UPSC WITH NIKHIL

MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENT 1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE ...... 3 4.3 NAXALISM AND TERRORISM ...... 56 1.1 THE RIGHT TO PROTEST ...... 3 4.4 BIOMETRICS IN POLICING ...... 60 1.2 COMMUNITY RADIO ...... 4 4.5 EPIDEMICS AND NATIONAL SECURITY ...... 62 1.3 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS ...... 5 4.6 TAKING NUCLEAR VULNERABILITIES SERIOUSLY . 64 1.4 EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS ...... 8 4.7 PERMANENT COMMISSION FOR WOMEN IN THE 1.5 COVID-19 AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT ...... 11 INDIAN ARMY ...... 66 1.6 CBI AND GENERAL CONSENT ...... 12 5. ENVIRONMENT ...... 68 1.7 CONTEMPT OF COURT ...... 14 5.1 CORINGA SANCTUARY FOR WILDLIFE ...... 68 1.8 SECTION 309 IPC...... 17 5.2 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY’S SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME ...... 71 1.9 RESERVATION IS NOT A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT . 18 5.3 BLACK SOFT SHELL TURTLE ...... 72 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ...... 19 5.4 TIGER CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN INDIA ...... 73 2.1 INDIA & CENTRAL ASIA ...... 19 5.5 LANDSLIDES IN KERALA ...... 74 2.2 IDLIB (TESTING THE POWER OF PERSONAL TOUCH) ...... 22 5.6 MONEY LAUNDERING AND THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE REPORT ...... 76 2.3 U.S. PRIORITY WATCH LIST ...... 23 6. SOCIAL ISSUES ...... 77 2.4 SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE AND ITS ROLE IN FOREIGN POLICY ...... 24 6.1 CIVIL SOCIETY AND COVID 19 ...... 77 2.5 HONG KONG – USA - CHINA ...... 28 6.2 INTEGRATED ROAD ACCIDENT DATABASE (IRAD) ...... 79 2.6 GALWAN VALLEY ...... 30 6.3 INDIA’S CHILDREN AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES .. 80 2.7 TEESTA DISPUTE ...... 34 6.4 PROJECT OF MILK FORTIFICATION ...... 84 2.8 SRI LANKA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION ...... 36 6.5 DISABLED AND EXTREMELY POOR ...... 85 2.9 TERRITORIAL DISPUTE IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ...... 38 6.6 TEMPLES OF CRITICAL THINKING AND DEBATE .. 86 3. ECONOMY ...... 40 6.7 AGE OF MARRIAGE ...... 88 3.1 RBI'S REPORT ON STATE FINANCES ...... 40 6.8 NATIONAL DIGITAL HEALTH MISSION ...... 90 3.2 BASE EROSION AND PROFIT SHIFTING ...... 43 7. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ...... 94 3.3 LONG TERM REPO OPERATIONS (LTRO) ...... 45 7.1 QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY ...... 94 3.4 COVID-19 RELATED POVERTY...... 46 7.2 HYDROGEN FUEL CELL ...... 96 3.5 WTO PEACE CLAUSE ...... 48 7.3 ULTRAVIOLET GERMICIDAL IRRADIATION (UVGI) ...... 96 3.6 EXIM BANK OF INDIA ...... 49 8. MISCELLANEOUS ...... 98 3.7 INPUT TAX CREDIT ...... 50 EURASIAN LYNX ...... 98 3.8 PREPAREDNESS INDEX ...... 51 GREAT HIMALAYAN NATIONAL PARK CONSERVATION 3.9 AGRICULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND ...... 52 AREA ...... 98 4. DEFENCE AND SECURITY ...... 53 POWERS OF ELECTION COMMISSION (EC) TO DELAY 4.1 TREATIES RELATED TO ESSENTIAL ARMS POLLS ...... 99 CONTROL ...... 53 ZIMBABWE ...... 99 4.2 STORAGE OF DATA OF PAYMENT SYSTEMS ...... 55 1 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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MULLAPERIYAR DAM ...... 99 DAMPA TIGER RESERVE ...... 108 MILNE ICE SHELF ...... 99 THORANGTLANG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY ...... 109 ADDU ATOLL ...... 100 NANOZYMES ...... 109 DEATH VALLEY ...... 100 PHOSPHOLIPID ...... 109 BHADBHUT PROJECT ...... 100 INDIAN BISON OR GAUR ...... 109 MALI ...... 101 MALABAR GLIDING FROG ...... 110 SUDAN IN NEWS ...... 101 ASIATIC LION ...... 110 MANSAR LAKE ...... 101 STRATEGIC ROADS ...... 111 GHANA IN NEWS ...... 102 APACHE HELICOPTERS ...... 111 FUJIWARA EFFECT ...... 102 PINAKA MISSILE ...... 112 PNEUMOCOCCAL POLYSACCHARIDE CONJUGATE GOLDEN LANGURS ...... 112 VACCINE ...... 102 PANGOLIN ...... 112 MEDITARRANEAN SEA ...... 102 CENTRAL ZOO AUTHORITY RECONSTITUTED ...... 113 KARIYE MUSUEM ...... 103 PROTECTED AREAS – DEHING PATKAI ...... 113 TOGO ...... 103 BLACK PANTHER ...... 114 CHANNAPATNA TOY INDUSTRY ...... 103 GERMANY TO PHASE OUT COAL, NUCLEAR PADMANABHA SWAMY TEMPLE ...... 103 POWER ...... 114 TANGAMS ...... 103 PIED CUCKOO ...... 114 KHOLONGCHHU HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT ...... 104 NEW HUMAN FINGERPRINT ON GLOBAL DROUGHT BOTSWANA ...... 104 PATTERNS ...... 115 RAPID ANTIGEN DETECTION TESTS ...... 104 HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE (HGH) ...... 115 RT-NPCR TEST ...... 105 WINTER DIESEL ...... 115 A3I ...... 105 BLACKROCK ANDROID MALWARE ...... 115 NEOWISE COMET ...... 105 LATENT VIRAL INFECTION (LVI) ...... 115 HOPE ...... 105 BELYO ...... 116 PHOBOS ...... 105 YELLOW FEVER ...... 116 TIANWEN-1 ...... 106 MARS MISSIONS ...... 116 HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE ...... 106 ASTEROID 2020 ND ...... 117 KUAIZHOU-11 ROCKET ...... 106 LEAD POISONING IN CHILDREN ...... 117 STEVIOSIDE ...... 106 PROJECT CHEETAH ...... 118 ACCELERATE VIGYAN ...... 106 COGX ...... 107 G4 FLU VIRUS ...... 107 GOLD NANO PARTICLES ...... 107 POLYOXYMETALATES ...... 108 GREEN – AG PROJECT ...... 108 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY (GEF) ...... 108 2 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com 1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1.1 THE RIGHT TO PROTEST Public protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the proposed National Register of Citizens have recently occurred in India. The handling of the protests by the government has encouraged criticism from some parts. Section 144 has been accused of unconstitutional imposition by the administrations. The Executive Magistrate of any state or territory is allowed by Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 to issue an order prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in a region.

In the past, Section 144 was used to enforce sanctions as a way of avoiding demonstrations that could lead to violence or riots. The administration has defended its actions calling it preventive to avoid any kind of harm to common life and destruction of the public property. India as a functioning democracy: It is stated in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution that India is Fundamental rights: a democratic republic. In the Indian Constitution, the right to There are two main democratic rights underpinning democracies. demonstrate peacefully is enshrined in The right of all people to freely elect their government and to vote Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees freedom of it out of power in a legally held election when they are speech and expression, and Article 19(1)(b), disappointed with its efficiency (Article 326). which guarantees people the right to meet People have the right to question and challenge the proposals or peacefully and without weapons. It is also decisions of the government. This helps people not only possible to view the right to freedom of throughout but between elections to engage politically. This speech and expression as the right to freely includes a deeper definition of democracy that embodies active express an opinion about the actions of the citizenship rather than passive citizenship. government. For political reasons, the right to association Democracy demands that those in authority hear the voice of the may also be the right to join, which may people and that decisions be taken after proper debate and include opposing government decisions. consultation. The freedom to peacefully assemble enables The hallmark of a free, democratic society is mass demonstrations political parties and citizenship bodies, over legitimate causes and concerns. The right to protest freely through marches, agitations and public constitute our Political freedoms that the people of India is eligible hearings, to challenge and object to acts of to. A basic political right in a democratic society is the right to government. demonstrate. The Supreme Court has affirmed through its Holding the government accountable: verdicts, that the right to protest in many The protests play an important role in keeping the government cases is a fundamental right. The Supreme responsible for its decisions and choices in power. Court has held that people have a fundamental right to assembly and peaceful The aim of the cluster of inter-related political rights of protest in the case of Ramlila Maidan Incident expression, association, assembly, petition and protest is to v. Home Secretary, Union of India & Ors. The ensure that the government functions in the interests of the fundamental right to peaceful protest can’t citizens of this country. be taken away by arbitrary executive or People serve as watchdogs and actively observe the activities of legislative intervention. the government. They play a major role in helping to identify and The SC had similar views on the right to correct errors. protest in the Maneka Gandhi vs. Union of India event. An elected government may depart from the constitutional path, go against the people's interests, become unresponsive and fail to listen. Under such circumstances, pressure can be generated against the government through public protests.

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This is analogous to the Constitution's multiparty structure, where minority parties are treated as important rivals and not enemies. Inclusive approach:  For those outside the mainstream, or those not trained professionally, street demonstrations and demonstration movements are especially significant.  They provide an opportunity to demonstrate dissent to even the most illiterate and powerless citizen. Involving many people in the campaign, street demonstrations support.  Abraham Lincoln once said that “the right of the people to peaceably assemble is a constitutional substitute for revolution”. Historical experience: Independence struggle: The Indian Constitution 's history is shaped by its anti-colonial struggle. Public expression of views against colonial policies and legislation, protests expressing opposition and influencing public sentiment against them became part of the Indian freedom movement. The tactics included dharnas being staged, large public meetings and protests being organised, and even civil disobedience. Post-Independence: A satyagraha was undertaken by Potti Sreeramulu to demand the establishment of a new Telugu-speaking state of Andhra. Chandi Prasad Bhatt and Gaura Devi led The Chipko Movement which was a movement of people to save the trees of Uttarakhand. This was supposed to avoid the U.P. Government from granting to commercial loggers contracts.

• The arbitrary limitation by the imposition of Section 144 on the exercise of such rights is an issue.

In urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended risk of events that have the potential to cause trouble or harm to human life or property, Section 144 shall be enforced, thereby restricting it to only emergency circumstances.

Intolerance towards dissent: Sec 144's unconstitutional imposition illustrates the government's failure to tolerate dissent. It also represents the government's inability to debate, deliberate, or listen.

Way forward: This is a right of the citizens to oppose the CAA and to demonstrate and share their views. The government needs to recognise the right of all Indians to dissent and protest. In particular, Article 19(1)(3) states that, in the interests of public order, privileges are subject to 'reasonable restrictions'. There is a need to ensure that the demonstrations do not include violence or harm to public property.

1.2 COMMUNITY RADIO In addition to commercial and public broadcasting, Community radio is a radio service providing a third model of radio broadcasting. Geographical areas and neighbourhoods of concern are served by neighbourhood stations. They broadcast common and important content that is specific to the local audience, but that is often ignored by commercial or mass media broadcasters. The neighbourhoods they serve run, own, and impact community radio stations. In general, they are non-profit and provide a mechanism to encourage people, organisations , and communities to tell their own narratives, share experiences, and become media creators and contributors in a media-rich world. 4 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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Community radio serves as a vehicle in many parts of the world for the community and voluntary sector, civil society, organisations, NGOs and residents to work in collaboration, in addition to broadcasting, towards further community development goals. IN INDIA Bombay Presidency Radio Club began broadcasting in 1923, covering a range of less than 500 metres. Broadcasting Services set up two privately owned transmitters in Bombay and Calcutta in 1927. In 1930, the government took over broadcasting services and it was renamed the Indian Broadcasting Service. The Indian Telegraph Act 1885 was challenged by the Supreme Court of India more than a century later, in 1995, which gave a landmark judgement in February 1995, claiming that airwaves constitute public property and must be used to advance the public good. It took the Government of India seven years to lay down policy guidelines for community radio in 2005, when it approved a licencing policy for the establishment of community radio stations. Initially, the establishment of campus radio stations within a range of 10 to 15 Kms was authorised only by educational institutions. In 2006, the government authorised non-profit organisations, institutes of agricultural science, and schools to set up community radio stations to engage local communities. COMMUNITY RADIOS IN INDIA: VOICE TO THE VOICELESS 1. Radio FTII 90.4 FM, Maharashtra Radio FTII, broadcast on FM 90.4, moves from one culture to another describing the wonders of this platform and how, without any pressure or a trail of tedious formalities, people, as well as community groups, can use it to express their problems. Radio FTII, launched in 2006 at the Indian Film and Television Institute in Pune, soon emerged as one of the state's most influential community radio stations, highlighting many health-related problems that affected communities. 2. Radio Udaan, Punjab Radio Udaan started its flight in February 2014, born out of the desire to meet people with visual disability. Today, after five years of continuous hard work, Radio Udaan reaches over 20,000 listeners per month from more than 100 countries. The primary goal of the online community radio station was to bring people from all over the world together to form an inclusive and inspiring community free of all prejudices. 3. Apno Radio, 90.4 MHz, Rajasthan Operating under Banasthali Vidyapith at a frequency of 90.4 MHz, Apno Radio is the first community radio station in Rajasthan. Launched in 2005 with the goal of fostering self-reliance and women's empowerment, it focuses on many social problems impacting the state's rural communities. 4. Vidyavani, 107.4 FM, Maharashtra Since 2005, Vidyavani, based at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), has been a popular community radio broadcaster in Marathi, English and Hindi. It has been reaching out to communities in and around the city as Pune's first community radio, airing programmes related to civic issues, education , health, etc. As a campus radio station, it also caters to university-affiliated students from 650 schools. All our shows focus on being insightful and are often student-centered. 5. Vasundhara Vahini, 90.4 MHz, Maharashtra An agro-based radio, located in Baramati, also reaches out to nearby rural areas, and its tagline is a 'social transformation tool.' With its core audience of farmers and villagers, Vasundhara Vahini focuses on various farming-related topics, such as sustainable farming techniques, organic farming, new seed varieties, product market updates, weather forecasts etc.

1.3 HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACT: • It was enacted by the Indian Parliament in the year 1993.

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• The Act created the National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commissions in States and Human Rights Courts for better protection of human rights. • Under Section 2(d), it defines “Human Rights” as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India. ESTABLISHMENT OF INDEPENDENT BODIES: * Checks and balances make sure that the • The system of separation of powers divides the tasks of the state three powers interact in an equitable and into three branches: legislative, executive balanced way. and judicial. These tasks are assigned to different institutions in such a way that each of them can check the others. • However, the complexity of governance and administration in the modern world has necessitated the existence of a set of independent bodies, which are charged with performing vital functions of oversight. FOURTH BRANCH: * Some of these bodies are constitutional • In the Indian context, institutions of the fourth branch include the bodies established by the Constitution itself. Election Commission, Lokpal, Central Bureau of Investigation, These include, for instance, the Election Commission and the Office of the Reserve Bank, National Statistics Commission, National Human Comptroller and Auditor General. Rights Commission, Information Commission, Central Vigilance * Others have been established under law: Commission, Comptroller & Auditor General, Attorney General, for example, the Information Commission Public Service Commission, Finance Commission, NITI Aayog, media under the Right to Information Act, and regulators and many others. Human Rights Commissions under the • It is characterized as the fourth branch of the state because of Protection of Human Rights Act. their distinctiveness from the executive, legislature and judiciary — * The National and State Human Rights these institutions are tasked with the protection of key Commissions are examples of “fourth branch constitutional values such as democracy, legality, impartiality, institutions.” probity, human rights and price stability. FUNCTIONING OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS: • Under the Protection of Human Rights Act, the Human Rights Commissions are empowered to inquire into the violations of human rights committed by state authorities, either upon petitions presented to them, or upon their own initiative. • While conducting these inquiries, the Commissions are granted identical powers to that of civil courts, such as examining witnesses, ordering for documents, receiving evidence, and so on. • These proceedings are deemed to be judicial proceedings, and they require that any person, who may be prejudicially affected by their outcome, has a right to be heard. LIMITATIONS OF THE COMMISSION • There have been the usual critiques of the politicization of autonomous bodies, and selectiveness. • NHRC can only make recommendations, without the power to enforce decisions. This lack of authority to ensure compliance can lead to outright rejection of its decision. • Under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, human rights * They play an advisory role, with the commissions cannot investigate an event if the complaint was government left free to disobey or even made more than one year after the incident. Therefore, a large disregard their findings. number of genuine grievances go unaddressed. CONTEXT • A case has been filed in the Madras High Court to enquire what is to be done after the Human Rights Commission completes its enquiry, and reaches a conclusion that human rights have been violated. • A Full Bench of the High Court will be deciding upon whether “recommendations” made by the Human Rights Commissions are binding upon their respective State (or Central) governments, or whether the government is entitled to reject or take no action upon them.

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CONFLICTING OPINIONS: What does the law say? • The Full Bench of the Madras High Court is hearing the case • Section 18 of the Protection of Human because different, smaller benches, have come to opposite Rights Act empowers the Human Rights conclusions about how to understand the word “recommend” in Commission to “recommend” to the the context of the Protection of Human Rights Act. concerned government to grant • According to one set of judgments, this word needs to be taken compensation to the victim, to initiate in its ordinary sense. To “recommend” means to “put forward” or prosecution against the erring state to “suggest” something or someone as being suitable for some authorities, to grant interim relief, and to purpose. Ordinarily, a mere “suggestion” is not binding. take various other steps. • Furthermore, Section 18 of the Human Rights Act also obligates • The key question revolves around the the concerned government to “forward its comments on the meaning of the word “recommend.” report, including the action taken or proposed to be taken thereon, to the Commission”, within a period of one month. The argument, therefore, is that this is the only obligation upon the government. • If indeed the Act intended to make the recommendations of the Commission binding upon the government, it would have said so: it would not simply have required the government to communicate what action it intended to take to the Commission (presumably, a category that includes “no action” as well). VARIATION IN ORDINARY MEANING AND LEGAL MEANING: Legal meaning is a function of context, and often, the purpose of the statute within which a word occurs has a strong influence on how it is to be understood. • For example, the Supreme Court has held, in the past, that “consultation” with the Chief Justice for judicial appointments (as set out under the Constitution) be read as “concurrence” of the Chief Justice (this is the basis for the collegium system) • Recently, while interpreting the Land Acquisition Act, the apex court held that the word “and” in a provision had to be construed as “or”. PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS: • The idea of introducing such a legislation is to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights. • To fulfil this purpose, the Act creates an institutional infrastructure, via the Human Rights Commissions. The Human Rights Commissions, thus, are bodies that stand between the individual and the state. • If the recommendations of the Commission is not accepted and implemented, and the state is left free to obey or disobey the findings of the Commission, it would defeat the entire purpose of the Act. • As discussed earlier, the Human Rights Commission has the powers of a civil court, and proceedings before it are deemed to be judicial proceedings. This provides strong reasons for its findings to be treated at the very least — as quasi-judicial, and binding upon the state (unless challenged) Indeed, in the past, courts have invoked constitutional purpose to determine the powers of various fourth branch institutions in cases of ambiguity. For example: • The Supreme Court laid down detailed guidelines to ensure the independence of the Central Bureau of Investigation. • Various judgments have endorsed and strengthened the powers of the Election Commission to compulsorily obtain relevant details of candidates, despite having no express power to do so. • It is therefore clear that in determining the powers of autonomous bodies such as the Human Rights Commission, the role that fourth branch institutions are expected to play in the constitutional scheme is significant. CONCLUSION: • If the Human Rights Commissions are to truly protect rights in India, it needs a revamp, which way the Madras High Court holds will have a crucial impact upon the future of human rights protection in India.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 1.4 EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS Last year, the four suspects were killed in an exchange of fire with the Hyderabad Police in the case of the rape and murder of a woman veterinarian. According to initial reports, accused attempted to escape with the police officer’s weapons, when the police were trying to recreate the crime scene. After appropriate warnings, police opened fire and all four died on the spot. In a similar form of incident, after seven and a half years, a commission headed by Justice V.K. Agarwal, a retired judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, founded "the killing of 17 unarmed villagers, including six minors, by security forces in the village of Sarkeguda in Chhattisgarh, cannot be justified. The CRPF and police version of the events were false. At present, many of these killings are protected by domestic security offences, including terrorism, and in areas of active violence, such as in Kashmir, in the northeast of India, and in areas of central India plagued by the Maoist rebellion. In "usual" situations, such killings are also a common function, such as in those states that do not have violent conflicts and during common law enforcement operations. As a result, such killings at the United Nations have not escaped the attention of human rights experts. Extra judicial killings have many spiritual, legal and systemic implications. Let us take a look at this problem.

UNDERMINING RULE OF LAW There have been charges that laws such as Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act, 2017 (UP COCA, 2017), Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), etc. do not support the rule of law, but are a kind of violence itself, albeit a legal one with proper authority of law. These laws are simply example of "rule by law," as law negates human rights itself and enables exemptions from due processes. The basic principle of the government of every civilized liberal democracy is the rule of law. The anti-thesis of arbitrariness is this. The basic principle of the rule of law is that every human being, even the worst offender, has the right to fundamental human rights and due process. Encounters typically take place with the prior approval of the top authority or with complete knowledge of it. What an irony that after a long wait, the key culprits are quickly discharged when the trial takes place in cases of false encounter, and, in some cases, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also declines to file an appeal against such discharge, and many prosecution witnesses subsequently become hostile. It has correctly been claimed that the rule of law is part of the Indian Constitution's fundamental framework. It is a human benefit that is unqualified. In 126 countries and jurisdictions worldwide, the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2019 India's rank was a bleak 62. Norway topped the list. In this respect, Nepal is ahead of us. Police encounters, which have become a popular occurrence, lead to our low rank on the index of 'rule of law.'

POPULAR MEDIA ADMIRATION The way these offences are valorized in popular culture and by the media is another especially disturbing factor. Police are dubbed "encounter experts" for such serious charges against them, and many have been given awards as well as financial incentives. There tends to be systemic and public tolerance for these murders, rather than conviction and punishment.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com in the Hyderabad case at all (although the case is still under investigation), they would be an example of the state meeting vigilante justice by cops who behaved as the paw of the cat.

MAKING INNOCENT VULNERABLE This poses some very worrisome possibilities. If the state is permitted to sanction mob justice bypassing the due process, it will turn against the innocent’s tomorrow and upend the presumptive innocence principle. Not only is the due process of law intended to punish the guilty, but to protect the innocent as well.

Retributive bloodlust destroys the emphasis of punitive punishment, eliminates the only defence and renders the innocent vulnerable to the machinations of the power. The fundamental argument at the key development of the Hyderabad case, that the convicted criminals who brutally raped, murdered and then burned the unfortunate victim's corpse deserved their fate, suffers from an intrinsic error of reasoning. How can we be sure that the criminals who really committed the crime were nabbed by the cops? Many innocent citizens are frequently rounded up and eventually released during trial.

It is worth recalling the other case connected to the murder of a school boy at Ryan International School. In that case, the bus driver who was booked with the charge of crime is eventually found innocent by CBI investigations. In the one hand, we have no confidence in the system, and on the other, we are persuaded that the police, who are at the heart of the seemingly rotten system, have picked up and punished the right persons. It's a risky assumption here. In addition, the fact that one act of extrajudicial killing absolved the police of their multiple acts of incompetence that led to the crime must also be weighed. There is also no assurance that acts of sexual assault can be avoided by extrajudicial killing. All that the dubious act did was to legitimize the infringement of the law and weaken the protections of the constitution. Here, we must be cautious.

ERODING CITIZEN’S CONFIDENCE IN THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE Although taking a moral stand on custodial killings, the collective breakdown of citizens' confidence in the criminal justice system of India and the due process of law should be noted equally. Presently, the notion of 'control' rather than 'justice' is progressively represented in the Indian criminal justice system. Since the promise of criminal law as a protection instrument is only balanced by its ability to kill, due process provisions were also introduced into the criminal proceedings so that any convicted person receives a fair trial. What caused such public jubilation about the killing of the suspects without trial?

The statement of Nirbhaya 's Mother (case of Delhi 2012) may provide a strange illustration. She was quoted as saying that "justice has been served on at least one daughter. I thank the police. For 7 years, I have been crying, punished the culprits, even though if it needs to be done by breaching laws and then see how society shifts to good. I am still taking court rounds.' It can be argued that to justify extrajudicial killing, the suffering of a mother who has lost her child to a brutal crime should not be used. To call it 'bloodlust' is to undermine the common sentiment emerging from a profound indignation about a situation in which delay in justice systematically leads to denial of justice. Criminals often go unpunished if they have power and control and the moth-eaten system fails to produce justice even if they are arrested. In cases of sexual assault against women, a victim of rape requires an activist's determination to navigate the system's

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www.upscwithnikhil.com hostility. A 2017 Human Rights Watch study on India's rape victims, titled "Everyone Blames Me," observed that "in police stations and hospitals, women and girls who endure rape and other sexual abuse frequently suffer embarrassment." Police are also unable to report their grievances, there is no recourse for victims and witnesses, and medical practitioners also enforce outdated "two-finger" checks. These barriers to justice and dignity are exacerbated by insufficient health care, therapy and legal assistance for victims in the course of the accused's criminal proceedings.

A sense of collective dissatisfaction that seeks release arises when a state systematically fails its people and its institutions are unable to fulfil the functions entrusted to it. The extrajudicial killings have given that release. Daksh, an organization that conducts data-driven research into India's governance institutions, has found that average pendency of any case in India’s high courts is about three years and one month. If we add the subordinate courts, the average time jumps to nearly six years. It means that litigants who are forced to appeal to at least one higher court is likely to spend more than 10 years in court and this average time increases by three more years if the case goes to Supreme Court. According to a study published in January 2018 ‘Death Penalty in India’, "by the end of December 2017, there were 371 death row inmates in India, with the oldest case from 1991." In the past 13 years, only four death-row inmates have been executed. One had raped a minor and three were convicted of terrorism. Finally, justice is not just elusive, it is also frighteningly costly. Daksh 's report, listed earlier, found that each litigant spent Rs 519 per day to attend court on average. Even a conservative estimation of the total amount of money spent by litigants just to attend court hearings puts the figure at Rs 30,000 crore per year.

WAY AHEAD: In a democratic society where there is the rule of law, all extra-judicial killings are otherwise illegal unless it is for self-defense.' The rule by gun' should not be preferred to 'the rule of law.' Fundamentally, there must be a concerted effort on several fronts, legal, structural as well as social, to curb this rampant criminal practice.

By restructuring the judicial administrative machinery, the chronic illnesses threatening the Indian criminal justice system must be tackled at once. Justice delivery should be made faster, time-bound and accessible. Police should be sensitized and appropriate medico-legal treatment should be given for sexual harassment survivors. Before these rudimentary steps are taken, society will demand rapid redress. SUPREME COURT OBSERVATIONS A high-profile case filed in 2012 before the Supreme Court of India related to allegations of 1,528 extrajudicial killings in the state of Manipur, which is conflict-affected. The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in 2016, in which it stated in unequivocal terms the illegality of such actions and the lack of “absolute immunity” in such cases. The court ordered setting up of a special investigation, demanded the head of the CBI appear before it, and recommended the active involvement of the National Human Rights Commission. A high profile case filed before the Supreme Court of India in 2012 related to allegations of 1,528 extrajudicial killings in the conflict-affected state of Manipur. In 2016, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision stating unambiguously the illegality of such actions and the absence of "absolute immunity" in such cases. The court ordered the setting-up of a special investigation, requested that the head of the CBI appear before it, and recommended that the National Commission on Human Rights be actively involved. Justice Madan B. Lokur noted in pronouncing the verdict: "In such cases, scrutiny by the courts leads to complaints about the state that it has to fight militants, insurgents and terrorists with one hand tied behind its back." This is not a valid criticism because, and this is essential, it is not the encounter or the operation under scrutiny in such cases, but the smoking gun under scrutiny. There is a qualitative distinction between the use of force in an operation and the use of such deadly force, similar to the use of a sledgehammer to kill a fly; one is an act of self-defense, while the other is an act of retaliation.

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Importantly, the observations mentioned above were about terrorists, not ordinary criminals. In the Salwa Judum case (2011), we must note what the Supreme Court said: "The primary value is that it is the obligation of any state organ to work within the four corners of constitutional liability." The ultimate rule of law is that.

1.5 COVID-19 AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT ISSUES WITH CURRENT FRAMEWORK OF COVID-19 DISASTER MANAGEMENT • In the current use of DM Act in tackling Covid-19, two crucial aspects stand out, • lack of an appropriate legal framework to manage epidemics • an over-centralization of powers • DM Act was meant to be used in a situation where a state government was unable, on its own, to cope with the result of a natural disaster. It was never meant to be a legal mechanism to control the otherwise functional state governments. • Taking a cue from the central guidelines on lockdown, the State Why in news? governments and authorities exercised powers under the Epidemic The countrywide spread of COVID-19 led to Diseases Act of 1897 to issue further directions. This led to discussions about better ways to tackle confusion among the masses, especially the vulnerable population similar nature of disasters. COVID-19 and (migrants, slum dwellers etc.). Disaster Management: A Perspective • A top-down approach seems to have been adopted by the central • COVID-19 is the first pan India biological disaster being handled by the legal and government. It leaves states with no manoeuvring space that could constitutional institutions of the country. be used to design and enforce lockdowns keeping cultural and • It is for the first time that a pandemic has social norms in mind. been recognized as a ‘notified disaster’ in the • Moreover, mostly the management of a health crisis has become country by the Ministry of Home Affairs an issue of law and order. Major notifications and guidelines (MHA). relating to COVID-19 are being issued by the MHA and not the • Subsequently the Disaster Management Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The language used is still (DM) Act has also been invoked for the first one of law and order: “lockdowns,” “curfews,” “fines” and time in India to effectively manage this crisis. “surveillance.” The current lockdown has been imposed • Also, DM Act is not suitable to deal with fake news/false warning under the DM Act, 2005. being spread through social media and internet as it was passed in 2005 and then social media had not been as accessible or as available as it is now. o Section 54 in the DM Act makes it a punishable offence to circulate a false alarm or warning about a disaster or its severity or magnitude. • DM Act imposes criminal liabilities for violations of lockdown orders. This provision makes it a poor vehicle for the conduct of economic policy on a nationwide scale. The DM Act was never intended to be a key economic law. • Also, there is considerable discretion with officials, all across the country, in deciding who to permit and who to ban. • A consolidated, pro-active policy approach is absent. In fact, there has been ad hoc and reactive rulemaking, as seen in the way migrant workers have been treated. Migrants issue has also exposed the lack of coordination between the Union and State governments. LEARNINGS FROM PRESENT MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 DISASTER • Information Management: o As news about the virus and its spread across the world became centre stage, there has been a deluge of information, misinformation, and analysis in the media and, more so, in the social media. This has heightened the anxiety. Disaster management in the internet age will need to factor in the reality of social media and global connectivity. • Inclusion of ‘Restriction’ and ‘Refrain’ in Disaster Management Strategy: 11 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com o So far, focus of disaster management has been primarily on what one must do to abate a crisis. Accordingly, the emphasis has been on the three ‘R’s of disaster management- ‘Rescue, Relief and Recovery’. o However, there is a need to give due prominence to what one must not do to effectively mitigate a calamity. Hence there is need to incorporate two more R’s in disaster management - ‘Restriction’ and ‘Refrain’. ▪ The inclusion of ‘Restriction’ is necessary not only to highlight the importance of the legal prohibitions which exist in the DM Act but also to caution people of possible legal action, which will deter them from spreading fake news. ▪ Apart from legal restrictions it is also necessary to instill a culture of ‘Refrain’ false warnings at the community level. Accordingly, aside of imposing regulations to curb fake news, people must be trained to realize the authenticity of the news. • Ground Level Implementation and Federalism o Contrary to the centralized structure of DM Act, India’s disaster response must be quite de-centralized. o Varied capacity of different states necessitates a lot more agile and differential approach of disaster management. o Disaster of a national magnitude necessitates a close administrative and political coordination, led by Centre and followed by State governments, Disaster Management Authorities, district administration and local self- governments and other stakeholders. In the true spirit of DM Act and federal structure, national and state political and administrative agencies should be more collaborative and consultative.

Conclusion • Role of Courts COVID-19 has provided an opportunity to look into the loopholes o In times such as these, constitutional of our disaster management strategy and courts must play its role. There are relevant provisions under the DM Act. The knee jerk and haphazard complaints of discrimination, police responses to current disaster are further excesses, starvation, lack of medical aid compounded by local level conflicts between different etc. from various corners of the country. departments of the same State which end up hampering ▪ There is bar on jurisdiction of courts and relief measures. Such issues need to be avoided and learnt from to there is no grievance redressal make the disaster management policy work. mechanism under DM Act. o The constitutional courts must suo DISASTER MANAGEMENT (DM) ACT, 2005 motu register PILs and closely monitor • The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the the implementation of DM Act, ensure DM Act is the nodal central body for coordinating disaster rule of law and protection of human management, with the Prime Minister as its Chairperson. The rights as guaranteed under the NDMA lays down policies, plans and guidelines for management of Constitution even during the disasters. disaster. • Similarly, State, District and Local level Disaster Management Authorities were established, manned by high functionaries. All these agencies are envisaged to work in coordination. • NDMA so far formulated 30 Guidelines on various disasters including the ‘Guidelines on Management of Biological Disasters, 2008’. • The 2019 National Disaster Management Plan issued also deals extensively with Biological Disaster and Health Emergency. This is the broad legal framework within which activities to contain COVID-19 are being carried out by the Union and State governments.

1.6 CBI AND GENERAL CONSENT WHAT IS GENERAL CONSENT? The CBI is regulated by the Special Police Establishment Act of Delhi, that makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting investigation in that state.

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General consent is routinely granted by state governments to the CBI and all agencies under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, for periods ranging from six months to a year. Consent is required as the jurisdiction of these agencies is limited under this Act to Delhi and the Union Territories. Two forms of consent exist: case-specific and general. Given that the CBI has jurisdiction only over departments and personnel of the central government, it can only investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state after consent is given by that state government. General consent "is generally given to assist the CBI to conduct its investigation of corruption cases against central government employees in the state concerned seamlessly." Such approval has been granted by nearly all states. Otherwise, in every case, the CBI will require consent.

DOES THE REMOVAL OF GENERAL CONSENT MEAN THAT IN THE TWO STATES, THE CBI WILL NO LONGER PROBE ANY CASE? • When general consensus existed, the CBI would also have the right to examine old cases reported. • Cases reported elsewhere in the nation, but involving individuals stationed in a state with withdrawn general consent, will also cause the jurisdiction of CBI to expand to these states. • There is uncertainty as to whether, in relation to an old case, the agency will perform a search in one of the two states without the state government's permission. • Nevertheless, there are legal alternatives to that as well. The CBI can still procure from a local court in the state a search warrant and perform searches. • If the search involves a surprise factor, Section 166 of the CrPC enables a police officer from one jurisdiction to order another officer to perform searches on his behalf. • And if the first officer thinks that the searches by the latter which lead to the loss of evidence, the section makes the first officer after giving the latter a notice to perform searches himself. • Withdrawal of consent would only prohibit the CBI from registering a case in those states jurisdiction.

OTHER CBI CONCERNS • Autonomy: the lack of adequate financial and administrative autonomy in non corruption cases has been often cited as major roadblocks in independent investigation by CBI. • MHA dependency: for staffing, in particular the deputation of IPS officers, which affects the functional autonomy of the officers. • Constitutional status: the CBI has considerable control over the country's investigative machinery, but it derives its roots from the DPSE Act, 1946, and the 1963 MHA resolution, which places its constitutional status on shaky ground. In 2013, the Guwahati High Court called the CBI unconstitutional, which the Supreme Court later dismissed. • Political interference: important cases and those of national interest are also handled by the CBI. However, since it is under the jurisdiction of the central government, with the latter having tremendous power over its operation, there have also been reports of political misuse of CBI. In instances such as Bofor’s scam, Hawala scam, 2 G scam case, coal gate scam case, etc., wrongdoing or tardiness in investigation was alleged on the part of CBI. SC, while hearing a coal gate scam case in 2013, called CBI a caged parrot because of this issue.

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• Internal faction within the CBI and corruption: Recently, the CBI accusation of corruption between the special director of the CBI, > CBI is India's premier investigative agency, Rakesh Asthana, and the director of the CBI, Alok Verma, leading covering all Central Government Agencies, to the subsequent ouster of the latter by the CVC, brought the Union Territories, and States with the internal division within the ranks of the CBI into the foreground. approval of the respective State In the corruption event, the Supreme Court ordered a CVC Governments. investigation. It emerged in 1941 to investigate bribery and corruption in transactions in the War and Supply Department of India in the form of a HOW CAN THE CBI BE MADE MORE EFFECTIVE? Special Police Establishment under the • Legislative support: a formal legal framework to ensure that the Government of India. > The Delhi Special Police Establishment CBI works efficiently and autonomously. (DPSE) Act, 1946, was transferred to the • Checking political intervention in appointments: The Lokpal Act Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 1946. After 2013, 2013, provides for a 3-member selection committee the recommendation of the Santhanam comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Committee and by a resolution of the MHA, and the Chief Justice of India for appointment as CBI Director. In DPSE got its name as CBI in 1963. Therefore, letter and spirit, the process must be followed. the CBI is not a legislative authority. • Parliamentary accountability: Like the Comptroller and Auditor > The CBI's key function concerns the General of India (CAG), parliamentary oversight, will ensure prevention of corruption and the protection greater accountability, reduce the chances of political abuse, and of the dignity of government, as well as major improve its reputation. crimes in the country with national and • Dedicated officers: Dedicated officers of their own without international implications. The major CBI divisions are, among others, the Anti- relying on deputations. The CVC allows for 2 years of tenure Corruption Section, the Special Crimes security, which must also be respected for open and impartial Section, the Economic Offences Division, etc. inquiries. > The Ministry of Staff, Public Complaints and CONCLUSION Pensions is under the administrative control Compared with the state police, the CBI has a high conviction rate of the department. In corruption cases under (65-70%). The changes needed would make the CBI more the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, independent and efficient in dealing with cases. In order to following the Vineet Narain judgement of the contain internal rivalries and factions, the CBI must also take Supreme Court, 1997, the Central Vigilance corrective measures and follow existing procedures to work more Commission (CVC) has a supervisory role over transparently and efficiently to fulfil its mandate and to live up to the CBI. the expectations of the people.

1.7 CONTEMPT OF COURT What is contempt of court? • Contempt refers to the offence of showing disrespect to the dignity or authority of a court. • The rationale for this provision is that courts must be protected from tendentious attacks that lower its authority, defame its public image, and make the public lose faith in its impartiality. o Also, Article 261 says, Full faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State.

• Constitutional Provisions in relation to contempt: o Contempt of court is one of the reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(2). o Article 129 of the Constitution conferred on the Supreme Court the power to punish contempt of itself. Article 215 conferred a corresponding power on the High Courts. Every High Court shall have and exercise the same

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www.upscwithnikhil.com jurisdiction, powers and authority, in accordance with the same procedure and practice, in respect of contempt of courts subordinate to it as it has and exercises in respect of contempt of itself. o Article 142(2) says that when any law is made by the Parliament on the provisions mentioned in clause 1 of this Article, the Supreme Court has all the power to make an order for securing any person's attendance, production of any documents or has the power to give punishment to anyone for its contempt.

• The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 defines contempt (the expression contempt of court is not defined in the constitution). It divides contempt into civil and criminal contempt. o Civil contempt refers to the wilful disobedience of an order of any court. o Criminal contempt means the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which scandalises or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court and have the effect of undermining public confidence in the judiciary; or prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner.

Punishment: As per Contempt of Courts Act of 1971, punishment is simple imprisonment for a term up to six months and/or a fine of up to ₹. 2,000. The accused may be discharged, or the punishment awarded may be remitted on apology being made to the satisfaction of the court.  Period of Limitation: No court shall initiate contempt proceedings either on its own notions or otherwise after the expiry of one year from the date on which contempt is alleged to have been committed. • Exceptions to contempt of Court: o Fair and accurate reporting of judicial proceedings. o Any fair criticism on the merits of a judicial order after a case is heard and disposed of. o If the publication or other act is merely a defamatory attack on the judge and is not intended to interfere with the administration of justice, it will not be taken as contempt of court. o The Act was amended in 2006 and introduced truth as a valid defence, if it was in public interest and was invoked in a bona fide manner.

Issues with contempt of court • Stifle with freedom of speech and Expression: Law of contempt still continues to strike a fine balance between 'the need to uphold the majesty of the courts and administration of justice' AND 'the non-comprisable fundamental right to freedom of speech protected and guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India', subject of course to "reasonable restrictions" • Vague and wide jurisdiction: Definition of criminal contempt in India is extremely wide and can be easily invoked because of the Suo motu powers of the Court to initiate such proceedings. • Against Natural Justice: A fundamental principle of natural justice, that no one may be the judge in his or her own case. However, the contempt law enables judiciary to sits in judgement on itself. o In Nand Lal Balwani case, who purportedly hurled a shoe towards the court, the same bench convicted Nand Lal Balwani for contempt and sentenced him to four months imprisonment. • Limited right to appeal: As per the present statutory scheme, a person convicted for the criminal contempt has the right to file a review petition against the judgment and that plea is decided in chambers by the bench usually without hearing the contemnor. • Impact Executive functioning: Court Orders can be sometimes be used to blackmail executive. Fear of contempt of court make misallocation of resources of administration like using of force, logistics etc

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• International practice: The offence of “scandalising the court” continues in India even though it was abolished as an offence in US, Canada and England.

Way forward • Under the Indian Contempt of Courts laws power is discretionary in nature. To check its abusive use it should be made more determinate and principled. o The words 'any other manner' mentioned in section 2 (c) (iii) of the contempt of courts Act, 1971, which is the source of discretionary powers of the courts in criminal contempt of court should either be deleted or some specific guidelines are needed to check this limitless power. o ‘Mens rea’ is a legal concept denoting criminal intent or evil mind. Establishing the ‘mens rea’ of an offender is usually necessary to prove guilt in a criminal trial.

• Judiciary should balance two conflicting principles, i.e. freedom of expression, and fair and fearless justice. • Power to punish for contempt of court must always be exercised cautiously, wisely and with circumspection. There should be an independent panel to check the misuse of Contempt of Court power • Element of ‘mens rea’ may be incorporated in the act. • Proceedings may be according to the Indian evidence act and Criminal Judicial Decisions to constitute Contempt of procedure code. Court in India • Punishment for contempt is inadequate and is not a sufficient • Interference with Administration of Justice: deterrent especially with regard to fine it should be sufficiently enhanced In Brahma Prakash Sharma v State of Uttar to deal with interference in administration of justice. Pradesh, the Supreme Court had held that in Conclusion order to constitute the offence of Contempt It is necessary to distinguish between constructive criticism and of Court, it was not necessary to specifically malicious statement and the test for contempt needs to be evaluated. It prove that an actual interference with should be whether the contemptuous remarks in question actually administration of justice has been obstruct the Court from functioning and should not be allowed to be committed. The Court held that it was used as a means to quash reasonable dissent. enough if a defamatory statement is likely or in any way tends to interfere with the proper How do judges respond to criticisms in other democracies? administration of justice. • Scandalizing the Court: In the case of PN • England: Contempt Law in England has now been abolished after Dua v Shiv Shankar and others, the Supreme the last contempt proceedings occurred in 1930. British Judge Lord Court held that mere criticism of the Court Denning had observed in 1969 that even though the Court has the does not amount to contempt of Court. o In jurisdiction for contempt, they shall never use it. This is because the case of Baradanath Mishra v the Registrar in contempt cases, judges do have a certain amount of personal of Orissa High Court judgement, the court interest. This is against the legal principle that one cannot be a said that in a contempt case the court has to judge in their own case. o Lord Denning said “We do not fear ask whether the vilification is of the Judge as criticism, nor do we resent it.” a judge, or it is the vilification of the Judge as an individual. If the latter the Judge is left to • United states: Justice Hugo Black had observed that American his private remedies and the Court has no Public opinion could not be silenced in the pretext of Contempt power to commit for contempt. of Court. Instead, it contended that the dignity of the Court will not • Interference with due course of Justice: In be established and respected if free discussions about the Court Pritam Lal v. High Court of M.P the Supreme were restricted on the pretext of preserving its duty. Court held that to preserve the proceedings • Canada: In Kopyto case in 1987, court observed that courts are of the Courts from interference and to keep free to be criticised unless there is any imminent danger to the streams of justice pure, it becomes the administration of justice. duty of the Court, to punish the contemnor in order to preserve its dignity. Contempt of court: A censor on free speech

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• Democratic reform process: Constructive difference of opinion and suggestions are very important for a democracy to grow. If freedom to express one’s opinion is suppressed then there are chances that any constructive debate will diminish. This will be very disastrous for our democracy. • Right to differ: Individual opinion does not mean that an institution is criticised. The constitution has itself allowed difference of opinion to prevail. By censoring freedom of speech, the judiciary seems to indicate that its institution is infallible and they are superior. • Self-protective nature: Contempt of court has been used as a tool to protect own image of a judge. Sometimes, personal difference is considered as rejection of the institution of judiciary. Since the judges are the same ones that are accused of, conflict of interest cannot be ruled out. Should the provision be retained or not? In 2018, the Department of Justice asked Law Commission of India to examine Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Law Commission has submitted a report stating that there is no requirement to amend the Act, for the reasons stated below: • High number of contempt cases: High civil and criminal contempt pending in various High Courts and the Supreme Court justify the continuing relevance of the Act. Commission stated that amending the definition of contempt may reduce the overall impact of the law and lessen the respect that people have for courts and their authority and functioning. • Source of contempt power: Courts derive their contempt powers from the Constitution. The Act only outlines the procedure in relation to investigation and punishment for contempt. Therefore, deletion of the offence from the Act will not impact the inherent constitutional powers of the superior courts to punish anyone for its contempt. • Impact on subordinate courts: The Constitution allows superior courts to punish for their contempt. The Act additionally allows the High Court to punish for contempt of subordinate courts. The Commission argued that if the definition of contempt is narrowed, subordinate courts will suffer as there will be no remedy to address cases of their contempt. • International comparison: Commission compared the offence of ‘scandalising the Court’ in Britain and India Commission noted that the United Kingdom had abolished the offence in its contempt laws. However, it says abolishing the offence in India would leave a legislative gap. It warranted a continuation of the offence in India as o India continues to have a high number of criminal contempt cases, while the last offence of Scandalising the Court in the UK was in 1931. o Offence of Scandalising the Court continues to be punishable in UK under other laws.

• Adequate safeguards into the Act to protect against its misuse. Provisions in 1971 act suggest that the courts will not prosecute all cases of contempt. The Commission further noted that the Act had withstood judicial scrutiny, and therefore, there was no reason to amend it. • Restrict court power: 1971 Act was a good influence as laying down procedure, restricts the vast authority of the courts in wielding contempt powers. Amending the definition of contempt will lead to ambiguity.

1.8 SECTION 309 IPC • The Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — contrary to popular perception that it has been repealed - continues to exist in the statute book and is being misused. • The section reads: “Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year (or with fine, or with both)”. • The law, brought in by the British in the 19th century, reflected the thinking of the time, when killing or attempting to kill oneself was considered a crime against the state, as well as against religion. Wasn’t Section 309 Repealed A Few Years Back?

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• No. The section continues to remain in the IPC. The Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017, which came into force in July 2018, has significantly reduced the scope for the use of Section 309 IPC — and made the attempt to commit suicide punishable only as an exception. • Section 115(1) of The MHCA says: “Notwithstanding anything contained in section 309 of the IPC any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code.” • Section 115(2) says that “The appropriate Government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide.” Why Section 309 IPC Should Be Repealed? • The restrictions put on the use of this section under the provisions of the MHCA — as opposed to it being removed from the statute all together — do not seem to be enough simply because of continued reports of its use by police forces across the country. • Several senior police officers said that on many occasions, there is lack of awareness among officers at the level of police station about the relatively new MHCA, and they simply go by the IPC. • Use of this Section can potentially deprive a victim of treatment in the golden hour, as hospitals wait for a go- ahead from police in what would be seen as a “medico-legal case”. • It is possible that unscrupulous hospital authorities may misuse this situation and charge extra to “hush up” the case by not informing the police; similar extortion is possible on the part of corrupt police personnel as well. • In 1971, the Law Commission in its 42nd Report recommended the repeal of Section 309 IPC. Why It Should Be Retained There were occasions when people showed up at government offices and threatened to kill themselves if their demands were not met. In these cases, the person does not intend to commit suicide but is using the threat as a way to unfairly pressure or blackmail the system. If 309 is repealed, there will be no provision to take action against those who intend to create trouble of this sort. Way forward Section 309 IPC can be redefined in such a manner where it can still be leveraged in law and order situations, and not be used against those who are suffering from genuine mental health issues.

1.9 RESERVATION IS NOT A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT Recently the Supreme Court said that reservation of seats to certain communities was not a Fundamental Right. What Is The Issue? • All political parties from Tamil Nadu filed a writ petitions under Article 32 seeking a direction to the Centre to implement 50% reservation for Backward Classes in the State in Supreme Court’s Observation All India Quota seats for medical and dental courses. • The court said that nobody can claim right • The political parties accused the Centre of “violating the right to reservation as a fundamental right and of people of Tamil Nadu to have a fair education” by not ruled that refusing to provide reservation implementing the 50% quota for Backward Classes and Most benefits cannot be treated as a violation of Backward Classes. any constitutional right. • The petitions had argued that the action of the Centre and the • The bench questioned why a writ petition Medical Council of India to fill All India Quota seats reserved for under Article 32 had been filed and pointed Backward Classes from the open category was unconstitutional. out that it can be done only in case of • In Tamil Nadu, there is 69% reservation for OBCs, SC and ST and violation of fundamental rights. It sought to within this, OBC reservations are about 50%. The petitions said know whose fundamental rights had been violated in the case. 50% of OBC candidates must get admissions in the medical colleges out of seats surrendered under the all India Quota, except for central government institutions. What Does The Constitution Say On Reservations?

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• Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws to everyone. Similarly, Article 16(1) and 16(2) assure citizens equality of opportunity in employment or appointment to any government office. • Article 15(1) generally prohibits any discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion, caste, sex or place of birth. • Additionally, Article 29(2) bars discrimination against any citizen with regard to admission to educational institutions maintained by the government or receiving aid out of government funds on grounds of religion, race, caste etc. • However, Articles 15(4) and 16(4) state that these equality provisions do not prevent the government from making special provisions in matters of admission to educational institutions or jobs in favour of backward classes, particularly the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs). • Article 16(4A) allows reservations to SCs and STs in promotions, as long as the government believes that they are not adequately represented in government services.

What Do The Precedents Say? • There are several major Supreme Court judgments that have, in the past, ruled that Articles 15(4) and 16(4) do not provide a fundamental right per se. • A five-judge apex court bench, as early as 1962 in the M.R. Balaji v. State of Mysore had ruled that Article 15(4) is an “enabling provision”, meaning that “it does not impose an obligation, but merely leaves it to the discretion of the appropriate government to take suitable action, if necessary”. • Five years later, in 1967, another five-judge bench in C.A. Rajendran v. Union of India reiterated this position, holding that the government is under no constitutional duty to provide reservations for SCs and STs, either at the initial stage of recruitment or at the stage of promotion. Article 16(4), it said, does not confer any right on the citizens and is an enabling provision giving discretionary power to the government to make reservations. • The position went on to be reiterated in several other decisions, including the nine-judge bench ruling in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) and the five-judge bench decision in M Nagaraj v. Union of India (2006).

2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 2.1 INDIA & CENTRAL ASIA The Central Asia region (CA) comprises the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. India was among the first countries to recognize the five Central Asian states. After gaining independence in the 1990s, India formed diplomatic ties with them. As part of its 'extended and strategic neighbourhood,’ India now considers the Central Asian nations part of the policy.

The five Central Asian republics currently account for trade with India of just about $2 billion. It was less than China's approximately $ 50 billion that made them a gateway to its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative.

CENTRAL ASIA'S SIGNIFICANCE: Strategic position: The position of these countries is geographically a bridge between the various regions of Asia and between Europe and Asia. New trade routes between India and Central Asia have been opened, bypassing Pakistan, with the Chabahar Agreement with Iran in effect. The only foreign military airbase in India, controlled by the IAF and the Tajik Air Force, is in Farkhor (Tajikistan). With China, Afghanistan, Russia and Iran, the CARs share borders. Tajikistan is situated close to Kashmir (PoK), which is occupied by Pakistan.

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Energy security: Central Asian countries are blessed with substantial hydrocarbon and mineral resources and are geographically similar to India. For instance,  Kazakhstan is the largest producer of uranium and also has vast reserves of gas and oil.  Uzbekistan, along with Kyrgyzstan, is an significant regional producer of gold.  Apart from oil deposits, Tajikistan has huge hydropower capacity, and Turkmenistan has the world's fourth largest gas reserves.  Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are both on the Caspian coastline, promising to open the door to other Caspian states that are rich in oil. Security: The withdrawal from Afghanistan of US forces would have significant regional security consequences. CARs face a significant challenge from the 'Golden Crescent' illicit drug trade in opium cultivation (Iran-Pak-Afghan) and are also victims of the illicit weapons trade. Central Asian instability can spill over to PoK. Furthermore, religious extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism continue to pose threats as well as regional stability to Central Asian societies.

Trade and investment potential: Central Asia's economic growth, especially in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, has sparked a construction boom and sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals and tourism have been expanding. India has expertise in these fields, and deeper collaboration would give trade ties with these countries a new impetus. The area also has a strong demand for Indian pharmaceutical products.

CHALLENGES THAT INDIA FACES IN TERMS OF CAR: • Land locked region: It is land locked, which has hindered the relationship between India and Central Asia. Weak connectivity has also led to India and Central Asia's below-par trade. o Moreover, India does not share physical borders with any of the states of Central Asia. In promoting and expanding economic, commercial, electricity, tourist ties with them, there is a huge bottleneck. One choice was the old Silk Road, but Xinjiang's security situation, unresolved border disputes with China, and protracted negotiations forced India to pursue alternate routes to reach the CARs. o The unpredictable situation in Afghanistan and the geo-strategic importance of Pakistan in the region have robbed India of the benefits of Central Asian ties. • Chinese presence: The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative involves Central Asia. In addition, the danger posed by the spill-over of Islamic radicalization to the Uighurs in Xinjiang province has led China to become well entrenched in Central Asian security affairs, thus indirectly affecting India 's interests. • Radicalism and extremism: Central Asia is prone to factors such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Taliban, the IUM, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and so on. • Other regions have their own domestic problems, such as " youth bulge " combined with restricted economic opportunities; extreme and worsening corruption; drug trafficking; autocratic states' succession management without strong government or party institutions, etc.

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EFFORTS BY INDIA TO CONNECT WITH THE AREA: Link Strategy for Central Asia: Introduced in 2012, it includes • Close political relations by exchanging high-level visits and multilateral commitments • Strategic and security cooperation through military preparation, frequent intelligence exchange, coordination of counter-terrorism and near Afghanistan consultations. • Long-term Oil and Natural Resources Collaboration. • Helping to provide the area with a viable banking infrastructure. • Increase the involvement of Indian companies in the building and power sector in Vehicles. • Improving INSTC connectivity, air services, people-to - people and cultural exchanges. Shanghai Cooperation Organization: With full SCO membership, the top leaders of India & CARs can have more regular summit level contacts. International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC): India is a founding member of the International North- South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a project to link India and Iran to Central Asia by sea route and then via Iran to the Caspian Sea. Creation of the port of Chabahar in Iran: Allowing access to landlocked Afghanistan and energy-rich Central Asia through the ports like Jawaharlal Nehru and Kandla on the west coast of India. Ashgabat Agreement: India has acceded to the Ashgabat Agreement, which facilitates the transport of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf through an international transport and transit corridor. Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI): The planned natural gas pipeline runs through the Herat- Kandahar-Multan-Fazilika (Pak-India Border) from field in Galkynysh (Turkmenistan). It will not only provide a secure source of natural gas at reasonable prices, but it will also play a strategically important role in the region's peace and stability. Eurasian Economic Union (EEU): India is negotiating a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan as part of the Eurasian Economic Union. The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Program is also an important tool for the training and human capital growth of young professionals from these countries.

CONCLUSION • Both regions have struggled to make full use of the resources available in different sectors. The strengthening of relations between India and Central Asia is intended for the mutual benefit of all participating countries. • Good ties with India will also provide these countries with an assured market for their resources, raw materials, oil and gas, uranium, minerals, hydropower, etc. • The current regional and international political, strategic and economic scenario poses enormous challenges, but also the ability for India and Central Asia to boost their engagement qualitatively. • Stronger partnerships between these countries and the world would lead to improved stability and development. The current India-Central Asia Dialogue should be qualitatively enhanced to maintain continuous contact with key stakeholders in the region.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 2.2 IDLIB (TESTING THE POWER OF PERSONAL TOUCH) WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT IDLIB? • It is a city in northwestern Syria • Idlib is strategically important to the government of Syria. It borders Turkey to the north and connects highways running south from the city of Aleppo to the capital Damascus, and west to the Mediterranean city of Latakia.

WHO CONTROLS THE PROVINCE? • The province - along with parts of Hama, Latakia and Aleppo - is the last stronghold of the rebel and jihadist groups that have been trying to overthrow President

ASSAD SINCE 2011. * The opposition once controlled large parts of the country, but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen. * Now, the army wants to “liberate” Idlib. • Idlib has been controlled by a number of rival factions, rather than a single group. But the dominant force is the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist alliance, Hayat Tahrir al- Sham (HTS). WHY DID SYRIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES TARGET IDLIB NOW? • In 2017, Russia and Turkey agreed to de-escalation in Idlib and the province is out of the control of the Syrian government. • When Syrian government forces overtook three other de- escalation zones elsewhere in Syria, Turkey approached Russia in 2018 with a proposal to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, in what came to be known as the Sochi accord. • Turkey also proposed that it would disarm the Sunni militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and remove it from the area, and agreed to reopen the crucial M4 and M5 highways. • However, the situation escalated when Turkey failed to deal with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham according to the terms of the proposal with Russia. * Turkey supports the Syrian rebels, while Russia backs the Syrian government’s campaign to retake the area. WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING IN IDLIB? • Fighting has intensified in Idlib as a result of massive displacement, running into over half a million people. • The forces of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad backed by Russian air-power has ramped up airstrikes in Idlib. Idlib’s importance can be corroborated by two factors. • One, that it essentially determines the faith and future of the Syrian Civil War. • Second, that it is currently the biggest contention point between Syria and its neighbor Turkey. Why is Idlib important for Turkey? • Idlib’s proximity to the Turkish border makes it not only important for the Syrian government, but also a cause of concern for Turkey. • Since the war started in Syria, thousands of displaced Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey over the years. • According to the latest known figures, Turkey presently hosts some 3.6 million refugees and is feeling the socio-economic and political strain of their presence in the country. • More conflict in Idlib would only serve to displace more people, pushing them towards the Turkish border. Turkey has been witnessing a surge in hostility among its citizens towards refugees and a fresh wave of refugees will only exacerbate the situation.

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What is the issue between Turkey and Russia? • More than two dozen Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Syrian government forces. • The deaths mark a serious escalation in the direct conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces that has been waged since early February 2020. • As crisis soared in Syria’s Idlib and the possibility of a direct confrontation between Russia and Turkey was rising, the leaders of both the countries Mr. Putin and Mr. Erdogan agreed to implement a ceasefire in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib. • Both sides also agreed to establish a secure corridor along the strategically important M4 highway. Conclusion • The unpredictability in the region may have been suspended temporarily, but Syria remains on the brink.

2.3 U.S. PRIORITY WATCH LIST CONTEXT: • United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released its Annual Special 301 Report. What does the report say about India? Details: • India remains one of the most challenging economies for IP • India continues to be on the ‘Priority Watch enforcement and protection. List’ of the USTR for lack of adequate • While India made meaningful progress to enhance IP protection intellectual property (IP) rights protection and enforcement in some areas over the past year, it did not and enforcement. resolve recent and long-standing challenges, and created new ones, • The same assessment was made in the 2019 report. the report said. • Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, Indonesia, • The long-standing concerns are about: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Venezuela * Innovators being able to receive, maintain and enforce patents are also on the Priority Watch List. particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. * Concerns over copyright laws not incentivizing the creation and commercialization of content. * An outdated trade secrets framework. • Other concerns stated by the report are that: * India also further restricted the transparency of information provided on state-issued pharmaceutical manufacturing licenses. * It continues to apply restrictive patentability criteria to reject pharmaceutical patents. * It has still not established an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as the unauthorized disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceuticals and certain agricultural chemical products. * The report also mentioned high customs duties on medical devices and Information and Communications Technology. These goods categories were persistent challenges in trade talks between India and the U.S in 2019. • Online IP enforcement in India has improved, the report said, but progress is undercut by factors including weak enforcement by courts and the police, lack of familiarity with investigative techniques and no centralized IP enforcement agency. SPECIAL 301 REPORT: • It is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries. • The Special 301 Report is published pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. • By statute, the annual Special 301 Report includes a list of “Priority Foreign Countries“, that are judged to have inadequate intellectual property laws; these countries may be subject to sanctions. • In addition, the report contains a “Priority Watch List” and a “Watch List”, containing countries whose intellectual property regimes are deemed of concern.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 2.4 SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTE AND ITS ROLE IN FOREIGN POLICY China's maritime conflicts have spanned decades. The South China Sea (SCS) war over competing exclusive economic zones has an equally complex chronology of events steeped in the chaos of Southeast Asian history. In recent years, China's actions in the SCS have increased concerns in the region, including extensive island- building and base construction activities at sites it occupies in the Spratly Islands, as well as actions by its maritime forces to assert China's claims against competing claims from regional neighbours such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

• The Philippines, Vietnam, China, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia hold separate, often conflicting, territorial claims over the sea in the SCS - one of the world's busiest waterways, based on different historical and geographical accounts. • The plaintiffs have taken possession of a number of marine features over the years, including cliffs, islands and Olw-tide elevations. • The "nine-dash line" of China is a geographical marker that is used to assert its assertion. It extends from the Chinese mainland as far as 2,000 km, touching waters close to Indonesia and Malaysia. Under what is known as the "nine-dash line," the Chinese government claims an enormous territory. Beijing insists that the region has been under Chinese rule although many disagree with "old times." • A complicated network of territorial claims is the SCS. At least six governments say that they are the legitimate owners of parts of the Spartlys and the Paracels.

The government of the Philippines also claims the bulk of the Spratly chain, which lies off its shores. But so far, rather than confrontation, President Rodrigo Duterte has wanted closer ties with China. The Paracel chain and parts of the Spratlys are claimed by Vietnam, claiming they come under the control of Hanoi. Hanoi's attempts to search for oil within what both consider as their territories have been blocked repeatedly by the Chinese government. Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all claim or control parts of the area, but they rarely come into conflict over the issue, either due to the smaller size of their stakes or their inability to implement them.

SOUTH CHINA SEA IMPORTANCE It is about more than prestige and strength to create a place in the SCS. Many claimants are attempting to take possession of fishing rights and probably even more important, but unproven, reserves of oil and gas deep beneath the sea. The Chinese government maintains that Beijing controls the vast majority of all resources in the South China Sea, and has interrupted Vietnam 's attempts to discover its own waters off the shores of Tis. Controlling access to the SCS will also give the holder control over one of the most lucrative trade routes in the world, giving the nation that dominates its waters tremendous influence. According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) China Power Initiative, the sea hosts one third of global shipping, worth more than $3 trillion in 2016. That included 874 billion dollars worth of Chinese exports, as well as 125 billion dollars worth of US imports from the country. According to CSIS estimates, over 80 per cent of trade to and from Vietnam and Indonesia passes through the sea. It is also an important point of entry to the Malacca Strait, a narrow shipping passage providing access to the Indian Ocean and trade with countries beyond. however, it is not just resources and trade routes that are driving the U.S. to challenge the supremacy of China in the region. If the South China Sea is effectively closed by 24 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com an increasingly strong Chinese military to American ships and aircraft, it would restrict U.S. efficiency as a world power.

ROLES OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS: THE UNITED STATES In East Asia, the US has broad-based security commitments and is allied with a range of countries bordering the SCS, such as the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. While the US is not formally affiliated with either of the claimants, it has carried out free navigation operations aimed at challenging what Washington considers to be excessive claims and at granting commercial ships free passage in its waters. China claims the South China Sea as its own sea, almost all of it, including the secret underlying oil and gas deposits. These are tools urgently needed nowadays by Beijing, as America is cutting off its supply to the Middle East. And China has done whatever it takes to claim its right of possession of these properties. Like the construction of artificial islands in the contested waters, and the sailing of their warships. On one of the islands, Sansha on Woody Island, China has also built a new settlement, resulting in increased Chinese tourism. China has consistently criticized the US for behaving in a 'provocative' manner, although in recent years it has begun to defend its statements in a more assertive way.

NATIONS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA Traditionally, Southeast Asian nations have opposed finding a bilateral solution with China, the principal economic and military force of the region. Despite this, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to settle the conflict with China through bilateral talks one year after the landmark ruling against China's territorial claims. Likewise, Vietnam, China's most outspoken critic, has softened its stance. The government said in 2018 that it would be prepared to hold talks with China to settle disputes "in compliance with international law" in the region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been working on an official code of conduct with China to prevent disputes in the disputed waters. A binding agreement has been negotiated to no avail for years, but both parties decided on a single draft negotiating document in August 2018.

RUSSIA The role of Russia in the South China Sea has been traditionally insignificant. In the South China Sea, Russia has been low-key because it actually does not have anything at stake. Few of Russia's energy resources flow through the South China Sea waters. Russia does not yet have the scope or the need to engage in regional quarrels and has no significant economic interests to support it. Russia's knowledge of the South China Sea is very low, and rarely a topic of presidential politics. The interest in the conflicts that do occur stems from the strong relations between Russia and both China and Vietnam. Russia is a long-standing supplier of weapons to both countries and has been central to Vietnam's naval modernization, especially with six Kilo-class submarines capable of carrying Klub missiles from the Vietnamese navy. This is in addition to the corvettes, frigates, fighter jets, and missile defence systems that make it possible for Vietnam to retaliate and probably deter China. Freedom of navigation and the understanding of this principle are one of the great issues at stake in the South China Sea. In addition, Russia can find itself deeper in the long run, as long as its Asia policy is a full-scale shift and not just a small adjustment in its bilateral commitments.

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LATEST EVOLUTIONS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where, in various territorial disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons, China is pitted against smaller neighbours. The waters are a major shipping route for global trade and are abundant in fish and potential reserves of oil and gas. Recently, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed near the Paracel Islands in a challenge to China's claim to the seas around them. The USS Wayne E. Meyer activity has shown that the waters are beyond what China can claim under international law as its internal waters or territorial seas. With a delicate plan to look into joint offshore oil and gas exploration in and close to the disputed South China Sea, China and the Philippines are moving ahead. Two weeks of battle exercises on ground, sea and air, which will include mock interdictions and amphibious landings on two island provinces facing the South China Sea, were initiated by around 1,500 Philippine military personnel. Air and sea interdiction exercises will take place in a training area in the province of Palawan, while amphibious landings will be carried out at another training site in the province of Zambales, two regions facing the South China Sea. In the disputed waters, China has frowned on military drills, especially those being staged by the US. China and Malaysia agreed to set up a framework for consultation to address and resolve their differences with regard to maritime issues. China and the Philippines, however, have a similar body that has met many times, although any significant territorial disputes have yet to be resolved.

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA STRATEGY OF INDIA India's back-to - back moves to improve relations with Japan and Russia, particularly in security matters, seem to suggest that it wants a larger naval presence in the contested South China Sea to counter China's rise. However, for three reasons, it is unlikely to abandon its policy of non- intervention in Southeast Asian and SCS security relations. First India is not a party to the region's maritime territorial disputes and is unlikely to want to intervene in a problem that is not directly concerned with it. Second, Indian policymakers know that Beijing operates from a place of power, where sensitive islands in the SCS are physically monitored. The possession of these characteristics gives Beijing the power, regardless of the rights and interests of other regional states, to assert strategic authority over the disputed territory. Third, and perhaps most important, India is keen on retaining its "Wuhan deal" with China. Beijing hopes that India's sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean will be respected in the same way that Delhi will honour Beijing's in Southeast Asia. Even if China has not behaved in good faith recently, the Indian government is unwilling to break its goodwill pact with Beijing by calling for an informal meeting of the UN Security Council to address the Kashmir issue. India is not impervious to the threat posed by China to the region's trade flows or to the major challenges posed to Indian energy and strategic interests. For Indian policymakers, access to major waterways in Southeast Asia is an significant factor, as is the need to develop capacity in the ASEAN Member States. Both are essential to the evolving Indo-Pacific vision of New Delhi. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Government of India to enforce the 'Act East' strategy, and a general increase in connectivity and economic diplomacy initiatives, India has yet to gather the political gumption to take a firm stand against Chinese aggression in the regional commons. CONCLUSION China has shown that there are other ways in the South China Sea to inch its way forward and extend its de facto influence. Just two possible strategies are to draw out formal talks and buy off their neighbours. Moscow 26 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com has and continues to use similar strategies to tighten its grip on and increasingly reinforce the Black Sea peninsula four years after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Similarly, it is not easy to reject the idea that China will sustain its presence on various features in the South China Sea and increase its military presence in a demonstration of power, particularly as the culmination of China's efforts to date have dramatically increased its military presence in the South China Sea and drastically improved the peacetime and wartime role of Beijing. WHO CLAIMS WHAT? > China claims more than 80 percent, while Vietnam claims sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands. > The Philippines asserts ownership of the Spratly archipelago and the Scarborough Shoal, while Brunei and Malaysia have claimed sovereignty over southern parts of the sea and some of Spratly Islands. > China claims by far the largest portion of territory - an area defined by the “nine-dash line”. > China’s “nine-dash line” is a geographical marker used to assert its claim. It stretches as far as 2,000km from the Chinese mainland, reaching waters close to Indonesia and Malaysia. > Beijing says its right to the area goes back centuries to when the Paracel and Spratly island chains were regarded as integral parts of the Chinese nation, and in 1947 it issued a map detailing its claims. > It showed the two island groups falling entirely within its territory. Those claims are mirrored by Taiwan. > However, critics say China has not clarified its claims sufficiently - and that the nine-dash line that appears on Chinese maps What role does the US play in the encompassing almost the entirety of the South China Sea includes dispute? no coordinates. > The US has wide-ranging security > It is also not clear whether China claims only land territory commitments in East Asia, and is allied within the nine-dash line, or all the territorial waters within the with several of the countries bordering line as well. the South China Sea, such as the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. REGULATION OF SOUTH CHINA SEA: > Furthermore, the South China Sea is a > All the claimants in the South China Sea – Brunei, China, vital trade route in the global supply Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam – are parties to the two chain, used by American companies who most important legal mechanisms dealing with multilateral produce goods in the region. disputes: > The Spratlys, called the Nansha Islands • the United Nations Charter (UN Charter) by China, are in the southern portion of • the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) the 1.3 million square mile-South China > Under the regimes of these conventions, state parties have the Sea. obligation to settle their disputes by peaceful means, such as > While several countries have claims on negotiation, regional arrangements, international arbitration, or the island chain, the US has long accused courts/ tribunals. China of militarizing the Spratly Islands by > Unlike the UN Charter, UNCLOS goes a step further and deploying anti-ship cruise missiles and prescribed detailed methods of solving conflicts at sea for its long-range surface-to-air missiles to parties in Chapter XV. Chinese outposts there. > In general, the consent of states is placed at the center of all > Although the US does not officially align dispute settlement mechanisms. with any of the claimants, it has > However, UNCLOS particularly opens a chance for a state party conducted Freedom of Navigation individually to bring its conflict with another state before an operations, designed to challenge what international court or arbitration when it comes to certain types Washington considers excessive claims of disputes. and grant the free passage of commercial > These are called compulsory procedures, entailing binding ships in its waters. decisions in section 2 of chapter XV of UNCLOS. When a state signed and ratified the Convention, it is understood that it has agreed with this settlement means in advance.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 2.5 HONG KONG – USA - CHINA > Hong Kong has long occupied a peculiar place in the international economic order. It’s not an independent country, but can enter trade agreements with other states on its own. > It sets its own taxes, and has its own currency. > Though it’s part of China, tariffs and customs controls applied on Chinese goods don’t apply to Hong Kong. > When the Hong Kong government attempted to introduce national security legislation in 2003, an estimated 500,000 people turned out to protest against the bill on July 1, 2003—the largest protest the city had seen since its handover from the U.K. The bill was eventually shelved. > Since then, the city’s government hasn’t attempted to introduce the legislation again. > Pressure to enact the bill has increased since widespread unrest erupted in June 2019. > But following the new law, countries are reevaluating whether the city should continue enjoying its special trade privileges, or be treated as just another mainland Chinese city. > Hong Kong’s special status is now facing its most urgent crisis yet. What is the issue? ANALYSIS > China’s legislature has approved About Hong Kong: controversial national security laws for Hong > On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Kong. Region of the People’s Republic of China and the Basic Law came > The legislation, aimed at stamping out into effect. protests that have racked the city for the past > The Basic Law is the constitutional document of the Hong Kong year, would ban “any acts or activities” that endanger China’s national security, including Special Administrative Region. separatism, subversion and terrorism – > It enshrines within a legal document the important concepts of charges often used in mainland China to “one country, two systems”, “Hong Kong people administering silence dissidents and other political Hong Kong” and a high degree of autonomy. opponents. > According to the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s political system and way > In short, the law bans sedition, secession, of life remain unchanged for 50 years. and subversion of China’s central > The rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong are based on the government. impartial rule of law and an independent judiciary. > The law will drastically broaden Beijing’s power over Hong Kong, which last year was Historical background of Hong Kong: - roiled by antigovernment protests calling for Hong Kong, the former British Colony was taken by Beijing in 1997 greater democracy and more autonomy from mainland China. are over 150 years of British rule. - The United Kingdom had held > It would also allow “national security Hong Kong as a colony since 1841, when it occupied the area during agencies” – potentially Chinese security the First Opium War. - The war broke out are Qing-dynasty China forces – to operate in the city. impacted to crack down an illegal opium trade that led to > Critics say it threatens civil liberties in Hong widespread addicted on in China. Kong and undermines the “one country, two – Defeat came at a high cost: In 1842, China agreed to cede the systems” arrangement that separates the island of Hong Kong to the British in perpetuity through the Treaty region’s political, legal, and financial of Nanjing. infrastructure from mainland China’s. - Over the next half-century, the United Kingdom gained control over all three main regions of Hong Kong: Are Hong Kong Island came the Kowloon Peninsula, and finally the New Territories, a swath of land that comprises the bulk of Hong Kong today. - The final treaty, the 1898 Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, leased the New Territories to Britain for 99 years. - Under the terms of the treaty, China would regain control of its leased lands on July 1, 1997. - In 997, Hong Kong was guaranteed a high level of autonomy and an independent judiciary for a period of 50 years under a political model dubbed “one country, two systems.”

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> The move is widely considered a severe blow to Hong Kong’s promised autonomy > In a joint statement, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US said: “China’s decision to impose the new national security law on Hong Kong lies in direct conflict with its international obligations.” > They called on Beijing to work with the Hong Kong government and people to find a “mutually acceptable accommodation”. > The UK separately said it would extend visa rights for as many as 300,000 Hong Kong British national (overseas) passport holders if China does not change tack.

The Special Status: > In a latest statement, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo declared that Hong Kong can no longer be deemed to have a high degree of autonomy from China. > This designation underpins US-Hong Kong relations, as Washington has legislated that the city must remain “sufficiently autonomous” to justify special treatment from the US. > Under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act passed last year in support of Hong Kong’s months- long pro-democracy protests, the US government must annually verify to Congress that the city remains autonomous from China, or risks losing its special status with the US. > Hong Kong’s special trade and economic status with the US exempts it from the tariffs and export controls imposed by Washington on mainland China. > US senators have already introduced a bill that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials and firms who violate freedoms in Hong Kong. > The fallout could potentially be much wider, such as bringing an end to the extradition treaty between US and Hong Kong. How China reacted? US’s presence in Hong Kong economy: > China has threatened the US with > The US has a sizeable presence in the Hong Kong economy. It has countermeasures if Washington decides to punish Beijing for its plans to enact the the highest number of regional headquarters and offices in the city. national security law, saying other countries > Almost one-third of the city’s restricted license banks—those that have no right to interfere with Hong Kong’s mainly deal with merchant banking and capital market activities— internal affairs. are owned by US interests. > Some Hong Kong politicians, including the > It is also Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner, after China, pro- Beijing lawmaker Regina Ip, have tried to accounting for 6.2% of the total share. dismiss the prospect of US sanctions by > And in 2018, 8% of China’s exports to the US, worth $37 billion, saying they wouldn’t affect the local were routed through Hong Kong, according to the city’s trade and economy very much. industry department. > The US is also the single economy with the largest trade surplus with Hong Kong, at over $33 billion in 2018. Scrapping Hong Kong’s trade status would jeopardize all of that, and more.

How will it impact? > The US could impose targeted sanctions and roll back certain privileges. > Or it could deploy arguably its most aggressive retaliatory tool and revoke Hong Kong’s special trade status. > This is often referred to as the “nuclear” option, and would be hugely damaging not just to Hong Kong’s economy, but also a lot of US businesses.

CONCLUSION: The US announcement is likely to infuriate Beijing and further strain relations between the two sides, following disputes over the coronavirus pandemic and a prolonged trade war.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 2.6 GALWAN VALLEY Violent clashes took place between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the Galwan valley in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with reported casualties on both sides.

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED IN THE GALWAN VALLEY? Tensions had been high in the area for few weeks. Large number of soldiers and military equipment were deployed along the LAC by both sides. Even though the LAC in Galwan Valley was never disputed by the two sides, the Chinese had moved into the Indian side of the LAC. Meeting was held at the level of Corps Commanders on 6 June 2020. After this, negotiations had been conducted between local military commanders of both the armies. They negotiated for a mutually agreed disengagement process. As part of that process, a buffer zone had been agreed to be created between the LAC and the junction of the Shyok and Galwan rivers. This was to avoid any faceoff between the two armies. The two armies were to move back by a kilometre each in that area as a first step. Colonel B Santosh Babu, who was monitoring this process, noticed that a Chinese camp was still existing in the area. He went to get it removed. This soon led to scuffle and blows being exchanged, resulting in deaths and injuries. More than 70 Indian soldiers were injured in a major scuffle. At least 20 soldiers including a Commanding Officer lost their lives on a single day.

HOW SERIOUS IS THE CURRENT STANDOFF? This is the first time after the 1962 War that soldiers have died in clashes on the India-China border in Ladakh. Even otherwise, the last deaths on the LAC came from attack on an Assam Rifles patrol in Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese in 1975. But the last real military engagement between the two armies was at Nathu La in Sikkim in 1967. In this, 88 Indian soldiers lost their lives, and more than 300 Chinese soldiers were killed. But all these incidents were prior to the two countries signing various agreements, starting from 1993. The agreements were aimed at maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border.

WHAT DOES THE NATURE OF STANDOFF REVEAL? Such a large number of soldiers were killed without firing a round. This means that these deaths were far more brutal than they would have been had guns and rifles been used. In most of these scuffles, the Chinese have used bats, clubs, sticks and stones to cause major injuries. Besides the use of these blunt objects, some soldiers are said to have been pushed into the fast-flowing Galwan river. Most of the deaths were due to injuries aggravated by the intense cold in the high-altitude area. However, that it remained restricted to a physical tussle points to the fact that there was no escalation to a kinetic level - rifles, howitzers, rockets, missiles, and fighter jets. China and India are both nuclear powers, and any escalation from the current situation is highly risky, and thus is less likely to happen. But this is only a slight hope seen in the light of the past. Notably, even at Nathu La in 1967, before the military engagement escalated to artillery guns and threats of fighter jets, there was a scuffle between the soldiers of the two sides.

Why were weapons not used? The soldiers were not carrying weapons. This is as per the drill followed by both sides in the border areas to avoid inadvertent escalation by opening fire. This is in tune with the 1996 agreement between the two countries on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field Along the LoAC. This imposed many restrictions on military equipment, exercises, blasts, and aircraft in the vicinity of the LAC.

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What happened to the Chinese side? The official statements put out by the Army and the MEA have no details of any deaths or injuries to Chinese soldiers. However, the first statement by the Army was amended to say that there were casualties “on both sides”. The Chinese government or the People's Liberation Army (PLA) there has not provided any details of soldiers killed or injured in the clash. The only numbers that have come from are from the news agency ANI. It has quoted unnamed sources claiming that as per radio transmission intercepts, 43 Chinese soldiers were either killed or injured in the clash. Another report in usnews.com has cited “American intelligence” to say that 35 Chinese troops, including an officer, are believed to have died.

Has the situation been defused? A meeting at the level of Major Generals of both armies took place at PP14 in the Galwan area. It brought the situation under control, and the Indian side was able to collect all the bodies. The Chinese were given permission to bring in helicopters to ferry their injured back. But tensions have already been running high at various places on the Ladakh border since May 2020. The latest incident has added to the tensions, but there have been no reports of any other clashes at the border.

Is an early resolution likely? There were hopes of an early disengagement and de-escalation after conciliatory statements following the meetings. But after the incident at the Galwan valley, the process is likely to slowdown. Naturally, an early resolution now looks unlikely. China has reasserted its claim over Galwan Valley. Chinese army has made sharp statements alleging that Indian soldiers twice crossed the LAC. The MEA too has categorically stated that the Chinese had violated the LAC in the Galwan Valley region. These allegations and counter-allegations, along with the heightened public sentiment on the deaths of so many soldiers, will test any process towards resolution.

How does the future look? The two countries are still talking at military and diplomatic levels. Border Dispute India China So, any escalation into a major conflict looks some distance away Western Border Dispute – Johnson’s line at this moment. But conflict situations have a dynamic of their own, shows Aksai Chin to be under Indian control and events can overtake the best-laid plans. A military conflict, if it whereas the McDonald Line places it under occurs, can be localized to one area, can be along the whole border, Chinese control. Line of Actual Control or can be in any one sector. But unless there is another provocation separates Indian-administered areas of J & K from Aksai Chin & is concurrent with the and crisis, the two sides should be able to resolve the situation Chinese Aksai Chin claim line. China and India peacefully. Meanwhile, the government will place the armed forces went to war in 1962 over disputed territory of on full alert. Simultaneously, it will continue to use diplomatic Aksai Chin. India claimed this was a part of channels to resolve the crisis. Alongside, controlling the domestic Kashmir, while China claimed it was a part of messaging will be done to avoid inflaming public emotions. In all, Xinjiang. the execution of such strategies will determine the course of the future action on China.

India China Relations: India & China, both the countries started off on cordial note post independence with signing of Panchsheel. However the relations turned cold post 1962 war which created mistrust between the two countries since then. Both the countries have similar attributes and problems including large population, huge rural-urban divide, rising economy and conflict with neighbours.

Major irritants Border Disputes – Share about 3,488-km long border which is yet to be fully delineated. India supports a Tibetan gov. in exile formed by Dalai Lama, unacceptable to china. China recently opposed to the Dalai Lama’s visit to

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Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang, which it considers as Southern Tibet. China began the practice of issuing stapled visa to residents of AP and J & K, though it stopped it for J & K but continues for AP. China has an undeclared policy of String of Pearls to encircle India, which involves building of ports and naval bases around India’s maritime reaches. While India has been trying to develop closer arrangements with the countries surrounding China viz. Japan, South Korea & Vietnam China has been building dams in Tibet part of Brahmaputra. India has objected to it but there has been no formal treaty over sharing of the Brahmaputra water. China has been blocking India’s attempt to entry to NSG & has also blocked India’s attempt at the UN for sanctions against Jash-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. India considers building of the CPEC as China’s interference in India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Trade imbalance with the imbalance skewed in China’s favour viz. $46.56 billion in 2016.

EASTERN BORDER DISPUTE: China considers the McMahon Line illegal and unacceptable claiming that Tibet had no right to sign the 1914 Convention held in Shimla which delineated the Mc Mahon line on the map – Thus claims parts of Arunachal Pradesh – India and China have held 19 rounds of Special Representative Talks on the border and there has yet to be an exchange of maps.

China Pak Axis: Higher than the mountains, deeper than the oceans, sweeter than honey China is Pakistan’s great economic hope and its most trusted military partner Pakistan lies at the heart of China’s geostrategic ambitions i.e. New silk road connecting the energy fields of the Middle East and the markets of Europe to China China opposed India’s admission into permanent seat of UNSC, & insisted for Pakistan CPEC – will connect Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province with the port of Gwadar Military and nuclear arms support by China in the past besides economic support China‘s has been shielding Pakistan’s terrorist outfit chief, Massod Azhar from being listed as a ‘Global Terrorist’ by the UN.

OBOR – Will Connect Asia, Africa, Middle East & Europe Three main goals of China are: Economic diversification Political stability and the Development of a multipolar global order All of India’s neighbours, except Bhutan, sent high level delegations for the summit.

India’s Objection to OBOR:

Projects in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, ignoring India’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Lack of transparency in China’s agenda, New Delhi believes that it is not just an economic project but one that China is promoting for political control Smacks of Chinese neo- colonialism – Could push smaller countries on the road into a crushing debt cycle, destroy the ecology and disrupt local communities. India fears that CPEC, passing through the Pakistan controlled Kashmir, would serve the purpose of granting legitimacy to Pakistan’s control over the region, and by promoting the construction of the corridor, China intends to meddle in the Kashmir dispute. Indian security experts also fear that after gaining access to Gwadar port, the Chinese will find it easy to sail into the Indian Ocean. India’s decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China’s stubborn opposition to India’s entry into the NSG and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e- 32 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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Muhammad leader Masood Azhar. The decision to not attend even as an observer, however, effectively closes the door for diplomacy. Expert believe that by boycotting the Beijing meet, India was denying itself unending benefits of something as big as OBOR for ex. infrastructural shortcoming that it is facing currently. Meanwhile India & Japan have come up with Asia Africa Growth Corridor to counter China’s OBOR.

The Baloch Angle:

Gwadar is located in Baluchistan, & Baloch are against CPEC because they claim that the CPEC’s benefits will not flow to them. They further state that CPEC is not an economic project. Pakistan and China together are building a military infrastructure in Balochistan’s coastal areas. The purpose is to strengthen their military supremacy in the region which will undermine the stability of the region. A fear of a massive inflow of migrants from different areas of Pakistan which will change the demography of Balochistan and reduce the Baloch people to a permanent minority in their historic homeland.

China rejected an international ruling on the South China Sea as “null and void” and devoid of any “binding force”. China’s development in the region is seen as threatening to other nations Taiwan, Brunei, Philippines and Malaysia. About half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage—passed through the South China Sea in 2010. Any tension in the region may immensely affect the international trade and economy China has demonstrated a desire to control all of the passage through what it considers its sphere of naval power. This predilection is in direct opposition to the U.S.- backed global standard of free passage through the high seas. India has made it clear that it recognised that the tribunal had been set up within the jurisdiction of the UN’s Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that must be given the “utmost respect”. As part of a soft-diplomacy effort, India is looking to have South China Sea countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines use the tsunami early warning-system developed by India.

Doklam Plateau Face-off:

Indian troops intervened to block the path of Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers engaged in building road-works on the Doklam plateau, a strategically vital 269 sq. km. patch of Bhutan’s territory that Beijing laid claim to. This is the first time that India used troops to protect Bhutan’s territorial interests. Earlier China have made Bhutan a “package deal” under which the Chinese agreed to renounce their claim over the 495-sq.-km disputed land in the Northern Bhutan, in exchange for disputed land of Doklam plateau.

India’s concern The construction of a new road through the Chumbi valley would further endanger the “Chicken’s Neck” – the narrow Siliguri corridor links the north-east with the rest of India India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the latter’s construction of road in the disputed Doklam area ‘would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India.’ India is vulnerable in this corridor as it is the only access point to the northeast. The Corridor is about 500 km from the Chumbi Valley.

Chinese reaction

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Following the tensions, Chinese authorities have closed the Nathu La pass to Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims. China served notice on India to withdraw its forces, as a precondition for a “meaningful dialogue” – unacceptable to India, unless the PLA also withdraws its troops and road-building teams. China has long desired an independent Bhutanese stand without Indian advocacy and interference on the boundary issue. Chinese academia often dubbed India’s interference as hegemony in South Asia. By challenging Bhutanese security, Beijing hoped to put a strain on the India-Bhutan “special relationship”. India & China Mutually Disengaged Their Troops: The end of Dokalam standoff is a huge political, diplomatic & moral victory for India. It will contribute to raising the stature of the country. The fact that the Indian government stayed steadfast and resolute in the face of extreme provocation, speaks volumes of the determined and decisive approach of the present government. The episode has significantly established the image of India as a responsible, decisive and reliable actor on the global scene. The episode has contributed to further strengthen relations between India and Bhutan. The message to India’s neighbourhood is also positive and reassuring. However India and China should not see Doklam in terms of point- Way forward for India: scoring but rather as a warning of the need for extending their Necessary to build up economic and security border management framework across other borders as well. capabilities and begin to close the power gap Stronger economic and commercial partnership between the two with China. India’s foreign policy countries can be a win -win scenario for both the countries if China formulations on China and Pakistan need no removes its non-tariff barriers against Indian products and services. longer be considered as separate instead one hyphenated strategic entity. Time for India to India must necessarily “hope for the best, and prepare for the join hands with Japan, US and EU to promote worst”, when it comes to tensions with its northern neighbour. alternatives to Chinese economic exploitation. India should aggressively pursue Deterioration of India-China relation: ‘Cotton Route’, Project Mausam and Spice Delhi has expressed disappointment over China’s rejection of its Route to strengthen economic ties between concerns on sovereignty issues, and refusal to corner Pakistan on countries in the Indian Ocean rim. Bring into cross-border terrorism or help India’s bid for NSG membership. In action planned strategic Asia Africa Growth turn, India’s spurning of the OBOR Initiative and cooperation with Corridor with the help of Japan. Most of its U.S. on maritime issues has not played well in China Dalai Lama visit neighbours have been adept at playing the to Tawang was strongly protested by China – it accused India for “China card” against India’s alleged fuelling secessionist in Tibet. India is also working with Japan, South “hegemony”, and China has been quick to exploit this to its advantage. Its strategy has Korea and the US to contain China’s power in the Indian Ocean been to bottle up India in the subcontinent, provoking China. but India can defeat this strategy of China by mending fences with the neighbours and by Cooperation between India and China: convincing them that it has no hegemonic Both members of BRICS, which is now establishing a formal lending ambition. arm, the New Development Bank. India, a founding member of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. China welcomed India’s full membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Both countries have advocated democratization of international institutions such as World Bank, IMF China and India have similar stand during WTO negotiations. China and India, being the main targets of criticism by the US and its friends, have so far successfully coordinated their strategies in the environmental summits

2.7 TEESTA DISPUTE * Bangladesh is discussing an almost $1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river. The project is aimed at managing the river basin efficiently, controlling floods, and tackling the water crisis in summers. * Bangladesh‘s discussions with China come at a time when India is particularly wary about China following the standoff in Ladakh. 34 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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How has the Teesta dispute progressed? * India and Bangladesh have been engaged in a long-standing dispute over water-sharing in the Teesta. * The two countries were on the verge of signing a water-sharing pact in September 2011, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was going to visit Bangladesh. However, West Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee objected to it, and the deal was scuttled. * PM Narendra Modi visited Dhaka in June 2015 and assured Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina that a ―fair solution‖ on the Teesta through cooperation between central and state governments will be reached.

Ground Reality * Five years later, the Teesta issue remains unresolved. How has India‘s relationship with Bangladesh played out over the Teesta River years? * It rises in the eastern Himalayas, flows * India has a robust relationship with Dhaka, carefully cultivated through the Indian states of Sikkim and West since 2008, especially with the Sheikh Hasina government at the Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the helm. Bay of Bengal. * India has benefited from its security ties with Bangladesh, whose * It forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal. crackdown against anti-India outfits has helped the Indian * In India, it flows through Darjeeling district government maintain peace in the eastern and North-east states. and the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and * Bangladesh has benefited from its economic and development Mekhliganj. It joins the Jamuna River at partnership. Fulchhari in Bangladesh. * Bangladesh is India‘s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Bilateral * Disputes over the appropriate allocation trade has grown steadily over the last decade: India‘s exports to and development of the water resources of Bangladesh in 2018-19 stood at $9.21 billion, and imports from the river have remained a subject of conflict Bangladesh at $1.04 billion. for almost 35 years, with several bilateral * India also grants 15 to 20 lakh visas every year to Bangladesh agreements and rounds of talks failing to nationals for medical treatment, tourism, work, and just produce results. entertainment. * For India, Bangladesh has been a key partner in the neighbourhood first policy — and possibly the success story in bilateral ties among its neighbours.

What are irritants in INDO-Bangladesh relationship? * Proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed last year. * Bangladesh had cancelled visits by ministers, and Hasina has expressed reservations about CAA. She commented that the CAA and the proposed naonwide NRC are ―internal maers‖ of India, the CAA move was ―not necessary‖.

How have relations between Bangladesh and China been developing? * ―China is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh and is the foremost source of imports. * In 2019, the trade between the two countries was $18 billion and the trade is heavily in favour of China, * Recently, China declared zero duty on 97% of imports from Bangladesh. The concession flowed from China‘s duty-free, quota-free programme for the Least Developed Countries. * India has provided developmental assistance worth $10 billion, but China has promised around $30 billion worth of financial assistance to Bangladesh to overcome India assistance. * Bangladesh‘s strong defence ties with Chinamakes the situation complicated. China is the biggest arms supplier to Bangladesh and it has been a legacy issue. Bangladesh forces are equipped with Chinese arms

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www.upscwithnikhil.com including tanks, missile launchers, fighter aircraft and several weapons systems. Recently, Bangladesh purchased two Ming class submarines from China.

How has India been engaging with Bangladesh post CAA? * In the wake of the Ladakh standoff, India has become more sensitive to Chinese defence inroads into Bangladesh. * India and Bangladesh have cooperated on pandemic-related moves. Hasina contributed $1.5 million inIndia‘s regional emergency fund for fighting Covid-19 and India provided medical aid to Bangladesh. * The two countries have also cooperated in railways, with India giving 10 locomotives to Bangladesh. * The first trial run for trans-shipment of Indian cargo through Bangladesh to Northeast states under a pact on the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports took place in July. * However, in recent weeks, Pakistan PM call to Hasina raised eyebrows in Delhi. While Islamabad portrayed it as a conversation on Kashmir, Dhaka said it was about cooperating to deal with Covid-19. How has India sought to address China‘s latest move? * During recent diplomats meeng with Hasina, ―security-related issues of mutual interest‖ were discussed. * The visit tried to address issues on areas that have emerged as potential irritants in the relationship. * Bangladesh expressed ―deep concern‖ at the rise in killings at the Indo-Bangladesh border by ―BSF or Indian nationals‖ during the first half of this year, and the Indian side assured that the BSF authorities have been sensitised of the matter.

Among other issues * The two sides agreed that Implementation of projects should be done in a timely manner, and that greater attention is required to development projects in Bangladesh under the Indian Lines of Credit. * Bangladesh sought return of the Tablighi Jamaat members impacted by the lockdown in India, and early release of the 25 Bangladeshi fishermen in custody in Assam. India assured Bangladesh that its nationals would be able to return soon. * Bangladesh requested for urgent reopening of visa issuance from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, particularly since many Bangladeshi patients need to visit India. * India was also requested to reopen travel through Benapole-Petrapole land port, which has been halted by the West Bengal government in the wake of the pandemic. * Bangladesh told that it is ready to collaborate in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, including its trial, and looks forward to early, affordable availability of the vaccine when ready.

What is the way ahead? * While the Teesta project is important and urgent from India‘s point of view, it will be difficult to address it before the West Bengal elections due next year. * Now, the test will be if India can implement all its assurances in a time-bound manner. * Or else, the latent anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh —, which has been revived after India‘s CAA -NRC push — threatens to damage Dhaka-New Delhi ties.

2.8 SRI LANKA PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka Rajapaksas' Sri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance has registered a landslide victory in the election. This follows the Rajapaksas’ win in the November 2019 presidential polls. Impact of the results Changes to 19th amendment: Sri Lanka had been ruled by powerful executive presidents since 1978.

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But the 19th constitutional amendment of 2015 curbed powers of the Executive President, strengthened Parliament and the prime minister and put independent commissions in charge of judiciary appointments, police, public services and the conduct of elections. A two-term limit and other curbs on presidential powers were imposed by the 19th Amendment.

The Amendment had drastically reduced the arbitrary powers of the President and restored Sri Lanka’s parliamentary democracy as well as placed a system of checks and balances on the Executive. The Rajapaksa government backed by a majority has already drafted and gazetted the 20th Amendment to undo the provisions of the 19th amendment. There are concerns that this would further strengthen presidential power and weaken government institutions such as independent commissions for elections, police and public service. This could lead to concentration of power and authority in the hands of the president and would mark a step back for democracy in Sri Lanka.

Changes to 13th amendment: Several Cabinet ministers and state ministers in the current Sri Lankan government have called for the abolition of provincial councils after the new government took charge. The provincial councils are an outcome of the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution. The 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution is an outcome of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, which was signed by the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardene. The 13th amendment of the Sri Lankan constitution was part of an attempt to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamilians. It had resulted in a civil war between the armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE was seeking the right to self-determination and a separate state. The 13th Amendment mandates a measure of power devolution to the provincial councils established to govern the island’s nine provinces. This entailed providing a form of self-government. Subjects such as education, health, agriculture, housing, land and police were to be devolved to the provincial administrations to provide them with more autonomy.

Any move to undo the 13th Amendment would be a major cause of concern due to the following reasons. The 13th amendment represents the only constitutional provision on the settlement of the long-pending Tamil question and the undoing of it would mark a step back for the resolution of the ethnic question in the island nation. It would increases minority discontent and exacerbate the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. The dilution of the 13th amendment would amount to a breach of the Indo-Lanka Accord and is therefore a violation of Sri Lanka’s international treaty obligations to India. Given the close cultural and linguistic affinities to the Sri Lankan Tamils in The Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the dilution of the amendment could lead to tensions in Tamil Nadu and affect the bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka.

India-Sri Lanka bilateral relation: The Rajapaksa’ have exhibited a pro-China stand through some of their actions in their previous tenure. The allowing of the Chinese submarines to dock in their ports The signing of projects with China like the Hambantota Port.

The Rajapaksa’ have called for review of the joint India and Japan East Container Terminal project. Sri Lanka recently shelved the Japan-funded Colombo Light Railway project and a $480-million ‘Millennium Challenge Corporation’ grant from the US — indications of a markedly pro-China tilt.

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There are concerns that the current government’s pro-China tilt may reduce India’s strategic influence in Sri Lanka. The election season also witnessed the leaders from the Sinhala nationalist parties making wielded attacks on India for political mileage.

Conclusion: India cannot expect Sri Lanka to reduce its economic and commercial engagement with and dependence on China. However it can try to strengthen its engagements with Sri Lanka. India should try to engage further into spheres in which the Chinese have a limited presence and India has the capacity to deliver. This would involve sectors like the Information technology, health and education. India could play a vital role in the development process of the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka. India should differentiate its development partnership as being more equal, sustainable and quality oriented as against the debt-diplomacy propounded by China. This could help India strengthen its political capital in Sri Lanka. India should keep up its pressure on Sri Lankan government over the Tamil issue and pursue the implementation of the 13+ amendment. Additional Information: Srimavo-Shastri Pact It was an agreement that was signed between Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, and Lal Bahadur Shastri, Officially, it was known as Agreement on Persons of Indian Origin in Ceylon. It was a significant agreement in determining the status and future of people of Indian origin in Ceylon This pact allowed for the repatriation of nearly 5.25 lakh persons of Indian origin who were taken to Sri Lanka over a century ago by the British to work in the tea, coffee and coconut plantations there. In turn, Sri Lanka agreed to grant citizenship to a section of Indians who had gone to Sri Lanka to work in its tea plantations.

Sirimavo-Gandhi Pact Later, a follow-up agreement called the Sirimavo- Gandhi Pact was signed between Prime Ministers Bandaranaike and Indira Gandhi for the repatriation of 75,000 more persons of Indian origin. Following this, Sri Lanka again agreed to grant citizenship to another 75,000 persons of Indian origin.

2.9 TERRITORIAL DISPUTE IN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN Tensions between Turkey and Greece escalated after Turkey sent a survey vessel to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters, a move which Greece has termed as illegal.

Background: Territorial disputes in the region: Turkey-Greece: Turkey and Greece have overlapping maritime claims. The maritime dispute is with respect to the Aegean Sea. The dispute is related to the maritime jurisdiction areas, including the territorial waters and the continental shelf and their delimitation. The dispute has to do with Turkish claims to maritime territories in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Turkey has been arguing that the many Greek islands off Turkey's Aegean coast should be only entitled to a much reduced Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as compared to the normal 200 nautical miles limit. An EEZ is a sea zone in which

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www.upscwithnikhil.com a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources. EEZs are prescribed according to the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982. Only islands that are inhabitable or can support independent economic activity can claim an EEZ of 200 nautical miles.

It is a fundamental rule of international law that delimitation of maritime boundaries between adjacent and opposite states in locations where maritime areas overlap or converge should be effected by agreement on the basis of international law. However, the maritime boundaries between Turkey and Greece have yet to be delimited by agreement. Turkey is one of the few countries which have not signed the UNCLOS framework agreement.

Cyprus-Turkey issue: Cyprus is physically divided with the southern part ruled by the internationally-recognised government and the northern part controlled by Turkey. Turkey is the only member state of the United Nations that does not recognise Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus (Cyprus) and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones. Turkey objects to Cypriot drilling in waters that Cyprus has asserted a claim to under international maritime law. Turkey is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, while Cyprus has signed and ratified the UNCLOS.

Discovery of gas: New gas reserves have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean Sea offshore Egypt. This is in addition to the gas reserves discovered in the Leviathan gas field in the eastern Mediterranean Sea offshore Israel. The EU plans to transport the gas from this region to its mainland to help it reduce its dependency on Russia. This development has raised the Eastern Mediterranean region’s geopolitical profile.

Recent developments: In early 2020, the EastMed Gas Forum was formed by Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan and Palestine. EU members and its allies in West Asia and North Africa have made plans to build a gas pipeline from the Mediterranean to Europe’s mainland. Turkey has been kept out of this plan which has infuriated the Turkish administration and has been taking counter measures. In a move meant to challenge the proposed pipeline project Turkey reached an agreement with Libya’s Tripoli- based government, to form an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from its southern shores to Libya’s northern coast across the Mediterranean. Greece has claimed the Turkish zone violated its maritime sovereignty. Later, Greece too announced its EEZ with Egypt, which clashes with Turkey’s zone. Immediately thereafter, Turkey sent an exploration vessel, accompanied by a Navy fleet, to the disputed waters in the Aegean Sea. Turkey’s survey ship plans exploration activities around Greece’s Crete Island, which lies just outside the Turkish- Libya economic zone, and Greece has called it a violation of their sovereignty. France, the EU’s most powerful military force has despatchedwarships to assist Greece. Drilling off Cyprus by Turkey has been ongoing since 2019. Turkey is planning to expand such operations in the coming times.

Concerns: Complex issue:

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The territorial dispute is at the heart of the overall tensions in the region, which can be reduced only by the mutual agreement on the territory delineation. It is difficult to demarcate the maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, which is dotted with Turkish and Greek islands. Given that Turkey is not a signatory of the UNCLOS further complicates the possible negotiations. Turkey and Greece, NATO allies, disagree over claims to hydrocarbon resources in the area based on conflicting views on the extent of their continental shelves.

Affecting the region: The highly complicated issue now has the potential to involve Europe, West Asia and North Africa. An alliance is emerging among Greece, Cyprus, Italy and France, which is backed by Egypt, Israel and the UAE. Turkey though seems to be almost isolated, may get support from its new allies like Russia and China. The European Union's relationship with Turkey has been already under strain owing to differences over issues regarding the conflicts in Syria and Libya and the question of refugee policy and human rights. The issue can have ramifications for the region and the global relations at large.

Way forward: Diplomacy: EU and Turkey should not let tensions in the eastern Mediterranean lead to open conflict. There is the urgent need to bring down tensions and find a diplomatic and mutually acceptable solution to the gas contest. The maritime dispute which happens to fuel tensions in the region must be resolved in line with the established related jurisprudence, while taking into consideration the equity and security requirements of the stakeholders.

3. ECONOMY 3.1 RBI'S REPORT ON STATE FINANCES States mainly rely on their revenue from two sources: their own revenue and central transfers. The former shows the revenue raised by states on their own, while the latter consists of receipts from the centre's transfer of union taxes and grants-in-aid. 52 percent of states' tax collections are expected to come from their own tax in 2018-19, and the remaining 48 percent of the revenue is in the form of payments from the centre. As central transfers are beyond the control of the States, they do not have the power to settle on a large part of their revenue. States have to balance aspirational policy choices against two major operating constraints: raising sufficient revenue within the legislative framework and adhering to Fiscal Responsibility Laws (FRLs). Therefore, cautious fiscal housekeeping needs to be matched with viewpoints of growth and sustainability. The secret to an optimal combination is the ability of state own revenue generation coupled with adequate help from federal transfers so that states can absorb exogenous fiscal shocks in the form of schemes such as farm loan waivers, the Ujjwal DISCOM Guarantee Yojana (UDAY), income support schemes for farmers and structural reforms such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) without sacrificing hard earned gains. In view of the fact that the annual budgetary outcomes of states are essentially a time-varying debt accumulation process, the main is the sustainability of the debt. Many indirect taxes imposed by the states have been replaced by the implementation of GST. While these taxes were solely under the jurisdiction of each state, the GST Council has now settled on the GST rates. A state's GST revenue can be divided into three components: i) the state's own GST revenue, (ii) the return of GST revenue from the center, and (iii) reimbursement, if any. Though state-owned revenue is the first component, the other

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www.upscwithnikhil.com two components are part of central transfers. This means that in making decisions on tax rates on goods and services, states have little flexibility. Higher dependence on GST revenue receipts therefore decreases the autonomy of states, as these receipts rely on the tax rates agreed by the GST Council. The State Government’s fiscal status The disparity between what a government receives and what it spends is the fiscal deficit. In 2011-12, $1.71 trillion was the gross fiscal deficit of state governments. This amounted to just 33.3 percent of the central government's fiscal deficit during that fiscal year. State governments have ramped up their investment in the next few years. The fiscal deficit of state governments in 2013-14 was roughly 50.2 percent of that of the central government. The figure increased to $5.36 trillion in 2016-17, or just a little over 100 percent of the central government's fiscal deficit during that fiscal period. The Ghost Of UDAY The fiscal deficit of state governments has gone down a little since The residual effect of the 2015 UDAY scheme 2016-17. The fiscal deficit is estimated to be $4.9 trillion in 2018- continues to play out on state finances and, if 19, or about 77.3 percent of the central government's fiscal the output of distribution companies does deficit. The surprising thing is that it seems that, on the whole, the not improve, it could even worsen over the situation has changed. The overall fiscal deficit (central next two years, the RBI warned. In a variety government plus state governments) stood at a very high 6.97% of respects, the system continues to of gross domestic product ( GDP) in 2016-17. The fiscal deficit of influence state finances. states continued to remain below 3.0% of GDP throughout 2018- > First, because the coupon rates on UDAY securities were higher than state government 19 as well. Since 2015-16, debt has persistently increased, driven bonds, states that were part of the initiative by the restructuring of the power sector through schemes such as have seen a rise in interest payouts. UDAY. As per the 2019-20 budget estimates, the fiscal deficit of > Secondly, with each passing year, the States the states is estimated at 2.6 percent of GDP. At this juncture, the have signed an agreement to take on a efficient use of spending and the enhancement of tax generation greater share of DISCOM losses. potential are essential to promoting economic development. The RBI also flagged off the increase in guarantees provided by the States will take in, as per the agreement: state, in addition to debt-to-GDP across states. Data collected from the Comptroller and Auditor General and from the > 10% of the prior year's DISCOM losses for departments of state finance indicate that the amount of 2018-19. guarantees offered jumped sharply by 37.7% in 2017-18 to 2.5 % > 25 percent of the previous year's DISCOM of GDP. The power sector remains dominant in terms of the losses for 2019-2020. sectoral distribution of exposure, accounting on average for over

60 per cent of the total outstanding guarantees. It accounted for > 50 per cent of the prior year's DISCOM over 80 percent for a few states-led by the transport sector. losses for 2020-21. The Report's Main Features  During 2017-18 and 2018-19, the gross fiscal deficit (GFD) As such, in the coming years, the health of of the states remained below the FRBM threshold of 3 per DISCOMs will remain vital to state debt. cent of gross domestic product ( GDP). However, this has Another potential impact of UDAY could been done through a sharp reduction in expenditure, materialise as a result of the acquisition of particularly capital expenditure. incremental losses for DISCOMs as needed by  For 2019-20, states have budgeted with a small revenue UDAY agreements, especially as the benefit of supplementary revenue grants would not surplus with a combined GFD of 2.6 percent of GDP (as be available for certain States. against revenue deficits in the previous three years).  Over the last five years, the outstanding debt of states has risen to 25 % of GDP, posing a medium-term threat to their sustainability.  Incipient debt sustainability threats arise from DISCOM losses as well as the possible invocation of guarantees.  Data included in the RBI report shows that the output of debt varies widely across large states.

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Punjab has the worst debt-to - GDP ratio of 39.9 percent among larger states, led by Uttar Pradesh, where debt levels have reached 38.1 percent of GDP. There are also debt-to - GDP levels much higher than the threshold in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. In comparison, among the larger states, Assam, Gujarat , Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana have the lowest debt-to - GDP ratios. Revenue generation holds the key to prudent debt management and can serve as a circuit breaker in perverse debt spirals, highlighting the need to increase tax buoyancy and leverage on productivity gains allowed by technology, while taking advantage of the scope to lift user fees where appropriate, with reduced borrowing reliance. The GFD-GDP improved in 2017-18 (Accounts) compared to 2016-17 for states and stayed well below the 3 per cent mark during 2018-19. For 2019-20 (BE), a similar outcome is budgeted. There are, however, some major characteristics of these budget effects that are noteworthy.  First, fiscal adjustment depends on the curtailment of expenditure and, in particular, on capital expenditure, which has a negative medium-term performance effect.  Second, there is an growing trend in the expenditure committed, guided by interest and pension payments.  Third, funding from market borrowings is expected to increase.  Fourth, during 2016-19, debt liabilities have risen and are expected to remain about 25% of GDP in 2019- 2020, clearly making debt sustainability the key medium-term fiscal problem for states. Debt: Medium-term fiscal problem of the States The slowdown in the economy poses a challenging fiscal environment for states as lower revenue raising capacity and downward rigidities in various expenditure heads can force an increase in borrowing/future liabilities. The poor performance of State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs) continues to be a source of fiscal risk if the off- budget liabilities are crystallised, especially in power distribution. The increased market focus of state government borrowings brings with it problems such as pricing, liquidity, repayment cycle management and investor base diversification. The debt position of state governments, particularly after UDAY, has started to show incipient signs of unsustainability. Recognizing that debt sustainability is closely related to states' revenue generation, they would need to enhance their capacity to collect revenue by capitalising on GST productivity gains and digitization and enhancing compliance. The turnaround of the power distribution market is also critical in order to prevent potential fiscal shocks. States are charged with higher obligations but less than commensurate capital in the Indian fiscal landscape. On the revenue front, due to the economic downturn, states could see a crunch, although they remain covered by reimbursement cess from any own shortfall in GST collection. Schemes such as farm loan waivers and UDAY, which are basically the essence of fiscal shocks, have kept spending pressures high on the expenditure front. The post-UDAY debt situation of state governments has deteriorated, although it remains manageable, but vulnerable to potential risks through the invocation of state guarantees. Addressing these problems provides states the opportunity to foster growth by not decreasing desired investment and thereby retaining sustainability in the long run. Importance of State Finance In particular, when borrowing to achieve unforeseen policy objectives such as farm loan waivers, states borrowing more and more could raise concerns. The borrowing (or deficit) of each year contributes to the overall debt. Paying back this debt relies on the willingness of a state to increase revenues. A increasing mountain of debt captured in the debt-to - GDP ratio could start a vicious cycle in which states end up paying more and more interest payments instead of spending their income on creating new assets that provide their citizens with better education, health and welfare if a state, or all states in aggregate, finds it difficult to raise revenues. Revenue generation holds the key to enhancing tax buoyancy by capitalising on technology-enabled

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www.upscwithnikhil.com productivity improvements under the GST architecture for cautious debt management, and rising usage charges can, wherever possible, improve the capacity to raise revenue. For 2019-20, states have budgeted prudently, but the macroeconomic threats to their combined budget projections seem to be slanted downwards. The loss of momentum in economic activity needs to be reversed soon; otherwise, if not complemented by additional measures to mobilise revenue, it will have revenue consequences for state budgets. Cuts in spending to meet fiscal goals will become unavoidable if they do not materialise. This can feed an ever-tightening vicious austerity cycle that deepens the economic downturn, which, in turn , reduces fiscal revenues and induces more reductions in spending, etc. There could be significant macroeconomic spillovers from budget cuts in the case of governments, with state capital and growth expenditure responsible for approximately two-thirds of combined budget. The medium-term problem of debt sustainability may be compounded by the negative production impact.

Conclusion The role of states in fostering development and overall social welfare is important because there are significant public policy obligations that are shifted to them. However, fiscal consolidation and pressure to increase current expenditure have contributed to an overall decrease in capital expenditure of approximately 0.3 to 0.5% of GDP during 2017-19. To prevent detrimental effects on long-term growth and welfare, arresting this development is crucial. Going forward, by front-loading them, it is necessary for states to follow their capital expenditure plans as budgeted in 2019-20. This is particularly important because it has powerful multiplier and welfare-enhancing impacts. Around the same time, states would have to make efforts to boost their capacity to collect revenue in order to finance their expenditures. In the final analysis, borrowed resources that are wisely used on revenue-generating and employment- generating projects / programmes would free up fiscal space and ensure an optimal balance between development and sustainability. A combination of consolidation, reissuance and maturity elongation will lead to the improvement of liquidity and to the creation of a secondary market with a diversified investor base and differential pricing functioning between states as a market discipline. This study has attempted, in the spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism, to assimilate state-level facts on fiscal parameters that can play the role of competition metrics and shared learning. States must not compromise on their social and capital expenses above all else; they have profound macroeconomic and social consequences, as is evident in the slowdown in Indian economic activity that leads and correlates with the cutback by states in spending.

3.2 BASE EROSION AND PROFIT SHIFTING It refers to tax avoidance strategies that exploit tax law loopholes and mismatches to artificially transfer income to low or no tax locations, resulting in the payment of little to no overall corporate tax. • In the context of the BEPS initiative, the OECD, under the authority of the Group of 20 countries, has considered ways of updating tax treaties, tightening rules and sharing more government tax information, and released action plans in 2015.

• The project BEPS would: Improving tax revenues that were previously missed due to BEPS. Because of their strong reliance on corporate income tax, especially from multinational corporations, BEPS is of major significance for developing countries. By encouraging them to do business in identical conditions, they provide a level playing field for both domestic and global companies. BEPS tax savings offer multinational corporations an advantage over domestic businesses, which may lack the ability to use such strategies.

Avoid double taxes • The BEPS refers to techniques for corporate tax planning used by multinational corporations that artificially move revenues from higher tax locations to lower ones, eroding the higher tax locations' tax base. 43 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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An 'equalisation tax' of 6 per cent on such transactions was declared in the 2016 Union Budget.

The Equalisation Levy is a direct tax which is withheld by the service user at the time of payment. To be responsible for the equalisation tax, the two conditions to be met are:

O The payment should be made to a supplier of non-resident services;

In a single financial year, the annual payment rendered to one service provider reaches Rs. 1,00,000. • Not all programmes are actually protected by the equalisation TAX INFORMATION EXCHANGE AGREEMENT levy scope. (TIEA) • Coverage of the following services: • India has notified a tax information o Ads online; exchange agreement (TIEA) with the Marshall o Any provision for online advertisement purposes for the Islands. digital advertising space or facilities / services. • The agreement provides for the exchange of information between the two countries for

tax purposes, including banking and India was the first country to implement such a tax, adopting the ownership information. BEPS Action Plan of the Organization for Economic Cooperation • The OECD Global Forum Working Group on and Development (OECD). Successful Knowledge Sharing was created. • The agreement also allows for tax audits to In order to cover a wide range of transactions, including internet be performed by officials of one country in marketing, cloud storage, website design, hosting and the other country which will help curb tax maintenance, platforms for the selling of products and services, evasion which tax avoidance. and online use or downloading of software and applications, a tax • TIEAs are not contractual instruments and panel has suggested widening the scope of this levy to these also. can be terminated as stipulated in the You know that? agreements. The tax to GDP ratio in India is about 16 percent, including state taxes, while it is about 35 percent-40 percent in many developed countries. It is imperative that the tax-GDP ratio of India also increase significantly so that our public social investments will rise to the required levels. The extension of the tax base, instead of higher tax rates, would raise the tax-GDP ratio.

MULTILATERAL CONVENTION TO ENFORCE TAX TREATY • The Multilateral Convention to Introduce Tax Treaty Related Steps to Avoid Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) has been ratified by India. • MLI will come into force on 01 October 2019 for India and its provisions will impact from FY 2020-21 on India's 'double tax avoidance agreements' (DTAAs). • The Multilateral Convention / MLI is an outcome of the Action / G20 Initiative of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to resolve Base Erosion and Benefit Shifting (the "BEPS Initiative"), i.e. tax planning techniques that exploit loopholes and incompatibilities in tax laws to artificially transfer income to low or non-tax places where there is little to no economic activity , resulting in little or no economic activity. • India was part of an ad hoc group of more than 100 G20, OECD, BEPS and other stakeholder countries and jurisdictions working on an equal footing to finalise the Multilateral Convention document.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 3.3 LONG TERM REPO OPERATIONS (LTRO) • Under LTRO, RBI will conduct term repos of one-year and three-year tenors of appropriate sizes for up to a total amount of Rs 1 lakh crore at the policy repo rate. Why did RBI introduce LTRO? * It is thus a tool under which the central bank provides • Ever since the economic slowdown hit India and the one-year to three-year money to banks at the prevailing IL&FS fiasco triggered a spike in borrowing costs, the repo rate, accepting government securities with matching RBI has been trying to stimulate the economy through or higher tenure as the collateral. easy-money policies. • While the RBI’s current windows of Liquidity Adjustment • Since January 2019, the repo rate (the rate at which Facility (LAF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) offer banks borrows quick money from RBI) has been cut by banks money for their immediate needs ranging from 1-28 139 basis points. But only a part of these rate cuts have days, the LTRO supplies them with liquidity for their 1- to as yet been passed on to borrowers by banks and other 3-year needs. lenders. • LTRO operations are intended to prevent short-term • When charged with this slow transmission of rate cuts, bankers complained that repo loans constituted interest rates in the market from drifting a long way away only a miniscule portion of their overall funds, making from the policy rate, which is the repo rate. it difficult for them to cut lending rates. • Under the LAF, banks could only bid up to a HOW WILL IT WORK? maximum of 0.75 per cent of their net demand and • LTROs will be conducted on the CBS (E-KUBER) platform. time liabilities. RBI introduced LTRO with a view to The operations would be conducted at a fixed rate. assuring banks about the availability of durable • Banks would be required to place their requests for the liquidity at reasonable cost relative to prevailing amount sought under LTRO during the window timing at market conditions, and to further encourage banks to undertake maturity transformation smoothly and the prevailing policy repo rate. Bids below or above policy seamlessly so as to augment credit flows to productive rate will be rejected sectors. • The minimum bid amount would be ₹1 crore and multiples thereof. There will be no restriction on the maximum amount of bidding by individual bidders.

SIGNIFICANCE • The RBI move is aimed at providing cheaper money to banks at the repo rate and, thus, improve liquidity in the banking system. How can it be accessed? * Currently, the repo operations are of short-term, usually • The e-kuber system can be accessed either through of overnight, wherein banks can borrow money from the INFINET or Internet. RBI at the prevailing repo rate. * The INFINET is a Closed User Group Network for the • The LTRO will bring down the cost of funds for banks exclusive use of member banks and financial without effectively cutting deposit rates. The move will institutions and is the communication backbone for allow lenders to borrow cheaply from the regulator. the National Payments System, which caters mainly to • RBI also withdrew the daily fixed rate repo and four 14- inter-bank applications like Real Time Gross day term repos every fortnight. The measure will preserve Settlement (RTGS), Delivery Vs Payment, Government favourable borrowing conditions for banks and stimulate Transactions, Automatic Clearing House, etc. bank lending to the real economy. • E-Kuber provides the provision of a single current account for each bank across the country, with • It is a measure that market participants expect will bring decentralized access to this account from any where down short-term rates and also boost investment in anytime using portal based services in a safe manner. corporate bonds. • These new measures coupled with RBI’s earlier introduced ‘Operation Twist’ are an attempt by the central bank to manage bond yields and push transmission of earlier rate cuts. E-Kuber • e-Kuber is the Core Banking Solution of Reserve Bank of India.

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* Core Banking Solutions (CBS) can be defined as a solution that enables banks to offer a multitude of customer- centric services on a 24x7 basis from a single location, supporting retail as well as corporate banking activities, as well as all possible delivery channels existing and proposed. • The centralization thus makes a “one-stop” shop for financial services a reality. Using CBS, customers can access their accounts from any branch, anywhere, irrespective of where they have physically opened their accounts. • Almost all branches of commercial banks, including the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), are brought into the core- banking fold. • Auction of Government securities is done through e-kuber system. • Technology partner for RBI for launching e-kuber is Polaris Ltd.

3.4 COVID-19 RELATED POVERTY • India has an estimated 812 million poor people, which could increase to 915 million, due to the impact of COVID pandemic, as per the projections in this report (in the worst-case scenario). • This is based on the World Bank’s poverty line for lower-middle-income countries which is $3.2 a day. IMPACT OF COVID • Largescale informal sector- As per the International Labour Organization (ILO), around 400 million workers from India’s informal sector are likely to be pushed deeper into poverty, due to following reasons o Due to strict lockdown measures of the government, large number of such workers have been forced to return to rural areas. o Decline in quantity of work, in terms of employment or number of hours. o Decline in wages by some employers to avoid layoffs. • Reduced sources of income- due to following reasons o Decline in income of self-employed, due to reduction of economic activity (sales, production) in micro and small enterprises due to fall in demand and disruptions in supply of inputs. o Decline in domestic remittances from urban migrants to their households in rural areas. o Many people just above the poverty, employed in the gig economy are at risk of slipping into poverty. o There is absence of adequate safety nets like savings and insurance cover. This might force the poor to indulge in activities like sale of productive assets with long-lasting negative effects. • Increase in out of pocket expenditure- due to the following reasons o The poor in urban areas are highly vulnerable to disease as they live in in congested settlements with low- quality services. o This impacts their ability to work and also invites health spending due to illness or the need to take care of sick household members. o The strain on logistics and supply chains could increase the prices of the essential commodities. o The school closures can lead to a decline in food intake among children of poor families who rely on government programs like Mid-Day Meal. • Impact on economic demand- The rise in unemployment and fall in incomes could lead to reduced spending and consumption. o As per the latest report of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India’s unemployment rate surged to 27.11% for the week ended May 3. o Many people in agriculture sector would be affected by falling prices due to decline in demand in urban areas over time. • Impact on poor women- due to various added pressures in the COVID lockdown such as o They face increased burden due to demand of care of children and elderly, as a result of school closures and their vulnerability to disease. o Women are more exposed to infection due to larger share of women in healthcare sectors.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com o Women face a higher likelihood of domestic violence during home confinement. o Some of the sectors most affected by lockdown have high concentration of female workers. CHALLENGES • Uncertainty over the disease- as the number of cases continue to increase and consequently the lockdown was extended from 4th of May for another two weeks. o With 80% asymptomatic patients and lack of vaccination, the magnitude of the crisis at hand still remains uncertain for the government. • Constrained financial resources- as public finances at both central and state levels have been under considerable strain. It makes it difficult for the government to put more cash in the hands of the distressed. • Issues with the public distribution system- such as lack of documentation and its updating of the PDS beneficiaries. o Divisibility of ration cards- PDS ration cards are neither portable across locations nor can rations be divided, allowing family members to pick up portions at different locations. o Implementation issues- such as only 10% out of the total monthly allocation of 1.95 lakh metric ton (LMT) pulses under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), had been issued by the states till April 22. • Inadequate compensation- Although the governments at Union and state have taken various steps, however, many experts state the relief packages in itself are inadequate. Recommendations: • Increase in coverage of existing safety net programs to new beneficiaries based on geography (e.g. the areas with the highest levels of community transmission and/or economic disruptions), or sector of employment, or focusing on at-risk categories (e.g. families with young children, pre-existing health conditions, and elderly family members). • Portability of safety net program benefits to ensure predictability of coverage as urban migrants will be likely to return to rural areas. • Suspension of group activities and conditionalities to reduce the risk of contagion for all safety net programs. • Enhanced public procurement and distribution of basic food items by incorporating all the players including private sector and civil society. • Policies to support firms: includes providing grants and wage subsidies to firms to minimize layoffs and supporting micro and small enterprises through measures such as tax exemptions, delays, or waivers targeted to small firms, soft loans, and grants. • Active labor market programs to facilitate the transition of workers who have lost jobs that are not coming back into training or new jobs. Steps taken by the Government • Kerala- Everyone in need, whether the below poverty line (BPL) or not, will get free rice. There will be home delivery of mid-day meals and the ASHA workers would ensure that food reached its 26,000 children registered under ICDS. • Haryana- All BPL families received their monthly ration for April free of cost. All government school children and those enrolled in anganwadis were to be given dry rations. • Chattisgarh- Dry ration instead of hot-cooked meals were to be provided to children aged between three and six years and who were registered with anganwadi centres. • Uttar Pradesh- To provide food grains for April and May to more than 8.38 million widows, aged and handicapped pensioners. It is providing 20 kg of wheat and 10 kg of rice per household to a list of beneficiaries, which includes 16.5 million construction workers and daily wage labour. The state has also announced universalization of PDS as done by other states like Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Telangana.

• Bihar- Provision of direct cash transfers (DCTs), depositing funds to the bank accounts of ration card holders. It also decided to give 5 kg rice and 1 kg pulses for three months as lockdown relief.

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• Tamil Nadu- To provide an incentive of Rs 2,500 each to salesmen and Rs. 2,000 each to packers at public distribution system (PDS) shops who have been working overtime and on holidays to ensure supply of essential commodities to 2.02 crore cardholders in the state during the lockdown. They will also give Rs. 1,000 to all ration card holders along with free rice, sugar and other essential commodities. 3.5 WTO PEACE CLAUSE India has invoked the peace clause of WTO for exceeding the ceiling on support it can offer farmers for rice, marking the first time any country that has used this clause.

More details • India informed WTO that the value of its rice production was $43.67 billion in 2018-19 and it gave subsidies worth $5 billion which is 11.46% of the value of production. • However, the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) under WTO has a limit pegged at 10% for developing countries, which is a de-minimis level. o De minimis level is minimal amount of domestic support that is allowed even though they distort trade. • Hence, India used peace clause and reasoned that: o The government does not undertake exports on a commercial basis from public stockholdings. o Further, the stocks under the programme are acquired and released in order to meet the domestic food security needs of India's poor and vulnerable population, and not to impede commercial trade or food security of others. BACKGROUND • After Uruguay Rounds of WTO in 1994, the Agreement on Agriculture came into existence which provided guidance on domestic support commitments and general disciplines on domestic support. o Under the agreement, to limit trade distorting support measures, members agreed to curb their policies by quantifying and gradually reducing all domestic support measures through the Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) or Amber box. ▪ Further, this subsidy should not exceed 10% de minimis level for developing countries and 5% for developed countries. o Also, an important provision of the AoA was the Due Restraint or ‘Peace Clause’ under Article 13, which temporarily shielded countries providing domestic support measures in accordance with the AoA provisions from being challenged at the WTO. • Peace clause was to remain in effect for a period of nine years and it lasted till 2003. • However, G33 containing developing countries led by India found it hard to fulfill food security commitments and hence revived the Peace Clause temporarily (interim Peace Clause) for 4 years in Bali Ministerial Conference in 2013. • The Nairobi Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in December 2015 reaffirmed, with consensus, the Interim Peace Clause would remain in force until a permanent solution is agreed and adopted. Peace clause • The peace clause protects a developing country’s food procurement programmes against action from WTO members in case subsidy ceilings are breached. • It also provides that Green Box domestic support measures cannot be the subject of countervailing duty action or other subsidy action under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. o However, other domestic support measures which are in conformity with the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture may be the subject of countervailing duty actions. • Hence, under the present ‘Peace Clause’, developing countries can provide WTO-prohibited subsidies to farmers without inviting any dispute under the Agreement on Agriculture. TYPES OF SUBSIDIES UNDER WTO • Green Box: It is domestic support measures that doesn’t cause trade distortion or at most causes minimal distortion. o Hence they don’t have any reduction commitments under Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) 48 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com o They are implemented as programmes aimed at income support to farmers without influencing the current level of production and prices. o They comprise of two support groups: ▪ Public services programmes: for example, research, training, marketing, promotion, infrastructure, domestic food aid or public food security stocks etc. ▪ Direct payments to producers: which are fully decoupled from production such as income guarantee and security programmes, regional development programmes etc.

• Blue box: These are subsidies that are tied to programmes that limit production. o The Blue box subsidies aim to limit production by imposing production quotas or requiring farmers to set aside part of their land. o It covers payments directly linked to acreage or animal numbers. o The blue box measures are exempt from reduction commitments. • Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) or Amber box : It represents trade distorting domestic support measures. o These supports are subject to limits: “de minimis” minimal supports are allowed. o It consists of two parts: ▪ Product-specific subsidy: total level of support provided for each individual agricultural commodity such as MSP. ▪ Non-product specific subsidy: total level of support to the agricultural sector as a whole, i.e., subsidies on inputs such as fertilizers, electricity, irrigation, seeds, credit etc.

3.6 EXIM BANK OF INDIA It was established as the apex financial institution for financing, facilitating and promoting India's foreign trade in 1982 under an Act of Parliament. The Bank primarily lends for exports from India, including support to overseas buyers and Indian suppliers for exports from India for construction and infrastructure projects, machinery, products and services. It is governed by the RBI.

Scheme for Concessional Financing (CFS). Since 2015-16, the government has funded Indian organisations bidding for strategically significant infrastructure projects abroad.

Additional EXIM initiative- GRID Initiative (Grass Roots Initiative and Development) • Financial support to support grassroots initiatives / technologies , particularly those with export potential, and to assist artisans / producer groups / clusters / small businesses / NGOs in achieving a remunerative return on their goods and promoting exports from these units.

Foreign Policy and Trade- Role of Exim: Improve Foreign Trade: the Bank provides assistance in various financial, marketing and technical aspects to accelerate the growth of the Indian economy by engaging in various programmes and services for the benefit of Indian exporters, commercial banks and financial institutions to promote foreign trade in the region.

Growing India's sphere of influence: Exim Bank currently has 233 credit lines (LOCs) in place, covering 62 countries in Africa , Asia , Latin America and the CIS, with approximately $22.86 billion in credit commitments available to fund exports from India.

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Function in Neighborhood Policy: The Government of India provides interest subsidies to SAARC countries for project exports through EXIM Bank of India. • Integrating ASEAN in India's Act East Policy by setting up the EXIM Bank Project Development Fund to catalyse the Indian economic presence in Cambodia, Laos , Myanmar and Vietnam. • Cooperation with the BRICS Bank: In 2018, Exim Bank of India entered into an MoU on general cooperation with the New Development Bank (NDB) to create a mechanism for cooperation in accordance with national laws and regulations, in addition to the transfer of skills and the sharing of information among the signatories. • Exim Bank of India, under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Framework, is the nominated member development bank.

3.7 INPUT TAX CREDIT Tax officials are likely to investigate the high use of input tax credit (ITC) to set off tax liability by companies, due to concerned about a fall in GST revenues. > At the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the GST Council, the question of a high ITC was raised in order to investigate the reasons for the revenue shortfall faced by a large number of states. Ideally, the ITC available should not result in a loss of revenue, but it may be possible for unscrupulous firms to exploit the provision by creating false invoices solely to obtain tax credit.

What is the ITC (Input Tax Credit)? > ITC is the tax that a company pays on a transaction and that it can use when making a profit to reduce its tax liability. In other words, by claiming loans to the sum of the GST paid on acquisitions, companies can reduce their tax liability. > Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an integrated tax mechanism in which any transaction made by an undertaking should be balanced by a sale made by another undertaking. This makes the transfer of credit a smooth process through the entire supply chain.

How does ITC function? > When a trader sells a good to consumers he collects GST based on the HSN of the good sold and the place of destination. Let us assume that the MRP of the good is INR 1000 and the rate of applicable GST is 18%. The consumer will therefore, pay a total of INR 1180 for the good which includes a GST of INR 180. Without ITC, the trader will have to pay INR 180 to the government. With input tax credit or ITC, the trader can reduce the total tax that it will have to pay the government. This is how it works.

Who can demand Input Tax Credit?

> A individual registered under GST can assert ITC only if he fulfils all the conditions as prescribed.

> A dealer should have a tax invoice in his hands.

> The products / services referred to have been received

> There have been returns filed.

> The tax charged was paid by the supplier to the government.

> ITC can only be claimed when goods are received in instalments when the last lot is received.

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> An ITC can not be asserted by an individual registered under the composition scheme under GST.

What can ITC be said to be? > ITC can be asserted for company purposes only. For products or services used solely for: personal use; exempt supplies; supplies for which ITC is expressly not eligible, ITC will not be eligible for.

Input Tax Credit reversal Only products and services for business purposes may be used for the ITC. ITC can not be asserted if they are used for non-business (personal) reasons, or for making exempt supplies. Apart from these, the ITC will be reversed in the following situations: > 180-day non-payment of invoices- For invoices that have not been paid within 180 days of issue, ITC will be reversed. > Credit note issued to ISD by seller– This is for ISD. If a credit note was issued by the seller to the HO then the ITC subsequently reduced will be reversed. > Inputs partly for business purpose and partly for exempted supplies or for personal use – This is for businesses which use inputs for both business and non-business (personal) purpose. ITC used in the portion of input goods/services used for the personal purpose must be reversed proportionately. > Capital goods partly for business and partly for exempted supplies or for personal use – This is similar to above except that it concerns capital goods. > ITC reversed is less than required- This is calculated after the annual return is furnished. If total ITC on inputs of exempted/non-business purpose is more than the ITC actually reversed during the year then the difference amount will be added to output liability. Interest will be applicable.

3.8 PREPAREDNESS INDEX Export Preparedness Index 2020 to evaluate States’ potential and capacities has been released by the NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness.

Export Preparedness Index: It helps examine the export preparedness and performance of Indian states. EPI intends to identify challenges and opportunities; enhance the effectiveness of government policies; and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework. It promotes healthy competition among states and UTs to work on parameters for promoting the country’s exports, which is one of the key indicators for boosting economic growth.

Framework of the EPI: 4 pillars –Policy; Business Ecosystem; Export Ecosystem; Export Performance. 11 sub-pillars –Export Promotion Policy; Institutional Framework; Business Environment; Infrastructure; Transport Connectivity; Access to Finance; Export Infrastructure; Trade Support; R&D Infrastructure; Export Diversification; and Growth Orientation. Key findings of the report: Gujarat has topped the Export Preparedness Index 2020 followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The other states that have made it to the top 10 include Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Kerala. The coastal states have emerged as the best performers, with six out of eight coastal states featuring in the top 10 rankings. Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand is the highest, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.

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Across the Union Territories, Delhi has performed the best, followed by Goa and Chandigarh. The average score of Indian states in sub-pillars of Exports Diversification, Transport Connectivity, and Infrastructure (three sub-pillars) was above 50%.

Challenges faced by India’s Export Sector: Based on the findings of the report, export promotion in India faces three fundamental challenges: To Intra- and inter-regional disparities in export infrastructure. Poor trade support and growth orientation among states. Poor R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports.

Key strategies to address these challenges: A joint development of export infrastructure, strengthening industry-academia linkages and creating state-level engagements for economic diplomacy is the way forward. These strategies could be supported by revamped designs and standards for local products. Innovating tendencies to provide new use cases for local products must be harnessed with adequate support from the Centre.

Conclusion: To achieve the target of making India a developed economy by focusing on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, there is a need to increase exports from all the states and union territories.

3.9 AGRICULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND The launch of the Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

Background: As part of the reform measures in the agricultural sector, the government has previously issued ordinances aiming to bring in some degree of liberalization in the agri-market sector. These included amendments in the Essential Commodities Act, allowing farmers to sell their produce outside the APMC mandis and encouraging farming contracts between farmers, processors, exporters and retailers. Though these changes in the legal framework are welcome, they were insufficient to truly exploit the potential of agri-markets in India and there have been calls for the creation of sufficient and quality post-harvest physical infrastructure. It was in this context that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was set up.

Details: The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund will be managed by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in association with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. > The scheme shall provide a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets. Under the scheme, financing will be to develop cold chain storage, processing facilities and other post-harvest management infrastructure at the farm gate and aggregation points. > The fund would mainly focus on the Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and primary agriculture cooperative societies, but loans from the fund can also be availed by agriculture entrepreneurs and start-ups. > The fund will be used to provide loans, at concessional rates through primary agriculture credit societies (PACs). > The government would bear the burden of interest on such loans through interest subvention subsidy. 52 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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Significance: The Fund will provide an impetus to the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and assets such as cold storage, collection centres, processing units, etc. The availability of more and better storage facilities can help farmers avoid distress selling immediately after the harvest. This can lead to better price discovery for the farmers. The availability of cold storage facilities can also help reduce wastage and also ensure the uniform availability of seasonal produce throughout the year for the consumers. The processing units will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce through increased processing and value addition. By facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities, the fund is also expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas addressing the crucial employment issue.

Challenges: The mere creation of storage facilities will not be enough to benefit farmers and there are systemic challenges to ensure the effectiveness of this governmental intervention. Condition of agri-futures markets in India: A vibrant agri-market system would not only Cash needs of small and marginal farmers: be spatially integrated (one nation, one Small farmers cannot hold stocks for long as they may have urgent market) but also be temporally integrated cash needs to meet family expenditures. (spot and futures markets convergence). This would lead to a situation where despite the availability of Only such an agri-market system can ensure storage facilities, the small and marginal farmers who account for the Indian farmers the best price for their the largest share of farmers in Indian scenario will not be in a produce and also help them hedge market risks. position to make use of the facilities. This would lead to a situation where the newly created facilities would not be able to remain economically viable due to low demand for such facilities. Possible remedy: The article suggests the negotiable warehouse receipt system as a possible solution for the above challenge. The availability of the negotiable warehouse receipt system can help meet the urgent needs of farmers, under which the FPOs can give advances to farmers against their produce as collateral. Working capital needs of the FPOs: The implementation of negotiable warehouse receipt system would entail the need of a large working capital for the FPOs. However, currently most FPOs get a large share of their loans for working capital from microfinance institutions at very high rates. At such rates, stocking may not be economically viable for the FPOs. Possible remedy: NABARD can help ensure that FPOs get their working capital at interest rates of 4 to 7 per cent through financial support and interest subsidy.

4. DEFENCE AND SECURITY 4.1 TREATIES RELATED TO ESSENTIAL ARMS CONTROL • Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT), 1963 > Nuclear testing in the atmosphere, outer space and under water are banned. It does not forbid underground research, but forbids environmental explosions if the explosions produce debris beyond the jurisdiction of the responsible state.

• Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), 1970 53 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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> It is the only multilateral treaty with a binding pledge from nuclear arms states to disarmament. It aims to encourage peaceful nuclear technology cooperation and to avoid the proliferation of nuclear arms and weapons technology.

> The NPT has been ratified by more nations than any other weapons limitation and disarmament treaty. Compliance with the Treaty is confirmed by the IAEA.

• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), 1972

> Agreements were signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on limitations and restrictions on their strategic arms.

> Efforts to reach an agreement on ABM systems have failed and further proposals have been made. SALT I ended after more than two years of negotiation, but an Interim Agreement for a period of five years was formed for certain main aspects of strategic arms.

> Never did SALT II come into being.

• Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, 1972 > Only two ABM deployment areas are restricted and situated in such a way that they can not become the basis for establishing a national ABM security. > The United States and the Soviet Union / Russian Federation will hold meetings in Geneva every five years to review and change the terms of the Treaty. > In 2001, A formal notice of intent to repeal the treaty was presented by President George Bush and the United States withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002.

• Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), 1975 > It is the first multilateral disarmament treaty to prohibit the development , production and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction in this group.

• Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), 1987 > This is an informal group of governments with shared interests in missiles, unmanned aircraft, and associated non-proliferation technologies. > Its aim is to minimise the risk of proliferation by monitoring transfers to weapons of mass destruction-capable delivery systems. States must obey laws and procedures that require the exchange of knowledge. No formal process exists to ensure compliance.

• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty I (START I), 1994 > It was the first treaty requiring U.S. and Soviet / Russian strategic nuclear arms reductions. In developing a structure that ensured predictability and consistency for deep reductions, this was invaluable. > The breakup of the Soviet Union caused the treaty to be postponed because, among other things, the classification of states as nuclear or non-nuclear had to be decided. > START II stopped with START I.

• Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), 1997 > This is the first multilateral agreement for the removal of chemical weapons as a form of weapons of mass destruction.

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> In 1997, the Preparatory Committee for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was set up as an entry-into-force of the CWC with a view to defining the basic operating procedures and enforcing the CWC regime. > The provisions of the CWC establish a clear regime capable of checking the destruction of chemical weapons, preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons by any group, and ensuring safeguards against chemical weapons. Collaboration on the peaceful uses of chemistry is also promoted.

• Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) (Yet to come into force) > It consists of three parts: the International Monitoring System (IMS) is detailed in Part I, the On-Site Inspections (OSI) portion is based in Part II, and Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) are part III. > The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is an international organisation of two bodies: the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS), which coordinates the establishment and maintenance of an international network of monitoring stations and radionuclide laboratories of countries, and the Preparatory Committee, which is intended to assist in achieving the goal and intent of the Treaty.

4.2 STORAGE OF DATA OF PAYMENT SYSTEMS In its 'Storage of Payment System Data' Order, the Reserve Bank of India has made it clear that all payment data must be stored in systems located only in India.

> All system providers need to ensure that all data relating to payment systems run by them is stored in a system only in India within a span of six months. > End-to - end transaction information and payment transaction info should be included in the data stored in India.

The data may be linked to:

-- Customer details such as name, mobile number, PAN, Aadhaar number.

-- Payment-sensitive data such as account information for consumers and beneficiaries.

-- Payment credentials such as OTP, PIN.

-- Transaction details such as the sum of information on the source system and destination system.

> All payment-related data must only be stored in India and data processed (if processed abroad) must be returned to the country within 24 hours.

-- If so desired by the Payment System Operators (PSO), there is no bar on the processing of payment transactions outside India.

> Data deposited in India may be accessed or retrieved whenever appropriate for the handling of customer disputes and any other relevant processing activities, such as reimbursement of charges.

-- The data can, if applicable, be shared with the overseas regulator, depending on the nature / origin of the transaction with prior RBI approval.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 4.3 NAXALISM AND TERRORISM NAXALISM > First phase (1967-72): The movement had strong ideological moorings, receiving guidance from leaders like Charu Majumdar, Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, Nagabhushan Patnaik and others. Between its first phase and today’s Maoist movement, vast changes have occurred in the taxonomy of Naxalism. > Since 2004: In a significant development, the People’s War (then operating in Andhra Pradesh) and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (then operating in Bihar and adjoining areas) merged to form the CPI (Maoist) Party. Government approach to left wing extremism: The GOI’s National Policy and Action Plan emphasises on security and development.

Aspect of Security: > Studies on the spread and patterns of the Left Wing Extremist violence highlighted that 90 districts in eleven states have received special attention with regard to the preparation, implementation and monitoring of different interventions. > The central government tracks the situation closely and complements and coordinates its initiatives in a variety of ways. They include:

Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) provision;

> Sanction of the Indian Reserve (IR) battalions, establishment of schools for Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism (CIAT);

> updating and modernization of the State Police and its intelligence apparatus;

> re-payment of expenditure related to protection under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme;

> provision of anti-LWE aircraft, assistance in training the State Police through the Ministry of Defense, the Central Police Organisations and the Research and Development Bureau of the Police;

> Information sharing & inter-State cooperation facilitation; > support in services for community policing and public action etc. The underlying ideology is to reinforce the ability of state governments to counter the Maoist threat in a concerted way.

Evolution: > Education progresses through the establishment of Kendriya Vidyalayas. > With regard to the growth of infrastructure, approximately 3,000 km of road and bridge construction is underway in Bastar. There is improved connectivity by road and rail. All villages in the Bastar district, for example, are electrified.

> Poverty Reduction by helping states like Chhattisgarh to distribute rice to the poor at about 1 per kilogramme using the existing PDS method.

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MSP (minimum support price) of 2,500 per quintal, up from 400 per quintal, is provided to improving local people's incomes through MSP for farmers cultivating tendu leaves.

> In Bijapur and Dantewada, the Chattisgarh government has set Urban Naxals: up outsourcing business process units and completed work at the The Ministry of Home Affairs described Urban Naxalism in an intelligence report entitled Nagarnar steel plant. "Urban Naxalism: Increasing Threat and > Implementation of various core programmes, such as the Ujjwala Remedies," as an old Maoist strategy to Yojana and Ayushman Bharat. concentrate on urban leadership centres, mobilise masses in urban areas by democratic Restrictions: means, create a united front and engage in > Development Paradigm: It was pointed out by the Expert Group military tasks such as providing workers, of the Planning Commission back in 2008 that “the benefits of this equipment and infrastructure. paradigm have been disproportionately cornered by the dominant > Many of these organisations has a strong section at the expense of the poor, who have borne most of the belief in the Maoist rebellion ideology, are costs.” headed by well-educated intellectuals. > Inequality: 22 per cent of India's national income is cornered by > They shape the party's propaganda / disinformation apparatus. the richest one per cent, according to the World Inequality Survey. > These organizations' important functions Such inequalities give rise to frustration, which has the potential to include the recruiting of 'trained erupt into an insurrection. revolutionaries', the raising of insurgency > Corruption: It is at the root of many factors that cause funds, the construction of urban shelters for widespread discontent. Transparency International also supports underground cadres and the provision of this, as seen in the index published by it. In the list of the most legal assistance to detained cadres. corrupt nations, India has recently slipped two slots. > Agrarian unrest: In March 2018, for instance, farmers continued to cause serious concern, undertaking a long march from Nashik to Mumbai. > Spread: There are reports that in the Northeast, the Maoists CPI Party (Maoist) It is the largest Left Wing Extremist have made a dent and are also involved in the Kerala, Karnataka organisation responsible for the majority of and Tamil Nadu tri-junctions. incidents of violence and killing of civilians and security forces and has been included Naxalism - Ways to Curb: under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Central and state governments should try to introduce good Act, 1967, in the Schedule of Terrorist governance, negotiate with Naxal leaders, generate more jobs and Organizations along with all its organisations boost salaries, prevent environmental destruction to support their and front organisations. livelihoods and local tourism, and provide adequate rehabilitation Under the Indian Constitution and the and resettlement. founding principles of the Indian state, the ideology of armed rebellion to overthrow the Implementation of schemes such as- government is inappropriate. At present, the highest decision-making body, the Central > Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, for which the central Committee of the CPI (Maoist), has instructed government is responsible. Reimbursements of 90 districts to the the front organisations to intensify their State Governments of 11 LWE affected States SRE relating to activities and mobilise people on issues training and operational needs of security forces, ex-gratia related to Dalits and minorities. payments to civilian / security forces families killed in LWE conflict, > Today, but to varying degrees, the states of etc. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar , West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, > The Special Infrastructure Scheme, along with the development Maharashtra , Madhya Pradesh and Uttar of Fortified Police Stations in the affected states of the LWE. Pradesh are regarded as affected by LWE. > Aspirational District: The Ministry of Home Affairs has been entrusted with programme monitoring in 35 districts affected by the LWE.

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> Project LWE Mobile Tower > Media Strategy- Which includes events such as NYKS-organized Tribal Youth Exchange programmes, radio jingles, films, pamphlets, etc.

Other development initiatives, such as building a food processing unit in every Chhattisgarh district where farmers can directly sell their goods, can help to support income.

TERRORISM IN INDIA Institutional Structure for Terrorism Tackling: It is possible to classify terrorism in India into 4 categories: > The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is > Militancy of Jammu and Kashmir: After losing the initial battle the central agency set up by the Government in 1947 and later the wars of 1965 and 1971, Pakistan resorted to of India to fight terror. It serves as the Law low-intensity warfare tactics as it realised that, in a full-scale Enforcement Agency for Core Counter direct war, it could not prevail over India. Since the late eighties, Terrorism. Without special authorization it has strongly funded separatists and insurgent rebellions in the from the governments, the department is Kashmir Valley. allowed to deal with terror-related crimes across countries. It came into being on 31 > North-East insurgency: In the whole north-east country, there December 2008 with the Parliament of India's are more than 100 tribal groups. British policies have contributed enactment of the National Investigation to their separation from the rest of India. There are currently a Agency Act 2008. After the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, NIA was established as the number of insurgent outfits with different demands to monitor need for a central agency to fight terrorism Bangladesh's illegal immigration, separate statehood, secession. was realised. > NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid) is an > Terrorism of the Left Wing (Naxalism): From the village of intelligence sharing network that gathers Naxalbari in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Bihar, Odisha, data from different agencies and government Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have been spreading it. It aims ministries' standalone databases. It is a to seize political power to establish the so-called people 's counter-terrorism measure that gathers and government through armed struggle. gathers a number of government database information, including details of tax and bank > Hinterland terrorism: the terrorist acts that have occurred in accounts, credit card purchases, visa and India. Bombay serial bombings, Parliament attack (New Delhi) in immigration records, and rail and air travel routes. 2001, Akshardham Temple (Gujarat) attack in 2002, Mumbai > The Special Forces Unit under the Ministry attacks in 2008, Pathankot attack (Punjab) in 2016. Examples: of Home Affairs (MHA) is the National Militancy in Punjab in the eighties, 1993 Security Guard (NSG). After Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, it Reasons for Terrorism Spreading: was raised in 1984 to fight terrorist activities with a view to defending states from internal > Indoctrination: Religious ideology has become a central means disturbances. of indoctrination and terrorist preparation. To attract and > ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) is a special radicalise people through videos and propaganda, extremists use police force set up to counter terror. blogs and social media. Suicide, self-sacrifice, or martyrdom was Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, orchestrated and committed by religiously motivated people. Rajasthan and Bihar have been formed in several states.

> Technology: advanced means of communication: electronic media, print media , social media, and the internet help to promote extremist ideology and hate campaigns across international boundaries more rapidly. In order to provide guidance and information on how to organise and prepare for attacks, blogs and social media posts serve as a "virtual training camp" or forum for ideas. Cell phones, satellite phones and GPS systems are other tools used to commit acts of terror.

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> Feelings of alienation and deprivation among local citizens, violation of human rights, oppression of the dignity of life, disconnection from mainstream societies, dissatisfaction with the government.

> Porosity of neighbouring countrie’s borders like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal. Some of it is due to rough terrain and some of it is due to government bilateral agreements.

> Violation of land ceiling rules, non-regularization of traditional land rights, acquisition and reconstruction of land without sufficient compensation, destruction of old tribal-forest relationships.

> In order to gain easy money, ties between terrorism and organised crime.

> Easy weapons and ammunition availability.

> Development deficit: Unemployed and poor young people with high ambitions are the victims of a trap set by terrorist groups that attract them with short-term profits of money, food , clothing , shelter and ask them to carry out terrorist acts such as suicide car bombing.

Legal basis for handling terrorism: > Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act: Generally referred to as TADA, the anti-terrorism law was in effect in the form of the Punjab insurgency between 1985 and 1995 and extended to the whole of India. It became effective on 23 May 1985. In 1989, 1991 and 1993, it was renewed before being permitted to expire in 1995 due to growing unpopularity following widespread allegations of harassment.

> The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA): The Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was an Act passed by Parliament in 2002 to improve anti-terrorism operations. The Act was enacted as a result of several terrorist attacks in India , especially in response to the attack on Parliament. The 2001 Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) and the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act have been superseded by the Act. The Act was repealed by the government in 2004. The National Security Act, 1980 and the Illegal Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 are the laws in effect to regulate terrorism in India at present. > National Security Act, 1980: The National Security Act is a strict law providing for months of preventive detention if the authorities are convinced that an individual is a danger to national security or law and order. A person's reasons for preventive detention include: > To behave in any way prejudicial to India's defence, India 's ties with foreign powers, or India's stability.

> Restricting the continued existence in India of any alien, or with a view to make arrangements for his withdrawal from India.

> It is important to prevent them from acting in any way that is prejudicial to the protection of the State, or from acting in any way that is prejudicial to the maintenance of public order, or from acting in any way that is prejudicial to the maintenance of the supplies and services which are essential for the community.

> Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967: The purpose of successful prevention in India of associations of unlawful activities. Its key purpose is to make available powers in order to deal with actions directed towards India's independence and sovereignty.

WAY AHEAD: To counter terrorism, a holistic approach is required. It needs commitment from all the government, security forces, civil society and media stakeholders.

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> Political: There should be a supreme national interest. It should be above and above the politics of the ballot bank. Both political parties should come together together and make a request for all ways of fighting terrorism. > Legal: we need to have very strict anti-terrorism laws and quick-track courts that can offer judgement within 3-4 months. > Police: Improve the state police by upgrading their training capacities and by providing them with modern surveillance, investigation and operating facilities. > Media: the media often engage in excessive discussions on matters of concern from a national security point of view. In a democracy, discussion is always welcome, but the media should take a more dispassionate stance on certain topics. > Public: It is important to inform the general public about the evil plans of our neighbouring countries. Interreligious unity and working together for peace should be supported by both the majority and minority groups.

4.4 BIOMETRICS IN POLICING POLICE FUNCTIONS: • There has been growing consensus that the police duties should not be restricted to the mere maintenance of peace in public places but should focus equally on crime prevention and detection. • While preventing a crime is difficult and usually beyond human capacity (because of the dimensions and complexities of modern society), solving a crime is relatively easy.

Under-performance of the police: • There has been gross under-performance by the police with respect to law enforcement in crime prevention and detection. * Crime using knives continue to worry London’s Metropolitan Police, while the frequency of gun violence is high in U.S. cities, despite robust and aggressive policing. * Even police forces with huge manpower and with access to the latest technology have not been able to increase the success rates in solving crime, which lie in the low range between 30% and 40%. The low percentage of crime detection has led to the lack of public confidence in policing. * Even in the Indian scenario, except in sensational cases which have attracted considerable public and media attention, the Indian police have also been guilty of underperformance.

PARADOX: • Though citizens demand newer crime control measures to help keep them safe, they also sometimes resent productive and smarter police innovations in the field of crime control, because of perceived danger to individual rights and privacy.

• The main argument has been that the end of solving crimes cannot and should not justify the means used by state agencies.

DETAILS: Counter-crime facial recognition technology:

• A facial recognition system is a technology capable of identifying or verifying a person from a digital image or a video frame from a video source.

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• Taking into account how criminals merge with the community to escape identification, law enforcement and security agencies have been using facial recognition technology to track down criminals and help in crime detection.

INDIA’S EFFORTS: • India has an ambitious plan to construct one of the world’s largest facial recognition systems. The project envisions a future in which police from across the country would have access to a single, centralized database. • The details of the national aggregator project called the National Automated Facial Recognition System were highlighted in the report by the National Crime Records Bureau.

• The project would match images from the country’s growing network of CCTV cameras against a database encompassing images of criminals, passport photos and images collected by various security agencies.

• Many agencies and state governments are already using their own facial recognition apps.

CONCERNS: • There have been sharp adverse responses to the increased use of counter-crime facial recognition technology.

BIAS: • There are concerns that the software discriminates against minorities and ethnic groups, especially blacks and other non-whites. The suggestion is that there are a disproportionate number of black and non-white faces captured by this software. This charge applies mainly to the police in the U.S.

• There have been charges of bias against the ‘stop and frisk’ practice of the New York Police to combat crime. Several studies conducted revealed that more black and brown people were stopped and frisked than was warranted. The same charge of bias has now been brought against face recognition technology.

Lack of regulation: • Currently, there are no laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology. Given that this technology can be a powerful tool in the hands of the government and is liable to be misused, regulation should logically come before deployment of the technology. • The lack of a legal infrastructure that prevents the use of invasive technologies by agencies and state backed organizations is a major concern.

Privacy violation: • There has been opposition also from the rights activists who focus on privacy violation due to the facial recognition technology. They claim that the practice of capturing faces or policing without consent harms individual’s right to privacy. They have raised the spectre of mass surveillance. • The Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that Indians have a fundamental right to privacy. CHANCES OF ERROR: • The technology, despite the claim of infallibility by the promoters, has many a time been found guilty of errors. Therefore, harassment of innocent citizens is not uncommon. • The danger of misidentification is a major concern.

Counter-arguments: Making up for the shortfall: • India has just 144 police officers for every 100000 citizens. The authorities have turned to facial recognition technology to make up for the shortfall of police personnel.

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EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TECHNOLOGY: • The staunch defenders of the technology have been the police who have stressed on the effectiveness of the technology in tackling crime. It has been used to police large events and fight crimes in states like Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

• Indian police, for example, in the state of Telangana, under the Operation Smile, have reunited thousands of missing and trafficked children with their families using a new facial recognition app.

• An increasing number of cases are being solved with the help of facial recognition in cities like London and New York.

Unfounded concerns:

• The defenders of the technology have dismissed the charge that the technology is against the privacy rights of an individual. * Citizens do hand over data to private companies while availing services from them, still there are no concerns being expressed about privacy. The concerns with sharing similar data with the police are unfounded. * Individual’s faces are already online in a number of places. Increased use of CCTV cameras in a number of public places is in a sense a threat to anonymity. • There is the possibility of having provisions which further help protect an individual’s right to privacy. * There are several provisions in place in important cities like London with respect to protecting privacy rights. The photos captured are compared with the database of the police. The moment there is no match of a face with existing records, it is deleted. * Even when there are matches with the existing police database, the photos are deleted within 31 days of capture if there is no requirement for further investigation. • Though there cannot be the claim of infallibility, grave errors from its use have been found to be few and far between. • The argument of bias falls flat given the fact that the cameras are meant to take pictures at random rather than of specific segments of the population.

CONCLUSION: • Just as DNA testing establishes either the guilt or the innocence of a person arraigned for crime, facial recognition performs an equally vital role in criminal justice administration. • Though modern technologies like facial recognition technology is fraught with hidden dangers, there should be hope that care and sophistication in its implementation would help transform investigation.

4.5 EPIDEMICS AND NATIONAL SECURITY WHY IN NEWS? An epidemic in the form of Covid-19 has caused large scale loss of life and disturbed livelihoods all across the world. The magnitude of damage that it has caused has sparked a debate regarding whether epidemics should be treated as a national security problem.

WHAT IS NATIONAL SECURITY? National Security, in a more traditional sense, refers to the preservation of the state, its territorial integrity, political institutions, and national sovereignty from physical threats. But in the modern times the definitions have broadened to include following facets:

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• Law and order problems: Problems which do not threaten the national security in traditional terms but create a violent situation which in turn creates breeding ground for a National security situation. These are activities like civil war, ethnic conflict, crime and drugs. • Economic threats: They indirectly threaten the developmental dynamics by disturbing the economic processes. • Technology driven threats: Threats like cyber-terrorism, space warfare etc. have assumed increased importance in recent times. • Health Security: Diseases like Tuberculosis, Malaria and HIV are seen as threats to human security because of the enormous loss of life they cause.

HOW DO EPIDEMICS THREATEN NATIONAL SECURITY? • Can trigger a violent conflict: Epidemics may contribute to societal destabilization and in extreme cases it may accelerate the processes that lead to state failure which threatens national security. Various examples of AIDS triggered violence can be seen in Sub-Saharan Africa. • Biological weapons: Biological agents including epidemic diseases can be weapons of war and thereby directly and immediately threaten security. Combatants may deliberately target public health and spread disease to weaken and demoralize an enemy population. • Affect bilateral relations: Outbreaks may prompt disputes among states over appropriate policy responses in a number of areas, including freedom of movement for people and goods. For example, disputes arising during the MERS outbreak between India and countries in the Middle-east regarding Indian diaspora. • Human security: The idea that human security is part of national security directly makes epidemics a threat to nation by threating its people. For instance, by this approach tuberculosis is a national security threat to India because it threatens health of citizens of this country. • Historical connect: Epidemic and National Security Historically, epidemic infections have affected national security in various was on various instances such as. • Various scholars argue that Germany’s loss in WWI was at least partly due to the negative effects of the 1918 influenza epidemic. • In WWII, similarly, malaria caused more U.S. casualties in certain areas than did military action. • More recently, AIDS outbreak marked the first time that the UN Security Council acknowledged the threat that epidemics pose and consequently recommended to expand the definition of national security. Advantages of viewing epidemics as National Security threat • Higher priority: Associating health policy commitments with security can elevate the level of priority given to an issue and deliver results. Also, it would make available more resources to health emergencies via national security channel. • Better institutional organization: A national security problem is more likely to have a well-defined and streamlined institutional apparatus which in turn could generate a more coordinated and accelerated response. • Increased global commitment: Viewing epidemics as a security issue may encourage a deepening of commitment by countries to international cooperation and preparedness. Challenges in looking at an epidemic through security lens • Risk of mislabelling everything as security threat: If everything that causes a decline in human well-being is labelled a security threat, the term loses any analytical usefulness. • This approach relieves developed states: Viewing epidemics as part of national security relieves states without major public health threats of any moral obligation to respond to health crises of monumental proportions in the developing world. Currently, this is more seen in the perspective of humanitarian aid. • Deter regional cooperation: Issues of National security see relatively lower level of cooperation among neighbouring countries. This could directly impede much needed cooperation. Way forward In a nutshell, global pandemics threaten state security in three ways – domestically, economically and militarily. Going forward, 63 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com while there are valid arguments both for and against treating epidemics as a national security issue, following may also be seen as an alternative – • Viewing it as foreign policy issue rather than national security concern: It may be more fruitful to view disease and health issues as concerns for foreign policy deserving of multilateral responses, rather than as security threats requiring bilateral policy responses. • Independent institutional mechanism: Security labels provide health emergencies with resource the same human and financial resources could be garnered if an independent institutional mechanism for health emergencies can be created.

4.6 TAKING NUCLEAR VULNERABILITIES SERIOUSLY Japan on 6th August 2020 marked 75 years since the world’s first atomic bomb attack. On August 6, 1945, during World War II, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb code-named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan, resulting in an estimated 140,000 deaths. Three days later, the United States dropped an atomic bomb over Nagasaki.

Concerns: There are some critical concerns with respect to nuclear weapons.

Increasing nuclearization: Since 1945, the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea have armed themselves with destructive nuclear weapons. Over 1,26,000 nuclear weapons have been built since the beginning of the atomic age.

Damage potential: The use of existing weapons against civilian populations can cause a high number of casualties as observed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed over 2,00,000 people. Another 2,00,000 people or more who survived the bombings of these two cities have suffered permanent disabilities.

Recent studies have indicated that use of even a fraction of the current stock of nuclear weapons would cause a massive human tragedy and also have long-term repercussions for food and water availability, agricultural output and climate change. Any nuclear use between nuclear adversaries would cause a humanitarian disaster. The large numbers of nuclear tests are causing grave and long-lasting damage to the environment and public health.

Vulnerability: Nuclear weapons could be launched at any moment against any target around the world. There is no realistic way to protect against nuclear weapons, whether they are used deliberately, inadvertently, or accidentally. The availability of ballistic missiles has made it impossible to intercept nuclear weapons once they are launched. Neither fallout shelters nor ballistic missile defence systems have succeeded in negating this vulnerability.

Complacency: Post the Cold War, the perceived sense of danger of nuclear war has receded though the nuclear war risk continues to increase.

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A high level of public apathy and political complacency has led to a situation where the risks remain high but the desire to address them is low. There are no efforts being made for nuclear risk reduction. Led by the principle of nuclear deterrence, there has been the increasing tendency to use strategies of nuclear brinkmanship and ambiguity that actually is adding to the nuclear risks.

The problems of deterrence: Nuclear weapons supporters have often argued that the use of nuclear weapons is impossible because of deterrence. Deterrence theory holds that nuclear weapons are intended to deter other states from attacking with their nuclear weapons, through the promise of retaliation and possibly mutually assured destruction (MAD).

Lack of restraint: Nuclear weapons supporters claim that nuclear weapons do not just protect countries against use of nuclear weapons by others, but even prevent war and promote stability. However, the article argues that the claims of deterrence do not hold up to evidence. Nuclear threats have not always produced fear and caution as propounded by nuclear enthusiasts. On the contrary countries with nuclear weapons have gone to war quite often, even with other countries with nuclear weapons, albeit in a limited fashion. Countries have not always shown the expected restraint.

Unstable policy: Nuclear deterrence cannot be considered stable. Strategic planners often use worst-case assumptions about the intentions and capabilities of other countries to argue for the acquisition of greater destructive capabilities, driving endless upgrades of nuclear arsenals, and offering a rationale for new countries to acquire nuclear weapons.

All nuclear weapon states have admitted to the possibility that deterrence could fail, evident in their plans for preparing to fight nuclear war. The illusion of control: A major concern with respect to nuclear weapons is the illusion regarding the controllability of nuclear weapons. In the real world scenario, it would not be possible to have complete control. The desire to believe in the perfect controllability and safety of nuclear weapons creates overconfidence, which is likely to lead to accidents and possibly to the use of nuclear weapons. Though it is very unlikely that nations would resort to pre-meditated, deliberate nuclear attacks given the risks posed by nuclear retaliation, there is the underlying risk of inadvertent escalation due to miscalculation or misperceptions. Possibilities of unintended use are increased by the following factors. Stressed inter-state relations have diminished inter-state trust Growing tensions between North Korea and U.S. Tensions between Russia and the west Tensions between the U.S. and China Tensions between India and its two nuclear armed neighbours, China and Pakistan.

Unchecked strategic modernisation of the nuclear weapons: Russia and the USA have extensive and expensive programmes under way to replace and modernize their nuclear warheads. Similar demands have been observed in countries like the U.K. as well. China has been increasing its nuclear arsenal at a substantial rate. 65 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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North Korea has been making attempts to produce nuclear weapons.

Failure of arms control arrangements: The 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) expires in 2021 and the U.S. administration has expressed its reluctance to renew the treaty. This removes the check on the nuclear weapons programmes of the two nations with the largest nuclear weapons inventory. New START is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

The nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 seem to have failed, with Iran vowing to restart its nuclear programme in the wake of increased U.S. sanctions.

Adoption of aggressive nuclear postures: Abandonment of no first use policy Support for the idea of ‘limited’ nuclear war

Emergent technologies have created anxieties and these new developments threaten to create unknown risks. Advancing capabilities of cyber attacks on nuclear command and control Blurring lines between conventional and nuclear delivery with conventional weapon delivery systems being upgraded to enable the delivery of nuclear weapons as well Induction of hypersonic missiles capable of high speed and manoeuvrability Incorporation of artificial intelligence in nuclear decision making

Lack of public discourse: There is lack of public participation in the nuclear policy formulation and nuclear strategies are being dictated and driven primarily by security conclaves. Popular participation is important to temper national choices and create the much needed checks and balances.

Way forward: There is the need to bring nuclear risks back into popular imagination and into the political agenda. There is the need for a public campaign to expose leaders and societies to the full range of physical, economic, social, political, health, environmental, and psychological effects of nuclear weapons. Public pressure in the form of civil society movements can compel leaders to rationalise their weapon requirements; force nations to find ways of reducing nuclear risks; and gradually pave the path towards elimination of nuclear weapons. There is the need for renewed efforts at universal disarmament of Nuclear weapons.

4.7 PERMANENT COMMISSION FOR WOMEN IN THE INDIAN ARMY In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India had ruled allowing women to serve as permanently commissioned (PC) officers in 10 combat support arms and services of the Indian Army and had also directed the Central Government to consider removing the embargo on command appointments for women officers.

Unlike male officers who after joining under the SSC scheme can opt for a permanent scheme after the completion of 10 years, there is no such option available to women SSC officers, except in the streams of Judge Advocate General, Army Education Corps (AEC) and the Military Police. Women are not allowed to serve in combat units such as the Infantry and the Armoured Corps.

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• Following this judgment, the government issued formal sanction offering PC to women officers of the Indian Army. The order specifies grant of PC to Short Service Commissioned (SSC) women officers in ten streams of the Indian Army i.e., Army Air Defence (AAD), Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME), Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), and Intelligence Corps in addition to the existing streams of Judge and Advocate General (JAG) and Army Educational Corps (AEC).

• Consequent to the receipt of the formal Government Sanction Letter for grant of Permanent Commission (PC) to Women Officers in the Indian Army, the Army HQ is in the process of convening a Selection Board for screening women officers for grant of PC. Women Officers who have joined the Indian Army through the Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) and Short Service Commission Women (SSCW) are being considered.

Arguments against grant of greater role for women in armed forces: The central government in its submission to the SC had held that motherhood, childcare, prolonged absence due to pregnancy and psychological limitations would act as challenges to the women to meet the exigencies of army service. The natural processes of menstruation and pregnancy make women particularly vulnerable in combat situations. Such positions usually leave the commanding officer with no privacy and during adverse situations the lack of sanitation can have an impact on their health. The requirement to work in difficult terrains, isolated posts and adverse climate conditions would require high physical standards and the government has submitted that women aren’t fit to serve in ground combat roles. The government had also put forward the danger of women being taken as prisoners of war as a concern in inducting women into combat roles.

Women in the armed forces: So far, women make up only 3.89% of the Indian army, 6.7% of the navy and 13.2% of the air force, excluding the various medical services, which indicate there are lesser women in the armed forces. The IAF has allowed women to become fighter pilots, and the Army has sent them to tough UN peacekeeping missions globally and has also allowed them entry into non combat roles. Women officers are already commanding platoons, companies and second in command positions successfully.

Significance of PC to women: For Women in the army: Job security: With the grant of PC, women officers will now not be forced to look for alternative careers after 14 years thus ensuring job security.

Attendant employee benefits: The grant of PC will accrue many other employee benefits such as pension and ex-servicemen status for the women army recruits.

Professional growth for women: The grant of permanent commission to women will provide clarity on their career paths and also place women officers on an equal footing with men for promotions and professional growth. Women officers could be considered for command roles. They could enrol for ‘In service career courses’ and even opt for higher studies. This will pave the way for women taking up larger roles within the Army.

For the army:

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The availability of experienced women officers in permanent cadre would help address the issue of shortage of officers in the Indian Army. As per the available records, the shortage of officers in the Indian Army is estimated at 18% of the authorised strength.

For society: The grant of permanent commission to women has helped address the issue of regressive patriarchal mindsets. It breaks gender stereotyping of Women being physiologically weaker than men and provides equal opportunities for women in the Army.

Way forward: Implementation: There is a need to sincerely implement the new reform. This would require a change in the current mindset and need gender sensitization among the stakeholders. There is the possibility of challenges in implementing the new reforms but the solution to these should not be guided by gender stereotyping. Administrative issues should not be cited as a barrier to women’s entry in the Armed Forces. It is the responsibility of the Government to create both administrative and social infrastructure for the easy induction of women into the Armed Forces. Maintaining professional standards in the army: The physical and mental standards for the role must be uniform and gender-neutral. The professional standards must be adhered to without any gender bias and Women should be judged on the basis of their capabilities.

Addressing other issues: Currently, there is no provision for women to choose defence as a long-term career right at the outset as a PC officer. There is the need to provide women with an opportunity to directly join the services as permanently commissioned officers as against the current mode of entry being only as short service commission cadre. Women who are already in combat support arms and services must also be allowed a role in combat positions. A women combat squadron should be designed and studied extensively before any further development or decisions are made.

5. ENVIRONMENT 5.1 CORINGA SANCTUARY FOR WILDLIFE

It is an estuary and wildlife sanctuary located in Andhra Pradesh.

It is India's second largest stretch of mangrove forest.

It is home to the critically endangered white-backed vulture and the long billed vulture.

Threats  Coringa has become one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the state, prompting the government to allocate funds to domestic and foreign tourists for the creation of amenities.

 The flora and fauna have faced many challenges, from the development of the Polavaram irrigation project to the rapid industrialization along the Kakinada coasts.

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 Water flowing in the creeks of the mangrove is a perfect mix of the outcomes of the Godavari and the Bay of Bengal.

 Any change in this balance can alter the quality of the water, which will have a cascading effect on the flora and fauna in turn.

 The big problem is the merging of agricultural and irrigation waste into the river.

 Since more and more fertilisers and pesticides are being used by farmers and aqua farmers in the vicinity to achieve good yield, the residues are carried by water flowing from these fields into the creek.

 The content of pesticides adversely affects the production of honey

 As the honeybees are recognised for their constant flight, the pesticides used by the farmers happen to affect them.

 Uttar Pradesh will have its first conservation centre for endangered vultures at the end of 2019.

 Under the Gorakhpur Forest Division, U.P., the Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre will be built at Bhari Baisi village in Pharendra tehsil.

Significance of Vultures

 The natural cleaners of the ecosystem are vultures.  They feed on dead animals that die, thus improving the process of returning minerals to the soil.

 In addition, they track the transmission of infectious diseases by disposing of dead bodies.

 The population of animals such as rats and stray dogs continues to rise in the absence of vultures, contributing to the spread of rabies. Species of Vultures found in India and their Conservation Status: Threats to Vulture Survival in India 01. Bearded Vulture, Near Threatened 02. Cincerous Vulture, Near Threatened • Veterinary use of analgesic diclofenac, habitat degradation, 03. Egyptian Vulture, Endangered pesticide contamination, slow breeding rate, lack of 04. Griffon Vulture, Least Concern carcasses, feeding of poisoned carcasses and lack of legal 05. Himalayan Vulture/Griffon, Near protection are the major threats to the survival of vultures Threatened in India. 06. Indian Vulture, Critically Endangered 07. Indian White-rumped Vulture, Critically • The principal threat to vultures in India is the veterinary use Endangered 08. Red-headed Vulture, Critically of diclofenac. Endangered 09. Slender-billed Vulture, Critically  Diclofenac is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Endangered (NSAID) that is used to relieve muscle pain and is a part of almost all gels, creams and sprays.

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• The medication is similarly effective in cattle as well, and it decreases joint discomfort when offered to working animals and thus keeps them working for longer.

• Since it takes a lot of time for the kidneys to flush this drug out of the system, it remains in the bovine body even after death.

• As Vultures, they're scavengers, feeding on the dead. When they ingest the infected flesh of diclofenac, their kidneys stop working, leading to death.

• Another big threat to vultures in India is habitat loss.

• Vultures in India are also endangered by pesticide emissions.

• The D.D.T (Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane) chlorinated hydrocarbon used as a pesticide reaches the body of Vultures via the food chain where it affects the function of the estrogen hormone, as a result of which the egg shell is weakened, resulting in premature egg hatching causing the embryo to die.

• In one breeding season, vultures lay a single egg. Their slow breeding rate is therefore a threat to their survival as well.

• Vultures in India are also endangered by the use of poisoned carcasses as bait by humans to kill cattle- marauding carnivores.

The following are the major measures taken by the government to protect the country's vultures:

 White backed, Long Billed and Slender Billed Vultures' protection status has been upgraded from Schedule IV to Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

 At Panchkula, a 'Vulture Captive Care facility' has been developed.

• The Ministry of Health has forbidden the manufacturing of Diclofenac for animal use and prohibited single-dose packaging of multi-dose vials of Diclofenac.

 Local conservation organisations have conducted a drug-swapping programme to promote the use of non-toxic alternative medicine (meloxicam) where farmers could exchange any diclofenac stored prior to the ban for an equivalent amount of meloxicam.

 A National Action Plan (2006) on Vulture Conservation was formulated by the Government of India.

 The Action Plan sets out measures to contain the decrease in the population of vultures by ex-situ, in- situ vulture conservation.

 Captive breeding centres have also been set up by the Central Zoo Authority at Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Junagarh and Hyderabad Zoos.

 Initiatives to improve mass education and understanding of vulture conservation have also been introduced by the Ministry.

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Breeding centres for habitat: Ex-situ conservation programme • In 2005, the vulture research facility at Pinjore, Haryana became the first Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre in Asia. At present, at Rani in Guwahati (Assam), Pinjore (Haryana), Buxa (West Bengal), and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), India has four vulture breeding facilities. Vulture Protected Zones-In-situ project for conservation. The Vulture Safe Zone (VSZ) is a geographical region with a distance of at least 100 Km designated as a natural habitat for wild vultures and free of the involvement of the medication diclofenac in animal carcasses.

5.2 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY’S SMALL GRANTS PROGRAMME > Since 1997, UNDP has assisted the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in implementing the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Small Grants Program (SGP) funded in India.

> SGP projects are implemented through the Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) National Host Institution and other NGO partners and stakeholders that have a presence in various parts of the world.

What is the GEF-Program for limited grants?

> It was introduced with 33 participating countries in 1992 and has grown to currently provide assistance to 125 countries.

> Offers financial and technical assistance to communities and civil society organisations with a view to achieving the ultimate goal of achieving global environmental benefits through community projects and acts.

> The SGP believes that initiatives led by the community and civil society will generate environmental benefits, while fostering healthy livelihoods, gender equality and empowerment of civil society.

> The programme is explicitly designed to organise bottom-up change by empowering local civil society groups, including women and indigenous peoples, and disadvantaged and marginalised communities.

> It is currently being introduced on behalf of the GEF Collaboration by UNDP.

SGP 's main achievements in India > For over 25 years, SGP has been operational and is being introduced across India. > SGP has been working extensively in India in the fields of conservation of biodiversity , climate change and land degradation. > 110,000 hectares of land in the Western Ghats, Himalayan Front and Arid and Semi-Arid regions are brought under sustainable land and resource management by sustainable initiatives such as organic farming and community-managed enterprises. > 85,000 MTs of CO2 emissions have been reduced by a variety of renewable energy and energy-saving technologies, such as saving cookers, solar driers and briquetting systems, recycling systems for plastic waste, micro-hydro and biomass. > Promotion among small farm holders of sustainable income generation activities.

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> The GEF serves as the financial platform for five conventions: the Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Contaminants (POPs), the United Nations Convention to Fight Desertification (UNCCD) and the Mercury Convention of Minamata. > The GEF supports the application of the Protocol in countries with economies in transition, although it is not officially related to the Montreal Protocol. > India is a part of a GEF constituency made up of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal , and Sri Lanka.

5.3 BLACK SOFT SHELL TURTLE In the Haduk Beel (wetland) of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, black softshell hatchlings were released.

> In the ponds of the various temples and shrines of the state, uncommon turtle species are raised. Wildlife Sanctuary at Pobitora Black soft shell turtle > The sanctuary is located in the Brahmaputra > It is found in India and Bangladesh as a freshwater turtle. River floodplains of the Morigaon district. > After Kaziranga National Park, it has the > Of the 29 freshwater turtle species described in India, 20 are second highest concentration of rhinos in found in Assam and a dozen species are considered to be home to Assam. temple ponds. > In the winters, it also acts as a birder 's sky, with thousands of waterfowl thronging the wetlands. Leopards, wild boars, barking deer > It is omnivorous, with a diet ranging from marine plants to ,wild buffalo, etc., are other animals found in carriages and aquatic insects. In addition to the carcass of a big the area. dead animal, Indian black turtles can also be seen to sum up.

> Since 2002, the black softshell turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) has been on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "extinct in the wild."

> Turtle meat and egg consumption, silt mining, wetland invasion, and changes in flooding patterns have had a devastating effect on the turtle population of the state.

Importance

 Turtles hold a distinctive role within the food network. A variety of prey, including puffer fish , crustaceans, sponges, tunicates, sea grasses, and algae, are eaten. In transporting nutrients from highly active marine environments such as sea-grass beds to energy-poor environments such as sandy beaches, the unique life-cycle of the species plays a vital role. This helps to reverse the normal nutrient flow from land to sea.

 They further contribute to the preservation of safe fish populations in the body of water.

 Unhatched chickens, eggshells and liquids help to encourage decomposition and the production of much-needed fertiliser.

 As turtle numbers decrease in general, so does their ability to play a crucial role in preserving the health of the marine environments of the planet.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 5.4 TIGER CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN INDIA The most recent estimation of tiger population in India has noted that there has been an increase in tigers from about 2,000 in 1970 to around 3,000 presently. India hosts around 70% of the world’s tigers. Madhya Pradesh hosts the maximum number of tigers followed by Karnataka.

Details: Despite the increase in the tiger population in India leading tiger experts in India have pointed out serious concerns regarding tiger conservation efforts in India.

Peak capacity of Tiger reserves: Nearly a third of India’s tigers are living outside tiger reserves and nearly 17 of the 50 reserves are approaching the peak of their capacity at sustaining their populations.

Low growth rate of tiger population: Despite the fact that Tiger population has increased in India and despite India having done better than other tiger range countries, the annual growth rate remains very low.

Potential much higher: Given the expansive land base of India, it has the potential to hold 10,000 to 15,000 wild tigers. However there seems to be no goal or plan to realize this potential.

Regional disparity: The tiger population recovery has not been even throughout the country and has only been sporadic in a few reserves.

Cost-effect analysis: The governments have been investing heavily, but not very intelligently, in tiger conservation. Excessive funding of a few reserves while neglecting large areas with greater recovery potential have become a concern. There seems to be the emphasis on the massively funded eco-development activities in tiger reserves. This calls into question the efficiency of the investments. The article laments the unnecessary and massive borrowings from the Global Environment Facility- World Bank combine to create new models for tiger recovery.

Government monopoly: A major concern of the current conservation policy is the government monopoly over tiger management which has led to the lack of data transparency and rigorous, independent tiger monitoring.

Policy mistakes: The implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 has opened up the wildlife habitats for cultivation and exploitation by loosely defined “forest-dwellers”. The subsequent impact on tiger habitats has been severe. The Tiger Task Force (TTF) was appointed in 2005, to review the status of the tigers in India. The author argues that the task force driven by its urge to maintain politically correct ideologies and based on inappropriate interpretation of the available scientific studies resulted in a report by the TTF that created a tiger management model that only enlarged the influence of the forest bureaucracy and did nothing to help tiger conservation efforts.

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Institutions like the National Tiger Conservation Authority have increased in size, taking under it schemes totally unrelated to tigers, such as the recovery of snow leopards and translocation of African cheetahs to India. This would have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of the organization. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was established in 2005 following a recommendation of the Tiger Task Force. The NTCA would be responsible for implementation of the Project Tiger plan to protect endangered tigers. The NTCA would lay down normative standards, guidelines for tiger conservation in the Tiger Reserves, apart from National Parks and Sanctuaries. The NTCA would also facilitate and support tiger reserve management in the States through eco-development and people's participation.

Way forward: Reducing bureaucratic overload: The author calls for winding down bureaucracy’s role in conservation efforts and argues for restricting the forest bureaucracy’s role to enforcement of wildlife law. The author argues that merging Project Tiger with other Central schemes for wildlife conservation could be a good start in this direction. Involving all stakeholders: Government monopoly over domains of tiger conservation such as tiger research, monitoring, nature education and conflict mitigation should be done away with and the private enterprises, local communities, NGOs and scientific institutions should be involved in tiger conservation efforts.

Sustainable development: There is the need to recognize the existing challenges in tiger conservation and address them in future policies. The slow growth of the economy has resulted in widespread poverty. This has resulted in excessive reliance on forest exploitation for livelihoods and protein dependency on wild meat that is driving wildlife hunting. There is the need to adopt a more sustainable model of development balancing the need to conserve the environment while also addressing the need for human development.

5.5 LANDSLIDES IN KERALA Landslide in Idukki district of kerala had claimed 22 lives and rendered several families homeless.

Background: Landslides: A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope under the direct influence of gravity. Landslides can be triggered by natural factors such as earthquakes, volcanic activity, soil erosion and slow weathering of rocks or can be due to human developmental activities like deforestation and quarrying. Landslides result in loss of lives and property. Landslides are a major natural hazard in the areas of the Himalayas, the north-eastern hill ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghats, the Nilgiris, and the Vindhyas.

Landslides in Kerala: Landslips or landslides have been a recurrent phenomenon in the Western Ghat state of Kerala. Data from the Geological Survey of India shows that Kerala has experienced 67 major landslide events and several minor ones from 1961-2013. In 2019, Wayanad district witnessed multiple landslides that claimed several lives and destroyed multiple hamlets. 74 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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The National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) programme of the Geological Survey of India notes that nearly 13 of the State’s 14 districts are prone to landslides. As part of a National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) programme, the Geological Survey of India mapped States facing high landslide risk to assess the vulnerability of the districts to landslides. This included states in the Western Ghats, the north-eastern States, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. The objective of the NLSM maps is to help State and district authorities incorporate the risk of landslides into zoning laws.

The high population density of Kerala (over 800 per square kilometre) makes the state more hazard-prone to landslides as compared to other states. The landslide season in Kerala starts with the onset of the south-west monsoon every year.

Reasons for high number of landslides in Kerala: Heavy rainfall in Kerala: Kerala has been receiving heavy monsoon rainfall. Most districts have received three or four times more rain than what is normal. Lying in the Western Ghats, Kerala receives high monsoonal rainfall.

Topography: Given the hilly topography of the state, Kerala is prone to landslides.

Climate change: Climate change has brought out a new climate normal. Frequent high-intensity bursts of rain will co-exist along with long dry spells. This would only increase the threat of natural calamities like landslides. Developmental activities: Extensive deforestation for developmental work has led to an increased possibility of soil erosion. Given the hilly topography of Kerala, human activities like quarrying and the unscientific cutting of slopes for road construction have only increased the risk of soil erosion.

Way forward: The strategy to counter the risk posed by landslides must be based on the four pillars of disaster management: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

Mitigation: Methods of preventing landslides: modifying slope geometry, using chemical agents to reinforce slope material, installing structures such as piles and retaining walls, and rerouting surface and underwater drainage, restriction of certain types of land use where slopes are vulnerable. Methods of reducing the impact of landslides: Restriction of population from landslide-prone areas.

Preparedness: Important preparatory strategies could involve monitoring and landslide prediction. The National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping (NLSM) programme of the Geological Survey of India could help assess the vulnerability of the districts and this could allow the concerned states to plan accordingly.

Installing early warning systems based on the monitoring of ground conditions like slope displacement, strain in soil and rocks, groundwater levels can help warn the residents and authorities of the risks.

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Landslide Education, Awareness and Capacity Building among the residents and the local administration must be an important preparation strategy. The district and state disaster management apparatus should be ready for intervention at a short notice. Response: Ensuring medical service to the injured people. Providing emergency shelters for those who lost their homes. Opening up of access road in case of blocks. This could ensure an uninterrupted flow of resources to the affected region.

Recovery: Given the overwhelming evidence available indicating the effect of developmental activities in the increased incidence of landslides, there is the need to ensure strict enforcement of environmental regulations and zoning laws. If necessary such laws must be made more stringent. There is a need for new models of development. Development goals must be pursued without breaching environment regulations.

5.6 MONEY LAUNDERING AND THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE REPORT The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its first-ever report on illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Highlights Of The Report • IWT is a major transnational organized crime, which fuels corruption, threatens biodiversity, and can have a significant negative impact on public health and the economy. It is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year. • Syndicates involved in wildlife crime usually poach, harvest or breed wildlife in countries that are rich in biodiversity and/or where there may be weaker law enforcement oversight. • Similarly, most syndicates involved in such crime transit the wildlife through other countries to obfuscate the end destination. Transit countries typically include trade and transport hubs or countries with higher levels of corruption. The laundering of the proceeds occurs across source, transit and destination countries. • Magnitude Of The Proceeds Generated In IWT Market o Rhinoceros horn: The price of rhinoceros horn can reach around USD 65000 per kg. Criminals trafficked approximately 4500 African rhinoceros horns between 2016 and 2017. o Pangolin scales: While hunters can receive from USD 2.5 to 9 per kg of pangolin scales, the price in demand countries has reached as much as USD 700 per kg. • Methods to Launder Proceeds from IWT o Misuse of the Formal Financial Sector: Criminals involved in IWT are placing and layering funds through cash deposits under the guise of loans or payments, e-banking platforms, licensed money value transfer systems and third-party wire transfers through banks. o In order to conceal the sender and the receiver of the funds, and to avoid the country-specific threshold reporting by financial institutions, syndicates are relying on money mule accounts and low-value payments. o Shell companies: Countries identified that criminals are primarily using shell companies to facilitate transfer of value between syndicate members, between buyers and sellers, or to hold assets. • Facilitation Role of New Technologies o Encrypted communication platforms and illegal wildlife marketplaces hosted via social media sites, online vendor platforms, and the dark net increase the ease with which wildlife transactions can occur between buyers and sellers. o Although online listings are easily accessible, VPN connections disguise the location of wildlife traffickers. Challenges In Tackling IWT

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• Identifying the financial aspects of wildlife cases as a result of the high rate of use of cash and the difficulty in pursuing financial trails overseas, due to legislative differences or resources, or relationships. • Laws and regulations in some countries do not cover the transit and disposal of confiscated specimens. • Non-native CITES-listed species are often not protected by national legislation and regulations, creating regulatory arbitrage between jurisdictions. • Lack of criminalization of IWT as a predicate offense and low prioritization of wildlife crime among law enforcement agencies. • Unclear trade rules, primarily concerning transactions, species covered and exemptions. • Low penalties e.g. non-deterrent fines and prison sentence below four (4) years for serious infractions, and vague definition of the infractions. Recommendations • Legislative changes are necessary to increase the applicability of anti-money laundering laws to the illegal wildlife trade-linked offences. • Build strong public-private partnerships to prevent, detect and disrupt this activity, following the money that fuels it and the organised crime gangs, poachers and traffickers behind it. • Deprive criminals of the proceeds and instrumentalities of these crime and the means to commit further offences (e.g. arms, hunting tools and animals, vehicles, and equipment used to preserve the wildlife). Jurisdictions investigating wildlife crime should, as a priority, identify, freeze, seize and confiscate associated assets. • Provide training for law enforcement tasked with detecting, investigating and prosecuting money laundering from wildlife trafficking. • Undertake (multi-agency) case reviews of historic/closed IWT cases that focus on the unexplored financial elements of a case. Such reviews can be useful in order to identify the trends and methods used to move funds and conceal their criminal origin.

6. SOCIAL ISSUES 6.1 CIVIL SOCIETY AND COVID 19 The World Bank defines civil society organizations (CSOs) as a wide array of formal and informal organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations. Contribution of CSOs during COVID-19 According to a reply submitted by the central government in the Supreme Court on 7th April, a total of approx. 84 lakh people were provided meals across the country during the lockdown that started on 25th March. • Of these, 54.15 lakh people were fed by state governments while the remaining 30.11 lakh were fed by NGOs. • State-wise data presented by the Centre shows that in 13 states and UTs, NGOs outperformed state governments in providing humanitarian relief in the form of free meals. Most of these meals were provided to stranded migrant labour and the poor who have been hit the worst owing to loss of income during the lockdown. o Overall, there were 9 states and UTs where NGOs fed more than 75% of the people who were provided meals during the lockdown. • Apart from providing meals to the needy, NGOs across the country also opened relief or shelter homes for people to take refuge. The analysis of the central government's reply shows that o 10.37 lakh people in India took refuge in shelter homes provided by state governments and NGOs. Of these 10.37 lakh, or 39.14%, are staying in camps set up by NGOs. o In Maharashtra, 83.56% people were in camps set up by NGOs. In Meghalaya, this figure was 95%. • In another development which reflects upon the critical importance of grassroot organizations and workers, government has directed the Food Corporation of India to provide wheat and rice to these organizations at the open market sale rates (OMSS) without going through the e-auction process.

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ROLE OF CSOS IN CRISIS TIMES • Mobilize and channel resources: CSO can leverage strong relationships with communities and ready pool of volunteers and resources, while also being a channel for the private sector to deploy resources. o CSOs/NGOs mobilized by EG 6 have been assisting and supporting the local administration in delivering essential services particularly for migrants and homeless population working in urban areas. • Provide immediate relief: Just like in any other disaster, civil society can serve as first responders by providing food, ensuring water and sanitation facilities in camps, and distributing protective gear – particularly in far flung areas. Government reports that NGOs mobilized by EG 6 were successful in o providing shelter to homeless, daily wage workers, and urban poor families. o extending support for distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for community workers and volunteers. o supporting the government in setting up health camps. o identifying hotspots and deputing volunteers and care givers to deliver services to the elderly, persons with disabilities, children, transgender persons, and other vulnerable groups. o handling the mass exodus of migrant labour. NGOs are coordinating efforts and working closely with the district administrations and state governments so that measures of care, quarantine, and treatment go hand in hand. • Run awareness campaigns: Given the amount of misinformation going around, CSO have a major role to play in building awareness among communities, panchayats, and public representatives. As reported by the Government, CSOs/NGOs network of EG 6 was successful in creating awareness about o prevention, hygiene, social distancing, isolation, and combating stigma. o Developing communications strategy in different vernaculars whereby they become active partners in creating awareness at the community level so that COVID-19 spread is tightly controlled. • Holding Government accountable: There are significant corruption risks during times of crisis. Civil society has an important role to play in ensuring funds to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic reach their destination. o For instance, RTI petitions demanding details on how money donated in PM-CARES is being utilized.

CHALLENGES BEING FACED BY CIVIL SOCIETY DURING THE PANDEMIC During the ongoing pandemic, civil society is facing several constraints on its ability to carry out its work, as a result of lockdown, distancing, and quarantine measures. • Concerns related to their accountability o The crackdown on thousands of NGOs in recent years had positioned CSOs at the margins of administrative decision making. Several NGOs have been criticized as being corrupt and in violation of foreign funding norms. o This makes it difficult for CSOs to hold government accountable in such crisis times even as they themselves try to protect their credibility. • Access to information o Lockdowns prevent physical access to information, which was previously available from work, an educational institution, a library, etc. o Moreover, lack of digital connectivity along with restrictions on internet and digital illiteracy further restricts the widespread digital engagement with the stakeholders or access to information and communication. • Gaining momentum for civic initiatives is difficult o During times of crisis it can be very difficult to gain momentum and participants for a cause, as media and public orientation are focused on the emergency. • Restriction of movement prevents activities that require meeting physically o This is particularly the case for civil society’s social accountability role, as most social accountability tools require engaging local communities to come together to participate in initiatives. This is not possible when social distancing measures are in place.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR CIVIL SOCIETY DURING THE PANDEMIC • Potential to increase legitimacy of civil society through building broader participation by a network of online reporters and activists with strong links to the communities in which they live. This may counter the tendency of NGOs to be driven by donor demands and the need to secure funding. • Potential for widespread engagement: The current situation has released an urge to participate, demonstrated by the huge donations to PM-CARES Fund and helping hands coming forward to help migrants enroute to their hometowns. Some of this engagement could be channel into constructive support and alternative forms of civic engagement. • Building of new alliances with other types of CSOs beyond NGOs, such as professional associations (e.g. nurses unions), and other membership-based organizations. o These different forms of CSOs often have good communication structures and can engage different people in the monitoring and oversight of Covid-19 responses. o Building new alliances and networks can help civil society organizations to break down silos and create new synergies between organizations, which can prove useful in emergencies. • Exploring platforms for digital civic engagement: There are several examples of how civic engagement and accountability have moved online, with many untapped resources to draw upon to mobilize digital participation. o For example, in the UK, ‘Frontline PPE’ provides information about availability of personal protective equipment (PPE). In Spain, ‘Frene La Curva’ publishes requests for help or offers to collect food or medicine.

CONCLUSION The United Nations refers to civil society as the “third sector” alongside government and private businesses. In such testing times, CSOs have emerged as key supporting partners for the state in charting out a response. They have helped in widening the reach of the state. Going forward, keeping in mind their potential, there is a need to institutionalize the way they interact with the state. This not only will increase their legitimacy but will also pave the path for even wider and deeper cooperation.

6.2 INTEGRATED ROAD ACCIDENT DATABASE (IRAD) A central accident database management system has been introduced by the government to help evaluate the causes of road crashes and to formulate safety measures to minimise such accidents in the country.

Issues: • India is witnessing the world's largest number of road fatalities.

• More than 1.5 lakh persons, according to government reports, lost their lives in road crashes in the country in 2018. Of the total people killed in road accidents in 2018, 48% were between the ages of 18 and 35, and many were between the ages of 18 and 35.

• Overspeeding accounted for over 60 percent of these casualties.

Details: info

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) developed the IT instrument, known as the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD).

• The National Informatics Centre will implement it.

• The project costs Rs.258 crore and the World Bank is funding it.

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• The device will be piloted for the first time in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, the six states with the highest fatalities from road crashes.

• The IRAD will be strengthened on the basis of the results of the report, after which it will be rolled out across the world.

How is it working?

• The IRAD mobile application will allow police personnel, along with images and videos, to enter information about a road accident, after which a unique ID will be created for the incident.

• Subsequently, an engineer would receive a warning on his mobile device from the Public Works Department or the local authority.

• He or she would then visit the site of the accident, inspect it, and provide the appropriate information, such as the road design.

• A team at IIT-M will review the data thus obtained, which will then indicate whether corrective steps in road design need to be taken.

• On a different smartphone app, road users will also be able to upload data about road incidents.

6.3 INDIA’S CHILDREN AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES India has made significant progress in improving health indicators, particularly those related to child health, in the last two decades. In India, under-five mortality declined from 126 to 43 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2016. In 2014, the nation was reported polio-free and in 2015 it removed maternal and neonatal tetanus. India 's contribution to enhancing access to vaccinations has been a particularly significant step in reducing infant mortality and morbidity, and immunisation remains a priority at the highest levels of government among decision-makers.

Almost one million children die before their fifth birthday in India. Approximately one in four of these deaths was caused by pneumonia and diarrhoea, two of the world's leading infectious causes of infant mortality, while many can be rescued by procedures such as breastfeeding, immunisation, and access to therapy. India has recently taken steps through schemes such as 'Mission Indradhanush' and the launch of new vaccines, including the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and rotavirus vaccine (RVV), to improve access to interventions such as immunisation. However, despite development, infectious diseases continue to contribute to India's substantial proportion of infant mortality and morbidity. Rising costs and disinformation on social media are some of the latest obstacles to achieving full immunisation coverage.

What are diseases that are infectious? Diseases that are caused by germs (microbes) are infectious diseases. It is necessary to note that illness is not caused by all germs (bacteria , viruses , fungi and parasites). In reality, on the skin, eyelids, nose and mouth, and in the gut, a host of bacteria usually live. These bacteria are referred to as natural flora and are assumed to be normal inhabitants. In bacteria , viruses and fungi, factors include genes that decide how toxic the microbe can be (virulent). Some germs create toxins that themselves cause illness or lead to germ-induced infections.

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Examples include diarrhea causing enterotoxins; tetanus toxin that triggers the lock jaw; and toxic shock toxin that contributes to low blood pressure and shock. Infections are a common component of infancy. Per year, most children have at least 6 to 8 respiratory (breathing tract) infections. That include colds, infections of the ear, sinus infections , pneumonia and bronchitis. Bowel infections are widespread as well. There are also illnesses that are so mild that there are little to no signs. More serious diseases are caused by other pathogens. By harming the body parts (cells and organs) of an individual and inducing inflammation, infections cause damage. Not all diseases are infectious (capable of spreading from individual to individual). Infections of the ear and bladder are not transmitted from child to child, while diarrhoea and colds are spread quickly.

As their protective mechanisms have not yet checked and are not always mature, newborns are at risk. Infants are at risk because they prefer to put it all in their mouths and clean their hands seldom. Older children are less at risk because their hygiene is improved and previous infection or carriage of bacteria has made them immune.

Significance of Vaccines Vaccination is a proven and one of the most cost-effective methods for infant survival. All countries in the world have an immunisation programme to provide targeted beneficiaries with specified vaccines, especially targeting pregnant mothers, babies and children at high risk of vaccine-preventable diseases.

While cost-effective preventive vaccination has proved to be cost-effective, the benefits of immunisation do not reach several children at high risk of diseases preventable by these vaccinations. In developed countries , the majority of children who do not receive such vaccines live. India reports 5 lakh infant deaths annually, for instance, due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

In India, 30 percent of Indian children lack the benefits of complete immunisation per year, despite high childhood mortality rates due to vaccine-preventable diseases. That is, an estimated 89 lakhs of kids nationwide who either get just a few vaccines or no vaccines at all. Not all vaccines available under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) are obtained by one out of every 3 children in India. In urban areas, five percent of children and 8 percent in rural areas are unimmunized.

Universal Immunization Programme: The 'Expanded Programme of Immunization' (EPI) was first adopted by India in 1978. The programme was called the 'Universal Immunization Program (UIP)' in 1985 and is now known as the world's largest such health programme. Through the UIP, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides various vaccines to babies, children and pregnant women, making vaccines available at no cost to more than 27 million children in India 's annual birth cohort. However, the overall national complete immunisation coverage was a poor 62 percent in 2015-16, with just a few states reaching more than 90 percent coverage and maintaining it. In October 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India initiated the Enhanced Mission Indradhanush (IMI) to further improve the programme. The government aims to meet all children up to the age of two and all pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the regular immunisation programme / UIP via IMI. The plan offers protection against 12 diseases that can be avoided by vaccines. In order to ensure maximum immunisation coverage of more than 90 percent by 2020, the special push will concentrate on enhancing immunisation coverage in select districts and cities, a goal which was then advanced to 2018.

Under UIP, the Government of India offers cost-free vaccination against 10 vaccine-preventable diseases, i.e. Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio , Measles, Extreme Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Hemophilus Influenza Type B Pneumonia nationwide; Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in JE endemic districts; and Rotavirus diarrhoea in selected states.

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Recent Successes According to the Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2018, nearly half a million pneumonia and diarrhoea deaths were registered in two countries , India and Nigeria, in 2016, despite substantial reductions in disease burdens in recent years with increases in access to and use of health interventions. India is already meeting the goal set by the Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhea with an exclusive breastfeeding rate of 55 percent.

The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has helped to reduce maternal and child health disparities across geographical areas, gender , and socioeconomic status. It has also resulted in increased use of services such as ORS administration for diarrhoea and immunisation among 12 female children in rural areas.

The national campaign that began in 2014, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, aimed at cleaning up highways, roads and towns, has had a remarkable effect on the level of the society. An study found that by 2019, 300,000 deaths due to diarrhoea could be avoided, with the accelerated coverage of safe sanitation facilities and the promotion of recognition of 14 open defecation practises.

The roll-out of the rotavirus vaccine has decreased hospitalisation and diarrhoea-related deaths, and in recent decades, ORS and zinc use have also increased to prevent diarrhoea.

62 per cent of children aged 12-23 months have been completely immunised, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16).

Emerging Challenges

 The challenges, however, remain in terms of vaccine access, capacity building and healthcare provider preparation.

 Another major problem in India and other similarly high-burden countries is the imbalance among poor children in the administration of vaccines.

 While there is improvement in the supply chain of the health system, there is a lack of trust and expertise among healthcare providers in the administration of vaccines for infants under six months of age.

 An IMI study has found that the lack of expertise and insufficient time are the main constraints on the capacity of community health workers to provide successful therapy.

 Missing or incomplete knowledge prevents attempts to produce reliable estimates and is one of the causes for vaccine administration disparity. High-quality data on access and implementation of treatments to protect children and prevent and manage pneumonia and diarrhoea must be collected, from exclusive breastfeeding rates and immunisation coverage to Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and antibiotic administration, and ensure that accurate information is received by the public.

Moreover, to cope with challenges to pursuing vaccines, stronger communication and counselling skills tailored to local values are required. Through presenting straightforward, reliable facts from trustworthy voices, debunking myths can be an efficient way to fight disinformation and false news and gain the interest of the target community.

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Using IMI expertise to create a sustainable framework In 190 of the lowest-performing districts in India, IMI has led to substantial rises in fully immunised children (from 50.5 percent to 69.0 percent), a 37 percent improvement in coverage over baseline. It was funded exclusively by the government, using existing personnel and structures of governance. IMI has shown that cross- sectoral involvement in vaccinating those children at highest risk can be successful.

However, for this method to be even more successful, a number of system and practise modifications, especially in communication, are required. Four areas require reinforcement.

First, there is a need for continuous high-level political support, advocacy and oversight across industries, and flexibility to assign finance and individuals where needed. Secondly, both districts must reinforce the capacity of staff to list household recipients, add additional vaccination sites to increase access, and invest in the transportation needed for both districts. Thirdly, community providers in the health and partner sectors need improved communication and counselling skills, adapted to local values. Fourth, by engaging them early in planning and marketing plans, districts and primary care facilities must collaborate more closely with non-health stakeholders across industries.

There is a strong political commitment to health in India, including the vaccination programme, in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development. Investments are inevitable in modern vaccines and universal healthcare. Over the short to medium term, IMI can play a role in targeting vulnerable populations. From October 2018, repeat IMI rounds in 75 lagging districts are expected, leveraging experience from the early rounds. IMI will also be launched as one component of a multisectoral development initiative by a village empowerment and development drive (Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Expanded Gram Swaraj Abhiyan), led by the Ministry of Rural Development. In the longer term, the lessons learned from IMI are expected to be integrated into regular programming and overall growth, with cross-sectoral engagement contributing to a people's movement (Jan Andolan) to eliminate inequalities in vaccination via social change.

Way ahead

India needs to take serious steps to achieve maximum coverage of immunizations by 2020 and global goals for good health and well-being by 2030. Increased efforts to convey the benefits and dangers of vaccines and resolve evidence-based knowledge concerns will help to strengthen and maintain public faith in 18 vaccines and health systems worldwide.

In addition, equity is key to shielding children from vaccine-preventable diseases. India must learn from its neighbour, Bangladesh, how tribal and rural areas can be protected by valid vaccination coverage. A research from Tanzania concluded that enhancing the quality of vaccination services, encouraging health education, and raising awareness of health facility delivery in the community would increase the completion of child vaccination. To recognise unreached children and establish efficient solutions, an equity strategy needs more resources and greater granularity.

It is equally important for India to benefit from achievements of its own. The country, after all, achieved polio eradication by, among other efforts, revising its communication and mobilisation strategies. The revision of communication and mobilisation strategies for improving immunisation services in India is urgently needed. In targeted contexts, such as among urban low-income groups, culturally relevant social marketing initiatives may raise awareness among parents and promote the value of immunisation.

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In the vernacular, the use of different forms, such as street plays and storytelling, can be effective in bringing knowledge and behaviour change. In classrooms, programmes can be carried out to include teachers and the kids themselves who make successful advocates. Moving from social mobilisation to social accountability is crucial, so that the communities themselves are pushed to pursue services.

6.4 PROJECT OF MILK FORTIFICATION Over the past two years , the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Milk Fortification Programme, which aims to resolve vitamin deficiency in consumers, has seen substantial progress. > Fortification is performed in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures ( SOP) established by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and NDDB. About the Project The National Dairy Development Board > It was launched on 5 September 2017 as a pilot project by the > NDDB was formed in 1965 to replace NDDB in partnership with the World Bank and Tata Trusts. exploitation with empowerment, tradition > The goal of the project is to process approximately two million with modernity, stagnation with growth, and tonnes of fortified milk, reaching about 30 million customers. the transformation of dairy into a tool for > The project length is 23 months. It is sponsored and administered rural Indian development. > The NDDB, initially incorporated as a by the World Bank through the South Asia Food And Nutrition company under the Societies Act 1860, was Protection Initiative (SAFANSI). merged by the NDDB Act 1987 with the -- SAFANSI aims to counter chronic hunger by encouraging cross- former Indian Dairy Corporation. The new cutting actions in South Asian countries to achieve measurable corporate organisation was also declared by changes in the security of food and nutrition. the Act as an agency of national significance.

Malnutrition > Diseases caused by dietary deficiency in vitamins or minerals are referred to. > The most common types of micronutrient malnutrition are vitamin A deficiency, anaemia (iron deficiency) and iodine deficiency disorders. > The factors contributing to micronutrient malnutrition include poverty, lack of access to a variety of foods, lack of knowledge of optimal dietary practises and a high incidence of infectious diseases. > High social and public costs arise from micronutrient malnutrition, diminished work capacity in communities due to high rates of disease and disability and a devastating loss of human potential. > One of the alternatives to addressing micronutrient malnutrition is nutritional fortification or nutritional enrichment. In order to boost their nutritional value, fortification is the addition of essential vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc , vitamin A & D to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt. -- India, with its per capita milk supply increased to 375 g per day, is the world's largest milk producing country (2017-18). Milk has emerged as the best medium for fortification with its high production rate, widespread distribution network, affordability and all-round acceptance in the daily food habit.

India's Micronutrient Malnutrition > India bears the responsibility of over a fifth of the world's vitamin A deficient preschool children and more than 13 million iodine deficiency prone babies. > According to the National Family Health Survey-4 results, in India, 38.4 percent are stunted, 21 percent are wasted and 35.7 percent are underweight among children under the age of five years.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com 6.5 DISABLED AND EXTREMELY POOR According to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions”. • An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; A look at key states • An activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual • Disabled Population in India as per census in executing a task or action; 2011 (2016 updated) – In India, out of the 121 • A participation restriction is a problem experienced by an Cr population, 2.68 Cr persons are disabled which is 2.21% of the total population. individual in involvement in life situations. Disability is thus not just Among the disabled population, 56% (1.5 Cr) a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the are males and 44% (1.18 Cr) are females. interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the • A majority (69%) of the disabled population society in which he or she lives. resided in rural areas (1.86 Cr disabled persons in rural areas and 0.81 Cr in urban ISSUES IN MEASURING DISABILITY areas). • From the conceptual point of view, there is no universal definition • The educational level of disabled persons is of what constitutes a disability or of who should be considered as better in urban areas compared to rural having a disability. Moreover, there is no one static condition of areas, both for males and females. • The number of disabled persons is highest disability. in the age group 10-19 years (46.2 lakhs). • Eliciting information: In places where disability is a stigma, people may be reluctant to report it. Also, this being a very sensitive * 17% of the disabled population is in the age question, the investigators need to be adequately trained to collect group 10-19 years and 16% of them are in the data on disabilities. age group 20-29 years. * The design of questions to identify persons in the population with * Elderly (60+ years) disabled constituted disabilities presents complex problems. 21% of the total disabled at all India level.

Employment and participation In terms of participation in the labour market, persons with disabilities are an underemployed group of the workforce. • Persons with disabilities are frequently not considered potential members of the workforce. Negative perception, fear of failure to deliver and prejudice continue to limit understanding and acceptance of disability in workplaces. • People with Disabilities (PWDs) are assumed to be less productive than people without disabilities and entail higher labour costs, including insurance costs. • Employers may have concerns that coworkers will react negatively to working with PWDs.

WAY FORWARD Just like others, the majority of persons with disabilities want a dignified and productive life. Employment provides not only income but also opportunities for social participation. This is especially important for persons with disabilities. • Incentives should be given to the Private Sector for employing skilled PWDs. • Government should provide loans and other facilities to NGOs which run Production Centre and employ people with disabilities. Government should create policies that encourage government departments and public sector undertaking to purchase products from disability NGOs.

CONCLUSION: • It is therefore important that as a society we stand up to the needs of the less fortunate and create a congenial environment for persons with disabilities.

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• Eliminating discriminatory tendencies must become the first step in empowering the disabled. It should be the collective responsibility of the society, people and institutions to support and empower them to lead a dignified life.

6.6 TEMPLES OF CRITICAL THINKING AND DEBATE • QS World University Subject Rankings, 2020 was released recently. QS World University Rankings • It is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). • QS is a British company specializing in education and is most often known for its rankings of educational institutions. • Its rankings are considered among the top influential rankings in the world, and the ranking is, therefore, a rather prestigious certification to acquire. • QS uses four key metrics to compile the rankings including * Academic Reputation * Employer Reputation * Citations Per Paper * The h-index which measures how productive an institution’s research faculty are. • However, the precise weighting of each metric varies by subject to reflect differing publication cultures across disciplines.

Ranking • Technology * In terms of institutes and subjects, India’s highest-ranked programs included Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay’s Mineral & Mining Engineering program at 41st rank globally, shared jointly with the University of Delhi’s Development Studies program. * Top-50 ranks have also been attained by IIT Kharagpur (46) for Mineral & Mining Engineering, IIT Delhi (49) for Electrical & Electronic Engineering and IIT Bombay (50) for Chemical Engineering. * IIT Bombay emerged with more top-100 ranks than any other Indian university in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020, followed by IIT Delhi with five programs in top-100 list. • Business and management studies subject category * Both Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore were ranked in the 51-100 band.

Global Ranking • Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) emerged as the world’s best-performing institution, achieving 12 number-one positions, followed by Harvard University with 11 number-one positions and University of Oxford with eight top ranked subjects. • QS’s top 10 in overall terms include five American universities (MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Caltech and Chicago), four British universities (Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial College) and one Swiss university (ETH Zurich). * All the five American names in this list are private universities, while the British and Swiss institutions are public universities which have nonetheless enjoyed significant autonomy from governmental control over decades.

HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO ACHIEVE THIS? 1. One common factor behind the success of the topmost universities is the freedom with which they operate. * They have been major centers of innovation in teaching and research; thanks to independence from bureaucratic or corporate meddling and political intervention by parties of the day.

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* They could remain centers of extraordinary excellence in a sustained way by according primacy to matters of the mind, i.e. intellectual ideas and solutions to problems, and avoiding becoming hostage to rigid thought.

2. All the great universities of the world are ideologically pluralistic, with a mix of right, left and center among their faculty and students. * There is no institutional line or official position on any issue. * Professors and students are free to choose whatever opinion they prefer. * No one is penalized for holding a pro- or anti view on social, economic, political, cultural or scientific matters.

3. The top universities are also excellent at attracting and retaining talent. They hire professors very selectively, based on outstanding scholarly abilities. * They reject a large number of candidates for admission as students, and admit only the brightest and the most meritorious. * This ruthless streak comes at the expense of social inclusion and access considerations.

4. Top universities incentivize publication and citation of research in an unforgivingly rigorous way. * If an Assistant Professor does not produce brilliant publications in the most reputed journals of her field, she may lose her job and not get tenured as an Associate Professor. * By insisting on tough standards which are never lowered or relaxed, these universities promote a meritocratic culture as a habit.

5. Big universities also inculcate critical thinking, debating and writing abilities in their students. * They encourage students to look at issues through interdisciplinary lenses and to challenge their own professors. They award grades to students who are argumentative and who question conventional wisdom in the classroom and in assignments. * This type of interactive pedagogy produces champion graduates who have a reputation for cutting-edge skills and knowledge in the job market compared to peers from second- or third tier universities. The China example • A muscular push from the government of China with massive state funding has propelled Chinese universities into the top tiers in barely two decades. • In the QS world rankings on overall basis, Tsinghua University is ranked number 16, Peking University is at 22, Fudan University is at 40, and Zhejiang University is at 54. This is a miraculous leap forward.

CONCERNS: • There is not even a single Indian university which is featuring in the QS ranking of the world’s top 150 in overall parameters. * The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) of Bombay and Delhi are at the 152nd and 182nd places in the overall rankings, while IISc Bangalore appears at the 184th position. * There is much for India to learn from those who are miles ahead of us. • In India, the government is cash-strapped and lacks the kind of resources which the Chinese state deployed to pump-prime Chinese universities.

WAY FORWARD: • The government’s decision to identify 20 Institutes of Eminence (IOEs) which will get maximum autonomy from bureaucracy in order to climb up the world rankings is a step in the right direction. * The selected IOEs must innovate with new degree programmes, expanded variety of faculty members and digital learning platforms. • But India still has miles to go in higher education. 87 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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* Our viable path to world class universities are in the form of enlightened private philanthropy and borrowing best practices from established iconic universities. * Avoiding politician, ideological rigidity and nepotism, and freeing our universities from excessive interference and over-regulation, are prerequisites for success.

6.7 AGE OF MARRIAGE Despite having a law against child marriages for the last 90 years, child marriages are still a reality in the country. A report published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), this year, said that while child marriages were almost universally banned, yet they happen 33,000 times a day, every day, all around the world. An estimated 650 million girls and women alive today were married as children, and by 2030, another 150 million girls under the age of 18 will be married. UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India. Thus, India contributes to the largest number of child brides in the world and accounts for a third of the global total. According to an analysis by National Commission for Protection of Child amongst the married girls aged 15 to 19 years, 31.5% girls were found to have babies. Almost a quarter of the married girls in the age group of 15 to 16 years had at least one baby. The incidence of child marriages, especially of minor girls, are higher amongst the socially, economically and educationally backward sections. Principal reasons are concerns for her safety as she attains puberty, customs, less awareness of laws, dowry which increases in direct proportion to the age and education of the girl prompting the parents to look for more educated boys. Whatever the reasons may be one cannot overlook the crippling effect that child marriages have on the overall growth of the child, especially the girl as her exposure to sex and its related issues adversely impact her health. Task Force To Reconsider Age Of Marriage For Women • In his address to the nation on the 74th Independence Day, the Prime Minister said that the central government has set up a task force to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women. • The task force has the mandate to examine matters related to the age of motherhood, and measures to lower the maternal and child mortality rate. • It will examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and the child, during pregnancy, birth and after the birth. • It will examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years. • It has to suggest suitable legislations or amendments in existing laws and a detailed plan with timelines to implement these recommendations. Minimum Age Of Marriage In India • Personal laws of various religions in India that deal with marriage have their own standards. • For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. However, child marriages are not illegal — even though they can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage. • In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid. A person attains puberty when he/she reaches sexual maturity and is capable of reproduction. • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively. • Additionally, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape, and the ‘consent’ of a minor is considered invalid since she is considered to be incapable of giving consent at that age.

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Evolution Of The Law • For women, the change from child marriage being a norm to outlawing it has been an arduous fight against religious and social conservatives. • The Indian Penal Code in 1860 criminalised sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 10, introducing the first legal framework for a minimum age of consent for girls. • Increasing the age by even just two years to 12 in the Age of Consent Bill in 1927 was opposed by many nationalists who saw Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 the move as imperial interference with local customs. • Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), • In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act set 16 and 18 years as 2006 has a threefold purpose i.e. prevention of child marriages, protection of children the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys respectively. The involved and prosecution of offenders. law is popularly known as the Sarda Act after Harbilas Sarda, a • This law has declared child marriage to be a judge and a member of Arya Samaj. cognizable and non-bailable offence. An • From then, it took nearly five decades when it was eventually injunction can be issued by the court to amended in 1978 to bring the law to its current standard of 18 prohibit its solemnization and if a marriage is years for women and 21 for men. solemnized after the injunction, then such a Reasons For Increasing Age Of Marriage For Women marriage shall be declared as null and void. • Early marriages causing early pregnancies are inherently linked • This law also prescribes punishment for to higher rates of maternal and infant mortality. Under age performing, conducting and abetting child mothers are generally malnourished and have been found to have marriage. Even the parents are to be anaemia. punished for promoting or permitting child marriage. • Although maternal mortality rate has been declining, the move • The law also prescribes punishment to an to increase the minimum age of marriage could boost the fight. adult male for marrying a child and also • Further, there is no reason why the law makes the presumption requires the husband to provide that the minimum age of marriage must be different for men and maintenance to his minor bride till her women. remarriage. • It perpetuates benevolent sexism or the stereotype that women are more mature and therefore, can be given greater responsibilities at a younger age in comparison to men. The reflection of patriarchy in personal laws must change to fit the framework of the Constitution. • As India progresses further, opportunities open up for women to pursue higher education and careers. However, early marriage and motherhood reduce women’s access to these increasing opportunities. Opposition To Different Legal Age Of Marriage For Men And Women • According to the Law Commission, having different legal age of marriage for men and women leads to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands and therefore recommended a uniform age of marriage for boys and girls. • Further, the National Human Rights Commission in 2018 recommended that there should be a uniform age of marriage for boys and girls • Even the Supreme Court, in the Independent Thought case, when it looked at child marriage, said that it’s accepted universally that a child is someone who’s under the age of 18, and that should be the age of marriage. • The international treaty Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also proposes the abolition of laws that assume women have a different physical or intellectual rate of growth than men and recommends 18 as the age of marriage. In 140 countries the age of marriage is 18 for both men and women. • Having separate age of marriage is also in contravention of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, that guarantee the right to equality and the right to live with dignity. • Moreover, the unequal age of marriage impacts girls more adversely. Both girls and boys get two years’ time after their age of marriage to repudiate their underage marriage under the PCMA, 2006, which for a girl is only

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www.upscwithnikhil.com till she turns 20, but for a boy it is until he turns 23. At 19 or 20, a girl is at a fairly young age to have the capacity or the wherewithal to annul the marriage. Reasons For Not Increasing The Age Of Marriage For Women • Eighteen is the age of attainment of adulthood in India by most legal yardsticks. It is the age of consent for boys and girls, age when they attain voting rights, licence to drive, and even register a company. That men have to wait till 21 to lawfully marry has its share of critics. • Two decades of comparatively rapid economic growth have dramatically altered gender indicators like marriage age and total fertility rate (TFR). The NFHS indicates that women aged 20-24, who married before turning 18, fell sharply from 47.4% to 26.8% from 2005-06 to 2015-16. Thus, women’s agency is rising organically with educational levels. • To increase age of marriage to 21 years would mean that girls might have to face persecution up till 21 years. Data shows that law has been used predominantly by parents against eloping daughters. • It has become a tool for parental control and for punishment of boys or men whom girls choose as their husbands, as most of the cases that are taken to court are self-arranged marriages. • Then there are cases related to arranged marriages, which are sometimes brought by parents or husbands to dissolve or to nullify marriages that have broken down because of domestic violence, dowry or compatibility issues. So, nowhere is age an issue in people’s minds. • Moreover, the change will leave the vast majority of Indian women who marry before they are 21 without the legal protections that the institution of marriage otherwise provides, and make their families liable for prosecution. • At the current age of marriage for women and men, it is found that implementation of the child marriage law is very hard. This shows the limitations of laws in the absence of enabling socioeconomic conditions. • There is also a need to recognise child marriage as a human rights violation as it endangers the lives of young girls by exposing them to increased domestic violence, marital rape, early pregnancies. • Thus, instead of raising the age of marriage it is important to have the PCMA declare child marriages void ab initio, which means that all child marriages would be considered as invalid marriages. • This would help young girls who are forced into marriages and want to come out of it. Rendering all child marriages invalid will also make them unacceptable. • An issue like child marriage is a social issue and an economic issue. While there is the Right to Education Act, 2009, the quality of education is poor and doesn’t show a way out of inter-generational poverty. Poor families don’t see any value in continuing education. • Poor families thrive on domestic work and a girl often gets pulled out of school to help at home. So, it is not that girls only leave education because of marriage. Thus, it is important to ensure an increase in the scope of the Right to Education for girls right up to vocational studies. Poverty, limited access to education and economic prospects, and security concerns are the known reasons for early marriage. Without improving other welfare mechanisms including educational and employment opportunities for women, the increase in age of marriage will only delay the problem and not remedy it.

6.8 NATIONAL DIGITAL HEALTH MISSION The National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 had laid significant emphasis on leveraging digital technologies for enhancing the efficiency effectiveness of all healthcare delivery services. In line with the National Health Policy suggestion, the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech had stated the government’s intention to implement a National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). Recently, the National Health Authority (NHA) has released the draft Health Data Management Policy of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) for public consultations.

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Details: The National Health Authority (NHA), which runs the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, would be designing and implementing the NDHM. The NDHM envisages digitizing all data relating to all patients available not just with government and private hospitals but also with diagnostic centres, laboratories and individual practitioners of all systems of medicine. Under the National Digital Health Mission, every Indian will be given a digital health ID which will contain information regarding disease, medical reports, medicine prescribed and consultant doctor details of a person. Healthcare providers such as hospitals, laboratories, insurance companies, online pharmacies, telemedicine firms will be expected to participate in the health ID system. While the core systems of NDHM like Health ID, Digi- Doctor and Health Facility Registry shall be owned, operated and maintained by the Government of India, Private stakeholders will be given an equal opportunity to integrate with the core system and create their own products. The NDHM would be a voluntary programme.

Privacy provisions: The draft Health Data Management Policy of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) states that patients who opt for the health ID will be given complete control and decision-making power over the manner in which their personal data and any sensitive data associated with them is collected and processed. Those processing the data, including health information providers and health information users, are expected to uphold the patient privacy.

Significance of NDHM: Patient-centric healthcare: The National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) aims to empower the citizens and make the health care system more patient centric. The system will lead to convenience for the patient, given that the patient will not need to store and carry old records. The digital access to patient data can lead to more effective diagnosis. The digital data will also help in providing prompt and accurate treatment, especially in emergencies by avoiding repetition of medical history taking and unwarranted tests.

Increase affordability: Digital health can help ensure the delivery of health services to a large population at affordable costs.

Improved accessibility: NDHM will help improve access by providing a big boost to consultation through telemedicine with specialist doctors for patients in smaller towns and remote locations. The introduction of telemedicine and e-pharmacy will bring in more inclusivity. NDHM can help provide quality healthcare to rural masses and bridge the divide between urban and rural India. It will lead to quality care and better access to healthcare facilities and doctors.

Quality healthcare: Providing a unique identification to doctors as well as health facilities can lead to streamlining several issues of quality and accountability.

Integrating the stakeholders:

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Capturing data relating to patients and their digitizing could help all stakeholders including the patients, the doctors who attend to them and the healthcare facilities where they seek treatment.

The NDHM will help revitalize India’s healthcare delivery system by connecting doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers in an integrated digital health infrastructure. Data value: The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to analyse the data generated from the records will help learn disease patterns, predict the onset of ailments and suggest seasonal outbreaks, bringing efficiencies and effectiveness in healthcare.

Impetus to entrepreneurship: The NDHM brings a huge opportunity for digital health start-ups to work with providers and insurers to help build the continuum of patient centric care. NDHM provides opportunities for innovation in the healthcare sector.

Concerns regarding NDHM: Implementational challenges: To achieve the proposed shift in the storage and retrieval of medical records in the country, the digital integration of interfaces of various stakeholders in the healthcare sector will have to be achieved. Given the large participation of the private sector in the healthcare delivery system in India, the challenge would be to bring the private health care sector under the NDHM and ensure both reliability and quality of the information recorded. Currently, 66 percent of treatment of all ailments is met by private hospitals and clinics (as per NSS 75th Round: Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, 2017-18). A large share of diagnostic centres and pathology labs are run by the private sector.

A similar attempt made by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) in 2005 failed due to lack of co-operation from all the health service providers.

Lack of digital penetration: The low penetration of digital technology in rural areas will be a challenge in ensuring the potential of inclusivity and accessibility offered by NDHM.

Extensive costs: The implementation of the NDHM would require the healthcare institutions in the government as well as the private sector to upgrade their available resources and data maintenance practices. There would be considerable costs involved in the transition to a new system. Public health professionals estimate the cost in thousands of crores for all government and private HIPs to upgrade their hardware and connectivity systems, training of present staff, the entry of data afresh, apart from other indirect costs. This would not be financially viable for independent practitioners in allopathic and the Indian systems of medicine who run small dispensaries especially in rural areas, where there is no practice of even storing patient data on computers. Complying with the digitization protocols would entail cost burdens on them.

Data leakage: Data privacy and security issues would be a prime concern in the NDHM. Despite the claims that patient data safety and confidentiality would be ensured, the data is vulnerable given that it is getting stored in a decentralised system holding transferable data.

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Despite the provisions like local storage of data, only anonymized data will be shared upwards, and patients’ consent will be taken every time for sharing any personal identifiable information, there are serious concerns over patient privacy. Dealing with ethical issues, breach of privacy, and dealing with social stigma are significant challenges for the NDHM.

Inefficient use of scarce resources: The NDHM will entail huge financial resources for its implementation. Digitization is not the immediate problem facing the health sector. While the digitization of healthcare data could help, what many Indians face are unaddressed issues in the health sector. Unreliable healthcare facilities in both the government and private sectors, difficulties in getting timely care, availability of beds and hygienically maintained hospital premises, availability of doctors physically or online, and the continuous neglect of preventive and community health initiatives constitute bigger problems in the health sector and require urgent attention and resources. Currently, total health expenditure (both private and public) in India is just 3.6 per cent, while public spending on health is just above 1 per cent of the country’s GDP, which is a low compared to the countries that have some of the best digital health systems in the world.

Limited benefits: Many tertiary hospitals and medical colleges rarely consider diagnostic reports from peripheral centres or even the prescriptions of previous doctors and often repeat the procedures. This would render past records redundant for the patients. With regard to insurance coverage, insurance schemes do not need the entire medical history of the patient and can do with the cards issued under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana and the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

The NDHM may not be the best way to go about addressing data gaps and suggests that instead, the existing practices and systems for the compilation of data as in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme and the Health Management Information System (IDSP-HMIS) could have been reformed for better efficiency and effectiveness. Federal provisions: Health is under the State List. The national-level digitization plan without consultation with the state governments is a cause of concern.

Questions over accuracy: While using the generated data there is a presumption that all the data entered in each patient’s file is accurate, which might not be true in all cases.

Existing measures in India: National Health stack: The National Health Stack (NHS) envisages a centralized health record for all citizens of the country in order to streamline the health information and facilitate its effective management. It aims to create a unified health identity of citizens. The NHS seeks to employ the latest technology including Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence. A registry of over eight lakh doctors, 10 lakh pharmacists and over 60,000 hospitals is under preparation. At a later stage, online pharmacies, insurance companies and other stakeholders will be added to the ‘Stack’.

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The scheme intends to replace existing data generation systems with new homogenised software for all machines in the health sector in the country with a central processor that will extract the relevant data from individual records.

National Health Mission: The National Health Mission through the IT network is connected to most public health centres even in tribal areas. Personal health data are generated by name until the primary health centre level but not transmitted to higher levels except aggregated numerical data. Many States have achieved some breakthroughs in the area of digital health within the framework of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Way forward: Ensure robust public health infrastructure: The digital health mission must be backed up by high-quality public health infrastructure. The absence of a robust public health infrastructure will rob the NDHM of its potential benefits. This would require enhanced funding from the government for the healthcare sector. Integrated management of health data must be based on a larger reorganisation and integration of the health system.

Upholding patient privacy: There is a need to ensure that collected data is used in a manner that is respectful of the citizens’ privacy. Having something like the Data Protection Act in place is essential. There is the need to ensure that the proposed framework is in compliance with all applicable laws and international standards that define the set of frameworks of consent for the collection and processing of health data by healthcare practitioners and other entities, and other relevant standards related to data interoperability and data sharing.

7. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 7.1 QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY The government, in its Budget 2020, had announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) with a total budget outlay of Rs 8000 Crore for a period of five years to be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).

National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications (NM-QTA) • The Mission will be able to address the ever increasing technological requirements of the society, and take into account the international technology trends and road maps of leading countries for the development of next generation technologies. • The areas of focus for the NM-QTA Mission will be in fundamental science, translation, technology development and towards addressing issues concerning national priorities. • The mission can help prepare next generation skilled manpower, boost translational research and also encourage entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem development. Quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics was developed in the early 20th century. • It is a branch of science that deals with atomic and molecular properties and behaviour on a microscopic scale. * It determines the properties of physical systems such as atoms, molecules, condensed phase materials, light, etc.

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• For over a century, it has provided the foundations of our understanding of the physical world, including the interaction of light and matter, and led to ubiquitous inventions such as lasers and semiconductor transistors. Example: Challenges: • China recently demonstrated secure quantum communication • On the experimental front, the challenge links between terrestrial stations and satellites. lies in harnessing the weird and wonderful • Computer Scientists are working towards deploying schemes for properties of quantum superposition and post-quantum cryptography — clever schemes by which existing entanglement in a highly controlled manner computers can keep communication secure even against quantum by building a system composed of carefully designed building blocks called quantum bits computers of the future. or qubits. * These qubits tend to be very fragile and lose Significance their “quantum ness” if not controlled • With a solid research base and workforce founded on significant properly, and a careful choice of materials, and reliable government support, it can lead to the creation of design and engineering is required to get innovative applications by industries, thereby stimulating them to work. economic growth and job creation, which will feed back into a • On the theoretical front lies the challenge growing quantum-based economy. of creating the algorithms and applications • The government’s financial and organizational support will also for quantum computers. * These projects will also place new demands on classical control ensure that both public and private sectors will benefit. hardware as well as software platforms. • It will establish standards to be applied to all research and help • Globally, research in this area is about two stimulate a pipeline to support research and applications well into decades old, but in India, serious the future. experimental work has been under way for Applications only about five years, and in a handful of • Their applications include those in aero-space engineering, locations. numerical weather prediction, simulations, securing the communications & financial transactions, cyber security, advanced manufacturing, health, agriculture, education and other important sectors with focus on creation of high skilled jobs, human resources development, startups & entrepreneurship leading to technology lead economic growth. • The range of quantum technologies is expected to be one of the major technology disruptions that will change the entire paradigm of computation, communication and encryption. What is Quantum Technology? WHAT ARE THE CONSTRAINTS ON INDIAN • It is based on the principles of quantum theory, which PROGRESS IN THIS FIELD? explains the nature of energy and matter on the atomic * So far, we have been plagued by a lack of sufficient and subatomic level. resources, high quality manpower, timeliness and • It concerns the control and manipulation of quantum systems, with the goal of achieving information flexibility. processing beyond the limits of the classical world.

• Quantum technology exploits some of the properties of WAY FORWARD quantum mechanics – such as quantum entanglement, • In a fast-moving field like this, timeliness is superposition and tunnelling – in developing practical everything — delayed funding by even one year is an applications like computing and cryptography. enormous hit. * For example, unrestricted funds that * Quantum principles will be used for engineering can be used to attract and retain high quality solutions to extremely complex problems in computing, manpower and to build international networks — all communications, sensing, chemistry, cryptography, at short notice — can and will make an enormous imaging and mechanics. difference to the success of this enterprise. • Further, connections with Indian industry from the start would also help quantum technologies become commercialized successfully, allowing Indian industry to benefit from the quantum revolution. 95 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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• We must encourage industrial houses and strategic philanthropists to take an interest and reach out to Indian institutions with an existing presence in this emerging field.

7.2 HYDROGEN FUEL CELL Key-highlights: > The initiative, which has been undertaken NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power producer and a central PSU under with support of Ministry of New and Ministry of Power, has invited Global Expression of Interest (EoI) Renewable Energy, will also harness to provide 10 Hydrogen Fuel Cell (FC) based electric buses and an renewable energy for generation of hydrogen equal number of Hydrogen Fuel Cell based electric cars in Leh and and develop it’s storage and dispensation Delhi. The EoI has been issued by NTPC’s wholly owned subsidiary, facilities as part of pilot projects at Leh and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited. Delhi. > The PSU has been taking various technology • A fuel cell is a device that converts chemical potential energy initiatives to provide complete e-Mobility (energy stored in molecular bonds) into electrical energy. solution for public transport including creation of public charging infrastructure and > A PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cell uses hydrogen gas (H providing electric buses to State/City 2) and oxygen gas (O2) as fuel. The products of the reaction in the Transport Undertakings. cell are water, electricity, and heat. Hydrogen + Oxygen = > In this regard, 90 public charging stations in Electricity + Water Vapour various cities and battery charging and > This is a big improvement over internal combustion engines, coal swapping station at Faridabad for e-3- burning power plants, and nuclear power plants, all of which wheelers have already been commissioned. produce harmful by-products. > Similarly, e-Bus solution for Andaman & > Since O 2 is readily available in the atmosphere, we only need to Nicobar Administration is under supply the fuel cell with H2 which can come from an electrolysis implementation. process (see Alkaline electrolysis or PEM electrolysis).

WHAT IS HYDROGEN? > Hydrogen is the simplest element. An atom of hydrogen consists of only one proton and one electron. > It’s also the most plentiful element in the universe. Despite its simplicity and abundance, hydrogen doesn’t occur naturally as a gas on the Earth – it’s always combined with other elements. > Water, for example, is a combination of hydrogen and oxygen (H 2O). > Hydrogen is high in energy, yet an engine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost no pollution. > NASA has used liquid hydrogen since the 1970s to propel the space shuttle and other rockets into orbit. > Hydrogen fuel cells power the shuttle’s electrical systems, producing a clean byproduct – pure water, which the crew drinks.

Significance of the move: > The move to launch hydrogen powered vehicles aims at decarbonizing mobility segment. > The move to procure Hydrogen Fuel Cell based vehicles is first of its kind project in the country, wherein a complete solution from green energy to the fuel cell vehicle would be developed. Direct emissions from a fuel cell vehicle are just water and a little heat. This is a huge improvement over the internal combustion engine’s litany of greenhouse gases. Fuel cells have no moving parts. They are thus much more reliable than traditional engines.

7.3 ULTRAVIOLET GERMICIDAL IRRADIATION (UVGI) Scientists are studying the use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) to detect the virus in schools, restaurants and other public places. Through this method, ultraviolet (UV) lights would be able to disinfect contaminated public spaces to stop the transmission of the virus.

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ABOUT: • Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is the use of ultraviolet (UV) energy (electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light) to kill or inactivate viral, bacterial, and fungal species. - UVGI is a method of disinfection that uses short wavelength ultraviolet light (UV-C) to inactivate or kill microorganisms and pathogens. - Essentially, UVGI is the use of UV light with sufficiently short wavelengths to disinfect surfaces, air, and water. - The effectiveness of germicidal UV light depends on the length of time a microorganism is exposed to UV, as well as the intensity and wavelength of the UV radiation.

WHAT IS UV LIGHT? - Ultraviolet light from the sun has shorter wavelengths than visible light and, therefore, is not visible to the naked eye. - The full spectrum of UV radiation is sourced from the sun and can be subdivided into: > UV-A rays > UV-B rays > UV-C rays - In this spectrum, UV-C rays are the most harmful and are completely absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere. - Further, while both UV-A and UV-B rays are harmful, exposure to UV-B rays can cause DNA and cellular damage in living organisms. - UV light kills cells. Increased exposure to it can cause cells to become carcinogenic, thereby increasing the risk of getting cancer. - In fact, it is the increased direct exposure to UV rays from the sun that most commonly causes skin cancers. - UV light with wavelengths less than 290nm are considered to have “germicidal” properties (more on this later). - Earth’s atmosphere absorbs ultramagnetic radiation with wavelengths less than 290nm, meaning that most of the UV-C and UV-B generated by the sun is blocked by our planet’s ozone.

HOW DOES UV LIGHT KILL VIRUSES AND BACTERIA? - Ultraviolet light kills cells by damaging their DNA. - Exposure to the electromagnetic radiation (light) at certain UV wavelengths modifies the genetic material of microorganisms and destroys their ability to reproduce. - The UV energy triggers the formation of specific thymine or cystosine dimers in DNA and uracil dimers in RNA, which causes the inactivation of microbes by causing mutations and/or cell death as well as failure to reproduce.

HOW DOES UVGI WORK? - Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) uses destructive properties of UV light to target pathogens. - It is thus considered effective in disinfecting the air and helps in preventing certain infectious diseases from spreading. - UVGI replicates UV wavelengths that disinfect contaminated spaces, air and water. - It is a promising method for disinfection but the efficacy of it depends on its dose.

ARE UV LIGHTING AND UVGI THE SAME THING? - UVGI is a specific method of sterilization that uses UV lighting. In essence, UV lighting is a component of UVGI. - UVGI is just one method of sterilization/decontamination using lighting.

CAN IT PREVENT INFECTION? - UVGI is most effective in preventing infections that are chiefly spread through smaller droplets and not by direct contact or larger respiratory droplets.

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- While using UVGI, it is important to consider factors such as the sensitivity of microorganisms to UVGI, the dose of UVGI required to kill them, humidity and weather conditions. - Further, UVGI relies on air circulation in a room, which means the circulation of air needs to be such that air from below the room, where the pathogen is generated reaches the upper-portions of the room, where the UVGI can trap the pathogen. - Even so, using UVGI on a mass-scale, in public spaces such as schools, universities, restaurants and cinema halls may not be the most cost-effective way to approach disease prevention.

8. MISCELLANEOUS EURASIAN LYNX Background: The first sighting of this Kashmir Valley animal has been recorded. It was seen in the forest area of Dobjan in the South Kashmir region's Shopian district.

Eurasian Lynx • One of the medium-sized wildlife cats roaming the high and cold snow covered mountains of the Ladakh Himalayas is the Eurasian Lynx or Ee in Ladakhi.

• The cat is agile and efficient and is well suited to the thin air climate of Ladakh.

• This will be the third recorded smaller cat species from the valley. The Jungle Cat and the Leopard Cat are the two other more familiar ones.

• As per the IUCN Red List, it is 'Least Concern'.

• It is the largest lynx species

GREAT HIMALAYAN NATIONAL PARK CONSERVATION AREA ¥ It is situated in the Kullu District Seraj Forest Division in Himachal Pradesh. It is bordered to the southeast by the Rupi Bhaba Sanctuary, in the East, by Pin Valley National Park, and in the North, by Kanwar Wildlife Sanctuary.

¥ It includes the Upper Mountain glacial and snow melt water source origins of the westerly flowing Jiwa Nal, Sainj and Tirthan Rivers and the north-westerly flowing Parvati River which are all headwater tributaries to the River Beas and subsequently, the Indus River.

¥ It lies within the ecologically distinct Western Himalayas at the junction between two of the world’s major biogeographic realms, the Palearctic and Indomalayan Realms. ¥ It protects part of Conservation International’s Himalaya “biodiversity hot spot” and is part of the BirdLife International’s Western Himalaya Endemic Bird Area. ¥ The park vegetation is a diverse mix of Ban Oak Forest, Moist Deodar Forest, Western Mixed Coniferous Forest, Moist Temperate Deciduous Forest, Himalayan Alpine Pastures, and Rhododendron Scrub Forest. ¥ The park has largest remaining population of Himalayan Tahr in Himachal Pradesh. Major wildlife species found in the park are Snow Leopard, musk Deer, Blue Sheep, Ibex, Wolf, Leopard, Rhesus macaque (Macacamulatta), common langur (Presbytis entellus), Himalayan black bear, goral, muntjac, and serow. ¥ In 2014, UNESCO awarded it a World Heritage Site in the field of natural site.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com POWERS OF ELECTION COMMISSION (EC) TO DELAY POLLS Political parties are increasingly voicing concerns over holding elections in Bihar amid corona pandemic. Is The EC Empowered To Delay Elections At Will? • EC is mandated under law to hold elections at any time within six months before the five-year term of the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly expires. The polls are timed in a way that the new Assembly or Lok Sabha is in place on the day of the dissolution of the outgoing House. • However, under Section 153 of the Representation of the People Act, the poll panel can “extend the time” for completing an election, but such extension should not go beyond the date of the normal dissolution of the Lok Sabha or the Assembly. In 1991, the Commission, under this provision read with Article 324 of the Constitution, postponed the ongoing parliamentary elections for three weeks after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination during his campaign in Tamil Nadu. • Powers under Section 153 can be exercised only after an election schedule has been notified. If the EC wants to postpone elections, it will have to be done through its extraordinary powers under Article 324. • The Commission will have to inform the government of its inability to hold polls on time. The government and the President will then decide the future course — to impose President’s Rule or allow the incumbent Chief Minister to continue for six months. Under What Circumstances Can The EC Decide To Postpone An Election? • There is no specific legal provision that specifies the circumstances under which elections can be deferred. Law and order, natural calamities like earthquake and floods, or any other compelling circumstances that are beyond EC’s control would be guiding factors for the Commission to take a decision in the matter. • The decision on postponement is usually made after taking inputs from the ground and the central and state governments.

ZIMBABWE * Recently, the U.S. Treasury has imposed financial sanctions on Zimbabwean government. * Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. * It is bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. * The capital and largest city is Harare

MULLAPERIYAR DAM * Rising water levels in the Mullaperiyar dam due to heavy rains and issuance of the first warning has triggered panic among people. Mullaperiyar dam: >a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in Kerala >located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats >Built by by John Pennycuick in 1887-95 >Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam's reservoir. >The dam is built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers. >Purpose- to augment the small flow of the Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu. >On 29 October 1886, a lease to Tamil Nadu for 999 years was made by Maharaja of Travancore, VisakhamThirunal Rama Varma.

MILNE ICE SHELF * The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed, losing more than 40% of its area in just two days at the end of July- a consequence of global warming.

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* The Milne Ice Shelf is a fragment of the former Ellesmere Ice Shelf. * Location: In the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. * It is the second largest ice shelf in the Arctic Ocean. >The world's largest ice shelves are the Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

ADDU ATOLL * India & Maldives have inked a contract for development of five eco-tourism zones in Addu atoll of island nation. * These eco tourism zones are part of grant projects being implemented under the High-Impact Community Development project (HICDP) scheme. * Currently, there are 9 such high-impact projects being implemented in the Maldives. * The HICDP scheme was in March 2019. India had promised the island nation 85 million Maldivian rufiyaa ($5.6 million) for the HICDP scheme. * Under the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) scheme, >three fish-processing plants would be set up in Maradhoo, Hithadhoo and Hulhudhoo in Addu city, >Addu Tourism Zone will be developed in Feydhoo, Meedhoo, Hithadhoo, Hulhudhoo and Maradhoo and >A bottled water plant would be developed in Hoarafushi. * Also known as Seenu Atoll, Addu Atoll is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives in Indian Ocean. It extends in the Southern hemisphere. * Unlike other atolls of the Maldives, Addu Atoll has a lagoon that is a natural anchorage, accessible through four natural channels. * This results in a natural harbor that is very calm and safe for sea vessels at all times and is not affected by seasonal changes.

DEATH VALLEY * California‘s Death Valley registered a temperature of 54.4 degrees Celsius or 129.9 degrees Fahrenheit on August 16, 2020, which, once verified, could be the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. * Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert. * It borders the Great Basin Desert. It is one of the hottest places on Earth, along with deserts in the Middle East and the Sahara. * Death Valley's Bad water Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. * The highest point in Death Valley National Park is Telescope Peak, in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of 11,043 feet. * Death Valley is a graben that lies at the southern end of a geological trough, Walker Lane - a geologic trough roughly aligned with the California/Nevada border. * The valley is bisected by Furnace Creek Fault.

BHADBHUT PROJECT * It is planned to be a barrage with 90 gates, across the river Narmada.

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* Narmada River flows into the Gulf of Khambhat. The barrage will stop most of the excess water flowing out of the Sardar Sarovar Dam (across Narmada) from reaching the sea and thus create a ―sweet water lake‖ . * The project is part of the larger Kalpasar Project, which entails construction of a 30-km dam across the Gulf of Khambhat between Bharuch and Bhavnagar districts. The reservoir is meant to tap the waters of the Narmada, Mahisagar and Sabarmati. * Bhadbhut project aims to >prevent flooding in years when rainfall is higher than normal. >prevent salinity ingress. (Due to the reduced flow of fresh water, saline seawater gushes into the Narmada estuary during high tide, thus increasing salinity along the banks). >The sweet water from the reservoir will meet the residential and industrial water requirements of Bharuch, Ankleshwar and Dahej. * The barrage is expected to interfere with the migration and breeding cycle of hilsa - A marine fish that migrates and arrives in the brackish water of the Narmada estuary. Once the barrage is built, it is expected to block their natural entry. Govt. has said it has planned fish passes for hilsa fish. * Hilsa- National fish of Bangladesh and state symbol in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. IUCN status- Least Concern.

MALI * Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa. Its capital is Bamako. * It borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. * Most of the country lies in the southern Sahara Desert, which produces an extremely hot, dust-laden Sudanian savanna zone. * Mali is mostly flat, rising to rolling northern plains covered by sand. Mali lies in the torrid zone and is among the hottest countries in the world.

SUDAN IN NEWS * Sudan is a country in North-East Africa. * It is bordered by Egypt to the north, Libya to the northwest, Chad to the west, the Central African Republic to the southwest, South Sudan to the south, Ethiopia to the southeast, Eritrea to the east, and the Red Sea to the northeast. * It is Africa's third-largest country. It was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world by area before the secession of South Sudan in 2011. * Capital: Khartoum; Official languages: Arabic, English; River Nile flows through Sudan.(See Map)

MANSAR LAKE * Recently, the Govt. initiated the Mansar Lake Rejuvenation Project by holding a high level meeting to discuss the Detailed Project Report. * Mansar Lake is situated 62 km from Jammu. The lake is fringed by forest-covered hills. * It is a popular excursion destination in Jammu & also a holy site, sharing the legend and sanctity of Lake Manasarovar. * Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are designated as Ramsar Convention in November 2005.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com GHANA IN NEWS * Ghana is a country along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean, in the sub-region of West Africa. * Ghana is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, Togo in the east, and the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in the south. Ghana means "Warrior King" in the Soninke language. * Capital: Accra; Major Religion : 71.2% Christianity. * Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer. Ghana is also a major producer of bauxite, manganese and diamonds.

FUJIWARA EFFECT * Two tropical storms, Marco and Laura formed in the western Atlantic Ocean at nearly the same time, are likely to impact the Gulf of Mexico, sparking concerns of the rare Fujiwhara effect. * Fujiwhara effect is a binary interaction where tropical cyclones within a certain distance (300-750 nautical miles depending on the sizes of the cyclones) of each other begin to rotate about a common midpoint. * If one hurricane is a lot stronger than the other, the smaller one will orbit it and eventually come crashing into its vortex to be absorbed. * Further, the storms closer in strength can gravitate towards each other until they reach a common point and merge, or merely spin each other around for a while before shooting off on their own paths.

PNEUMOCOCCAL POLYSACCHARIDE CONJUGATE VACCINE • Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given approval to the first fully indigenouslydeveloped Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine. • This vaccine is used for active immunization against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by ―Streptococcus pneumonia‖ in infants. • Pneumonia is an infection of lungs. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi cause it. • The infection causes inflammation in the air sacs in the lungs, which are called alveoli. • The alveoli fill with fluid or pus, making it difficult to breathe. • Transmission: via air-borne droplets from a cough or sneeze, blood etc.

MEDITARRANEAN SEA * France reinforced naval forces in Mediterranean Sea mid tensions between neighbours Greece and Turkey over recently-discovered gas reserves. * The countries surrounding the Mediterranean in clockwise order are Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco; * Malta and Cyprus are island countries in the sea. * In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines on the sea. * The Mediterranean Sea connects >to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar in the west & >to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea by the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, in the east * The 163 km long artificial Suez Canal in the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com KARIYE MUSUEM * After Hagia Sofia, Turkey‘s government has decided to convert another Byzantine monument called Kariye Museum in Istanbul. * The Kariye Mosque, or formerly the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora is a medieval Greek Orthodox church used as a Museum until now in Istanbul, Turkey.

TOGO * Togo has become the first country in Africa to eliminate human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, a disease caused by parasites transmitted through infected tsetse flies. * Togois a Least Developed country in West Africa bordered by Bight of Benin in the south; Ghana to the west; Benin to the east; and to the north by Burkina Faso. Mono river flows through it. * The country extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its capital Lomé is located. * Official languages: French Yoruba; Recognised national languages: EweKabiye * Ethnic groups: 99% Ewe, Kabye, Tem, Gourma; Religion: 43.7% Christianity

CHANNAPATNA TOY INDUSTRY * The COVID-19 pandemic has also dealt a crippling blow to the Channapatna Toy industry of Karnataka. * The origin of these toys is dated back to the reign of Tipu Sultan who invited the artisans from Persia in order to train the local artisans in the art of wooden toy making. * These toys have been given Geographical Indication tag by Government of India.

PADMANABHA SWAMY TEMPLE • Reversing the 2011 Kerala High Court decision, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Travancore royal family to manage the property of deity at Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. • Padmanabhaswamy temple: o It is a Hindu temple. o The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Chera style and the Dravidian style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopura. o The principal deity Padmanabhaswamy (Vishnu) is enshrined in the "Anantha Shayana" posture, the eternal yogic sleep on the serpent Adi Shesha. o The Temple has been referred to in the Sangam period of literature between 500 BCE and 300 CE several times.

TANGAMS • Recently, Arunachal Pradesh released a book tled ―Tangams: An Ethnolinguisc Study Of The Crically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh‖. • The Tangams are a little-known community within the larger Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. • Tangam language spoken by these people has only 253 speakers now. They reside in a village called Kugging, Arunachal Pradesh. • Tangam is an oral language that belongs to the Tani group, under the greater Tibeto-Burman language family. • As per the UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages (2009), the language is marked critically endangered‘.

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• UNESCO‘s Atlas of the World‘s Languages in Danger is intended to raise awareness about language endangerment and the need to safeguard the world‘s linguistic diversity among policy-makers, speaker communities and the general public.

KHOLONGCHHU HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT • India and Bhutan signed concession agreement on the 600 MW Kholongchhu Hydroelectric Projects (KHEL). • It is the first-ever Joint Venture (JV) project between India and Bhutan. • Location: Kholongchhu River in eastern Bhutan‘s Trashiyangtse district. • Mode: 50:50 joint ventures. • Till now, Government of India has constructed three Hydroelectric Projects (HEPs) in Bhutan totaling 1416 MW I. 336 MW Chukha HEP, II. 60 MW Kurichhu HEP and III. 1020 MW Tala HEP, • These are operational and exporting surplus power to India. • India has recently completed 720 MW Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Power Project. • Other ongoing projects o 1200MW Punatsangchhu-1 o 1020MW Punatsangchhu-2

BOTSWANA • Hundreds of elephants that died mysteriously in Botswana's famed Okavango Delta. • Countries bordering Botswana (landlocked) see Map. • Okavango is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari. It is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. • Endorheic: Drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water. E.g.-river or ocean. • Basins, which eventually lead to the ocean, are Cryptorheic.

RAPID ANTIGEN DETECTION TESTS • The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) approved one more kind of test, rapid antigendetection test, for diagnosis of Covid-19. • It is a test on swabbed nasal samples that detects antigens (foreign substances that induce an immune response in the body) that are found on or within the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is a pointof- care test, performed outside the conventional laboratory setting, and is used to quickly obtain a diagnostic result. • RT-PCR is currently the gold standard frontline test for diagnosis of Covid-19. Like RT-PCR, rapid antigen detection test too seeks to detect virus rather than the antibodies produced by body. • While the mechanism is different, the most significant difference between the two is time. The RT-PCR test takes a minimum of 2-5 hours including the time taken for sample transportation. These specifications limit the widespread use of the RT-PCR test and also impedes quick augmentation of testing capacity in various containment zones and hospital settings. In a reliable rapid antigen detection test, the maximum duration for interpreting a positive or negative test is 30 minutes. • However, antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection.

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www.upscwithnikhil.com RT-NPCR TEST • Researchers at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have developed a new lowcost and low- tech required test for SARS-CoV-2 testing. This test is known as reverse transcription nested PCR (RT-nPCR) test. • The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended only reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) test for novel coronavirus testing. • This test does not require real-time quantitative RT-qPCR. The RT-nPCR developed by the CCMB research team has shown comparable performance to the standard RT-qPCR test. The nested PCR (RT-nPCR) approach does not depend on RT-qPCR but uses standard RT-PCR as part of an endpoint assay.

A3I • Scientists at multiple CSIR laboratories have identified a new coronavirus type, A3i, that may be the second most prevalent in India and may comprise 3.5% of the genomes globally. • The most dominant coronavirus clade in India is the A2a. Previous studies have shown that while type O was the first ancestral family of the virus identified from China, it’s the A2a type — that has emerged dominant the world over because of a mutation in its genes that allow that coronavirus’ spike to more efficiently infiltrate the lungs. • The A3i clade mutates slowly compared to the A2a clade and so far, there is no evidence of whether A3i is more virulent — that is, it’s linked to more deaths. • The coronavirus type, or clade, is a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 viruses that share evolutionary similarities and are grouped together based on characteristic mutations or similarities in parts of their genomes. • Such classifications are useful in establishing whether certain strains are particularly virulent, spread more easily, how they are likely to evolve over time and whether some could be less vulnerable to certain kinds of vaccines.

NEOWISE COMET • The recently discovered comet called C/2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE made its closest approach to the Earth on July 22. • Comets are mostly made of dust, rocks and ice, the remnants from time the solar system was formed over 4.6 billion years ago. • As they orbit closer to the sun, they heat up and release debris of dust and gases that forms into a ―glowing head‖ that can often be larger than a planet. • Comets are occasionally pushed into orbits closer to the sun and the Earth‘s neighborhood due to forces of gravity of other planets. • Comets hold important clues about the formation of the solar system and it is possible that comets brought water and other organic compounds, which are the building blocks of life to Earth.

HOPE • The first Arab space mission to Mars recently blasted off from Japan. This mission is called HOPE. • ―Hope‖ is expected to reach Mars‘s orbit by February 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE. • The Emirates Mars Mission "Hope Probe" will be the first probe to provide a complete picture of the Martian atmosphere and its layers.

PHOBOS

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• The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos. • Phobos is the closest and biggest moon of Mars. • Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos. • Phobos is one of the least reflective bodies in the Solar System. • Infrared spectra show that it has carbon-rich material found in carbonaceous chondrites. (Carbonaceous chondrites or C chondrites are a class of chondritic meteorites).

TIANWEN-1 • Tianwen-1 is an interplanetary mission to Mars by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to send a robotic spacecraft, which consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. • The mission was successfully launched on 23 July 2020 with a Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket. • It is currently en route to Mars and will reach the red planet in 2021.

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE • Pardeep Singh, who is a 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, has been handed a four-year suspension after his blood sample tested positive for human Growth Hormone (hGH). • Human Growth hormone (hGH) or somatotropin a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. • It is important in human development. A recombinant form of hGH called somatreopleopin (INN) is used as a prescription drug to treat children's growth disorders and adult growth hormone deficiency. • Growth hormones in sports refers to its use for athletic enhancement, as opposed to growth hormone treatment for medical therapy. • Human Growth Hormone is a prescription medication, meaning that its distribution and use without a prescription is illegal.

KUAIZHOU-11 ROCKET • Recently, China‘s Kuaizhou-11 rocket, failed in its mission. • Also known as KZ-11, it had a lift-off mass of 70.8 tonnes, and was designed to launch low-Earth and Sun- synchronous orbit satellites. • It was carrying two satellites — • Remote sensing satellite that would provide data to clients on a commercial basis for forecasting and managing geological disasters. It would also provide information required for natural resource exploration. • Series of satellites for low-Earth orbit navigation. o Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites.

STEVIOSIDE • Researchers have found that stevioside, when coated on nanoparticles can increase the efficiency of Magnetic hyperthermia-mediated cancer therapy (MHCT). • Stevioside is a natural plant-based glycoside found in leaves of honey yerba (‗Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni‘) • MHCT method of cancer therapy is based on heating the tumor tissues using magnetic nanoparticles.

ACCELERATE VIGYAN • Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has launched a new scheme called ‗Accelerate Vigyan‘ (AV).

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• Aim: To give more thrust on encouraging high-end scientific research and preparing scientific manpower. Create a knowledge based economy. • Components :‗SAMMOHAN‘ & ‗ABHYAAS‘ programme. • SAMMOHAN has been sub-divided into SAYONJIKA‘ and SANGOSHTI‘. o SAYONJIKA: To catalogue the capacity building activities in science and technology supported by all government funding agencies in the country. o SANGOSHTI: To facilitate the scientific community to establish an interaction with other research groups to enhance knowledge exchange. • ABHYAAS‘ programme: It is an attempt to boost research and development in the country by enabling potential PG/PhD students by means of developing their research skills. • It has two components: o High-End Workshops (KARYASHALA‘) and o Research Internships (VRITIKA‘). • This is especially important for those researchers who have limited opportunities to access such learning capacities / facilities / infrastructure. • Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology. The Board was set up for promoting basic research in science and engineering and to provide financial assistance to scientists, academic institutions, R&D laboratories, industrial concerns and other agencies for such research.

COGX • CogX is one of the world's largest events on AI, held annually in London. • Participants in attendance are from the highest levels of business, government, industry, and research. • The Cogx Awards are given out to the best-of-the-best in AI and emerging technologies across the world. • Indian chatbot ‗MyGov Corona Helpdesk‘ was recently chosen among hundreds of entries that made a difference to society during the pandemic.

G4 FLU VIRUS • A new flu virus strain, identified among pigs in China, is becoming prevalent among workers in swine industry. • A strain of G4 Virus it has "all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus." • G4 swine flu viruses have a mix of genes from influenza viruses found in humans, birds and pigs. • G4 virus had caused the 2009 flu pandemic. G4 viruses can spread via direct contact or via respiratory droplets.

GOLD NANO PARTICLES • The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and the Goa University (GU) have successfully synthesized gold nanoparticles (GNPs). • They have usedpsychrotolerant Antarctic bacteriathrough a non-toxic, low-cost, and eco-friendly way to synthesize it. o Gold nanoparticles are small gold particles with a diameter of 1 to 100 nm which, once dispersed in water, are also known as colloidal gold. o Psychrophiles are defined as organisms that can grow only in low temperatures up to a maximum of 20C. o Psychrotolerant organisms are like mesophiles (growing at 20-40C), but are able to tolerate lower temperatures albeit with slower growth rates. • GNPs can be used as composite therapeutic agent clinical trials, especially in anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti- diabetic, and cholesterol-lowering drugs. • GNPs are also found to be useful in the electronics industry.

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• NCPOR- It is an autonomous Institution of the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), Ministry of Earth Sciences, which is responsible for administering the Indian Antarctic Programme and maintains the Indian government's Antarctic research stations, Bharati and Maitri.

POLYOXYMETALATES • Scientists from the Institute of Nano Science & Technology- an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, have synthesized a novel inorganic-organic hybrid compound. • The compound can inhibit breast, lung, and liver cancer cells, opening up new possibilities for metallodrugs. • The solid compound belongs to the Polyoxometalates (POMs) family, which had earlier been identified to have antitumor potential. • In chemistry, a polyoxometalate is a polyatomic ion, usually an anion that consists of three or more transition metal oxyanions linked together by shared oxygen atoms to form closed 3-dimensional frameworks.

GREEN – AG PROJECT • Green-Ag, a project funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF), which aims to catalyze sustainable transformation of Indian agriculture without compromising the country‘s food security and farmers‘ income.

Details • Mizoram is among five Indian states where the project will be implemented. • The other four states are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. • The project will be implemented in Dampa Tiger Reserve in west Mizoram‘s Mamit district and Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary in Lunglei district in the southern part of the State covering more than 30 villages. • The Green-Ag project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through its sixth funding cycle. • The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare (MoA&FW) is the national executing agency and FAO is the designated GEF Implementing Agency. • The project aims to catalyze a transformative change of India‘s agricultural sector to support the achievement of national and global environmental benefits and conservation of critical biodiversity and forest landscapes.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY (GEF) • It was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet's most pressing environmental problems. • Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has provided support to nearly 24,000 civil society and community initiatives in 133 countries. • The GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions: o Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) o United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) o United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) o Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) o Minamata Convention on Mercury • The GEF, although not linked formally to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), supports implementation of the Protocol in countries with economies in transition.

DAMPA TIGER RESERVE

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• Dampa Tiger Reserve or Dampha Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve of western Mizoram, India. • It covers an area of about 500 km2 in the Lushai Hills at an altitude range of 800–1,100 m. • It was declared a tiger reserve in 1994 and is part of Project Tiger. • The tropical forests of Dampa Tiger Reserve are home to a diverse flora and fauna. • It consists of forest interpolated with steep precipitous hills, deep valleys, jungle streams, ripping rivulets, natural salts licks. • Dampa Tiger Reserve is not easily accessible unlike other parks where you can ride on a four wheeler but one has to walk through the forest if one wishes to sight animals. • In the tiger census of 2018, no tiger was found in this reserve.

THORANGTLANG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY • Located at Thorangtlang in the district of Lunglei is the Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary. • Situated about 240 km from the region of Aizawl, Thorangtlang Wildlife Sanctuary is on the western part of the Mizoram region. • This wildlife park covers a total land area of 50 sq km and most of the area within is semi-evergreen forest that acts as a perfect passage for the wild elephants that migrate from the region of Bangladesh. • The wild animals found here include leopard, elephant, gaur (Indian bison), wild dog, sambar, barking deer, sloth bear, hoolock gibbon, leaf monkey, common langur, rhesus macaque, glant squirrel, porcupine, slow lorris, jungal cat, wild boar and varieties of birds.

NANOZYMES • A research team at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru has developed nanozymes that destroy the cell membrane of bacteria by directly targeting its phospholipids. • Nanozymes are nanomaterials that can disintegrate the cell membranes of a range of diseases causing bacteria. It also diminishes their resistance-building capacity • It was tested on several potentially pathogenic bacteria causing typhoid, gastroenteritis, dysentery, cholera and pneumonia. It was found that the nanozyme stopped growth and killed the microbes. • It is believed by the team that it can replace the antibiotics that have become ineffective as several bacteria have developed resistance to them by producing their own enzymes.

PHOSPHOLIPID • Phospholipids (PL) are a class of lipids that are a major component of all cell membranes. • They can form lipid bilayers because of their amphiphilic characteristic. • The structure of the phospholipid molecule generally consists of two hydrophobic fatty acid "tails" and a hydrophilic "head" consisting of a phosphate group. The two components are usually joined together by a glycerol molecule. • Phospholipids have been widely used to prepare liposomal, ethosomal and other nanoformulations of topical, oral and parenteral drugs for differing reasons like improved bioavailability, reduced toxicity and increased permeability across membranes.

INDIAN BISON OR GAUR • The first population estimation exercise of the Indian gaur, carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division in recent years, has revealed that more than an estimated 2,000 Indian gaurs inhabit the entire division.

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• Exercise has also revealed that the majority of the animals in “conflict-prone” areas in the division live perilously close to human habitations due to habitat loss and fragmentation, exacerbating the probability of having problematic interactions with humans. About Indian Gaur • Physical Characteristics: It is the largest and the tallest in the family of wild cattle. • Habitat: It is very much prevalent in the Western Ghats. They prefer evergreen forests and moist deciduous forests. However, they can survive in dry deciduous forests also. They are not found in the Himalayas with an altitude greater than 6,000 ft. They generally stick to the foothills only. They are attracted to grounds which are impregnated with salts and minerals. • Threats: o Food Scarcity: The destruction in the grasslands has led to the decline in availability of food for these animals. Due to the planting of commercially important trees, the lush grassland has diminished which is the prime source of fodder for this wild cattle. o Poaching: The illegal hunting of the Indian bison is done for their commercial value as well as due to the high demand of gaur meat in the illegal market of Nepal – India border. • Conservation Status: o It is listed as Vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. o Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.

MALABAR GLIDING FROG • Malabar gliding frog (Rhacophorus malabaricus), a rare amphibian, was spotted in Kozhencherry, Kerala. • Characteristics: o It can glide in the air up to 10 to 12 metres. o The frog has got a body length of 10 cm, making it one of the largest mossy frogs. o As their body is so soft, they can live only in moist forests with streams. • Its population was declining due to deforestation, climate change, developmental activities, toxic chemicals etc. • IUCN status: Least Concern.

ASIATIC LION • Gujarat Forest Department announced that the population of Asiatic lions in the state has grown by almost 29% from the last count in 2015. • Over the last several years, the Lion population in Gujarat has been steadily rising. This is powered by community participation, emphasis on technology, wildlife healthcare, proper habitat management and steps to minimize human-lion conflict. • However, unlike in previous years, this count was estimated not from a Census, but from a population “observation” exercise called Poonam Avlokan. This year Lion Census was not conducted due to Corona pandemic. How Is This ‘Observation’ Different From A Regular Census • Conducted once every five years, the Lion Census involves larger participation of around 2,000+ officers and experts which makes the Census more transparent. The lion ‘observation’ this month was conducted by around 1,400 forest staff and a few experts. • The Lion Census is done using the block counting method — in which census enumerators remain stationed at water points in a given block and estimate abundance of lions in that block, based on direct sighting of lions who need to drink water at least once in 24 hours during the summer. • A ‘lion observation’ is an in-house exercise, conducted only by forest staff. The methodology too is different as, instead of remaining stationary at water points, teams keep moving in their respective territories and make their estimates based on inputs provided by lion trackers and on chance sightings. 110 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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About Asiatic Lion • Conservation Status: Listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of CITES and as Endangered on IUCN Red List. • Characteristics: Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. The most striking morphological character is a longitudinal fold of skin running along belly of Asiatic Lions. • Habitat and Distribution: At present, Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat is the only abode of the Asiatic lion. They live in a compact tract of dry deciduous forest and open grassy scrublands in southwestern part of Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

STRATEGIC ROADS • Directed the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that works on the strategic Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road be completed by October.

Road Construction • BRO is constructing 61 strategic Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs) measuring 3323.57 km in length under the direction of the China Study Group (CSG). • The Parliamentary standing committee on defence was informed that the BRO has completed 75% of the construction work on the 61 Indo-China Border Roads (ICBRs) of 3323.57 km length. • The BRO has executed 30% more works in the Financial Year (FY) 2019-20 as compared to FY 2018-19. • BRO has also inducted the latest equipment and machines to expedite works on surfacing with cementations base, use of plastics, geotextiles and various techniques for slope stabilisation. • Trials have also been carried out successfully for indigenously produced modular bridges in collaboration with the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).

About BRO • Under the control of the Ministry of Defence since 2015; Earlier : Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) • Staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army‘s Corps of Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Military Police and army personnel on extra regimental employment. • Currently, the organisation maintains operations in twenty-one states, one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), and neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. • The BRO operates and maintains over 32,885 kilometres of roads and about 12,200 meters of permanent bridges in the country. • Constructed Delaram-Zaranj Highway in Afghanistan in 2008. The Farkhor and Ayni air bases of Tajikistan were also restored and repaired by the BRO.

APACHE HELICOPTERS • Boeing has handed over the last 5 Apache helicopters to Indian Air Force. About the Helicopters • USA is providing Apache helicopters to Indian Air Force. • The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter. • It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. • It has capability to shoot fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missiles, air-to-air missiles, rockets and other ammunition. • It also has modern EW (electronic warfare) capabilities to provide versatility to the helicopter in network- centric aerial warfare.

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• It has a vertical rate of climb of over 2,000 feet per second and a maximum speed of 279km per hour, making it useful for swift deployment. • The helicopter‘s front mounted guns can be used to attack terrorist hideouts in difficult mountain terrain. • The Apache‘s forward looking infra red radar can locate targets through dense foliage thanks to its heat- seeking capabilities that then provides pilots with pictures of the target. • The helicopter is capable of flying ―further, lower and faster" than other similar machines. Hence, it cannot be picked up by radar, while literally skimming the earth.

Apache deal • The Indian government had placed an order for 22 AH- 64 E Apache helicopters as a part of a $1.4 billion deal that was signed in September 2015.

PINAKA MISSILE • Approved for purchase by Defense Acquisition Council

About Missile • Indigenous multi-barrel rocket launch system • Developed by Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) • The navigation system of the missile is also aided by the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). • Capable of striking up to range of 75 kilometres

GOLDEN LANGURS • Primatologists have observed that the Gee’s golden langur induce stillbirth of babies killed inside the womb of females, besides practicing infanticide. • Avoiding inbreeding is the reason why golden langurs live in specific groups. The groups are primarily of two types — one is all-male and the other is bisexual, which in turn has three categories. In groups of two or more males, only the dominant male can access the female. • Forced abortion and infanticide happen when a new male takes over. He often kills the baby of a lactating female or hits the abdomen of a female impregnated by the deposed male till the point of abortion. About Golden Langurs • Distribution: It is found only in a few pockets in western Assam and adjoining Bhutan. • Habitat: Golden langurs occupy moist evergreen and tropical deciduous forests as well as some riverine areas and savannas in Assam and Bhutan. • Threats: o The main reason for low numbers of golden langurs is because of their localized habitat and the rapid loss of this habitat due to deforestation. o Obstructions such as wires, and gaps in the forest due to felling, have increased the threat of inbreeding among golden langurs. • Conservation Status: o Endangered in the IUCN Red List. o Appendix I on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). • Chakrashila in Assam is India’s first wildlife sanctuary with golden langur as the primary species.

PANGOLIN China accorded the pangolin the highest level of protection and removed the scales of the endangered mammal from its list of approved traditional medicines.

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About Pangolin • They are the only mammals wholly-covered in scales and they use those scales to protect themselves from predators in the wild. • Pangolins eat ants, termites and larvae and are often known as "the scaly anteater." Because they have no teeth, pangolins pick up food with their sticky tongues, which can sometimes reach lengths greater than the animal’s body. • Eight species of pangolins are found on two continents. o Four species live in Africa: Black-bellied pangolin, White-bellied pangolin, Giant Ground pangolin and Temminck's Ground pangolin. o Four species found in Asia: Indian pangolin, Philippine pangolin, Sunda pangolin and the Chinese pangolin • Conservation Status: o Chinese and Sunda pangolins being listed as Critically Endangered, the Philippine and Indian pangolins as Endangered, and the four African species as Vulnerable. o In 2017 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) enforced an international trade ban of pangolin.

CENTRAL ZOO AUTHORITY RECONSTITUTED • Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has reconstituted the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to include an expert from the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, and a molecular biologist. o Now, it consists Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as Chairperson, 10 members and a Member Secretary. • The CZA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It was constituted in 1992 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. • Objective of CZA: o To complement and strengthen the national effort in conservation of the rich biodiversity of the country, particularly the fauna as per the National Zoo Policy, 1998 o Enforcing minimum standards and norms for upkeep and healthcare of animals in Indian zoos and to control mushrooming of unplanned and ill-conceived zoos • Functions Of CZA o Evaluate and assess the functioning of the zoos with respect to the prescribed standards or norms; o To recognize or derecognize zoos; o To identify endangered species of wild animals for purposes of captive breeding and assigning responsibility in this regard to a zoo; o To coordinate the acquisition, exchange and loaning of animals for breeding purpose; o To provide technical and other assistance to zoos for their proper management and development on scientific lines.

PROTECTED AREAS – DEHING PATKAI Assam Government has decided to upgrade the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary to a National Park. More on news • Earlier, National Board of Wildlife’s (NBWL) gave conditional clearance to a coal mining project by Coal India Limited (CIL) in the Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve • It is reported that upgradation is to protect the sanctity of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary from coal and oil mining exploration. o Wildlife sanctuaries are protected areas which permit some activities, but no human activity is allowed in a National Park. • Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is referred as ‘The Amazon of East’. 113 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

www.upscwithnikhil.com o Dehing is the name of the river that flows through this forest and Patkai is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies • It is the only rainforest in Assam which spreads across Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts of Assam and also stretches till the State of Arunachal Pradesh. This sanctuary consists of three parts: Jeypore, upper Dihing River and Dirok rainforest • The Sanctuary is a part of the Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve, along with the Stillwell Road and the oldest refinery of Asia in Digboi and ‘open cast’ coal mining at Lido. • Dehing Patkai sanctuary is home to a number of mammals, including rarities like the Malayan sun bear, binturong, crab-eating mongoose, marbled cat, golden cat, fishing cat, and clouded leopard. o More commonly seen are mammals such as the barking deer, Assamese macaque, capped langur, tree shrew, and the famed hoolock gibbons.

BLACK PANTHER • Recently, a Black Panther was spotted in Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka. • In India, the Black Panthers are rarely spotted, and hence are also called ‘ghosts of the forest’. • They can be found in Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary, Anshi Dandeli Sanctuary (Karnataka), Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (Tamil Nadu) and Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra). About Black Panther • Black Panther refers to large felines (family of cats) that are characterized by a coat of black fur or large concentrations of black spots. • In each species, a certain combination of alleles stimulates the production of large amounts of the dark pigment melanin in the animal’s fur and skin. A melanistic leopard is often called black panther or jaguar. • Other influencing factors for appearance of black coat: The angle of incident light and the animal’s life stage, retention of black spots from the juvenile stage, concentrations of dark-coloured fur etc.

GERMANY TO PHASE OUT COAL, NUCLEAR POWER • German parliament approved a bill that envision shutting down the last coal-fired power plant by 2038 and spending some $45 billion to help affected regions cope with the transition. • The plan is part of Germany's 'energy transition' - an effort to wean Europe's biggest economy off planet- warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country's considerable energy needs from renewable sources. • Presently, Germany burns the greatest amount of lignite coal worldwide.

PIED CUCKOO • Wildlife Institute of India, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Department of Biotechnology have begun a study of the migration of pied cuckoo from Africa to India and back. o It is done by tagging two of the birds with satellite transmitters. • This is for the first time that a bird species is being tagged to understand its relationship with climate patterns like change in monsoon winds, erratic rainfall, seasonal fluctuations, etc o Arrival of the pied cuckoos has traditionally been seen as onset of the monsoon. • Study is part of a larger project -Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), funded by Department of Biotechnology. o IBIN is proposed to be a single portal data provider on India's bioresource - plant, animal, marine, spatial distribution and microbial resources. • About Pied Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus or Jacobin Cuckoo) o There are two populations of Pied Cuckoo found in India- southern part (resident) and North and Central India (migratory).

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www.upscwithnikhil.com o It is one of the few species that come to India in the summer. o IUCN status: Least Concern o It is primarily arboreal (lives on trees), lays its eggs in nests that belong to other birds.

NEW HUMAN FINGERPRINT ON GLOBAL DROUGHT PATTERNS • According to a new study, Human-caused climate change has intensified patterns of extreme rainfall and drought across the globe. o Human Fingerprints means human influence on global climate. Important human influence includes greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions and polluting aerosols. • Since 1950, human-produced GHGs and particulate atmospheric pollution have influenced global changes in temperature, precipitation and regional aridity in two distinct ways: o Wet-dry patterns (Intensification of drought and extreme rainfall patterns) ▪ Rainfall is decreasing over US, central Asia and southern Africa while it is increasing in the Sahel region of Africa, India and the Caribbean. ▪ Changes are largely driven by increases in GHGs emissions. o Changes associated with shifting of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) or Tropical rain belt. ▪ ITCZ shifted back northward after 1980, bringing less rainfall to the western US and more to Sahel. This was mainly because northern hemisphere became warmer than the southern hemisphere. ✓ Pollution and Greenhouse effect warms the northern hemisphere faster (as predominantly covered by land).

HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE (HGH) • Recently, Pardeep Singh (2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist), has been suspended provisionally after his blood sample tested positive for hGH. • hGH is produced in the body and secreted by the pituitary gland near the base of the brain. hGH helps in bone, organ and cartilage growth and also helps in repairing damaged muscles. • It is banned both in-competition as well as out-of-competition by World Anti-Doping Agency. • hGH is known to increase muscle mass, strength and tissue-repairing effects etc.

WINTER DIESEL • Winter diesel is a specialised fuel that was introduced by Indian Oil Corporation specifically for high altitude regions and low-temperature regions such as Ladakh, where ordinary diesel can become unusable. • Benefits of winter diesel o Contains additives to maintain lower viscosity can be used in temperatures as low as -30°C o Higher cetane rating-an indicator is the combustion speed of diesel and compression needed for ignition. o Lower sulphur content, which would lead to lower deposits in engines and better performance.

BLACKROCK ANDROID MALWARE • It is a new malware which can steal information like passwords and credit card information from about 377 smartphone applications, including Amazon, Facebook, Gmail etc. • Malware is the collective name for a number of malicious software variants, including viruses, ransomware and spyware.

LATENT VIRAL INFECTION (LVI) • It is an infection that is inactive or dormant. Latent infections last the life of the host and occur when the primary infection is not cleared by the adaptive immune response. 115 | May 2020 © UPSC with Nikhil Nagpur

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• These are opposed to active infections, where a virus is actively replicating and potentially causing symptoms. • Examples of LVI: Herpes simplex viruses type 1 and 2, HIV, cytomegalovirus etc. o Recently, questions about latency of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were raised as cases of people who had tested negative for COVID-19 testing positive again after a while emerged.

BELYO • It is country’s first COVID-19 blockchain platform. • It will convert COVID-19-related clinical and vaccination data of citizens currently from the physical form into digital assets. • This data then can be retrieved by contact tracing apps like Aarogya Setu. • Developed by: BelfricsBT, a global blockchain start-up, along with YoSync, a start-up incubated at IIIT Bangalore.

YELLOW FEVER • According to recent study, burden and geography of yellow fever is projected to shift to Central and East Africa from West Africa by 2050. o Climate change-related factors, including temperature and rainfall, would lead to this change in the magnitude and geography of the disease. • Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, belonging to the Aedes and Haemogogus species. o The "yellow" in the name refers to the jaundice that affects some patients. • Symptoms of yellow fever include fever, headache, jaundice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. • Virus is endemic in tropical areas of Africa and Central and South America. o Endemic disease is one where infection is constantly maintained in a geographic area without any external inputs. • Vaccine for this disease is available and a single dose of yellow fever vaccine is sufficient to grant sustained immunity and life-long protection. • WHO launched Eliminate Yellow Fever Epidemics strategy in 2017. By 2026, it is expected that more than 1 billion people will be protected against the disease.

MARS MISSIONS • Recently, the UAE, USA have launched mission to Mars. Hope Mission • UAE spacecraft Amal (Hope) has been launched which is the Arab world’s first mission to Mars. Hope is the UAE’s fourth space mission and first interplanetary mission. • It will orbit Mars to study the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with outer space and solar winds. It will collect data on Martian climate dynamics, which should help scientists understand why Mars’ atmosphere is decaying into space. Mars 2020 • Under this, NASA’s Perseverance rover will seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth. • The rover is equipped with specialised equipment to collect data, analyse weather conditions that can help plan for future human missions, and produce oxygen from the carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere. • The mission also includes the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Ingenuity will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet.

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• Ingenuity is intended to demonstrate technologies needed for flying in the Martian atmosphere. If successful, these technologies could enable other advanced robotic flying vehicles that might be included in future robotic and human missions to Mars. ASTEROID 2020 ND • Recently, Asteroid 2020 ND made a fly-past the Earth. The asteroid was about 170 meters-long, moved at a distance 0.034 Astronomical Units (AU) to Earth. • NASA classified it as the Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) and also as a Near Earth Object (NEO). • NEOs are comets and asteroids moved by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits which allows them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood. These objects are composed mostly of water ice with embedded dust particles. • Asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of about 0.05 AU, and bigger than 150 meters in diameter are considered PHAs. o MOID is the distance between the closest points of the overlapping orbits of two bodies. o AU is the distance between Earth and Sun and is roughly 150 million km. • NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Study (CNEOS) determines the times and distances of these objects as and when their approach to the Earth is close. • Scientists have suggested different ways to ward off such threats, such as blowing up the asteroid before it reaches Earth, or deflecting it off its Earth-bound course by hitting it with a spacecraft. o One such project is, Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA), which includes NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera.

LEAD POISONING IN CHILDREN • According to a new report launched by UNICEF and Pure Earth (Non-Profit Organization), around one third i.e. 800 million children globally, are affected by lead poisoning. o Nearly half of these children live in South Asia. • About Lead Poisoning o Lead is a cumulative toxicant (increasing in quantity in the body over many years) that affects multiple body systems. o Sources of Lead Poisoning ▪ Ingestion of lead in water from leaded pipes, lead solder in food cans; and lead in spices, cosmetics, ayurvedic medicines, toys and other consumer products. ▪ Inhalation through lead from active industry, such as mining and battery recycling; lead-based paint and pigments; leaded gasoline; ▪ Informal and substandard recycling of lead-acid batteries o Adverse health effects ▪ Young children are more susceptible to toxic effects and can result in decreased intelligence, behavioral difficulties and learning problems. ▪ Adults exposed to lead are at risk of developing high blood pressure and kidney damage. ▪ Exposure of pregnant women to high levels of lead can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight and malformations. • World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program jointly initiated the “Global Alliance to eliminate Lead Paint” to achieve international goals to prevent children’s exposure and minimize occupational exposure to lead paint.

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• In India, Regulation on Lead contents in households and decorative paints Rules 2016 notified by MOEFCC prohibit manufacture, trade, import as well as export of household and decorative paints containing lead or lead compounds in excess of 90 parts per million (ppm).

PROJECT CHEETAH > Project Cheetah is to upgrade the drones to carry out offensive operations against the enemy. > Under this project, 90 Heron drones of the three services would be upgraded to be armed with laser-guided bombs, air to ground and air-launched anti-tank guided missiles.

How will the project benefit the IAF? > The newly equipped drones will help the Indian Air Force (IAF) in keeping an eye on enemy locations from far distances and will also help them in controlling them through the satellite communication system.

Who will head the Committee? > The proposal of reviving the project has been sent to the newly formed high-level defence ministry committee and will be headed by Ajay Kumar.

Why the revival of Project Cheetah has been proposed? > The decision to revive Project Cheetah comes at a time when the country is facing border tensions with China. Recently, a stand-off between India and China took place along the Actual Line of Control in eastern Ladakh.

Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle > The Made in Israel, Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a medium-altitude UAV and can carry up to 250 kg of weight including thermographic camera, airborne ground surveillance visible light, radar systems, etc. > The Heron UAV is capable of returning to base autonomously in case of lost communication. > Both the Indian Air Forces and the Indian Army use Israeli equipment including Herons. The Herons UAVs are currently deployed in Ladakh and China borders to keep an eye on the disengagement by Chinese troops and their build-up along the Actual Line of Control in the future.

This document is being furnished to you for your information. The opinions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s). UPSC with Nikhil makes every effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but UPSC with Nikhil does not represent that the contents of the magazine are accurate or complete. Though the material present in the magazine is for particular month but there could be some articles from other months as well. This document has been prepared without regard to the objectives or opinions of those who may receive it.

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