negotiations might focus on reducing these tariff barriers.
  • Additionally, addressing non-tariff barriers such as regulations and standards could be crucial for Indian exporters, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing.
• Carbon Tax and Border Adjustment Mechanism:
  • The UK’s plan to impose a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) similar to the EU’s strategy might affect India’s exports, especially in sectors like cement, chemicals, steel, and others.
  • This imposition aims to reduce dependence on high carbon-emitting imports and could potentially impact Indian exports to the UK.

IMPACTS AND CHALLENGES:

• Strategic Shift: India’s reorientation towards Western nations and away from over-dependence on China is evident. However, concerns persist regarding the impact on LDCs, especially in terms of textiles.
• Potential Imbalance: While India aims to boost declining sectors, the disparity in tariffs and non-tariff barriers presents a challenge. Addressing these barriers will be critical for ensuring mutual benefits.
• Carbon Tax Implications: The UK’s plan for a carbon tax and CBAM could pose challenges for India’s exports, especially in energy-intensive sectors.
• Negotiation Dynamics: The negotiations hold importance for both countries, but balancing mutual benefits while addressing concerns of sectors vulnerable to tariff changes and non-tariff barriers is crucial.

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/proposed-india-uk-fta-its-politics-and-why-the-uk-may-benefit-more-9031599/

TOPIC 4: 30th ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) ECONOMIC LEADERS’ MEETING

TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

THE CONTEXT: The 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting concluded in San Francisco recently with the adoption of the Golden Gate Declaration. The declaration underscores the commitment to creating a resilient and sustainable future for all member economies.

EXPLANATION:

• For the first time since 2011, USA hosted annual APEC
• Theme of the meeting was creating a “Resilient and Sustainable Future for All”.

GOLDEN GATE DECLARATION:

• The declaration aims to harness the technological and economic progress to continue to unleash the enormous potential and tremendous dynamism across regions, spur economic growth.
• The declaration was adopted after the two-day meeting, during which the leaders focused on the subjects of sustainability, climate, just energy transition, interconnectedness and building inclusive and resilient economies.
• The importance of the rules-based multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core, which continues to catalyze APEC region’s extraordinary growth has been reaffirmed.
• APEC economies vow to accelerate the transition towards low and zero emissions vehicles; sustainable aviation fuels; and low and zero emission maritime shipping and port decarbonization, reads the document.

APEC:

• It was formed in 1989 with 12 members.
• Now, it has 21 members.
• Grouping of economies around Pacific Ocean aiming to promote trade, investment, and economic development in region.
• Accounts for nearly 62% of global GDP, half of global trade and covers 38% of global population.
• Operates on basis of non-binding commitments with decisions reached by consensus. India is an observer since 2011.

SOURCE: https://www.wionews.com/world/apec-summit-live-updates-biden-meets-mexican-president-lopez-obrador-659895

TOPIC 5: GOVERNOR’S ROLE IN LEGISLATION

TAG: GS 2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

THE CONTEXT: Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi has withheld assent for certain Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. In this article, we will analyse the governor’s role in legislation.

EXPLANATION:

• The role of a Governor in the legislative process within a state is a crucial aspect of India’s federal structure.
• The Governor, as the constitutional head of a state, plays a significant role in the enactment of laws.

GOVERNOR’S ROLE IN LEGISLATION:

• Options When Receiving a Bill for Assent:
  • Article 200 of the Indian Constitution provides a structured approach for the Governor’s actions concerning bills, emphasizing the Governor’s role as a link between the State Legislature and the Union.
  • It also outlines four alternatives available to a Governor upon receiving a bill from a State Legislature:
    • Give Assent: The Governor approves the bill, making it law.
    • Withhold Assent: The Governor refuses to approve the bill, effectively rejecting it.
    • Return for Reconsideration: If it’s not a Money Bill, the Governor can send the bill back to the State Legislature for reconsideration.
    • Reserve for President’s Consideration: Certain bills need to be reserved for the President’s consideration, such as those that reduce High Court powers or conflict with Union laws.
  • Exercise of Discretionary Powers:
    • According to judicial precedents like the Shamsher Singh case, the Governor typically acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers while withholding assent or returning a bill.
    • Discretionary powers might be exercised in rare cases where the Governor believes a bill contravenes the Constitution and should be reserved for the President’s consideration.
  • Recommendations and Unimplemented Suggestions:
    • Reports like the Sarkaria Commission and the Punchhi Commission have suggested limiting the Governor’s discretionary powers, emphasizing adherence to ministerial advice.
    • Recommendations also proposed time limits for decision-making on bills but have not been implemented.
  • Resolution of Impasses:
    • The politicization of the Governor’s role has been a persistent issue.
    • Suggestions include consulting Chief Ministers before a Governor’s appointment, and the possibility of impeachment by the State Legislature to remove an uncooperative Governor.
    • Amendments are proposed to ensure responsible cooperation between the Centre and States in matters related to Governors’ appointments and functioning.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE GOVERNOR

• Article 153 says that there shall be a Governor for each State. One person can be appointed as Governor for two or more States.
• A Governor is appointed by the President and is a nominee of the Central Government.
• It is stated that the Governor has a dual role.
• He is the constitutional head of the state, bound by the advice of his Council of Ministers (CoM).
• He functions as a vital link between the Union Government and the State Government.
• Articles 157 and 158 specify eligibility requirements for the post of governor. A governor must:
• Be a citizen of India.
• Be at least 35 years of age.
• Not be a member of the either house of the parliament or house of the state legislature.
• Not hold any office of profit.
• Governor has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, etc. (Article 161).
• There is a CoM with the CM at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except some conditions for discretion. (Article 163).
• The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and other Ministers (Article 164).
• Governor assents, withholds assent, or reserves the bill for the consideration of the President passed by the Legislative Assembly (Article 200).
• Governors may promulgate the Ordinances under certain circumstances (Article 213).
• Governor’s role:
• The Governor holds a constitutional position and is expected to perform specific functions, including granting assent to bills passed by the state legislature and ensuring the proper functioning of state administration.
• The Governor’s actions are perceived as a hindrance to these responsibilities.
• FOR FURTHER RINFORMATION PLEASE REFER TO THE DNA ARTICLE OF 1^ST OCTOBER 2023.

SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-role-of-the-governor-in-legislature-explained/article67552112.ece/amp/

TAG: GS 2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed a law passed by the Haryana government in 2020 that provided 75 per cent reservation in private jobs to residents of the state.

EXPLANATION:

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s ruling quashing the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020 has far-reaching implications and raises several significant points.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS:

• Unconstitutionality and Violation of Fundamental Rights:
• The court ruled the Act as unconstitutional and violative of Part III of the Indian Constitution, which encompasses fundamental rights.
• This Act was seen as discriminatory against individuals who are not residents of a specific state and impinged upon their rights.
• State Intervention in Private Sector:
• The judgment highlighted the overreach of the state government into the private sector by attempting to mandate the hiring of local candidates.
• It was perceived as an intrusion into the freedom of private employers to recruit based on their requirements.
• Freedom to Conduct Business:
  • The court emphasized Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to carry out business and trade.
  • The Act was seen as an impediment to this freedom for private employers, impacting their ability to hire based on merit and suitability for the job.

ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• Equality and Common Citizenship:
  • The Act was criticized for creating divisions among people based on their state of origin, which contradicts the idea of common citizenship enshrined in the Constitution.
  • It was argued that such laws create disparities among citizens and go against the principle of equality.
• Skill Diversity and Employment Needs:
  • The court illustrated how skill diversity exists across regions, and mandating local hiring could hinder businesses from accessing a diverse skill set essential for their operations.
  • It emphasized that a skilled workforce might be sourced from different parts of the country, and restricting hiring based on domicile is counterproductive.
• Challenges of Unemployment:
  • While the Haryana government argued that the Act aimed to address local youth unemployment, the court observed that such measures cannot infringe upon the rights of others.
  • It questioned the feasibility of such discriminatory practices in addressing unemployment concerns.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE AND FUTURE STEPS:

• Legal Recourse:
  • The government expressed intentions to approach the Supreme Court for an appeal (Special Leave Petition – SLP) against the High Court’s decision.
  • This signifies a potential continuation of the legal battle over the policy’s validity.
• Reviewing Options:
  • The government spokesperson mentioned assessing the detailed court order before deciding on the next course of action.
  • This indicates a need to reconsider strategies regarding employment policies in light of the court’s decision.

CONCLUSION:

• The High Court’s decision to quash the Haryana law reflects a significant ruling on constitutional and fundamental rights issues.
• It underscores the importance of maintaining a balance between addressing local unemployment concerns and ensuring equality and freedom in employment opportunities.
• This ruling may influence future state policies concerning employment quotas and rights of private businesses in recruitment practices across India.

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/hc-quashes-haryana-govts-75-percent-quota-in-private-sector-jobs-9031094/

RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE: FREEDOM OF MEDIA, REGULATION OF MEDIA.

THE CONTEXT

After the much debated and controversial introduction of the IT Rules 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 on November 10.

KEY FEATURES OF THE DRAFT BROADCASTING SERVICES(REGULATION) BILL, 2023

• The Bill provides regulatory provisions for various broadcasting services under a single legislative framework.
• It seeks to replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 and other policy guidelines currently governing the broadcasting sector in India.
• The Bill extends its regulatory purview to encompass broadcasting OTT content, digital news and current affairs currently regulated through the IT Act, 2000.
• The Bill consists of six chapters, 48 sections and three Schedules.
  • The Bill provides comprehensive definitions for contemporary broadcasting terms along with other important technical terms to be defined in the statute for the first time.
• It introduces content evaluation committees for self-regulation and Broadcast Advisory Council to advise the central government on programme code and advertisement code violations.
• The Bill provides statutory penalties like advisory, warning, censure, or monetary penalties for operators and broadcasters.
  • Provision for imprisonment and/or fines is also there, but only for very serious offences, such as obtaining registration with a false affidavit.
  • Monetary penalties and fines are linked to the financial capacity of the entity, taking into account their investment and turnover to ensure fairness and equity.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BILL

It addresses a long-standing need of consolidating and updating the regulatory provisions for various broadcasting services under a single legislative framework.

It introduces comprehensive definitions for contemporary broadcasting terms and incorporates provisions for emerging broadcasting technologies.

It enhances self-regulation with the introduction of ‘Content evaluation committees’ and evolves the existing Inter-Departmental Committee into a more participative and broader ‘Broadcast Advisory Council’.

The bill addresses the specific needs of persons with disabilities by providing for enabling provisions for issue of comprehensive accessibility guidelines.

CRITICISM OF THE BILL

The broad and ambiguous framing of point 36 in the draft bill raises concerns. It gives the authorized officer the ultimate power to prohibit the transmission of any program or channel not in conformity with prescribed codes or likely to promote disharmony.

The proposed bill could lead to the erasure or selective representation of Indian minority communities.

Experts have expressed concerns about the potential influence of the government in the regulatory process and the independence of the authorized officer working under government directions.

THE CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK(REGULATION)ACT (CTNR) 1995

It was introduced to curb the menace of illegal cable television networks and regulate the programming and advertising content on television.

Under the CTNR Act, cable providers were compulsorily required to register themselves and transmit two Doordarshan channels, besides adhering to content regulation.

ISSUES WITH THE IT RULES 2021

Violating privacy: The rules have a traceability requirement which mandates significant social media intermediaries like WhatsApp to “enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource.

Increasing censorship: It could lead to censorship by the government. Content posted on social media platforms at times includes criticism of the establishment, which might not be very pleasing for the elected government.

Unclear Safe Harbor Protection: The lack of clear safe harbor protection could lead to criminal liability for employees of intermediaries who fail to comply with the rules.

Fear of Misuse: There are concerns that the rules could be misused to silence dissent and curb news coverage.

THE WAY FORWARD

The bill should establish an independent regulatory body to oversee content regulation.

The Indian government has been ineffective in addressing conflicts of interest in the media industry, particularly the relationships between MSOs (Multi-Service Operators), politicians, and vertical integration. This has caused a loss of trust and the issues with the CTRN Act demonstrate a significant lack of faith in the government. As such, a regulation on conflicts of interest is essential to restore public trust.

To foster a more responsible and informed media landscape, it is crucial to invest in media literacy programs that educate the public about responsible media consumption.

THE CONCLUSION

The proposed Broadcasting Services Bill raises concerns about excessive government control over digital infrastructure and content consumption. Addressing conflicts of interest is paramount to ensuring fair and ethical business practices and the government should prioritize establishing regulations in this area.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

Q) How can the ‘Digital India’ programme help farmers to improve farm productivity and income? What steps has the Government taken in this regard? (2015)

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION

Q) Critically discuss the key features of the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023.

SOURCE:  Regulating OTT: Draft Broadcasting Regulation Bill may be an attempt to control digital infrastructure | The Indian Express

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Cabinet approves Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for Rabi Crops for Marketing Season 2024-25 READ MORE
2. How quantum algorithms solve problems that classical computers can’t READ MORE
3. Parliamentary Panel examining Bill to increase minimum age of marriage for women gets another extension READ MORE  
4. Centre notifies transfer of 16 High Court judges, appointment of 17 READ MORE
5. OBCs and subcategories: Why this has been a hot-button issue for long READ MORE
6. Severe drought grips the Amazon rainforest: The impact, cause and grim future READ MORE
7. Israel using white phosphorus in Gaza? 5 things about the controversial weapon READ MORE
8. Flash floods in Kerala: A junked breakwater plan may have been Achilles’ heel READ MORE
9. Microalgae are adapting to warming climate, declining nutrient levels in seas with novel strategy READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. In India, reproductive autonomy remains a pipedream READ MORE
2. Why Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage verdict opens no doors for queer people READ MORE
3. Same-Sex Marriage: An opportunity lost, hope not forever READ MORE
4. Holes in the green cover READ MORE
5. Is climate change the reason for Sikkim flash floods? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Revamp governance to make cities liveable READ MORE
2. Limits to women’s reproductive rights READ MORE
3. Same-Sex Marriage : Onus on legislature to initiate reforms READ MORE
4. Two decades on, India plans to strengthen diplomatic corps READ MORE
5. Federalism puzzle READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. India Improve nutrition delivery and don’t bristle at low rank READ MORE
2. Global Hunger Index a stark reminder to address hunger, poverty READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The BRI at 10, some hits, many misses READ MORE
2. The old Middle East is not back READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The measure of the working woman READ MORE
2. Fear factor: On the inflation battle READ MORE
3. Going beyond the International Year of Millets to achieve decade-long action READ MORE
4. Tackling urban poverty READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Accelerating green innovation through EVs READ MORE
2. India’s energy transition: Who will lead the way? READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. The explosion of digital uncertainty READ MORE
2. The final frontier READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Localise strategies to build climate resilience READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Cybercrime surge: Focus on persistent vigil, collaborative efforts READ MORE
2. Beyond ‘Black Mirror’s’ fiction – Impact of Generative AI on policing, security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Consciousness chronicles, from duality to bliss READ MORE
2. Happy greetings READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. As the threat of climate change grows stark in the Himalayan regions, the Early Warning System should be deployed to avoid numerous disasters. Comment.
2. Despite the emergence of numerous education policies in the post-independence period, India has yet to generate an indigenous system of education that is propelled by rationality, scientific temper and empathy. Do you agree that transforming education into the practice of freedom is an effective way forward?
3. The Electoral Bonds scheme not only creates an uneven playing field for political parties but is a danger to our democracy. Comment.
4. The SHG federations with the existing panchayat-level committees have opportunities to contribute to the development process of the village to upgrade education, health, sanitation and infrastructure facilities. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• You cannot continue to victimise someone else just because you yourself were a victim once.
• Our real enemies are not men and women but suspicion, fear, hatred, violence and feeling of revenge and these enemies cannot be eliminated by military means.
• Discoms will be profitable only when they are unshackled from state controls and electricity distribution is deregulated.
• The goal should be to create more employers than employees, and it is hoped that “PM Vishwakarma” will help make this a reality.
• The SHG federations can work with the existing panchayat-level committees to contribute to the development process of the village to upgrade education, health, sanitation and infrastructure facilities.
• The SHG model is a flexible and comprehensive tool to steer holistic development services as opposed to only providing financial and livelihood services to SHG women.
• While women-led federations role in promoting empowerment and livelihoods promotion is well known, not much has been highlighted about the SHG federation’s work in providing non-financial and development services in their communities.
• As the threat of climate change grows stark in the Himalayan regions the Early Warning System should be deployed to avoid numerous disasters.
• The biggest concern for India right now is the decline in both merchandise exports and imports over the past eight months.
• If the Indian government remains convinced about not joining the RCEP, it must have strategic reasons, which is fine. But it must nevertheless address the ongoing outcomes of such a decision, and that’s where agility in policymaking comes in.
• Despite the emergence of numerous education policies in the post-Independence period, India is yet to generate an indigenous system of education that is propelled by rationality, scientific temper and empathy.
• Education has to set its epistemic and moral worth and the goals of education should be quality, equity and efficiency in learning outcomes.
• A level playing field in terms of educational opportunities and competition, coupled with affirmative action, can enhance classroom accountability.
• To integrate critical thinking, educational reform has to assimilate the willingness to be rationally critiqued and learning must inculcate the ability to question from different vantage points.
• One is the legalisation of anonymous donations, and the other is the violation of citizens’ right to information about the funding of parties.
• The legalisation of anonymous donations would amount to facilitation and legitimisation of corruption.
• In a democracy, the public have the right to know who funds parties because the funding may be used to influence policies.

50-WORD TALK

• While arguments on who bombed al-Ahli Hospital rage, it underlines the horrors ahead if war grinds on in densely-populated Gaza. The killing of innocent civilians is empowering extremists and defeating the international peacemaking crisis. Leaders on all sides must refrain from stoking a fire threatening to spread beyond the region.
• As the threat of climate change grows stark, events like the recent glacial lake outburst flood that caused death and devastation in Sikkim are becoming frequent. This underlines the urgency of installing early warning systems in the fragile Himalayan range. Governments can no longer afford to ignore such red flags.
• Faced with a moral, legal and ethical dilemma, the Supreme Court walked on eggshells to reject a 26-week-old pregnant woman’s plea to abort her foetus on the ground that it risked her psychologically. The issue will be debated in the coming days as a prudent balance between competing fundamental rights.
• GIFT City has many infrastructural marvels, and attractive tax incentives. But, it’s nowhere near being the next Singapore. It needs to come out of Gujarat government’s shadows and allow a restriction-free, socially liberal lifestyle that youthful, global workforce thrives on. Relax prohibition, improve connectivity, housing, open spas, and golf courses.

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 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.

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Ministry of Ayush’s endeavours towards Special Campaign 3.0 gear up READ MORE
2. Notification issued for Green Credit Program (GCP) and Ecomark scheme Under LiFE Initiative to Promote Sustainable Lifestyle and Environmental Conservation READ MORE
3. Indian Railways’ PSUs, RITES Ltd and IRCON granted Navratna status READ MORE  
4. India’s 1st CAR-T cell therapy developed by ImmunoACT gets CDSCO nod READ MORE
5. CJI says India’s abortion law is liberal, pro-choice and far ahead of other countries READ MORE
6. Government mulls partnerships to make semiconductor chips READ MORE
7. What is Australia’s Indigenous Voice referendum? READ MORE
8. Farmers lost $3.8 trillion to disasters over 30 years: FAO’s first-ever global estimation READ MORE  
9. More than half of world’s poor out of safety net coverage, says World Bank READ MORE
10. World’s water cycle severely impacted by climate change and human activities in 2022: WMO READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Parents and educators must reduce student stress READ MORE
2. Changed outlook READ MORE
3. Is climate change the reason for Sikkim flash floods? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Testing the waters for General Elections 2024 READ MORE
2. Democracy dies when justice suffers READ MORE
3. 16th Finance Commission’s political challenge READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Hunger pangs: Alarming findings of 2023 global index READ MORE
2. India Ranks 111 in Global Hunger Index; Report Makers Reject Indian Government Objections READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Balancing policy: On Israel, Palestine and India’s line: India must pressure Israel to act responsibly in the face of terror READ MORE
2. A war that ends the Saudi-Israel ‘normalisation’ process READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Claudia Goldin’s quiet revolution: How she helped feminise economic enquiry READ MORE
2. Why we must cheer the Nobel for Goldin READ MORE
3. The economic mosaic: Chugging along at the ‘new-old normal’ growth rate READ MORE
4. DC Edit | Inflation falls, RBI still cautious READ MORE
5. Role of Banks in Promoting Risky Financial Assets READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Clearing the air: Contrary to general perception, there is no change in India’s stand on Palestine READ MORE
2. Meeting the Goals of the Paris Agreement READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. AI could redefine police techniques READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Localise strategies to build climate resilience READ MORE
2. India’s cyclone warning system is the model for disaster-proofing the country. Floods next READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. How the Khalistan movement is interlinked with Punjab’s growing drug problem, gun culture READ MORE
2. Beyond ‘Black Mirror’s’ fiction – Impact of Generative AI on policing, security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Working and praying READ MORE
2. Narges’ Nobel and the all-pervasive fear of freedom READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Repeated elections have a cost, but the benefits of enhanced democracy that they trigger are far greater. Critically examine the statement in the light of recent debate about One Nation, One Election.
2. India is diverse, with different regions confronting diverse issues, and that impacts politics in the states. In light of statement, how far do you agree with this view that the concept of One Nation, One Election goes against the reality of India’s diversity?
3. Balancing growth and inflation is a complex endeavour, requiring a steady hand on the economic tiller. Discuss how India can this balance in the ongoing uncertain global economic landscape?
4. Assessing vulnerabilities is the first step in reducing disaster risk. In light of recent disasters in the Himalayan region, discuss how the climate resilience approach in infrastructure development can minimize the disaster risk in that region.
5. The bureaucracy delivers on episodic events like conducting elections, which have a clear exit date but when it comes to daily events such as provision of civic amenities, the result is deeply unsatisfactory. Do you think that the division of bureaucracy between the three levels of government is a likely reason for such unamenities?
6. Modern states have evolved from directly running factories to regulating economic activity and for that, the Indian government need to revisit the bureaucracy’s recruitment process and should focus on more domain expertise. Discuss.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.
• Delhi’s history of intervening positively also led to the ironical consternation of the Maldivian opposition parties who started a disquiet campaign against the Maldivian Government’s traditional ‘India First’ policy to suggest a compromise to Maldivian sovereignty.
• Democracy weakens when the people’s choice is not based on who will represent their interests and fulfil their aspirations.
• Democracy is always in a state of flux and not in its ideal form.
• To strengthen democracy, politics needs to be more accountable.
• Having one election every five years will make political parties more unaccountable and free to fulfil the agenda of vested interests. That will weaken democracy and cost the nation far more than the direct and indirect costs of elections at present.
• Even if India had a perfect democracy, the ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea assumes homogeneity in the nation.
• A one-size-fits-all approach goes against the reality of the nation’s diversity and can lead to severe political backlash.
• The reality is that India has an imperfect democracy that needs to be strengthened.
• Elections are the times when the public can force political parties to become answerable.
• Repeated elections have a cost, but the benefits of enhanced democracy that they trigger are far greater.
• No farmers’ company can address climatic aberrations amidst a changing climate, broken landscapes, tattered ecologies and market volatilities unless supported by policies and incentives.
• Balancing growth and inflation is a complex endeavour, requiring a steady hand on the economic tiller.
• Ever since the artificial intelligence chatbot GPT technology burst on the global computer media scene suggesting its multifarious applications and uses in almost any area of human endeavour.
• If the ASEAN has to remain relevant, it needs to reinvent itself to suit the changing regional environment.
• Shortage of workers is pushing the demand for farm equipment. India can dominate the world market by leveraging its machine tools.
• The UN has the responsibility to resolve conflicts. But its failure should not be taken as an opportunity to abet terrorism in the name of freedom.
• It is crucial to re-evaluate building typologies and focus on developing climate-resilient designs.
• The bureaucracy delivers on episodic events like conducting elections, which have a clear exit date. But when it comes to daily events such as provision of civic amenities, the result is deeply unsatisfactory.

50-WORD TALK

• Instead of issuing defensive reactions to the Global Hunger Index, the government should instead engage with the root issue—nutrition. India might not have the empty-bellied hunger such indices imply, but it does have widespread and severe malnutrition and anaemia. Free foodgrain alleviates hunger, but balanced meals are what Indians need.
• Israel cannot carpet bomb Gaza into rubble. It has a right to defend itself and respond to terrorism, but indiscriminately targeting civilian areas isn’t the way. Israel will find it increasingly difficult to have the unambiguous support of its allies. It also risks ceding Middle East leadership role to Iran.

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 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.

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Mission Indradhanush 5.0 (IMI 5.0) campaign with special focus on improvement of Measles and Rubella vaccination coverage, will conclude all three rounds on 14 October 2023 READ MORE
2. INDEX OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION RISES TO 10.3% IN AUGUST 2023 READ MORE
3. India ranks 111 out of 125 countries in Global Hunger Index READ MORE  
4. What war crimes laws apply to the Israel-Palestinian conflict? READ MORE
5. Why Odisha govt’s new rural development scheme has triggered a controversy READ MORE
6. Dragonfly: The faces of wetlands in India READ MORE
7. IMI 5.0 reaches children up to five years for the first time READ MORE  
8. Biohydrogen’s role in India’s green hydrogen pathway READ MORE
9. Targeted methane mitigation can avoid 0.1°C warming in 2050, should be adopted with decarbonisation efforts: Report READ MORE
10. Joshimath sinking: Landslides in region not a new problem, says GSI report READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. The case for caste census in India | Explained READ MORE
2. Changed outlook READ MORE
3. Is climate change the reason for Sikkim flash floods? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Should the 50 % legal ceiling on reservation be reconsidered? READ MORE
2. Administrators: All services need more officers, not just IFS. So do local govts. And recruit more specialists READ MORE
3. Pharma laxity: No tainted firm deserves leniency READ MORE
4. Make funding truly transparent and free of cash for fair polls READ MORE
5. ‘One Nation, One Election’ Will Further Weaken Indian Democracy READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Pro-choice, pro-women: A split SC verdict reflects a wider judicial-medical confusion about abortion rights. This must change READ MORE
2. India Ranks 111th Among 125 Countries in Global Hunger Index Report READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Non-state actors are a threat to world peace READ MORE
2. ASEAN must reinvent itself to stay relevant in region READ MORE
3. India-Maldives Ties: A Walk on Eggshells As New Delhi Faces the China Question READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Ways to make IBC more effective READ MORE   
2. Terms of Trade | Let’s discuss India’s growth forecast READ MORE
3. The right path: IMF raises India’s growth rate, validating that its economy is on a firm footing READ MORE
4. India’s farm machinery has global market READ MORE
5. By the farmers READ MORE
6. IMF and India READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Curbing air pollution: Centre, states need to work in close coordination READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. AI could redefine police techniques READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Localise strategies to build climate resilience READ MORE
2.  India’s cyclone warning system is the model for disaster-proofing the country. Floods next READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. How the Khalistan movement is interlinked with Punjab’s growing drug problem, gun culture READ MORE
2. Beyond ‘Black Mirror’s’ fiction – Impact of Generative AI on policing, security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Lies, levels, life: Cultivating your best being READ MORE
2. Misery is a choice READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Repeated elections have a cost, but the benefits of enhanced democracy that they trigger are far greater. Critically examine the statement in the light of recent debate about One Nation, One Election.
2. India is diverse, with different regions confronting diverse issues, and that impacts politics in the states. In light of statement, how far do you agree with this view that the concept of One Nation, One Election goes against the reality of India’s diversity?
3. Balancing growth and inflation is a complex endeavour, requiring a steady hand on the economic tiller. Discuss, how India can this balance in the ongoing uncertain global economic landscape?
4. Assessing vulnerabilities is the first step in reducing disaster risk. In light of recent disasters in the Himalayan region, discuss how the climate resilience approach in infrastructure development can minimize the disaster risk in that region.
5. The bureaucracy delivers on episodic events like conducting elections, which have a clear exit date but when it comes to daily events such as provision of civic amenities, the result is deeply unsatisfactory. Do you think that the division of bureaucracy between the three levels of government is a likely reason for such unamenities?
6. Modern states have evolved from directly running factories to regulating economic activity and for that Indian government needs to revisit the bureaucracy’s recruitment process and should focus on more domain expertise. Discuss.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.
• Delhi’s history of intervening positively also led to the ironical consternation of the Maldivian opposition parties who started a disquiet campaign against the Maldivian Government’s traditional ‘India First’ policy to suggest a compromise to Maldivian sovereignty.
• Democracy weakens when the people’s choice is not based on who will represent their interests and fulfil their aspirations.
• Democracy is always in a state of flux and not in its ideal form.
• To strengthen democracy, politics needs to be more accountable.
• Having one election every five years will make political parties more unaccountable and free to fulfil the agenda of vested interests. That will weaken democracy and cost the nation far more than the direct and indirect costs of elections at present.
• Even if India had a perfect democracy, the ‘One Nation, One Election’ idea assumes homogeneity in the nation.
• A one-size-fits-all approach goes against the reality of the nation’s diversity and can lead to severe political backlash.
• The reality is that India has an imperfect democracy that needs to be strengthened.
• Elections are the times when the public can force political parties to become answerable.
• Repeated elections have a cost, but the benefits of enhanced democracy that they trigger are far greater.
• No farmers’ company can address climatic aberrations amidst a changing climate, broken landscapes, tattered ecologies and market volatilities unless supported by policies and incentives.
• Balancing growth and inflation is a complex endeavour, requiring a steady hand on the economic tiller.
• Ever since the artificial intelligence chatbot GPT technology burst on the global computer media scene suggesting its multifarious applications and uses in almost any area of human endeavour.
• If the ASEAN has to remain relevant, it needs to reinvent itself to suit the changing regional environment.
• Shortage of workers is pushing the demand for farm equipment. India can dominate the world market by leveraging its machine tools.
• The UN has the responsibility to resolve conflicts. But its failure should not be taken as an opportunity to abet terrorism in the name of freedom.
• It is crucial to re-evaluate building typologies and focus on developing climate-resilient designs.
• The bureaucracy delivers on episodic events like conducting elections, which have a clear exit date. But when it comes to daily events such as provision of civic amenities, the result is deeply unsatisfactory.

50-WORD TALK

• The external affairs ministry’s statement has rightly made it clear that India’s condemnation of the Hamas terror attack on Israel and New Delhi’s stated support to two-states solution on Palestine are not mutually exclusive. Unnecessarily obfuscating the two issues only sullies public debate. India’s position has been nuanced but consistent.
• Supreme Court listing electoral bonds case for final hearing after six years is welcome. Issues at stake are vital for democracy— need for transparency in political funding and undue advantage to ruling party. From passage as Money Bill to legalization of anonymity—this haze-shrouded scheme calls for thorough judicial scrutiny.

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 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.

1. Women’s quota — rhetoric and reality READ MORE
2. CrPC, IPC changes fall short of expectations READ MORE
3. RTI Act: Time to make it more effective READ MORE
4. Transparency Law | CIC’s evolution from defender to bystander READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Cabinet approves royalty rates for mining of three critical and strategic minerals- Lithium, Niobium and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) READ MORE
2. Cabinet approves establishment of an autonomous body Mera Yuva Bharat READ MORE
3. ‘Operation Ajay’ set to evacuate Indian nationals from Israel READ MORE  
4. Cauvery Committee retains water release recommendation of 3,000 cusecs to T.N. READ MORE
5. The cases before the new CJI-led nine-judge Constitution Bench | Explained READ MORE
6. Order on cleaning rivers not followed, NGT issues notice to Chief Secretaries of all States, Ministry of Jal Shakti READ MORE
7. India, China agree to maintain momentum of ‘dialogue and negotiations’ READ MORE  
8. How new royalty rates for strategic minerals lithium, REEs can help cut their imports READ MORE
9. What the GI tag can mean for the cashew industry in Goa READ MORE
10. India’s first bamboo-based biorefinery to start operations in March READ MORE
11. Chhattisgarh Baiga tribe gets habitat rights under FRA READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Globally, 9 million girls face extreme risks of climate disaster and child marriage every year: Report READ MORE
2. Changed outlook READ MORE
3. Even temporary global warming above 2°C will affect life in the oceans for centuries READ MORE
4. Is climate change the reason for Sikkim flash floods? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Women’s quota — rhetoric and reality READ MORE
2. CrPC, IPC changes fall short of expectations READ MORE
3. RTI Act: Time to make it more effective READ MORE
4. Transparency Law | CIC’s evolution from defender to bystander READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Learning for the future READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. UN Security Council reform is a song in a loop READ MORE
2. Are reunifications the key to world peace? READ MORE
3. Global Leadership Is Not Just About Drafting a Statement READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. India may face economic trouble as fertility levels drop READ MORE   
2. The labour market is tougher on women. This is what the Economics Nobel for 2023 acknowledges READ MORE
3. Good, do better: For India, to be the fastest growing major economy isn’t enough. Real change needs 8% growth READ MORE
4. Focus on economy’s basics for 8% growth READ MORE
5. India Needs Stronger Exports to Hold the Line READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Curbing air pollution: Centre, states need to work in close coordination READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Generic drugs are everywhere – and that’s a problem READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. How the government covered up the severity of Teesta floods by blaming them on a ‘cloudburst’ READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. How the Khalistan movement is interlinked with Punjab’s growing drug problem, gun culture READ MORE
2. Beyond ‘Black Mirror’s’ fiction – Impact of Generative AI on policing, security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. The inescapable meaning of life READ MORE
2. Dealing with failure READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. India’s economy is navigating a labyrinth of interconnected challenges, and addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach encompassing domestic policy reforms. Comment on the statement in light of global economic uncertainties and supply chain disruptions.
2. The challenges against world leadership cannot be addressed if the global institutions are not reformed with time. Analyse the statement in the light of recent global challenges.
3. If global institutions are not reformed as per occurring challenges, then instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem. In the light of statement, discuss the need for reforms in the United Nations.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Unlike carbon-based fuels, the wind and the sun and the earth itself provide fuel that is free.
• China’s Tibet policy is primarily based on ruthless exploitation hidden under the façade of mega infrastructure projects which are showcased to the rest of the world as a sign of development in this region.
• Goldin’s Nobel and her own awarded work which took decades of research provides a tremendous intellectual platform for a wider level of global policy discussion and action on issues of gender wage gap, women and work, and more.
• Based on its achievements in key fields of technology, India is not in the global game. Yet, as a geopolitical pivot whose importance is derived not by its national power but its sensitive location, India is being courted by all three geostrategic players.
• The inclusion of the African Union as the new G-20 member was a pyrrhic victory compared with the six new members added to the BRICS (these include all global major energy exporters and importers) given that 50 of the 54 African nations attended the 2023 BRICS summit.
• India’s economy is navigating a labyrinth of interconnected challenges and addressing these challenges requires a multifaceted approach encompassing domestic policy reforms, diversification of export markets and enhancing economic resilience to global shocks.
• India’s ability to overcome global economic uncertainties and supply chain disruptions hurdles will be critical in ensuring continued economic growth and stability in an ever-evolving global landscape.
• Non-urban India has remained blindsided for decades in terms of superannuation, benefits, and social security. Rural India will now catch up with its urban counterpart at a quicker pace.
• The Central Information Commission’s job is to strike a balance between people’s right to know and the State’s legitimate need for limited secrecy.
• Right to Information (RTI) has brought transparency and systemic reforms but there is need to prevent its misuse and plug in loopholes.
• Climate change is exacerbating the risks. Because of global warming, more and more glaciers are melting.
• We must be careful in granting permission for the design of our mega hydro projects. We must do proper environment assessment of these projects and ensure that these withstand any water discharge that may happen in case of a glacier outburst.
• An increase in investment in traditional sectors such as mining and utilities because they trigger wider economic activities.
• Frequent tweaks of irritants aside, the GST regime needs a holistic reform plan, including a road map to bring in excluded items such as electricity, petroleum and alcohol.

50-WORD TALK

• A radical re-imagination of growth and developmental opportunities offering a wider platform for Indian (and other developing countries’) women (especially those at the margin in the employment landscape) through a greater, more assertive policy can be a starting point for subsequent transformations to happen across other nations too.
• The disaster in Sikkim is only the latest in a string of related incidents. But it must serve as an urgent reminder at all levels of the state and Central governments that the fragile condition of the Himalayas as the effects of climate change escalate will pose a continued and imminent danger to residents of India’s hill states.

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 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.

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Competition Commission of India to host 8th BRICS International Competition Conference during October 11-13, 2023 in New Delhi READ MORE
2. SC to hear pleas challenging electoral bond scheme on October 31 READ MORE
3. Net direct tax collections up 21.8% to ₹9.57 lakh crore READ MORE  
4. PCA regime to cover PSU NBFCs from October 2024 READ MORE
5. IMF raises India growth forecast to 6.3% for FY24 READ MORE
6. India, Italy sign defence cooperation agreement READ MORE
7. SC to hear petition challenging electoral bonds: What is the scheme and its criticisms? READ MORE  
8. Dancing frogs of Western Ghats among most threatened amphibians globally READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Mental disorders 10 times more likely following detention among asylum-seeking children: Report READ MORE
2. Women want change, society needs change READ MORE
3. DC Edit | Caste census to address inequity READ MORE
4. Something changed about cyclone formation in the 1990s | Explained READ MORE  
5. What the hottest September ever reveals about climate change READ MORE
6. India can reap the demographic dividend – but there’s a deadline READ MORE
7. Why does Delhi NCR frequently experience earthquakes, what causes seismic activity in region? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Caste census: Why the liberal intelligentsia’s opposition is misplaced READ MORE
2. Stop being vindictive’: SC directive to ED welcome READ MORE
3. DC Edit | SC’s relook at PMLA provisions welcome READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Learning for the future READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. BRICS: The mortar of competition in a globalised world READ MORE
2. ‘West is hypocritical’ is now India’s go-to foreign policy response. Delhi not exempt either READ MORE
3. India and the Israel-Palestine War: Choices, challenges and trade-offs READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The impact of Claudia Goldin’s work READ MORE  
2. Achieving the green energy goal READ MRE
3. Centre’s push on infra is transforming India READ MORE
4. West Asia crisis can hit global economy READ MORE
5. Claudia Goldin’s Nobel is a Wake-up Call for India’s Disjointed Labour Markets READ MORE
6. DC Edit | RBI keeps its focus on inflation READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Deregulation of biodiversity regime to impact environment READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. We need evidence-based traditional medicine READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. More people moved into high flood zones, exposing larger populations to water disasters: World Bank READ MORE
2. Sikkim’s Chungthang dam collapse signals the need for dam safety & emissions reduction READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. How the Khalistan movement is interlinked with Punjab’s growing drug problem, gun culture READ MORE
2. Beyond ‘Black Mirror’s’ fiction – Impact of Generative AI on policing, security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Gita unfolds the true essence of sanatan dharma READ MORE
2. Dealing with failure READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Why does Delhi NCR frequently experience earthquakes? What causes seismic activity in this region?
2. There is a need to redefine the relationship between the State and universities for a truly autonomous and thriving academic environment. Comment on the statement in light of recent developments.
3. While constitutional safeguards and legal protection for Dalits exist, caste-based discrimination has taken on new forms in the modern era. Discuss why the safeguards and legal protection failed to address the issue of discrimination in higher educational institutions?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.
• India must carefully weigh the situation, its long-term trajectory, and fall outs and find sensible geopolitical choices and security measures to deal with future challenges.
• The growing perception of Canada being a sanctuary for global offenders not only tarnishes its international reputation but also poses a threat to its societal fabric.
• It is difficult to fathom how a pause in policy rates or controlling liquidity could bring down food inflation, which was caused mainly because of supply shortages.
• Inclusion does not happen on its own in a society beset with inequalities which have a history of thousands of years; it takes deliberate and forceful attempts.
• While the apex court puts its imprimatur on the law finding it an effective tool to take on international terror rackets, its use on the ground does not share that confidence.
• It may be a paradox that a country which runs per a democratic Constitution and vouches by the rule of law has for all these years let an investigating agency infringe on the fundamental right to liberty of citizens without offering them a reason.
• Future-ready education is one that will help students adapt to ever-changing circumstances, prepare them for the drastic fallouts of climate change, teach them the importance of maintaining a balanced ecology and help them to be genuine global citizens.
• Generative AI’s impact on military warfare can be both revolutionary and riddled with ethical and legal considerations. It has significant implications for defence strategies, intelligence gathering, and training simulations.
• The fall in prices and the strengthening of international financial linkages will allow India to attain a current account surplus.
• The United Nations’ report on ageing in India serves as a reminder that the country’s opportunity to reap the demographic dividend is not perpetual.
• Russia’s increasing involvement in Africa is about its geopolitics, economics, and intricate security concerns.
• Reservation is the most effective form of affirmative action and equity is the first step to equality.

50-WORD TALK

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is complaining about India to a growing list of global leaders from the UK, the UAE, and now Jordan. If Trudeau has concrete evidence of Indian wrong-doing, he should present it. Else, he’ll have to get used to the eye-rolling all whiny children eventually get.
• Awarding the Economics Nobel to economic historian Claudia Goldin is entirely appropriate. She’s greatly enhanced our understanding of women’s pay and labour participation, and historical issues therein. That she’s only the third woman to win this Nobel, and the first to do it solo, highlights how vital her research is.

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 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.

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Harvard professor Claudia Goldin wins Nobel Economics Prize for gender gap research READ MORE
2. Scientists untangle mystery about the universe’s earliest galaxies READ MORE
3. Sri Lanka to take over as Chair of Indian Ocean Rim Association READ MORE  
4. Ahead of Bima Vistaar rollout, IRDAI issues guidelines on Bima Vahaks READ MORE
5. ICMR to set up study to develop solutions to remedy childhood undernutrition READ MORE
6. What is multimodal artificial intelligence and why is it important? READ MORE
7. Joint Statement during the State Visit of the President of Tanzania to India and launch of Strategic Partnership between India and Tanzania (8-10 October 2023) READ MORE  
8. Appointment of Manipur HC CJ to be notified soon, Centre tells apex court READ MORE
9. Unemployment rate drops to 6.6% in urban areas in Q1 READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Mental health and the floundering informal worker READ MORE
2. Socio-economic takeaways from Bihar caste survey READ MORE
3. Does India need a caste census? READ MORE
4. Extreme weather impact: 20,000 children displaced every day in last 6 years READ MORE  
5. How climate crisis will trigger more water wars in India READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The state of India’s Scheduled Areas READ MORE
2. Uncertain timing, Census and delimitation hurdles cast shadow over women’s reservation READ MORE
3. Law Commission age of consent recommendations threaten to criminalise the young READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. The ‘invisible’ disability of mental illness: Challenges of social security access READ MORE
2. Fundamental health services for women: Analysing gender disparities READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The end of the two-state solution: Hamas’s spectacular terrorism will push back Palestinian statehood by a generation READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. With food inflation limited to dal roti, why govt policy may need changes READ MORE  
2. Economics Nobel 2023: How Claudia Goldin shed light on the status of women in the workforce READ MORE
3. Is RBI heading in the right direction? READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Why India is launching a national framework for climate services Extreme weather impact: 20,000 children displaced every day in last 6 years READ MORE
2. Natural disasters occur due to our apathy towards environment READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. More people moved into high flood zones, exposing larger populations to water disasters: World Bank READ MORE
2. Sikkim’s Chungthang dam collapse signals the need for dam safety & emissions reduction READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Back to square one on theatre commands READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. It’s okay to be not okay READ MORE
2. Only we can reform our society READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Empowering women with the right to a safe and inclusive online environment is a crucial step toward a more equitable and just society in the digital age. Comment.
2. There is a need to redefine the relationship between the State and universities for a truly autonomous and thriving academic environment. Comment on the statement in light of recent developments.
3. While constitutional safeguards and legal protection for Dalits exist, caste-based discrimination has taken on new forms in the modern era. Discuss why the safeguards and legal protection are failed to address the issue of discrimination in higher educational institutions?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Palestine is the cement that holds the Arab world together, or it is the explosive that blows it apart.
• The disturbing trends seen in women’s mental health call for immediate gender mainstreaming action in mental health policies.
• Policy neglect, uncertain job market, and increased contractualisation are making labourers’ economic condition worse. Inflation is negating purchasing power too.
• Wages of informal labourers neither become an election issue nor do they count as a measure of poverty.
• ]The only way to protect the Indian rupee is through price stability. Assured stability through firmer anti-inflationary measures sends an effective message to overseas investors.
• We need to enhance our responsibility and responsiveness towards climate cure and healing; we must investment in climate-pro solutions.
• Enhance cooperation for mitigation efforts, and develop sustainable and viable ecosystems for a crisis-free society.
• A caste census is deemed discriminatory and opposed by those who seek equal rights for all. Besides, opinions are sharply divided on its impact.
• The release of the socio-economic profile of various SRCs can bring back the lost focus on the ‘economic’ aspect of social justice.
• The promise of a caste census could influence outcomes in the upcoming assembly elections but not do much for the cause of universal welfarism.
• India and South Korea, guided by universal values, should build beyond bilateralism as they refuse to be bystanders amid global disorder.
• Law Commission recommendations on age of consent sidestep key question of how to protect the young from sexual abuse, while ensuring they are not punished for consensual sexual activity with peers.
• Informal workers, despite their significant contribution to national income, are perennially exposed to economic, physical, and, in turn, mental vulnerabilities.
• The only way forward is for a Palestinian leadership that can credibly signal to the Israeli people that it will not use the freedoms it gains from any peace deal to hurt Israel. The prospects for that seem dim.

50-WORD TALK

• The shocking failure of Israel’s security services to preempt Hamas’ brutal strikes illustrates the damage caused when elected dictators operate without scrutiny and the perils of emulating Erdogan-style rule. PM Netanyahu’s politics undermined Jerusalem’s military and intelligence leadership. Israel will prevail—but at a price that need not have been paid.
• Army signing contracts worth Rs 18,000 crore under emergency procurement and asking it be institutionalised shows how convoluted military procurement has become. It is a shame that Services have to use EP to fill up critical gaps. This piecemeal approach should be stopped and procurement systems decluttered for faster procurement.

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 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.

RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS 3: INDIAN ECONOMY AND ISSUES RELATING TO PLANNING, MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES

THE CONTEXT

India’s gross revenues from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) stand at over ₹9.92 lakh crore in September 2023 which is halfway through the financial year, marking an 11.1% increase over collections between April and September 2022.

MORE ON THE NEWS

• Central and state governments collected ₹62 trillion in Goods and Services Tax (GST) in September, 2023 marking the fourth highest monthly collection since the inception of the indirect tax regime and a 10% annual growth from the year-ago period.
• It places government at a comfortable place regarding GST revenues in the fiscal context, as during the January-March 2024 quarter central bank expects real GDP growth to slow to 5.7% from 7.8% in the first quarter.

WHAT IS GST?

• GST has been introduced by 101st Amendment Act of 2016 and is one indirect tax for the whole nation, which will make India one unified common market. GST is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the consumer. It essentially is a tax only on value addition at each stage.
• The final consumer will thus bear only the GST charged by the last dealer in the supply chain, with set-off benefits at all the previous stages.

At the Central level, the following taxes are being subsumed:

1. Central Excise Duty
2. Additional Excise Duty
3. Service Tax
4. Additional Customs Duty commonly known as Countervailing Duty
5. Special Additional Duty of Customs.

At the State level, the following taxes are being subsumed:

1. Subsuming of State Value Added Tax/Sales Tax,
2. Entertainment Tax (other than the tax levied by the local bodies), Central Sales Tax (levied by the Centre and collected by the States),
3. Octroi and Entry tax,
4. Purchase Tax,
5. Luxury tax, and
6. Taxes on lottery, betting and gambling.

BENEFITS OF GST

• Easy compliance: All the tax payer services such as registrations, returns, payments, etc. are available to the taxpayers online, which would make compliance easy and transparent.
• Uniformity of tax rates and structures: GST ensure that indirect tax rates and structures are common across the country, thereby increasing certainty and ease of doing business.
• Removal of cascading: A system of seamless tax-credits throughout the value-chain, and across boundaries of States, ensure that there is minimal cascading of taxes. This reduce hidden costs of doing business.
• Higher revenue efficiency: GST mechanism decrease the cost of collection of tax revenues of the Government, and therefore, lead to higher revenue efficiency.

GST COUNCIL

• GST Council has been introduced for smooth and efficient administration of GST by cooperation and coordination under Article 279-A in the constitution of India.
• The GST Council consists of the following members:

1. The Union Finance Minister (as Chairman).
2. The Union Minister of State in-charge of Revenue or Finance.
3. The Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other Minister, nominated by each State Government.
4. The members of the Council from the states have to choose one amongst themselves to be the Vice-Chairperson of the Council. They can also decide his term.
5. The Union Cabinet also decided to include the Chairperson of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) as a permanent invitee (non-voting) to all proceedings of the Council.

• The council is devised in such a way that the centre will have 1/3^rd voting power and the states have 2/3^rd. The decisions are taken by 3/4^th

Reasons for the Increase in GST Revenue

• Improvement in economic activity: One of the main reasons for the increase in GST revenue is the improvement in economic activity.
• Enhanced compliance: Another reason for the increase in GST revenue is the enhanced compliance and anti-evasion measures taken by the government.
• Reforms introduced by government: The government has introduced several reforms such as e-invoicing, e-way bills, Aadhaar authentication, data analytics, and artificial intelligence to plug leakages and prevent tax evasion.

THE ISSUES

• Impact of slowdown not evenly distributed: The impact of the slowdown has not been evenly distributed across income groups and categories.
• Beyond the macro resilience that these numbers indicate, a few areas of concern deserve closer scrutiny from policymakers and the GST Council:
• Slowdown in growth of GST: There is slowdown in the growth of GST inflows and in domestic transactions and services imports between July and September, the slowest since July 2021.
• Mandatory E-invoicing: E-invoicing became mandatory for all firms with a turnover of over ₹5 crore since August 1, 2023 ,so there comes need of another compliance mechanism.
• Shrink in revenue from goods: Revenues from goods imports that have shrunk four times in 2023 despite high import. Authorities must check for revenue leakages from imports.

THE TRENDS

• Increase in taxpayers: A substantial increase has been observed across different categories individuals, firms and companies. For example, number of taxpayers increased by 64% between 2014 and 2022.
• More number of returns filed: There is growth in number of taxpayers filing returns.

However, this growth in taxpayers is insufficient as the most of the tax returns are associated with nil taxes.

• Rise in direct tax: There is growth in direct tax collections and higher tax buoyancy with increase in taxpayers and increase in returns filed which suggests noticeable gains in compliance.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Strengthening of GST Council: There is need of strengthening of GST Council for its better functioning. There have been instances of disagreements in resolving issues such as dispute resolution mechanism and revenue-sharing formulas that needs to be resolved.
• Simplification of GST rates: The rationalization of GST rates and slabs would reduce compliance costs, improve tax buoyancy, and eliminate classification disputes.
• Mechanism for higher revenue generation: An increase in returns filed is however not an end in itself. It must lead to higher revenues for which newer mechanism needs to be developed.
• Need scrutiny: Amid broadly healthy GST inflows, some trends need greater scrutiny. There is need of capacity building of state tax authorities as success of GST depends on adapting to the new requirements.

THE CONCLUSION

With higher revenue and simplified tax regime, GST is termed as positive step towards shifting Indian economy from the informal to formal economy. There is need of certain reforms to overcome the impending challenges.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Explain the rationale behind the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act of 2017. How has COVID-19 impacted the GST compensation fund and created new federal tensions? (2020)
2. Enumerate the indirect taxes which have been subsumed in the goods and services tax (GST) in India. Also, comment on the revenue implications of the GST introduced in India since July 2017.(2019)

 MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Although there has been improvement in GST revenue collection, the GST regime suffers from multiple challenges. Comment.

SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/revenue-riddles-the-hindu-editorial-on-gst-inflows-and-areas-of-concern/article67389922.ece

RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS 1: HISTORY; PERSONALITIES; GS 2: SOCIETY: CASTE SYSTEM

THE CONTEXT

The caste survey released by the Bihar government has ignited a fresh debate on the caste-politics dynamics in India. The caste system has been a subject of intense political debate and reform efforts from the Colonial times. This article mentions how Ambedkar and Gandhi’s contrasting views paved way for caste reservation.

HISTORY OF CASTE RESERVATION

• From the British era to the Mandal versus Kamandal politics, caste has been central to the socio-political narrative of mainland India.
• Two prominent figures who have significantly contributed to this discourse are Mahatma Gandhi and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. Both Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar differed over how to address caste inequities through the electoral system. Their subsequent debates have shaped the course of Indian society and politics.

GANDHI’S VIEW

• While Gandhi denounced untouchability, he did not condemn the varna system which is a social hierarchy based on occupation for most of his life.
• He believed in reforming the caste system through the abolition of untouchability and by giving equal status to each occupation.

AMBEDKAR’S VIEW

• BR Ambedkar argued that the caste system disorganised and demoralised Hindu society, reducing it to a collection of castes.
• Ambedkar completely denounced the Vedas and scriptures, believing that the caste system and untouchability were manifestations of Hindu religious scriptures.
• He first articulated caste inequality in Indian society and worked for the “annihilation of caste”, believing that anything built on caste would inevitably create inequality.

DEMAND FOR SEPARATE ELECTORATE: GANDHI vs AMBEDKAR

• Their exchanges led to the Poona Pact of 1932, which shaped the reservation system in India’s electoral politics.
• In 1930s, alongside the fight for independence, issue raised of political representation and safeguard of Dalits.
• BR Ambedkar believed that a separate electoral process for Dalits was essential to ensure their political representation and protect their interests in legislative bodies.
• Gandhi, on the other hand, was totally opposed to the idea of a separate electoral process, fearing it would perpetuate divisions among Indians.
• In 1932, the British government formalized a separate electoral process for Muslims, Sikhs and Dalits in Round Table Conference to address the issue of representation for different religious and social groups in India.
• Under the proposed process, only members from particular communities would be eligible to vote and elect a representative to legislative assemblies.
• Gandhi started fast unto death in Yerwada Central Jail in Pune to pressurise the British for abandoning the idea of separate electorates.
• A committee including Sir Tejbahadur Sapru, MR Jayakar, Madan Mohan Malviya and Mathuradas Wasanji was formed to have negotiations with Ambedkar on Gandhi’s behalf.
• Gandhi’s unrelenting fast forced Ambedkar to bend and let go of his desire to have a separate electoral process for the depressed classes.
• The Poona Pact was finally signed on September 24, 1932. Madan Mohan Malaviya signed it on behalf of Hindus and Gandhi, and Ambedkar on behalf of the depressed classes.
• Instead of separate electorates, the pact introduced the concept of reserved seats for the Dalits in provincial and central legislative bodies. These reserved seats were to be filled through a joint electorate system, where all communities would vote together.
• The Poona Pact also stipulated that in constituencies reserved for Dalits, only Dalit candidates could contest. However, in other general constituencies, Dalit voters could choose to vote for candidates of their choice from any community.

AMBEDKAR’S PERSPECTIVE ON GANDHI AFTER POONA PACT

• Shortly after the signing of the Poona Pact, Ambedkar visited Gandhi on October 17, 1932, and urged him to end his civil disobedience and join the Round Table Conference.
• After signing the Poona Pact, Ambedkar felt that the Poona Pact did not go far enough in addressing the social and economic injustices faced by the Dalits and was a compromise.
• However, the Poona Pact marked a crucial turning point in Indian politics by rejecting separate electorates and introducing the concept of reserved seats, ensuring political representation for marginalized communities, particularly Dalits.
• This agreement laid the foundation for the development of India’s reservation system, which has since been expanded to include various communities to promote social justice and equality.
• The principles of the Poona Pact were later enshrined in the Government of India Act, 1935, and the Indian Constitution, which was adopted in 1950.

THE CONCLUSION

Despite their contrasting views on the caste system, both Gandhi and Ambedkar valued each other. Both leaders were united in their commitment to social justice and equality, and this left an indelible mark on Indian society and its electoral process.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during the Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement. (2021)
2. Highlight the differences in the approach of Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for freedom. (2016)

MAINS PRACTICES QUESTIONS

1. Gandhi and Ambedkar despite their differences developed an understanding to work for the betterment of the Depressed Classes. Discuss.
2. How has Poona Pact shaped the electoral politics of the nation and laid foundation for the development of India’s social justice policies?

SOURCE: https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/ambedkar-gandhi-caste-system-poona-pact-1932-reservation-2445208-2023-10-06

REFERENCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS 2: DIGITAL INDIA, INTERNET SHUTDOWNS, GS 3: INTERNAL SECURITY

THE CONTEXT

The internet shutdown in Manipur was reimposed on September 26, 2023.  The internet had been back in place for barely three days after the 143-day-long shutdown that began on May 3, 2023 before it was shut down again as the conflict intensified.

MORE ON THE NEWS

• There is a cycle of internet shutdowns happening in the state of Manipur as it is trapped in ethnic conflict, marked by frequent loss of life and property. It underpins a lack of confidence in the state as a recurring theme for protests in Imphal, regardless of internet access.
• Violence and brutality from Manipur reflect a deep-seated social discord and a breakdown in public trust. The term “cycle of violence,” is aptly used here. It was coined by Lenore Walker to describe situations of domestic abuse, and is no longer used in this context.
• However, it captures the toxic relationship that can develop between the state and its citizens. Those in power persist in depriving citizens of digital access to essential aspects of life, all to evade accountability. Cycles do not stop by themselves. To end, they require political leadership, not the continued use of “limited internet shutdowns” in Manipur.

WHAT IS INTERNET SHUTDOWN?

• Internet shutdowns are an absolute restriction placed on the use of internet services due to an order issued by a government body.
• It may be limited to a specific place and to specific period, time or number of days. Sometimes it can even extend indefinitely.
• An internet shutdown may be limited to mobile internet that you use on smartphones, or the wired broadband that usually connects a desktop – or both at the same time.

INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN INDIA

• Data compiled by global digital rights group Access Now and the #KeepItOn coalition reveals that India implemented at least 84 shutdowns in 2022, the highest number of shutdowns in the by any country in 2022.
• Since 2016, India has accounted for approximately 58% of all shutdowns documented in the Shutdown Tracker Optimization Project (STOP database).

REGULATION RELATED TO INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN INDIA

• Till the year 2017, shutdowns were imposed largely under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• However, in 2017 the law was amended and the Government promulgated the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017 under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
• The 2017 Rules provide for temporary shutdown of telecom services in a region on grounds of public emergency and give senior bureaucrats from the Home Ministry at the central and state levels the power to order shutdowns.
• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 grants the central government the power to disconnect or intercept communication services in the interest of case including:  Public safety, sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order.
• Section 69 of the IT Act allows the government to issue content-blocking orders to online intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecom service providers, web hosting services, search engines, online marketplaces, etc. However, the Section requires the information or content being blocked to be deemed a threat to India’s national security, sovereignty, or public order.

ISSUES RELATED TO INTERNET SHUTDOWNS

• Economic impact: Internet shutdown has vast economic implication due to disruptions in communication as businesses and startups mostly rely on internet to operate.
• Suppress dissent: Internet shutdowns are tend to often used by governments to suppress dissent and limit political opposition.
• Affects day to day life: Shutdowns tend to disturb day-to-day life as online transactions, delivery and essential services came to a standstill. Students preparing for their boards, patients unable to reach their doctors and candidates struggling to commute to their job interviews were.
• Affects international reputation: India is seen as democratic nation and frequent internet shutdowns have a negative impact on India’s international reputation as a democratic nation.
• Not effective steps by regulators: As, the Department of Telecom refuses to maintain a centralised database and has proposed a Telecom Bill that retains unchecked power to implement internet shutdowns. Also, a recently concluded Telecom Regulatory Authority of India consultation ignored internet shutdown issue. Thus, institutions which serve as checks on a state government are either offering tacit support or adopting wilful ignorance towards internet shutdowns.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Need of political leadership: The Cycles of shutdowns do not stop by themselves. To end, they require political leadership, not the continued use of ‘limited internet shutdowns’ for long term solutions.
• Reforming the Legal Framework: Existing legal framework seems to be inadequate in limiting the internet shutdowns, government should repeal or amend the outdated laws.The state also needs to follow the Anuradha Bhasin judgement of the SC in letter and spirit.
• Alternative solution: There can be alternative solution by engaging civil society for peace and communication. Also, instead of complete shutdown, there can be blocking of specific content or websites.
• Action by private players: There is need of cautionary approach by private players. OTT platforms must exercise due caution and discretion when featuring the activities, beliefs, practices, or views of any racial or religious group. For example, Major telecom players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone are advocating for service-level blocks by internet companies, a move that could not only increase compliance burdens but also risk government-dictated “essential” internet services.

THE CONCLUSION

A proportionality and necessity test analysis to determine the proper course of action are essential at this juncture. For better internet governance and government and the Indian civil society needs to push for a transparent and accountable system.

 PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Has digital literacy, particularly in rural areas, coupled with lack of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility hindered socio-economic development? Examine with justification. (2021).
2. Discuss different types of cybercrimes and measures required to be taken to fight the menace. (2020).

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. India has accounted for one of the highest internet shutdowns in recent years. In this respect, discuss the laws for internet shutdown regulation and issues arising out of frequent shutdown in India.
2. Is internet shutdown provides an effective solution for maintaining public order or it is used as a tool to evade accountability? Discuss.

 SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/apar-gupta-writes-in-manipur-another-internet-shutdown-a-conflict-intensified-8970390/

REFERENCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS1: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT; GS 2: ELECTORAL RRFORMS.

THE CONTEXT

The landmark Women’s Reservation Bill now the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act that reserves one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women received presidential assent recently.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL

• Reservation for women: The Bill reserves, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  This will also apply to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and states legislatures.
• Commencement of reservation: The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the commencement of this Bill has been published.   Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.  The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years.  However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament.
• Rotation of seats:Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament.
• Ratification of bill: The Bill needs ratification from a minimum of 50 per cent of the states. The constitutional reasoning for requiring ratification by states is the potential impact of the Bill on the rights of states.

SIGNIFICANCE 

• Increase political representation of women: According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 148th out of 193 countries in terms of women’s representation while the global average is 26.5 per cent. Similarly, women’s representation in state assemblies is also dismal, ranging from 3.1 per cent in Nagaland to 23.1 per cent in Bihar. The Bill aims to increase the number of women MPs to 181 from the current 82 and women MLAs to more than 2,000 from the current 740.
• Gender equality: The Bill aims to empower women and promote gender equality in society. The Bill hopes to create a conducive environment for women to voice their concerns and demand their rights. It also hopes to inspire more women to enter public life, take on leadership roles and challenge the patriarchal norms and stereotypes that limit their potential.
• Enhance governance: The Bill will improve the quality and effectiveness of governance and policymaking in India. Studies have shown that women legislators tend to be more responsive, accountable, honest, and collaborative than their male counterparts. They also tend to focus more on issues related to health, education, welfare, environment, and social justice, which are crucial for human development.

WOMEN’S RESERVATION IN PANCHAYATS

• The Bill marked a new chapter in India’s democratic journey and it comes on the 30th anniversary of the constitutional reforms that reserved one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities for women.
• The Parliament enacted the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments that sought to make panchayats and municipalities “institutions of self-government”.
• It mandated a minimum of one-third of seats and office of chairpersons in panchayats and municipalities to be reserved for women.
• It also mandated reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Schedules Tribes (STs) based on their percentage population and enabled States to reserve seats for Backward Classes.
• This has created a system with over 3 million elected panchayat representatives, out of which almost half are women.
• While the Union government’s 2009 constitutional amendment to increase women’s reservation in local governments from 33% to 50% failed, many States have enacted laws that reserve 50% seats for women.
• Hence, presently in panchayats and municipalities, there is, at one level, vertical reservation of seats for SCs, STs, and OBCs and a horizontal category of reservation for women that applies across all categories general, SC, ST, and OBC.
• However, unlike the case of the 73rd and 74th amendments, the present law does not enable reservation for OBC women.

IMPACT OF WOMEN’S RESERVATION IN PANCHAYATS

• Strengthening democracy: With 30 years of women’s reservation in local government, it has ensured to strengthen democracy at grass root level which can be lesson for upper democracy. It led to expansion and diversification of the representative base of Indian democracy which is the most successful element of these constitutional reforms.
• Holistic address of disadvantaged section: Because of Such a mix of vertical and horizontal reservations the issue of disadvantaged section of people are recognized due to their location in the intersection of their caste and gender identities. The present women’s reservation law, adopts a similar model of intersectional reservation for women.
• Efficiency of Women leaders: Women leaders tends to be more efficient and women’s reservation in local governments yielded substantive benefits.

Differing impacts:

• More efficient: A 2004 paper by Esther Duflo and Raghabendra Chattopadhyay on panchayats in West Bengal and Rajasthan found that women leaders invest more in public goods and ensure increased women’s participation in panchayat meetings. A more expansive study in 2011 across 11 States by Ms. Duflo and others reaffirmed the finding that women-led panchayats made higher investments in public services like drinking water, education, and roads.
• Worse impact: However, a 2010 paper by Pranab Bardhan and others found that women’s reservations worsened the targeting of welfare programmes for SC/ST households and provided no improvement for female-headed households. Also, A 2020 paper by Alexander Lee and Varun Karekurve-Ramachandra examining reservations in Delhi found that constituencies reserved for women are less likely to elect OBC women and more likely to elect upper-caste women.
• Not much difference: Meanwhile, a 2008 paper by Vijayendra Rao and Radu Ban found that women leaders perform no differently than their male counterparts in south India and instead institutional factors such as the maturity of the State’s panchayat system were more relevant.

Evidently, the impact of women’s reservation is not straightforward. Since the role that women play in local governments is different from their role in Parliament, the impact of reservation may play out differently, it needs more effective studies to analyse the impacts at parliament level.

CONCERNS

• Can create division among women: The Bill will create divisions among women based on caste, religion, region, and class. Some parties have demanded that within the 33 per cent reservation for women, there should be a sub-quota for women from backward classes and minorities. Without such a provision, the Bill will benefit only upper-caste and urban women at the expense of lower-caste and rural women.
• Restrict choice of voters: Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts have suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.
• Issue in rotation provision of the bill: By reserving seats for women by rotation, the Bill may create instability and uncertainty in the electoral process. Rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.
• Issue regarding merit of legislators: Another point of criticism is that it may reduce the merit and competence of legislators. By reserving seats for women based on gender alone, the Bill may compromise the quality and efficiency of governance.
• Can repeat trend of local bodies: One of the major concern is repetition of trend of local bodies where in name of women candidate, male members (Sarpanch Patis) tends to enjoy the political privileges overshadowing women’s political rights.
• Not proper discussion and consultation: There is no such proper stakeholder consultation. However, something as vital as a constitutional amendment for women’s reservation should have been introduced after widespread discussion and analysis of its experience, instead of being introduced through a “supplementary list” in a hastily organised Parliament session.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Immediate implementation: The reservation is proposed to be implemented after a new Census is published and the delimitation exercise is completed which may take time longer than expected. In this case there is need to have immediate implementation for its effective result.
• More inclusivity: There should be sub quota for reservation of OBC as well to have inclusive political representation of women from marginalized strata of society.
• Extend reservation to Rajya Sabha: The report examining the 1996 women’s reservation Bill recommended reservation be extended to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Councils as well to have an overall holistic growth.
• Reforms in the Electoral Process: Reforms such as introducing proportional representation and preferential voting systems can help to increase women’s representation in politics.

THE CONCLUSION

Overall, the reservation to women is a significant step forward for engendering political system.  There is need to ensure commitment of each political party towards empowerment of women within the political sphere by giving more tickets to them in the interregnum .

 PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Is the National Commission for Women able to strategize and tackle the problems that women face at both public and private spheres? Give reasons in support of your answer. (2017)
2. Assess the importance of the Panchayat system in India as a part of local government. Apart from government grants, what sources the Panchayats can look out for financing developmental projects? (2018)
3. The reservation of seats for women in the institution of local self-government has had a limited impact on the patriarchal character of the Indian political process”. Comment. (2019)

 MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. The Women Reservation Bill, 2023 is a new step in electoral reforms. Examine the concerns regarding its feasibility, desirability, and implications.
2. How far the Women Reservation Bill, 2023 can address the under representation of women in the Indian Political System?

 SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/womens-quota-panchayats-to-parliament/article67381623.ece

THE CONTEXT: 5G, the next-generation network service was launched in India by the Prime Minister at the sixth edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC) held on 1 October 2022 in New Delhi. With the launch of 5G services, India joins the list of around 70 countries with the next generation of the telecom standards.

ABOUT 5G TECHNOLOGY FOR MOBILE DEVICES.

BASICS: 5G cellular networks are up to 100 times faster than 4G. Faster connectivity speeds, ultra-low latency (time taken between performing an action and getting a response) and greater bandwidth are helping in advancing societies, transforming industries and enhancing day-to-day experiences.

5G EVOLUTION:

1. The 1G era was defined by briefcase-sized phones and short conversations between a relatively small number of professional people.
2. During 2G era, the demand for mobile services grew and never slowed down.
3. Phones that could fit in your pocket, SMS and mobile internet access were hallmarks of the 3G world.
4. 4G is the era of smartphones, app stores and YouTube.
5. 5G will completely reshape both our professional and personal lives by enabling new use cases like connected vehicles, Augmented Reality and enhanced video and gaming.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 4G AND 5G MOBILE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY

4G TECHNOLOGY

• Uses lower reading frequencies of 700 MHz to 2500 MHz.
• Low speed with less data transfer.
• Latency: the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction.
• Higher latency as compared to 5G that is about 20-30 milliseconds.
• Supports a lesser number of devices (about 4,000 devices per square kilometre).
• Has led to more congestion and lesser coverage.

5G TECHNOLOGY

• Uses much higher radio frequencies of 28 GHz.
• Faster speeds with more data transfer.
• Has lower latency which is predicted to be below 10 milliseconds, and in best cases around 1 millisecond.
• Uses a millimetre-wave spectrum which enables more devices to be used within the same geographic area supporting around one million per square kilometre.
• It uses a new digital technology that improves coverage, speed, and capacity.

5G NETWORK ARCHITECTURE: A mobile network has two main components, the ‘Radio Access Network’ and the ‘Core Network’.

The Radio Access Network:

• It consists of various types of facilities, including small cells, towers, masts and dedicated in-building and home systems that connect mobile users and wireless devices to the main core network.
• Small cells will be a major feature of 5G networks, particularly at the new millimetre wave (mmWave) frequencies where the connection range is very short. To provide a continuous connection, small cells will be distributed in clusters depending on where users require connection which will complement the macro network that provides wide-area coverage.
• 5G Macro Cells will use MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antennas that have multiple elements or connections to send and receive more data simultaneously. The benefit to users is that more people can simultaneously connect to the network and maintain high throughput.

The Core Network: It is the mobile exchange and data network that manages all of the mobile voice, data and internet connections. For 5G, the ‘core network’ is being redesigned to better integrate with the internet and cloud based services and also includes distributed servers across the network improving response times (reducing latency). Many of the advanced features of 5G including network function virtualization and network slicing for different applications and services, will be managed in the core. The pictorial representation given below shows local cloud servers providing faster content to users and low latency applications for vehicle collision avoidance systems.

Example of a local server in a 5G network providing faster connection and lower response times

• Network Slicing: enables a smart way to segment the network for a particular industry, business or application. For example emergency services could operate on a network slice independently from other users.
• Network Function Virtualization (NVF): It is the ability to instantiate network functions in real-time at any desired location within the operator’s cloud platform. NVF is crucial to enable the speed, efficiency and agility to support new business applications and is an important technology for a 5G ready core.

Different Bands of 5G

5G primarily operates across three bands: low, mid, and high-frequency spectrums, each with its benefits and drawbacks.

• Low Band Spectrum: The maximum speed of Internet and data exchange is limited to 100 Mbps in terms of coverage and speed (Megabits per second). This means that telecom companies can use and install it for commercial cellphone users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed Internet. However, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for the industry’s specialised needs.
• Mid-Band Spectrum: It has faster speeds than the low-band spectrum, but it has restrictions regarding coverage area and signal penetration. Industries and specialised production units could utilise this band to create captive networks that can be tailored to their specific demands.
• High Band Spectrum: The fastest speed of all three bands, but its coverage and signal penetration intensity are severely limited. This band significantly improves future 5G technology applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and innovative technologies, although it has significant infrastructure requirements.

5G AROUND THE WORLD: Since being launched in 2019, 5G is introduced in around 70 countries as of June 2022. China and the United States are the countries with the most 5G cities. But on a regional basis, the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region has surpassed the Asia Pacific region (including China) in terms of deployed 5G networks. The graph given below depicts the countries with the most number of cities with 5G technologies in the world.

ADVANTAGES OF 5G TECHNOLOGY:

• With very high speed, 5G allows access to high-bandwidth multi-media such as HD videos, movies and games, which can be downloaded in seconds.
• It enables high-speed data services that have industrial applications and also supports critical applications like financial transactions and healthcare.
• It will help incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our daily lives. It will enable cloud systems to seamlessly stream software updates, music, and navigation data to driverless cars. It will also facilitate vehicle-vehicle communications to keep a safe distance from each other leading to fewer car accidents and less traffic congestion.
• Broadband Internet of Things (IoT) takes things up a level.This will allow for: The use of drones for everyday activities such as the delivery of retail goods or medical supplies; Tracking of traffic patterns in relation to an organisation’s delivery schedules; Smarter electricity grids for greatly reduced carbon emissions.

CHALLENGES FOR THE ADOPTION OF 5G TECHNOLOGY FOR INDIA

DIGITAL DIVIDE

• 5G will not necessarily bridge the digital divide among the rural and urban areas in the short term, rather increase it as the business case of 5G, even in urban areas does not have maximum accessibility. Therefore, it will not be easily available in rural areas too.

SECTOR-SPECIFIC

• The rollout of 5G technology will be different from the one seen in 4G; it will be introduced in specific sectors and areas in the initial phases and will be a niche service unlike 3G and 4G, which were pervasive services. 5G will get intensified over a comparatively longer period of time.

INROADS OF 4G

• The consumers are still grappling with basic network issues like call drops and interrupted data services. We still have areas where 4G networks have not stabilised causing frequent disruptions in internet services. It is important to meet the quality of service parameters of existing 4G networks before embarking on a new 5G platform.

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

• 5G will require a fundamental change to the core architecture of the communication system. The major flaw of data transfer using 5G is that it can’t carry data over longer distances. Hence, even 5G technology needs to be augmented to enable infrastructure.

GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES

• The likelihood of government subsidies is low as is evident from the history of high reserve prices set by the governments for spectrum auctions amid ongoing fiscal deficits.

FINANCIAL LIABILITY

• For the transition from 4G to 5G technology, one has to upgrade to the latest cellular technology, thereby creating financial liability on consumers as well as service providers.

CAPITAL INADEQUACY

• Lack of adequate capital with suitable telecom companies (like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea) is delaying the 5G spectrum allocation.

THREATS FROM THE 5G TECHNOLOGY

DATA HACKING

• The increased risk of hacking of data is one of the immediate concerns of 5G. Hackers can use mobile and external IP networks for spying and stealing data.
• The use of common Internet protocols such as HTTP and TLS in 5G also lowers the entry barrier for hackers. This could be a potential means for cyberattacks.
• The risk also increases as more and more poorly secured IoT devices are used.

NATIONAL SECURITY

• From a national security perspective, potential targets in 5G networks include critical information infrastructure (CIIs) and mission-critical and nationally important networks.
• The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – commonly known as drones – is a sure-shot consequence of the 5G rollout. The threat of automotive cyber-attacks through 5G networks will also rise.

INTERFERENCE WITH AIR TRAFFIC

• 5G also interferes with airplanes’ radio altimeters, which give readings of the height above the ground during a flight’s approach. This is critical during poor visibility and for aircraft flying at low altitudes.

THE WAY FORWARD:

1. Domestic production and internal security:
   • Domestic procurement shall be made mandatory for all 5G equipment. The inclusion of 5G in the PLI scheme will also enable domestic procurement.
   • India needs to adopt the requisite standard for 5G services to address security concerns. The Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE), under which Indian OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) get certified by the government, should be extended to 5G equipment as well.
   • To encourage that the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat is followed when it comes to the 5G rollout, there is a need to work closely with startups/MSMEs, academia, telecom service providers and the industry in the setting up of R&D Centres.
2. Bridging the Rural-urban Gap: The low band spectrum range is much longer, which is helpful in the long distance communications and for rural and far-off places. 5G shall be deployed at different band spectrums which will benefit the rural areas and enhance the wide coverage in lesser time.
3. Band Spectrums: The government has complete control over the 5G band spectrum. By managing the design of the spectrums, the government can control the price to be paid by the people. The government can also support the telecom companies to roll out networks that are sustainable and affordable for the public.
4. As the deployment of the 5G network is expensive, both the Central and State governments may need to consider measures that aid fibre investment, attract investment through public-private partnerships (PPPs), and facilitate investment funds on a nominal interest basis. The government shall also consider allowing 100% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector along with other policy reforms which will attract investment into the sector.
5. Level playing field: The imminent 5G networks demand massive investment and upgradation of sophisticated operations. A level playing field for the relevant operators and honest incentives shall be provided to operators to embrace new technology.

THE CONCLUSION: 5G Technology has ushered in a new era in the technology sector around the world. As far as the nationwide deployment of the technology is concerned, India still has a long way to go. Bringing down the spectrum prices and bridging the rural-urban gap by increasing the accessibility of networks to hinterlands are a few key areas which the government shall focus upon from making the technology a niche.

Mains Practice Questions:

• Discuss the advantages and challenges of 5G technology for India.
• With the advent of the 5G technologies, the data is at risk. What measures the government should adopt for the protection of critical data?

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the ruling party suspended its national spokesperson and expelled its Delhi spokesperson, following comments they had made about Islam and the Prophet. The move came after three countries in the Gulf region had summoned the Indian ambassadors to their nations to register their protest and demanded a public apology from India.It underlines the significance of the Gulf region for India. This article explains in detail the relations between India and the Gulf countries.

WHAT IS THE PERSIAN GULF REGION?

• The lands around the Persian Gulf are shared by eight countries- Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
• These countries are major producers of crude oil and natural gas and thereby contribute critically to the global economy and to their own prosperity.
• The area has approximately two-thirds of the world’s estimated proven oil reserves and one-third of the world’s estimated proven natural gas reserves.
• This factor has added to their geopolitical significance.
• A considerable amount of sea trade passes through the Gulf, leading to heavy traffic in the region.

WHY IS THE GULF REGION IMPORTANT FOR INDIA?

India has enjoyed centuries of good relations with countries like Iran, while smaller gas-rich nation Qatar is one of India’s closest allies in the region. India shares good relations with most of the countries in the Gulf. The two most important reasons for the relationship are oil and gas and trade. Two additional reasons are the huge number of Indians who work in the Gulf countries and the remittance they send back home.

FOUR PILLARS OF INDIA-GULF RELATIONS

TRADE RELATIONS

UAE: The UAE was India’s third-largest trading partner in 2021-2022 and second largest for both exports ($28 billion) and imports ($45 billion) when these are counted individually.

• In terms of total trade volume, the UAE ($72.9 billion) was behind the United States ($1.19 trillion) and China ($1.15 trillion).
• The UAE accounted for 6.6% of India’s total exports and 7.3% of imports in the last financial year, up 68.4% since the previous year when international trade was impacted by the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia: At a total volume of $42.9 billion in 2021-22, Saudi Arabia was India’s fourth-largest trading partner.

• While exports were low at $8.76 billion (2.07% of India’s total exports), imports from Saudi Arabia were the fourth largest at $34.1 billion (7%), up 50% from the previous year. Most of it was crude oil.

Iraq: It was India’s fifth-largest trading partner in 2021-22 at $34.3 billion.

Qatar: The total trade was $15 billion, accounting for just 1.4% of India’s total trade, but the country is India’s most important supplier of natural gas.

• Qatar accounts for 41% of India’s total natural gas imports. The UAE accounts for another 11%.

Oman: For Oman, India was the 3rd largest (after UAE and China) source for its imports and 3rd largest market (after UAE and Saudi Arabia) for its non-oil exports in 2019.

• Major Indian financial institutions have a presence in Oman. Indian companies have invested in Oman in sectors like iron and steel, cement, fertilisers, textile etc.

OIL IMPORTS

• The 239 million tonnes of oil petroleum imports were worth USD 77 billion and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the country’s total imports in 2021.
• The share of Persian Gulf countries in India’s crude imports has remained at around 60% over the last 15 years.
• In 2021-2022, the largest exporter of oil to India was Iraq, whose share has gone up from 9% in 2009-2010 to 22%.
• Saudi Arabia has accounted for 17-18% of India’s oil imports for over a decade.
• Kuwait and UAE remain major oil exporters to India. Iran used to be the second-largest oil exporter to India in 2009-2010; its share went down to less than 1% in 2020-21 due to US sanctions.

INDIAN DIASPORA

• Counting only the 13.4 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Gulf has the largest numbers. The UAE (3.42 million), Saudi Arabia (2.6 million) and Kuwait (1.03 million) together account for over half of all NRIs.

REMITTANCES

• According to Ministry of External Affairs data, more than 13.46 million Indian citizens work abroad.
• Counting only the 13.4 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), the Gulf has the largest numbers. The UAE (3.42 million), Saudi Arabia (2.6 million) and Kuwait (1.03 million) together account for over half of all NRIs.
• In terms of remittances from abroad, India was the largest recipient in 2020 at $83.15 billion, according to World Bank data. This was near twice the remittances to the next highest recipient, Mexico, at $42.9 billion.
• The largest contributor is the huge Indian diaspora in the Gulf. In a bulletin in November 2018, it’s last on this subject, the Reserve Bank of India said the GCC countries accounted for more than 50% of the total $69 billion in remittances received by India in 2016-17.
• The UAE accounted for 26.9%, Saudi Arabia for 11.6%, Qatar for 6.4%, Kuwait for 5.5% and Oman for 3%. Beyond the GCC, remittances from the US accounted for 22.9%, second only to the UAE.

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF INDIA-GULF TRADE RELATIONS

EFFORTS BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT

SPECIAL FOCUS

• Since coming to power in 2014, the present Government has kept a special focus on maintaining or enhancing India’s relations with most of the countries in the region.

VISITS TO THE REGION

• The Indian Prime Minister (PM) has visited the region several times since 2014.
• He visited the UAE in 2015, 2018 and 2019, and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince came to India in 2017 and 2018.
• Visits were made to Qatar and Iran in 2016 and Saudi Arabia in 2016 and 2019.
• In 2018, he went to Jordan, Palestine and Oman, besides UAE, and became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the Palestinian territory of Ramallah.
• He visited Bahrain in 2019.
• There have been similar reciprocal visits by leaders from these countries during these eight years.
• Even during the pandemic, Indian and Gulf region leaders maintained regular contact.

HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOUR

• Palestine, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan have excellent relations with India and Maldives, and Bahrain have bestowed their highest civilian honour on India’s Prime Minister.

GIVING IMPORTANCE TO THEIR RELIGION

• On his visits, PM visited some of the most popular mosques in those countries, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in 2015 and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat in 2018.

INDIA’S PRIORITIES IN THE GULF

• Securing long-term energy supply is of primary importance for India in the region.
• India is currently the fourth largest energy-consuming country in the world, and it may go up to the third position in the next couple of decades.
• India’s annual GDP growth at the rate of eight per cent would require further industrial growth, which would demand more energy supply for the country.
• The growing energy necessity has undoubtedly dictated India’s initiative of building up a ‘strategic energy partnership’ with the region to secure long-term energy supply for the country.
• The Gulf countries look at India as a fast-growing economy which holds the potential to compete with the major world economies.
• Realising the trade potential of the Gulf countries, India has entered into a negotiation with the GCC to finalise a Free Trade Agreement.
• The Gulf countries have huge potential for investing in different sectors in India as FDI for mutual benefit.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• There is a need to focus on the new and long-term possibilities for economic cooperation with the Gulf countries, which are looking at a future beyond oil.
• The Gulf states have embarked on massive economic diversification and are investing in a variety of new projects, including renewable energy, higher education, technological innovation, smart cities, and space commerce.
• With the rise of Khaleeji capitalism, the Gulf countries today deliver economic and security assistance to friendly states, build ports and infrastructure, acquire military bases and broker peace between warring parties and states.
• The UAE currently chairs the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and has been eager to work with India in developing joint infrastructure projects.
• India needs to bring scale and depth to its regional initiatives on connectivity and security in the Indian Ocean.
• Avoiding any such conflicts, there must be a clear synergy between India and the GCC countries, consolidating their traditional areas of cooperation — energy, trade and investment.
• They need to adopt an integrated and cohesive approach to develop ties in diverse areas — renewables, water conservation, food security, digital technology and skills development.

THE CONCLUSION: The Government and the diplomatic establishment can never underestimate the power of hurt sentiment, religious sensitivities in foreign policy, or the speed of social media. Many have questioned whether the reaction would have been as tough if the Government had taken the controversy and protests more seriously domestically and engaged with the problem much earlier. It was a lesson the US learned in 2012 after protests over a movie on Prophet Muhammad turned violent and led to the terrorist attack on the US embassy in Benghazi in which the US Ambassador was killed. The attacks on Charlie Hebdo and cartoonists in Europe in 2007 were another case in point- clearly, the sensitivities over a religious matter are important- as is protecting freedom of speech and ensuring no violence or harm comes to anyone.

THE CONTEXT: The Russian-Ukraine war has disrupted the prevailing global order. The war is threatening to divide the world into two blocs reminiscent of the cold war. However, India committed to its principled position of non-alignment, with its huge demography and economy can be the fulcrum of shaping the post-war world order. This article examines the challenges the country faces and the strengths it carries to be the pivot of this new world order.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTING WORLD ORDER

THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

• Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a model of free societies, frictionless borders, and an open economy has emerged as the standard in many countries, which has become a governing order.

FREE TRADE AND PROSPERITY

• People, products, services, and capital were able to move more freely around the world as a result of this. During this time, global trade and per capita GDP nearly doubled, signalling a period of universal peace and prosperity.

INTEGRATION AND PEACE

• With the goal of shared global prosperity, the world’s societies and economics have become increasingly interconnected. The conventional belief was that such close interdependence among nations would lead to fewer conflicts and promote peace.

IDEA OF GLOBAL VILLAGE

• ‘Global Village’ of around 8 billion inhabitants of the world was established on top of modern transportation networks, with the US dollar serving as the reserve currency and integrated payment systems around it.

HOW IS THE GLOBAL ORDER CHANGING?

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is a global geo-economic conflict that threatens to go back to the Cold War era of two dominant power blocs. The Russo-Sino bloc is the producer powerhouse while the Western bloc is large consumer and hence the conflict between them harm both the blocs significantly. If interconnection and trade between states are mutually beneficial, then its disruption and blockade will be mutually destructive. Economic sanctions enacted in retaliation for Russian actions have harmed all nations, albeit some have suffered more than others. Egyptians are facing food shortages as a result of their reliance on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, German’s face high winter heating costs as a result of their reliance on Russian gas, Americans face a shortage of electric cars due to the unavailability of car batteries reliant on Russian nickel, Sri Lankans have taken to the streets as a result of economic woes, and Indian farmers face high fertilizer prices triggered by a global shortage.

CAN INDIA BE THE EPICENTRE OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER?

THE CHALLENGES

• A forced and hurried dismantling of the international dollar-based currency order and replacing it with bilateral local currency arrangements is problematic.
• Buying discounted oil or commodities if it entails a departure from the established order of dollar-based trade settlement or jeopardizes established trading relationships with western bloc markets, it can have longer-term implications for India’s export potential.
• India needs not just cordial relationships with nations on either side of the new divide but also a stable and established global economic environment.
• Social harmony is the edifice of economic prosperity. Fanning mutual distrust, hate and anger among citizens, causing social disharmony is a huge challenge to India.
• The communal divide that the country is facing today will affect the growth prospect of the country.

THE OPPORTUNITIES

• India has benefited enormously from being an active participant in this interconnected world, with a tripling of trade (as a share of GDP) in the last three decades and providing vast numbers of jobs.
• Trade with other nations will always be an integral cornerstone of India’s economic future.
• India’s trade is dependent on both these power blocs and on the current global economic structures of free trade, established reserve currency and transaction systems.
• As the western bloc of nations looks to reduce dependence on the Russia-China bloc of nations, it presents newer avenues for India to expand trade.
• India, as the largest peace-loving democracy, stands to gain enormously from the ‘principled trade’ aspiration of the western bloc that values both morals and money.
• It presents a tremendous opportunity for India to become a large producing nation for the world and a global economic powerhouse.
• By dint of its sheer size and scale, India can be both a large producer and a consumer.

HOW INDIA RESPONDED TO THE CRISIS?

EMPHASIZED DIALOGUE AND DIPLOMACY

• Right from the beginning, India called for dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the dispute. On many occasions, the country has asked for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities.

PROTECTED NATIONAL INTEREST

• Russia is a very important partner in a variety of areas for India; similarly, fertilizer prices have a direct implication on the livelihood of a majority of our population and food prices.
• Even the security of the nation is at stake as India maintains its defence posture in the manner that the current security challenges warrant.
• All these are legitimate pursuits of national interest by India.

DESISTED FROM TAKING SIDES

(i) While India was at the forefront of addressing the fallout of the war, it has been careful not to take sides despite the push by the West owing to its peculiar circumstances. This has been manifested in India’s abstention in the resolutions in UNGA, UNSC, UNHRC etc.

PROVIDING HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

(ii) India has sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through Poland and Romania. The consignment comprised medicines, medical equipment, and other relief material.

INFLATION, LOW GROWTH AND EXPORT POTENTIAL

New Delhi is already bearing the brunt of high global crude oil prices (about $110-120 a barrel as against $70 at the beginning of November) as well as rising mineral, metal and edible oil prices, indicating a possible scenario of high inflation and low growth — stagflation. Ukraine has created an unlikely opportunity for select Indian Agri-exporters who trade in wheat, maize, millet, and processed food. Since the crisis unfolded last month, the world has been looking to Indian wheat to fill the huge void in stocks caused by the turbulence in Europe’s breadbasket. Ukraine is one of the world’s top wheat exporters, and Russia and Ukraine together have a 25% share in the global wheat market.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• India thus needs not just a nonaligned doctrine for the new world order but also a nondisruptive geo-economic policy that seeks to maintain the current global economic equilibrium.
• India needs to balance domestic compulsions with its international commitments without being pulled into any bloc.
• India needs to address the domestic problems of social divisions and economic boycotts, and issues of freedom to trade.
• India needs to arrest the slide in democracy being felt in multiple areas lest its credentials will be impacted.
• A new paradigm of emerging global order and India’s role in shaping it need a clear articulation of the contours of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

THE CONCLUSION: The reshaping and readjustment of world order will be a unique opportunity for India to reassess foreign policy, economic policy and geopolitical strategy and develop a mantle of global leadership. The strengthening of India’s global economic power through a cautious post-conflict geoeconomics strategy between Russia and Ukraine could represent a decisive turning point in India’s economic history. India could be the cornerstone of this new world order as a peaceful democracy with economic prosperity. But this requires India to first contain the division of the raging community within the country.

THE CONTEXT: India was elected to the UNSC for the eighth time in 2020 and began its two-year term this January. It is the council’s president in August and is, rightly, using the pulpit to focus on areas of vital interest affecting international peace and security.Recently the Prime Minister chaired the high-level debate on ‘Enhancing Maritime Security – A Case for International Cooperation’ by United Nations Security Council. The meeting was meant to discuss ways to effectively counter maritime crime and insecurity and strengthen coordination in the maritime domain.This article discusses about the importance of maritime security for India and challenges related to it.

WHAT IS MARITIME SECURITY?

The latest buzzword in international relations; maritime security doesn’t have a commonly agreed definition. It classifies issues in the maritime domain comprising national security, marine environment, economic development, and human security. Besides world’s oceans, it also deals with regional seas, territorial waters, rivers and ports.

THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OUTLINED BY PM MODI FOR MARITIME SECURITY

1. For free, maritime trade, it is necessary that we fully respect the rights of the seafarers of other countries.
2. Maritime disputes should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law.
3. Countries should jointly tackle maritime threats from non-state actors and natural disasters.
4. The maritime environment and marine resources needed to be conserved, highlighting pollution from plastic waste and oil spills.
5. A structure was required to boost maritime trade, for responsible maritime connectivity, with the development of global norms and standards.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MARITIME SECURITY FOR INDIA

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

• India is a major maritime nation by virtue of its long coast line of around 7517 Kms on the western and eastern shelves of the mainland and also along the islands, bejeweled with 13 major and 176 non- major ports, strategically located on the world’s shipping routes.
• The geo-strategic position of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has risen in economic and political significance in the last two decades that have witnessed a tectonic shift in international power play from the Atlantic Ocean to the Asia-Pacific—more specifically to the IOR.

Thus India has a natural interest in enhancing maritime security.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

• The Indian economy is hugely dependent on energy imports to the extent of 81 percent of the total domestic oil consumption in 2015-16. These imports are transported by sea.
• While offshore oil gas production accounts for 80 percent of all domestic gas production.
• Nearly 95 percent of India’s international trade by volume and over 70 percent by value is carried over the seas.
• India is also the world’s fourth largest producer of fish, most of which comes from the sea.
• The Sagarmala project has provided a renewed thrust to port-led development and infrastructure for quick and efficient transportation of goods to and from ports.
• India has made significant strides towards harnessing deep sea resources with the International Seabed Authority according it pioneer status and an allocation of 75000 sq.km of seabed in the Central Indian Ocean.
• The living and non-living resources in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which measure about two-third of the landmass of the country, are exclusive to India, as also the trade and transport facilities that navigate through this area.

Nurturing this nascent maritime economy will require concerted national efforts whilst ensuring that impediments and potential threats are kept at bay.

CULTURAL IMPORTANCE

• India’s location in the Indian Ocean has placed it at the nerve centre of trade and cultural cross-pollination in this region throughout history.
• Historical evidence exists of Indian linkages with Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mauritius with manifestations of Indian culture clearly seen in their temples and legends.
• Nurturing of these linkages is important for preservation of India’s interests in the region.
• The Ministry of Culture launched Project Mausam in June 2014 to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world.
• Focused efforts to further projects such as this and others like the Kerala government’s ‘Spice Route’ will strengthen India’s maritime interests in the IOR.

FOREIGN POLICY IMPORTANCE

• India has invested in a variety of sectors like infrastructure, industry, energy, and services in a number of countries in the immediate maritime neighbourhood and beyond.
• India has made significant strides towards harnessing deep sea resources with the International Seabed Authority according it pioneer status and an allocation of 75000 sqkm of seabed in the Central Indian Ocean.
• ONGC Videsh Ltd has invested in oil exploration in Vietnam’s EEZ in two blocks allotted by the Vietnamese Government. China has protested against this activity deeming it to be illegal in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

While India still seems to be taking baby steps in this sector of the economy, it is important that this area of national endeavour be suitably encouraged whilst protecting it from being jeopardised by inimical interests.

SECURITY IMPORTANCE

• Securing Sea lanes of Communication: In the Indian Ocean, three major Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCS) play a crucial role in the energy security and economic prosperity.

1. India’s exports and imports have remained mostly across the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, securing Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) have been an important issue for India in 21^st century.
2. Securing the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) that traverse the oceans is of central importance to enhancing maritime security.
3. The Indian Ocean region transports 75% of the world’s maritime trade and 50% of daily global oil consumption.

THE CHALLENGES

Given its distinctive geography and the recent shift of global maritime focus from the Atlantic-Pacific combine to the Indo-Pacific continuum, the importance of the Indian Ocean Region in India’s national security calculus has greatly increased in the post-Cold War/post 9-11 era.

STRATEGIC CHALLENGES

• India’s main strategic challenge comes from its prosperous northern neighbour; China. The all-weather Sino-Pakistan alliance, with its strong anti-Indian slant, further complicates our security problems.
• The rapid growth of both economies has led to increasing reliance on energy and raw materials and transported by sea. This has focused sharp attention on the criticality, for both economies, of uninterrupted use of the sea- lanes for trade and energy transportation.
• Indian strategists are, naturally, paying attention to developments practically in all waters due to the country’s growing international profile. Their growing concern is regarding tensions rising in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Mediterranean.

SECURITY CHALLENGES

• India has a coastline of 7,517 kms, out of this 5,422 kms are with mainland. This vast coastline presents numerous security challenges like piracy, illegal landing of arms and explosives, infiltration, use of sea and off shore islands for criminal activities, drug and human trafficking and smuggling.
• Absence of physical barriers on the coast and presence of vital industries like port and important defence installations like RADARs and nuclear reactors enhances the risk and the need to protect its maritime region.

TRAFFICKING

• The Indian Ocean Region is regrettably home to the world’s most notorious areas of drug production, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle.
• The trans-national networks established by the drug smugglers also serve as conduits for other destabilising activities like gunrunning and human trafficking.

MARITIME TERRORISM

• India’s huge coastline, a thriving maritime commercial community along its coast with nearly 200,000 fishing boats and a fishermen population of 4 million make the job of monitoring maritime activity an unenviable task.
• The ability of adversarial interests to exploit this vast maritime activity for launching attacks on land is therefore quite high, as was witnessed in the 26/11 terrorist acts.

UNSTABLE LITTORAL

• The Indian Ocean remains largely peaceful but has an unstable littoral and a northern periphery comprising countries experiencing conflict/near-conflict situations.
• The one concern is to prevent the tensions in the neighbouring waters from spilling into the Indian Ocean.

NON-TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES

• The growth of modern technology and socio-economic developments have also generated the so-called ‘non-traditional’ security challenges such as climate change, haphazard urbanisation of coastal regions, natural disasters and pandemics.
• All of them impact on security at sea and in the littoral regions which interact upon each other.

GLOBAL AND REGIONAL COOPERATION’S

• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)- The IONS is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. It has 23 countries as members including India.
• Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM)- HACGAM provides a platform for pan regional cooperation and was a takeoff from the Regional Senior Experts Meetings of Coast Guard Agencies of Asia which were held for combating piracy and armed robbery against ships. Have 17 nations as member including India.
• Indian Ocean Rim Association– Their charter is to promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the member states. Maritime Safety and Security is one of key roles. It has 20 countries as members including India.
• Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS)- They are a series of biennial meetings of the Pacific nations to discuss naval matters held on even numbered years. 25 countries have been participating including India.
• Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP)- CSCAP is a non-governmental (Track II) process for dialogue on security issues in the Asia-Pacific. Membership in CSCAP is on an institutional basis and consists of member countries. Current membership comprises Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States.
• The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)– was concluded in September 4, 2006, by 14 contracting countries for this region in which India was also a member. This also includes the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre for sharing of piracy-related information.

WAY FORWARD 

• A rules-based international order that recognises national sovereignty and territorial integrity, apart from stressing environmental sustainability, is the need of the hour.
• It is also important that the world sees enhanced coordination among countries in responding to high seas crimes including piracy, trafficking, narco-smuggling and other non-traditional maritime security threats, and acts jointly to meet humanitarian commitments at sea.
• The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a general framework that could be built upon for a comprehensive approach to maritime security and guaranteeing of the seas as a global commons for the benefit of all.
• It is important that all countries agree to adhere to international rules governing the maritime domain and put them into effect nationally. Such an order should serve all nations, big or small, and ensure similar rights under international law to all.

CONCLUSION: Given the huge role of sea-borne trade in human wellbeing, ensuring freedom of navigation and safety on the seas is a global imperative. For India, maritime security is also important given its sea-facing geography and civilisational links developed over millennia through seafaring. It is, thus, once again in the fitness of things that India should push towards a comprehensive approach to maritime security.

THE CONTEXT: India has been elected unopposed to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning in January 2021. India was the only candidate for the Asia-Pacific seat and secured 184 of the 192 votes. It will be India’s eighth innings in UNSC. India’s election to the Council was the easy part. Its tenure, however, will be more challenging.

ABOUT THE ELECTIONS OF NON-PERMANENT MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

1. Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term.
2. To be elected to the Council, candidate countries need a two-thirds majority of ballots of 192 Member States in the Assembly.
3. India was an unopposed candidate in the Asia-Pacific group.
4. Ireland, Mexico and Norway were elected along with India.

UNCERTAIN AND CHALLENGING TIMES

• India will be back in the UNSC at a critical time in the history when the world will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and later the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.
• It will be a time marked by profound change, great power competition and possible realignment.
• It is hoped that by then COVID-19 will have subsided, a U.S. President will have been elected, and the contours of a new post-COVID world order may have emerged.
• But it will be also a time to push, generate valuable discussion and prove India’s ‘vishwa-guru’ credentials

HOW INDIA HAS CONTRIBUTED TO UNSC IN HER PAST TENURES?

• India has a record of contributing to some of the seminal resolutions of the UNSC. It has always been to be a part of the democratic majority in the UNSC, contributing to the adoption of broadly acceptable resolutions and decisions.
• India generally joins the resolutions which are adopted either unanimously or without a vote. It mostly votes in favour of the resolutions. In abstentions too, India always had support of other members.
• The Indian behaviour shows systematic effort to display a constructive, rule of law abiding and a democratic majority building state in a global, multilateral setting like the Security Council.
• Voting in the UNSC and the UNGA Indian policy has maintained a high degree of consistency over the years, often despite major transitions on the international stage.
• Indian position has served as a common thread for various collective interests of developing nations. There has been consistent and active engagement by India at the UN, particularly as a leader amongst developing nations.

WHAT INDIA PLANS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNSC?

India is committed to multilateralism, rule of law, and a fair & equitable international system. India takes the temporary membership seriously as it can play an important role in shaping the future debate by promoting responsible & inclusive solutions to international peace & security.
India in the UNSC would focus on five key areas. These include, new opportunities for progress, fighting international terrorism, reforming the UN system, comprehensive approach to international peace and security, and promoting technology with a human touch.

CCIT

• Anti-terrorism fight should take strong steps against states providing havens to terrorists. It should identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against them.
• India proposed a draft document on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN in 1986 but it has not been implemented as there is no unanimity on the definitionof terrorism (freedom fighters)among the member states.
• Post 9/11, India’s position on a global response to terrorism has been acknowledged by the international community. But the proposal for the CCIT has been stuck.
• India will call upon the international community to expeditiously adopt the CCIT without any further delay.

NORM AS THE NEW APPROACH

In this endeavor, India would be guided by the 5S approach– SAMMAN – Respect, SAMVAD – Dialogue, SAHYOG – Cooperation, SHANTI – Peace, SAMRIDDHI – Prosperity. India’s overall objective during the two-year tenure will be a “NEW ORIENTATION for a REFORMED MULTILATERAL SYSTEM,” NORMS.

a) New opportunities for Progress

As a rule-abiding democracy and a positive contributor to the security of the global commons, India will work constructively with partners to bring innovative and inclusive solutions to foster development. India will work for greater involvement of women and youth to shape a new paradigm in the post-COVID19 context.

b) Effective response to global terrorism

Terrorism is an enduring and critical threat to international peace and security. Terrorist groups have linkages across borders, regions and continents in recruitment, financing and operations. Counter-terrorism will be one of the highest priorities for India at the UNSC. India will be pushing for more transparency in the process of listing and delisting of entities. It will pursue concrete and result-oriented action by the Council aimed at:

• addressing the abuse of ICT by terrorists
• disrupting their nexus with sponsors and transnational organised criminal entities
• stemming the flow of terror finance
• strengthening normative and operative frameworks for greater coordination with other multilateral forums

c) Reforming Multilateral Systems

There are widespread concerns at the inadequacy of the existing multilateral institutions to deliver results or meet new challenges. Therefore, there is a need to promote greater cooperation in multilateral institutions. Reformed multilateralism is a must for the post-COVID19 era. A first and vital step in this direction is the reform of the Security Council. It must reflect contemporary realities to be more effective

d) Comprehensive approach to international peace and security

Today’s peace and security challenges require a comprehensive and integrated approach, harmonizing national choices and international priorities. Also, streamlining UN Peacekeeping is an overdue task. There is need to ensure greater clarity, direction and professionalism in UN Peacekeeping operations. Since most peacekeepers are contributed by non-Council members a better partnership between the Security Council and the Troop Contributing Countries is needed. As the largest Troop Contributing Countries, India will seek to engage deeply in finalising of mandates for UN peacekeeping missions. India’s vision in this regard is guided by dialogue and cooperation, mutual respect and commitment to International law.

e) Technology with a Human Touch

Rapidly evolving technology has broader consequences for humankind and it must be intelligently harnessed by the international community. The world needs a shared vision of the direction of technological progress to ensure technology remains a force for good. Innovative uses of technology offer promising opportunities to address humanitarian challenges. India will encourage partnerships to harness the benefits of technological innovation to reduce human suffering, enhance ease of living and build resilient communities.
Some of the biggest issues confronting the UNSC will be the issues of governing the global commons and the high seas. With its global values, and positive contribution, to the security of the global commons, India will work constructively with partners. It will stay true to its founding tradition of nonalignment and not take sides with any big power. India’s presence in the UN Security Council will help bring to the world its ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – the world is one.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF INDIA’S UNSC TENURE FOR ITS SECURITY?

PAKISTAN

Pakistan considers UNSC interventions in J&K as a win for its attempt to make the issue an internationally recognized dispute. Since the abrogation Article 370, Pakistan along with China has tried to raise the matter 3 times in the Security Council. As India sits at the high table, raising Kashmir or a discussion on it at the UNSC may become much more difficult for Pakistan.
New Delhi’s concern with Pakistan is also seen in its articulation in the subject of international and cross-border terrorism. Although the context is normally hidden in general terms, the reference is to Pakistan. India could use its influence the UNSC sanctions regime to ban Pakistan-based militant groups and individual and put in place an effective regime to contain terror financing. Moreover, Pakistan’s nuclear program can also come under greater scrutiny.
But raising issues in the UNSC has little to do with non-permanent membership. Political ties with the P-5 are much more important. Pakistan is not among the non-permanent group now, China will stop all anti-Pakistan move sought to be introduced by India or the US or the UK.

CHINA

Relations between Beijing and New Delhi are likely to be dictated by several contentious issues like the territorial dispute, mutual distrust, trade imbalances etc. India’s election to the Security Council coincided with the most serious clash with China along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh in decades. The clash highlights the military tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, and is likely to accentuate their differences in other arenas in general, and the Security Council in particular.
India’s presence in the UN Security Council will make it a little easier to counter moves by China to target New Delhi on internal issues like abrogation of Article 370 and blocking the designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist for nearly a decade. The most relevant issue to India’s tenure on the Council is Beijing’s sustained efforts to hinder New Delhi’s quest for a greater role in global governance institutions like UNSC and NSG.
China’s illegal actions in Ladakh and incursions into Indian territory on multiple points along the LAC, its aggressive posture in the South China Sea and disregard for international rule of law, the aggression around the Senkaku islands, its tensions with Taiwan, its actions concerning Hong Kong and Xinjiang will all come under spotlight. India can leverage these developments to push for its own deserving and qualified candidates to head UN organizations, and should endeavor to get elected to more Committees, as well as positions within the UN system.

CHINA’S RESISTANCE TO REFORMS

• China, which has veto power, has been obstructing India’s efforts to become permanent member, pointing out lack of consensus even though the other four – US, UK, France and Russia – have backed New Delhi’s membership.
• It has rejected a timeframe for the prolonged Intergovernmental Negotiations in the General Assembly on Council reforms, while also insisting on the consensus principle.
• It has advocated for a “package solution” which includes expansion only in non-permanent memberships.
• After the border standoff, China’s covert and overt opposition to India playing a greater role in global governance is likely to increase.

INCREASING CHINESE FOOTPRINT IN THE UN SYSTEM

China’s footprint is getting wider and deeper in the UN despite its paltry financial contributions. China heads 4 of the UN’s 15 specialised agencies while other P5 members lead one specialized agency each even when they contribute three times the amount of money into the UN budget. The China story is the same across other UN agencies — minimal money for maximum influence.

There are hundreds of Chinese bureaucrats in the UN system that can be used to dispense favours or deny them. China continues to capture both high- and mid-level positions where officials set the norms for the rest of the world. Chinese bureaucrats are not always neutral. They build a China-friendly narrative and promote Chinese companies to further tighten their grip.
Other nations, especially the US, can take strategic steps to contain Chinese influence in the UN. Last year, the US, India, Japan and others fought and succeeded in removing biased Chinese language from various documents.
India is generally seen indifferent to global organizations in general. It has not tried with the same intensity as the Chinese to populate the organization with its diplomats. However recent confrontations with China may make India more attentive to the UN in the future. Countries, including India, must nominate qualified candidates to bring a semblance of balance to the UN system.

STRATEGIC AUTONOMY

Some experts have argued that India will invariably move closer to the West, led by Washington, and will inevitably become part of a like-minded collection of democracies to counter Chinese intentions and capabilities. While calls for India to move closer to the West have increased, there has been little direct evidence of the West’s support to India, either in terms of policy or materials.
New Delhi is, doubtless, keener for closer ties with US-led Western democracies. While some of India’s priorities will, clearly, place it against China, New Delhi is unlikely to unquestioningly support the US and its allies. In some instances it might find itself in line with China and Russia, rather than the West. Because of this, some caution against formal alliances as strategic autonomy has served India’s interest best.
Thus, unless India receives unequivocal support, especially from the US, for a greater role in global governance, including permanent membership of the Council, it is likely to maintain strategic and decisional autonomy, which ensures overwhelming support from the majority of the UN membership for its ascendency.

INDIA’S QUEST FOR PERMANENT SEAT

As a founding member of the United Nations, India’s contribution to implementing the goals of the United Nations Charter and to the evolution of UN specialised agencies and programmes has been substantial. India’s election to the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member is a significant diplomatic victory for the country, which has long been pushing for reforms at global institutions.

UNSC NON-PERMANENT SEAT IS SYMBOLIC

• Being a part of the 10-member non-permanent group is mainly symbolic. The temporary members have little say in important matters.
• Since 1986 (the Iran-Iraq war), the P-5 would meet separately on vital international issues and then inform the non-permanent members about their decisions. Holding meetings with just the five major powers have now become the norm on important issues.
• Non-permanent member nations are allowed to question or ask for clarifications. But they cannot make an impact on the decision already made by the P5. Without UNSC reforms no member except the P5 can make an impact.

UNSC REFORMS: THE NEED

When the UN came into being in 1945, its charter was signed by 50 nations. Today, it has 193 member states. UNSC continues to reflect the power equation

that existed after the end of World War-II. The global scenario has completely changed in the last seven decades with the emergence of new regional powers like India and Brazil. India has long been of the view that the structure of the UN Security Council doesn’t reflect the realities of the 21st century and it is ill-equipped to handle current challenges.
UNSC reform has been considered necessary for decades. Lack of reforms has produced a highly unequal and inefficient Security Council. The current structuring of the UNSC converges most of the power to the P5, while non-permanent members of the council have been relegated to a role of rubber stamping.
The stability in the United Nations and empowerment of the world body are essential for the welfare of the world. An unreformed and under-representative multilateral system can’t effectively deal with new or persistent challenges — Covid-19 and terrorism. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that the Security Council must either reform or risk being rendered increasingly irrelevant by some of the new emerging countries.
The UN has kept itself aloof from reforms and restructuring which is the need of the hour. India’s approach to the UNSC reforms is based on Reformed Multilateralism and it advocates text based negotiations in a fixed time frame. It has also got increasing support from member countries for its push for reforms. The UN’s 75th anniversary should become a historic occasion by making the body more inclusive. Any failure to expedite reform of the UNSC may have serious implications for international peace and security.

UNSC REFORMS: INDIA’S CLAIM FOR PERMANENT MEMBERSHIP

India’s election as a non-permanent member has reignited its quest for permanent membership of the Council. The Indian calculus on permanent membership of Security Council flow broadly from a mix of three streams viz., India’s historic association with the UN system itself since its independence, India’s intrinsic value and place in contemporary international politics and its ambitions as a traditional great power in Asia and beyond.

a) India in the UN system

India, since its independence and even before that, has been an active participant in all initiatives undertaken by the UN and the various UN organs. India was also instrumental in establishing the G77 of developing states at the UN. Former Secretary General Kofi Annan regarded India as one of the most significant votaries of shaping the UN agenda on behalf of the developing world.
During her elections for UNSC seat by a democratic ballot with two-thirds majority, India has undergone intense democratic scrutiny which none of the P5 members have undergone since 1945. India also makes a strong case by highlighting its regular, significant contributions to the UN. India has remained the largest cumulative contributor of UN peacekeeping troops. Despite low per capita income, India ranks 21st in terms of financial contributions to the UN.
Indian strategic interest in the Council seat has also been shaped by its history of interacting with the Security Council. An Indian presence at the Security Council will ensure the nation’s interests are not sacrificed in the great power politics (like 1948 Kashmir resolution). It will stall any possible intervention by China, a permanent member at the behest of Pakistan.

b) India’s intrinsic value

By any objective criteria, such as population, territorial size, GDP, economic potential, civilizational legacy, cultural diversity, political system and contributions to the activities of the UN — especially to UN peacekeeping operations — India is qualified for permanent membership. India’s newly acquired status as a Nuclear Weapons State (NWS) in May 1998 also makes it a natural claimant as a permanent member similar to the existing permanent members who are all NWS.
India carries the necessary abilities, actual and potential, which entitles it to a permanent seat at the Council. It has repeatedly affirmed its willingness and capacity to shoulder the responsibilities of permanent membership. Most countries value New Delhi’s perspective because they believe India as a developing country brings a nuanced position and offers solutions they can accept.

c) India’s great power ambitions

India wishes to shift its international position from a rule taker (a constrained role) to a rule maker (a system shaping role). The Indian attempts at joining various regimes like the MTCR and the NSG indicate that India is no more satisfied with being either the target or a mere follower of various international norms and rules, and now wants to shape and align them to suit Indian ideas and interests.
India’s economic growth, cultural robustness and rise as a strong regional military power also make a strong pitch for India’s inclusion in the Security Council. The permanent seat in the UNSC would provide India the much needed leverage to expand its global geo-political and geo-economic clout. It would serve as an equaliser to China as India has always seen itself as a democratic alternative to the authoritarian China.

IGN

• An Inter-Governmental Negotiation (IGN) process of the UN has been working on various aspects of the reform since 2009.
• UNGA adopted a consensus resolution in 2015 to move from IGN to Text-Based Negotiations (TBN) but little progress has been made.
• The discussions are considered informal and no attempt has been made to capture the discussions in a single consolidated text for negotiations.
• The recent decision regarding the extension of the IGN into the next session of the General Assembly has disappointed India. India has demanded that the extension decision must capture clearly the recent tangible progress.
• The areas in which clear progress was made during the year was the increasing support among member states for the Common African Position as well as for the urgent need for transparency and application of the General Assembly’s rules of procedure to the IGN.
• There is a need to ensure that the IGN process is not held hostage, procedurally and substantially, by those who do not wish to bring about reform in the Security Council. India has been demanding tangible action to achieve the long-delayed reforms.

UNSC REFORMS: INDIA’S EFFORTS

Government has accorded the highest priority to getting permanent membership for India in an expanded UNSC that reflects contemporary global realities. In his address to the UNGA, Prime Minister assertively pitched for UN reforms, asking how long India would have to wait before it was included in the decision making structures of the global body.

India has used its non-permanent status as a stepping stone to prepare a bid for the permanent candidacy. India is actively engaged in the ongoing inter-governmental negotiations on reform of the UNSC and has been working alongside other like-minded countries and groupings.

Through its membership of the G-4 bloc (India, Japan, Brazil and Germany) as well as with cross regional grouping of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, has been consistently working to build support among the UN member states for expansion of the UNSC, in both permanent and non-permanent categories. UNSC reforms are discussed in all relevant bilateral and multilateral meetings.

UNSC REFORMS: THE PROGRESS SO FAR

The G4 group has long been pushing for reforms at the highest level. Ranged against the G4 are Italy, Pakistan, Mexico, and Egypt, previously called the “coffee club’’ but now the term used is “uniting for consensus.’’ There is a separate African group, which wants two rotating seats for the continent. India, Germany, and Japan has the backing of the US, Russia, France, and UK. China naturally wants India out and would like to bring in Pakistan.

The G-4 proposal has pressed the case for G4 countries as Permanent Members of the UNSC, even though it may be without a veto for some years. A larger proposal to expand the UN Security Council with two other members from Africa in addition to the G-4 failed due to lack of consensus in the African group. Currently the African union has agreed upon the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte declaration (at least 2 permanent and 2-5 non-permanent seats for Africa). This common African position is supported by the G4. All these proposals face challenging proposals.

As a consequence of the long debate on the expansion of the UNSC, many countries which have never served on the Council have begun to claim their turn. The debate has thrown up many ideas but none of the proposals has the possibility of securing two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and the votes of the P5 members.

The G4 grouping has expressed their concern over lack of any meaningful forward movement on long-pending reform of the UNSC and demanded urgency on the issue. IBSA has also expressed frustration over the slow pace of progress on reforms and said the time had come to move towards a result-oriented process.

There is widespread support, including by four of the five permanent members – the US, the UK, France and Russia – for a permanent seat for India at the Council. In February President Donald Trump said he was committed to working with India to strengthen and reform the UN. Russian Foreign Minister has declared support for India and Brazil to be permanent members of the UNSC. There is however, a section in the UN led by that supports expansion only in the non-permanent category.

UNSC REFORMS: THE OBSTACLES

China, a P5 member with veto power, has been stonewalling India’s efforts to become a permanent member, pointing to lack of consensus even though the other four P5 members have supported New Delhi’s membership.

Expansion of permanent membership of the UNSC could be considered only amendments in the UN Charter which requires approval by two-third of the membership of the UN. As long as Pakistan has China’s support, India is unlikely to become a permanent member of the council.

While the P5 members can be blamed for being adamant about protecting their privileged positions, a majority of the UN members are against the privileges of the permanent members, particularly the veto. India’s performance in the Council may earn it respect, but it will not lead to its elevation to permanent membership as the opposition to any expansion is not India-specific.

There is even the probability that the desired UN reforms and expansion may never come to fulfillment. The UN-driven multilateralism was a system set up by the victor nations who worked in concert to guarantee its success. The arrangement survived even the period of the Cold War as the original understanding underpinning the organization was adhered to. Today the global scenario has drastically changed, with the rapid rise of a revisionist China with scant regard for international rule of law even as the US undermines rather than supports multilateral initiatives. This has happened in tandem with a resurgence of populist nationalism across the world, including in India.

Other Concerns

• The ‘America First’ doctrine will endure in some form even if a new administration comes to power in Washington. This makes U.S. foreign policy more transactional, which in turn will generate less traction to the reform process within the UN
• The election of Turkish diplomat-politician Volkan Bozkır as the President of the General Assembly can set back India’s efforts against India’s global and national interests.

WAY FORWARD

The Security Council is one of the most important multilateral decision-making bodies where the contours of global geopolitics are often drawn. The COVID-19 pandemic has already shaken up the global order and sharpened the rivalry between the U.S. and China. It has also opened up fresh debates on strengthening multilateralism and multilateral institutions. In this context, the challenges before India are many.

India will have a higher profile at the UN for the next two years as the non-permanent members have a collective veto over every resolution in the Council. India will get involved in many issues in which it may not have any direct interest. On all issues before the UNSC, India must give exceptional weightage as to how they will have an impact on the Indian subcontinent.

India will work with all member countries to promote global peace, security, resilience and equity. However, India will have to work diligently within the confines of realities of the global situation. Since India does not have a veto, it shall have to proceed cautiously. India should avoid the temptation of taking sides at a time when the Security Council is getting more and more polarised.

THE CONTEXT: The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the whole world and changed the shape of global politics. Global responses are needed to confront global diseases. With regards to vaccine access, some countries have been much more fortunate than others. Therefore, the concept of vaccine diplomacy has become a major foreign-policy talking point. The Indian government was one of the first nations to engage in vaccine diplomacy under the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative.

WHAT IS VACCINE DIPLOMACY?

• The coronavirus vaccine — one of the world’s most in-demand commodities — has become a new currency for international diplomacy.
• Vaccine diplomacy is a measure to assist countries that may not otherwise have access to vaccines.In many ways, it mimics other diplomatic channels.
• Countries that produce vaccines can set up bilateral supply agreements with countries that need vaccines, which become a tool of soft power, or outright diplomatic allegiance. They are using the vaccine to find favor or improve strained relations.
• There is a multilateral agreement, Covax, brokered by the WHO and other international organizations, to provide vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries. Then there are bilateral agreements between individual countries.
• The strategy is similar to the energy supply agreements that were sought internationally, including by the US, to face energy crises in the early 2000s.

INDIA’S VACCINE DIPLOMACY

India’s vaccine diplomacy in numbers

Total countries  –   95

Vaccine Grant  –   107.15 lakhs

Commercial    –   357.92 lakhs

Covax               –   198.628 lakhs

Total            –     663.698 lakhs

• A global challenge of this magnitude requires a global solution, based on international health cooperation between public and private-sector stakeholders.
• And India recognized early on that it could play a unique role in that process. India is already known as pharmacy of the world, manufacturing some 20% of all generic medicines and accounting for as much as 62% of global vaccine production, so it was quick off the mark when the pandemic struck.
• India began its Covid outreach even before the vaccines were in place. India sent out 446 million HQC tablets and 1.54 billion paracetamol tables to 133 countries. Besides hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves, and other medical supplies were also exported.Once India’s domestic vaccination campaign started, a wide range of countries began asking the country for vaccines.
• India’s vaccine sharing policy stands out given the alarming increase in ‘vaccine nationalism’. Its “Vaccine Maitri” campaign has shipped hundreds of thousands of Indian-made Covishield vaccines, to more than 90 countries.
• Indian vaccines have been flown to most of the country’s neighbors, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar, and Nepal, and also farther afield, to the Seychelles, Cambodia, Mongolia, and Pacific Island, Caribbean, and African countries. Indian vaccines are arriving even in richer countries like the United Kingdom and Canada
• Many of the recipient countries have signed so-called vaccine pacts with India on a government-to-government basis to finalize the number of doses and determine whether they will be provided under grant assistance or under commercial terms.
• India has tied with other nations like the Quad partners, who at their first virtual summit pledged to supply at least one billion doses of vaccines to Indo-Pacific nations by the end of next year.
• Additionally, India and South Africa have also urged the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Council (TRIPS Council) to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 so that the vaccines and other new diagnostic technologies are accessible to poor countries. Although WTO members have failed to reach a consensus on the proposal, several developing countries have rallied behind this effort.

A NEW ARENA FOR INDIA-CHINA STRATEGIC COMPETITION

• India’s vaccine diplomacy puts it in direct competition with China—whose vaccine distribution is clubbed with its broader geopolitical ambitions.
• In fact, it has even explicitly included vaccine distribution in its broader Health Silk Road initiative, which aims to bolster China’s international soft power.Chinais providing vaccines to many countries involved in its Belt Road Initiative, essentially protecting its investments.
• While China is trying to rehabilitate its image on the world state given that it’s been tagged as the source for Covid-19, India is using the country’s capacity in pharma sector subtly to advertise an alternative to China’s economic and geopolitical dominance.
• While China has been secretive in releasing data about its vaccines, leading to controversies over the efficacy of them, India organized trips for foreign ambassadors to visit pharmaceutical factories.
• China wanted to project its vaccines as effective and more suited for use in and around its immediate neighbours, yet there is a preference for Indian manufactured medicines amongst most Southeast and South Asian countries as the Indian brands continue to evoke feelings of trust and quality
• Not only has India overshadowed China as a provider of cheap and accessible vaccines to the Global South; it has been quicker and more effective.For example, Indian vaccines beat China’s into Myanmar, Cambodia and Afghanistan.
• China had a long history of seeking political, commercial or diplomatic gains for its various projects. India does not have a history of seeking special benefits from its health assistance;India has long been seen as a helpful partner in ensuring affordable drugs and vaccines to lower-income countries.
• Vaccine manufacture and distribution is one area where India has some comparative advantage over China, which usually overshadows India in military and economic might.Quad’s vaccine initiative comes as a direct response to China’s efforts to compete through vaccine diplomacy.

BENEFITS

Boost to soft power

• India’s vaccine diplomacy is, of course, not purely altruistic. While there are commercial benefits, vaccine diplomacy is an extension of continued investment in promoting India’s soft power abroad. At a time when most rich countries are criticized for hoarding vaccine doses and “vaccine nationalism”is common, vaccine maitri program has raised India’s standing and generated great international goodwill.

Enhanced global standing

• Delhi’s supplies make for a key diplomatic initiative in a year when India is at the UN Security Council and ahead of the G-20 it will host in 2023.India has supplied vaccines to at least 50% of the Least Developed (LDC) countries and one third of the Small Island Developing (SID) countries. These are the two major small-country groupings that have an influential voice at the United Nations.The effort may one day help India secure recognition as a global power – with a permanent UN Security Council seat.

New dimension to “Neighbourhood First”

• India is keen on mending its ties with Bangladesh. The COVID-19 vaccine can ease the tensions. Similarly, vaccine diplomacy provides an opportunity for India to resolve outstanding issues with Nepal. In Indian Ocean countries like the Maldives and Mauritius, India’s vaccine diplomacy can help foster stronger ties in the region, and offset China’s growing influence attributable to its financial investments and social-development projects.

Countering China

• In South Asia, where China’s presence has grown in recent years, India’s ‘vaccine diplomacy’ could help to even out the playing field.India has longer track record of supplying medicines and vaccines to the rest of the world, especially to low- and middle-income countries.The key elements of India’s vaccine diplomacy has merged into the Quad vaccine initiative under which vaccines will go to countries in the Indo-Pacific region — the battleground of contestation between Chinese and the Quad’s sphere of influence.

Human Centric Globalisation

• Indian-made vaccines do not require storage and transport at very low temperatures. This makes them much more manageable for lower income countries which lack significant cold chain infrastructure.For small countries, it is not just the ability to buy, but also the resources to access markets. The big debates around globalisation are ‘equity’ and ‘fairness'”.Most of the developing countries wouldn’t have got their vaccines so early if India had not supplied them. This reinforces the human-centric international cooperation and globalization.

Global public good

• India’s initiatives to make vaccines widely available to developing countries, together with growing evidence of the benefits from making COVID-19 vaccines accessible, suggests that during a pandemic, medical products must be treated as global public goods.Several studies caution that low vaccine availability, especially for smaller countries, will prolong recovery and trigger significant increases in global inequalities.The equitable distribution of vaccines is in the economic interest of every country.

Economic Benefits

• India’s manufacturing sector will attract more foreign direct investment.Greater cooperation over supply chains will help strengthen Indian pharma in the long term aim to ease dependence on imports of active pharmaceutical ingredients from China.

CONCERNS AND CHALLENGES

Citizens first

• India has exported three times as many doses as it has administered to its own people. Citizens are increasingly demanding that domestic population be served first to quell infection rates locally, prior to sending shipments abroad. Furthermore, even with vaccination efforts underway globally, new strains of coronavirus are emerging quickly, emphasizing that inoculation efforts must continue to move forward as quickly as possible.

Second wave

• There has been questioning of India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative in some quarters as the crisis at home has unfolded in the past few week. India has vast populations of its own to inoculate. And that India, with its sharp spike in cases in this wave, poses a global health threat. It is in the interests of the world to ensure that Indians are vaccinated. Vaccine maitri gave signals that India need no help.

Vaccines nationalism

• Vaccines are manufactured through long and complex global supply chains and bottlenecks have arisen from “Vaccine nationalism”. Many of the countries are restricting access to materials needed to build more supplies. For example America invoked the Defense Production Act to safeguard supplies for its own manufacturers.

Failure to add capacity:

• Poor judgment on India’s domestic requirement and the failure to back up vaccine diplomacy ambitions with adequate manufacturing capacity has meant that both domestic and international vaccination efforts have been ruined leaving several neighbouring nations high and dry. As India stopped exports of vaccines last month because of a fresh surge of the pandemic, Bangladesh is scrambling to get sufficient quantities of vaccine. Bangladesh will be looking towards China and Russia if the India is not able to honour its commitment.

Other concerns

• And there are mounting concerns about rising case numbers, the emergence of COVID-19 variants that may not respond to existing vaccines, and an economy that has not yet fully recovered, will intensify the challenge India confronts in fulfilling its obligations to developing countries while also meeting domestic demand.

ANALYSIS

With its advanced cutting-edge healthcare in the private sector and reputation as a health destination, it was natural that governments in the region would look to vaccines manufactured in India. By exporting doses of COVID-19 vaccine under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India is fulfilling its role as a responsible nation.The smaller countries that have received Indian vaccine doses are indeed very grateful for our help. By sending vaccines to our neighbours and by supplying them to countries in the Indian Ocean Littoral countries, India has demonstrated both goodwill and capacity.India is using its soft power to assist developing countries, a role that it has increasingly been playing as a development partner.

Vaccine diplomacy has earned India a huge name. It has—or will— change the dynamics in the days ahead, like few things have. The world is seeing India differently. Its generosity and infrastructure have come into the public eye. Like information technology, which put India on the world map, pharmaceuticals will do the same. It is good both for Brand India and Make in India. The world’s top vaccine companies, like Russia’s Sputnik and Johnson & Johnson, will certainly want facilities in India.

There has been questioning of India’s Vaccine Maitri initiative in some quarters as the crisis at home has unfolded in the past few week. Reasonable questions can be asked about the need for India to supply vaccines and other products to the world at large when there was a crisis at home.

In some ways, the answer to this can be relatively simple: That this is rooted in India’s civilisational ethos. While it might be commonplace for some nations to suggest that it is in the interest of the wider world to focus exclusively on their citizens, it’s not a narrative that India can uphold at any level. At a time when the Indian situation looked stable, it was morally right for India to support other parts of the world that were in greater pain.

India’s ‘Vaccine maitri’ approach was trying to ensure no one gets left behind. The virus knows no borders and equitable access to vaccines is critically important. The country’s ability to make vaccines is a result of international cooperation which is not a one-way transaction.It is important to recognise that global support for India is also a reciprocal appreciation of New Delhi’s efforts over the last few months.

Delhi’s decision to start sending vaccines to its neighbours in South Asia and other countries who have asked for it is the right step forward for India in its relations with its neighbours. It holds immense potential for a new kind of diplomacy in the region, one based on the common good and common interests of the South Asian people.

In diplomacy today, doing good is being smart, ‘vaccine maitri’ reflects the larger outlook of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (world is one family), health security is now integral to national security. Health security is emerging as a priority area for cooperation and India can play an important role in it.

WAY FORWARD

• Vaccine multilateralism should be promoted through an international collaborative effort under the aegis of the UN-subscribed sustainable development goals.
• India is one of the biggest producers of vaccines, but we need to ramp up production even more. Global vaccines that have Indian collaborations need to be given the licence without the mandatory bridging trials.
• The government must ensure that its domestic vaccine requirements are being adequately met.

CONCLUSION: Vaccine diplomacy was a good move to boost India’s international image and spread goodwill by coming to the aid of humanity. India had come in for fulsome praise across the globe for its desire to help the world. The WHO had on several occasions commended India for its desire to act as a responsible global power. India’s vaccine diplomacy has been a boon to the country’s aspirations to be recognized as a global power. In combating the pandemic, it has gone well beyond the routine provision of health care or the supply of generics. To be sure, it is uncertain whether promoting soft power through health-care exports significantly boosts a country’s position in the global order. But if and when the permanent seats at the United Nations Security Council are ever rearranged, grateful governments will know who has done the most.

THE CONTEXT: In the wake of Covid-19, climate changes and other important global issues such as globalization, cold war, trade war, the world is facing several issues and the UN nearly just seems an audience in most of them. Hence, the demand is whether world needs a global parliament for dealing global issues. This article discusses this issue in detail.

WHAT IS WORLD PARLIAMENT?

The world should establish parliament to resolve the global issue and making the rules for International issues such as the pandemics, stockpiles of nuclear weapons, deadly biological weapons, natural disasters, climate change, loss of control over artificial intelligence, terrorism, serious imbalances in international trade, influence, intelligence, greed for power and a host of other threats.
It is obvious that these threats cannot be tackled by any one country alone and a united action at local, regional and international levels alone can rid the world of these dangers.

THE ISSUES FACED BY MANKIND IN RECENT TIMES

• Amid ever-increasing threats facing humanity, it’s high time to initiate steps at the governance level to make the world a safer place for mankind.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has provided impetus to the idea of a global democratic government and underlined the necessity of a world organisation to tackle the dangers facing mankind in a more effective manner.
• These include — pandemics, stockpiles of nuclear weapons, deadly biological weapons, natural disasters, climate change, loss of control over Artificial Intelligence, terrorism and so on.

NEED FOR THE WORLD PARLIAMENT

Transcending the Nation-State

• There is no body that represents the interest of the world community at large. Even if a treaty is concluded and ratified, a state can withdraw again.
• The international order recognizes no higher authority for decision or enforcement.

Social disparities between citizen

• World is witnessing the emergence of global social strata that are giving rise to vertical social tensions. The dividing line will no longer be between rich and poor countries, but between the super-rich and the rest everywhere.

Immigrations emerged as a major issue

• The promise of the “global village” is only valid for the rich. But for the poor peoples and minor communities of many countries facing harassment and seeking asylum in neighbor countries. As there is no world policy to resolve these issue so that they are facing many issues.

Addressing environmental threats

• Humanity now shares a common destiny.
• The dangers posed by nuclear war, global pandemics, environmental devastation, biodiversity loss or climate change affect everybody.
• Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere knows no borders.

Global ruling in proper way

• The supply of important public goods like food security or the stability of the financial and economic system depends on how well global structures are working.
• Regulating research and development in fields such as artificial intelligence, genetics, biotechnology or autonomous weapons must be on the global agenda.
• Based on the collaboration of 193 nominally sovereign states, global regulation will never work well.

WHY DOES WORLD NEED WORLD PARLIAMENT DESPITE HAVING UNITED NATIONS?

Presently a world body already exists known as United Nations Organization(UNO). Formed after world war II in 1945 to prevent and eliminate recurrence of wars and to maintain peace all over the world, it was also mandated in broader terms to look after some aspects of areas like economic, social and cultural development.

PAST RECORD OF UN

• The Organisation has been beneficial to mankind in many ways, but looking back at its record during last over seventy-five years of its existence, there is not much to feel proud about.
• Soon after its formation in 1945, it had to face cold war between the western Block and the Soviet Block headed by former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) which lasted till collapse of Soviet Block in 1991.
• It could not prevent local and regional wars in Korean peninsula, Asia, Africa and even in Europe and Latin America.
• It could not stop Chinese aggression against India in 1962 and Cuban missile crisis between the then Soviet Union and USA.
• Mostly because of cold war politics and its attitude, it failed to take bold united action.
• Its response to natural disasters and epidemics at national or international level also fell far short of its expectations.

THE ISSUE OF REPRESENTATION

• Apart from cold war politics, other main causes responsible for its failure to meet expectations have been lack of its full representative character and its failure to reform itself.
• Also,it has not restructured itself to keep up with needs of changing world.
• Under these circumstances its attitude towards enormous problems and threats and deviant forces facing mankind has been almost inflexible.
• Despite repeated calls by many countries it has more or less continued with its inequitable representative character.
• A glaring example of this has been that India with over 1.38 billion population which constitutes about eighteen per cent of total world population has no permanent representation on its most important decision making organ UN Security Council.
• While more basic structural changes in the Organisation will take years and years if not decades, it has to reform itself urgently to make itself fully representative to tackle the pressing problems.
• Urgency of such a step can also be gauged by the fact that last year in June out of 192 votes cast in UN General Assembly,184 countries voted in favour of India for two-year non-permanent membership of UNSC which started from January this year.
• The world body has also to change its responses so that threats facing the mankind are attended to promptly.

BIASED NATURE

• In a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent profile.
• But it is evident in recent past and in past seventy-five years that UN is facing biasness issue. It took actions against small country but against powerful countries it peaceful appeal had no impacts.

AN OLD CONCEPT

• One of the key challenges of modern cultural evolution is the time lag between rapid technological development and slow political adaptation.
• The United Nations that represents the best governance model humanity could come up with for the management of global affairs is now frozen in time.
• Its underlying principle of national sovereignty goes back to 1648, a hundred years before the industrial revolution even started.
• Today we live in the 21st century, the world population is approaching eight billion and technological development continues to accelerate.
• The need for global governance to catch up with the accelerating pace of change is more urgent than ever before.

HOW THE GLOBAL PARLIAMENT SHOULD WORK FOR BETTER OUTCOMES?

• In a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent profile.
• The parliament of the world body could be elected directly by proportional representation based on population of each member nation or nation state.
• The challenges facing mankind as also the matters of economic and financial governance can be dealt with in a far better way by a Global Parliament.
• Such an institution will strengthen democracy, justice and equity throughout the world and help in curbing fundamentalist and the radical ideologies.
• Proper attention to all threats facing mankind could ensure safety and survival of intelligent life on earth. But for realising it, the member countries will have to shed a few shades of their sovereignty which could democratically authorise and enable such a World Government to prevent deadly nuclear and biological wars at the local, regional or at international levels.
• At present, there are already scores of organisations in Africa, America, Europe and elsewhere, and some of these are popularly elected.

WAY FORWARD

• The idea regarding the deep structural changes to turn the UN into a democratic World Government, will take more time to come somewhat into shape.
• Moreover, in a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent character.
• Recently, with advancements in human civilisation and thought, the necessity for such a global institution has been felt immensely at various stages.
• After deeper restructuring of the existing world body, contours for a democratic World Government can be established and Parliament of the world body could be elected directly by proportional representation based on population of each member nation.

CONCLUSION

The experience of democratic regimes teaches us that no parliament can govern a country alone. A government is necessary. So the World Parliament must be seen as a crucial milestone on the way toward forming a democratic government endowed with the necessary powers to enforce the laws approved by the World Parliament.