[ad_1]
NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
Answer the following questions in 150 words:
General Studies – 1
Introduction
The river interlinking project aims to link India’s rivers by a network of reservoirs and canals that will allow for their water capacities to be shared and redistributed. Some experts claim that this is an engineered panacea that will reduce persistent floods in some parts and water shortages in other parts besides facilitating the generation of hydroelectricity for an increasingly power hungry country.
Body
Opportunities arising out of River linking projects
- India receives most of its rain during monsoon season from June to September, most of it falls in northern and eastern part of India, the amount of rainfall in southern and western part are comparatively low. It will be these places which will have shortage of water. Interlinking of rivers will help these areas to have water throughout the year.
- This will cut farmers dependence on monsoon rains by bringing millions of hectares of cultivatable land under irrigation.
- Crop productivity would increase and so would revenues for the State.
- Even one bad monsoon has a direct and debilitating economic impact.
- The river linking project will ease the water shortages in western and southern India while mitigating the impacts of recurrent floods in eastern India.
- The Ganga Basin, Brahmaputra basin sees floods almost every year. In order to avoid this, the water from these areas has to be diverted to other areas where there is scarcity of water. This can be achieved by linking the rivers. There is a two way advantage with this – floods will be controlled and scarcity of water will be reduced.
- Simultaneous floods and droughts continue to wreak havoc, destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions.
- India needs clean energy to fuel its development processes, and river water can be leveraged for this.
- Fulfilling water needs impact socio-economic life of people which will help end poverty.
- Need for interlinking of rivers to prevent inter-state water disputes.
- Potential benefits to transportation through navigation, as well as broadening income sources in rural areas through fishing.
Challenges posed
- The idea that river linking would allow us to cope with flood in the north east and shortage of water in the Deccan is the positive aspect as pointed earlier but misleading one too.
- This floods come at the time when most parts of the country run short of water, we need to hold the water somewhere to use it in dry season but the amount of flowing in the short period of time in Brahmaputra and Ganga is so huge to store and use it later.
- Variability in rainfall is high which is the main source in the country, flood and drought simultaneously within the states of Bihar and Maharashtra.
- Irrigation potential from interlinking rivers will have limited impact. The net national irrigated area from big dams has decreased and India’s irrigated area has gone up primarily due to groundwater.
- Interlinking of rivers is a very expensive proposal. The amount required for these projects is so huge that government will have to take loans from the foreign sources which would increase the burden on the government and country will fall in a debt trap.
- The river interlinking project will adversely affect land, forests, biodiversity, rivers and the livelihood of millions of people.
- The Ken-Betwa link threatens about 200 sq. km of the Panna tiger reserve.
- Interlinking of rivers will lead to destruction of forests, wetlands and local water bodies, which are major groundwater recharge mechanisms.
- Less than positive experience that other countries have, like diversion of Amu Darya and the Syr Darya or the Australia’s experiments in its Murray Darling basin.
- It causes massive displacement of people. Huge burden on the government to deal with the issue of rehabilitation of displaced people.
- Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life.
- The Shah committee pointed out that the linking of rivers will affect natural supply of nutrients for agricultural lands through curtailing flooding of downstream areas.
Way forward
- To look at water as a strategic resource for development.
- Environment is one issue where anyone of us should be concerned about.
- Best practices done by China and neighbouring countries needs to be looked upon.
- The biggest, cheapest, most benign, possibly fastest and most decentralized storage option for India is the groundwater
- Invest in water conservation, more efficient irrigation and better farm practices.
- Recycling of water for internal usage as that of Israel.
- We need a mandatory enforceable river policy aimed at treating rivers as national treasure.
- Accumulation of silt in huge quantities, particularly the Ganga and its tributaries. These rivers need to be desilted.
- River linking in the south and other parts which was undertaken in the past has been going well so such model needs to be taken forward.
- Planting trees on the river banks is one way of bringing life back to the rivers.
- Forest catchments will need to be restored, wastewater from industries and towns will need to be treated, sand mining need to be stopped.
- Need to build the responsibility, capability and accountability in our water management institutions to revive our rivers.
- The judicious use of canal water, growing crops that are appropriate to a region, encouraging drip irrigation and reviving traditional systems such as tanks.
Conclusion
The river linking project is a great challenge and an opportunity to address the water issues arising out of climate change. The long-term solution to water scarcity lies in making the IRL project work by building a network of dams and canals across the length and breadth of the country. However, interlinking has to take place after a detailed study so that does not cause any problem to the environment or aquatic life.
Introduction
The Himalayan range is a transnational mountain chain and is the chief driver of the Asian climate. The Himalayas are the highest and the youngest fold mountain ranges of the world. Their geological structure is young, weak and flexible since the Himalayan uplift is an ongoing process, making them one of the highest earthquake-prone regions of the world. Himalaya stretching from J&K to the North -East of India has always been a physical, climatic, drainage and a cultural divide.
Body
Himalayas: A physical barrier:
- Divides India from central Asia and thereby protected India from their direct attack through this route.
- Isolates Indian Sub-continent from the rest of Asia.
Himalayas: A climatic divide:
- The Himalayas, as a great climatic divide affecting large systems of air and water circulation, help determine meteorological conditions in the Indian subcontinent to the south and in the Central Asian highlands to the north.
- By virtue of its location and stupendous height, the Great Himalaya Range obstructs the passage of cold continental air from the north into India in winter.
- It also forces the southwesterly monsoon (rain-bearing) winds to give up most of their moisture before crossing the range northward. The result is heavy precipitation (both rain and snow) on the Indian side but arid conditions in Tibet.
- Himalayas represent a long chain of mountains that separate India from rest of Asia making India a subcontinent with its own climatic features. During winters when freezing temperatures
prevail in North Asia, Himalayas object these cold winds and thus preventing the Ganga plains from freezing leading to sustenance in agriculture. - Himalayas also obstruct the South West monsoon winds thus producing rains thus helps in maintaining the monsoon nature of our climate in North India.
Himalayas: A drainage divide:
- The Himalayas are drained by 19 major rivers, of which the Indus and the Brahmaputra are the largest, each having catchment basins in the mountains of about 100,000 square miles (260,000 square km) in extent.
- Five of the 19 rivers, with a total catchment area of about 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), belong to the Indus system—the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej—and collectively define the vast region divided between Punjab state in India and Punjab province in Pakistan.
- Of the remaining rivers, nine belong to the Ganges system—the Ganges, Yamuna, Ramganga, Kali (Kali Gandak), Karnali, Rapti, Gandak, Baghmati, and Kosi rivers—draining roughly 84,000 square miles (218,000 square km) in the mountains, and three belong to the Brahmaputra system—the Tista, the Raidak, and the Manas—draining another 71,000 square miles (184,000 square km) in the Himalayas.
- The rivers that flow through India originate due to melting of glaciers in the upper reaches and maintained by rain in the lower reaches thus leading to many perennial rivers which are vital for agriculture.
- Also a lot of rivers forms flood plains in the lower reaches and bring alluvium which is very productive.
- The snow melt in summer and precipitation in winter makes them perennial rivers. i.e, having water throughout the year. The abundant waterfall, huge snowfield and large glaciers feed these drainage systems. The Himalayan rivers give life to the northern India.
Himalayas: creating a cultural divide:
- Himalayas have three distinct chain of mountains, the upper Himalayas or himadri, Himachal or lesser Himalayas and Shiwaliks.
- The Himadri which is very prominent in Kashmir region has many highest glaciers of the world leading to unique pattern of living.
- In Uttarakhand, Siwaliks or dun formations caused some cultivation and transhumance of tribes like Bhutias.
- In Sikkim and Darjeeling, the Duar formation and moderate slopesgave rise to tea cultivation here too tribes like Lepcha lead a unique way of life.
- In North East Himalayas because of rain all around the year Tropical evergreen forests predominate which are cleared by the inhabiting tribes for Jhum cultivation.
Conclusion
Apart from the above, The Himalayas are also home to a diversity of medicinal resources. The Himalayas are also a source of many minerals and precious stones. It is also imperative from the perspectives of Flora, fauna, defence, pilgrimage and tourism too.
Thus, The Himalayas comprise the most dominating geographical feature of India. No other mountain range anywhere in world has affected the life of people and shaped the destiny of a nation as the Himalayas have in respect of India.
Value addition
The Himalayan ranges can be grouped into four parallel longitudinal mountain belts of varying width, each having distinct physiographic features and its own geologic history. They are designated, from south to north, as the Outer, or Sub-, Himalayas (also called the Siwalik Range); the Lesser, or Lower, Himalayas; the Great Himalaya Range (Great Himalayas); and the Tethys, or Tibetan, Himalayas. Farther north lies the Trans-Himalayas in Tibet proper. From west to east the Himalayas are divided broadly into three mountainous regions: western, central, and eastern.
Introduction
Jawahar Lal Nehru (1889-1964) was the first Prime Minister of India and a control figure in Indian Politics before and after independence. He emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement under the tutelage of Mahatma Gandhi and led India from its establishment as an independent nation in 1947 until his death in 1964.
Body
Four principal pillars of Nehru’s legacy to India
- Democratic institution-building
- Staunch pan-Indian secularism,
- Socialist economics at home, and
- A foreign policy of non-alignment,
Nehruvian Policies that aided nation building post-Independence
- Consolidation of the nation:Nehru took a firm stance against the possible division of India into smaller principalities. He established the State Reorganization Committee to fulfil regional aspirations of the people which would lower the chances of them wanting to cede from the nation. This way he strengthened the unity.
- Rehabilitation of refugees:Refugees from Pakistan were given shelter and attempts were made to reduce communalism.
- Secularism:It was mainly due to Jawahar Lal Nehru’s efforts that India emerged as a secular state in the mid-twentieth century. Much before independence, he played a heroic role in the development of a secular basis for Indian polity. This helped in building the narrative of ‘Unity in Diversity’.
- Welfare state:Nehru was a practical idealist and believed that socialism and democracy were not contradictory but complementary to each other. He wanted to build a welfare state for the equitable distribution of wealth.
- Planning Commission:Nehru, a pragmatic socialist understood the importance of the welfare state in a country which does not have sufficient infrastructure, established a planning commission for long term planning of social schemes.
- Non-Alignment Policy (NAM):Nehru, being the Foreign Minister, did not want to join either of the power blocs. Also he did not want India to remain aloof from world politics. Therefore, Nehru’s visionary approach to establish NAM with other third world countries proved to be an ideal foreign policy approach.
Conclusion
The period of Nehru is recorded in the history as “Nehruvian Era” during which democracy took the roots; and social, economic, cultural and educational development for the nation building. Despite facing daunting tasks, he was successful in maintaining and strengthening the nation.
General Studies – 2
Introduction
Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C. and conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. During his reign, Alexander the Great had a massive impact in his time and sent ripples into the future. Alexander’s triumphs also made him a legendary figure and an inspiration for future generations.
Body
Impact of invasion of Alexander on India
- In 327 BC, Alexander crossed the Indus, the farthest frontier of the old Persian empire, and began his Indian campaign that lasted about two years.
- The king of Taxila surrendered to Alexander, but beyond the Jhelum he was challenged by the legendary warrior whom Greek sources have identified as Porus.
- After the defeat of Porus, Alexander wished to march on into the heartland of the Gangetic basin — but upon reaching the Beas, the last of the five rivers of Punjab, his generals refused to go further. Alexander was forced to turn back.
- The Greek invasion of India provided scope for such an exchange. India was rich in religion and philosophy at the time of the Greek invasion.
- Long after Alexander, this influence came to its admirable form in shape of the Gandhara School of Art.
- The images of Buddha, under this art, showed a remarkable mixture of the Greek and the Indian art of image making.
- The Greek initiation of sculpting the Buddha in human form matured and it became a major part of the Buddhist iconography.
- The Greeks also introduced their own architectural and sculptural forms, like cupids, friezes and Corinthian columns into the Buddhist
- Several Greek mythological figures were incorporated into Buddhist architectural works, including Heracles, who became equated to Vajrapani.
- Of course, this art perfected itself at the time of Emperor Kanishka who brought sculptors from the Greek settlements of Bactria for the work, and who were far remote from the days of Alexander the Great.
- The Greek skills and techniques were endured till the epoch of
- Gupta’s realistic anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha reflect the legacy of the Greek artistic influence.
Conclusion
In short the complex political and undeveloped social factors were the reason of Greek influence on Indian culture, art and many other fields of life. The Temples of ancient India era and particularly the Buddhist stupas are ever considered the major and the most important Indian heritage. Thus, in this way the Greek influence in present era is a prominent element of India’s cultural heritage.
Introduction
The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was launched in December, 1993, to provide a mechanism for the Members of Parliament to recommend works of developmental nature for creation of durable community assets and for provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based on locally felt needs. The MPLADS is a Central Sector Scheme which is fully funded by Government of India. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore.
Citing economic recovery, the Union Cabinet has restored the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) that was suspended in April 2020 subsuming the funds for the scheme in the consolidated fund of India. However, the MPs will get ₹2 crore instead of the annual approved ₹5 crore.
Body
Objectives:
- To enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs to be taken up in their Constituencies.
- Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their constituencies and elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State they are elected from.
- Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country.
- To create durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc.
Features for effective development of each constituency
- An MP knows the developmental and welfare issues of his constituency better than anyone else.
- The MPLADS has enabled MPs to play a leadership role in the developmental process of his constituency and sort out its day-to-day problems.
- It is one of the ways government funds are transferred to the grassroots with precision.
- Local MPs can channel fund for specific needs of local communities, whether it is to tar a road, install streetlights or water pumps, or bolster local school and healthcare infrastructure.
- Besides capacity building in the local economy, these works also offer jobs to local people.
- The pork barrel policy of State and Union Governments often leads to skewed development and regional imbalance. The ruling party channels public money to particular constituencies based on political considerations, at the expense of broader public interests. The elected opposition legislators of those constituencies fall victim to this pork barrel politics.
- MPLADS has been an antidote to the above favouritism. The Scheme provided opposition MPs some chance to cater to the developmental needs of their constituency.
- Of the MPLADS corpus, 15% has been earmarked for the development of Scheduled Castes and 5% for the Scheduled Tribes. Around ₹20 lakh of the MPLADS fund per annum has been allotted for the welfare of differently abled people.
Challenges in MPLADS
- Since its inception in 1993, MPLADS has attracted increasing scholarly and media attention focusing on the various ways in which its politicised nature leads to the underutilisation of funds or the misallocation of funds over space and time.
- MPs in the run-up to an election allocate significantly more funds than at other times to projects that eventually end up incomplete.
- TheComptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) has time and again flagged instances of financial mismanagement and artificial inflation of amounts spent.
- Within MPLADS, the automatic ‘rollover’ of unspent MPLADS funds from one year to the next enables politicians to concentrate their project recommendations before anticipated election dates, which is associated with higher project failure rates.
- MPLADS is not governed by any statutory law and is subject to the whims and fancies of the government of the day.
- MPLADS encroaches upon the domain of local self-governing institutions and thereby violates Part IX and IX-A of the Constitution.
- The scheme faces conflict with Doctrine of Separation of Powers as MPs are involved in executive functions.
Way forward
- There is a need to eliminate the automatic rollover provision.
- In addition, providing information to voters on the efforts of incumbents, or lack thereof, with regard to the progress of specific public works projects could incentivize newly elected MPs to follow through on the proposals made by their predecessors.
- Political parties could also help by encouraging competent incumbents to stand for election again in the same constituency which could have beneficial effects on any future discretionary spending programmes.
- More broadly, policies that minimise discretion and that require more stringent and standardised criteria for the approval of project proposals could also reduce the negative effect of democratic elections on public service provision.
- This could also reduce negative effects of demands by the public for greater accountability and transparency from lawmakers to design programmes to benefit the public instead of supporting the interests of incumbent politicians.
Introduction
The UK, US and Australia have announced a historic security pact in the Asia-Pacific, in what’s seen as an effort to counter China. It is called the AUKUS pact and AUKUS alliance. It is a landmark security pact involving the UK, US and Australia that will allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time with technology provided by the US underscores the rapidly shifting realities of the Indo- Pacific.
Body
Overview on AUKUS pact
- Under the AUKUS alliance, the three nations have agreed to enhance the development of joint capabilities and technology sharing, foster deeper integration of security and defence-related science, technology, industrial bases and supply chains.
- Under the first major initiative of AUKUS, Australia would build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and the UK, a capability aimed at promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
- In recent years, Beijing has been accused of raising tensions in disputed territories such as the South China Sea.
- Western nations have been wary of China’s infrastructure investment on Pacific islands, and have also criticised China’s trade sanctions against countries like Australia.
- Australia will be joining a select group of countries, including the US, UK, France, China, India and Russia, that operate nuclear-powered submarines.
- It will also be only the second nation after the UK with which the US will be sharing its submarine technology.
AUKUS pact: Regional security architecture in the Indo-Pacific and beyond
- Technology transfer to non-nuclear state: In an extraordinary move, the US and UK are willing to export nuclear technology to a non-nuclear powered nation.
- Regional security concerns have been the main driver behind this ‘Aukus pact’ that is being touted as Canberra’s biggest defence partnership in decades, involving artificial intelligence, cyber and other cutting-edge defence technologies.
- Indo-Pacific security: It described the pact as a “historic opportunity for the three nations, with like-minded allies and partners, to protect shared values and promote security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Countering Chinese expansionist policy: For Washington and its allies in the Pacific, a new class of nuclear-powered submarines can be of critical value in challenging Chinese military expansionism.
- It would also allow the three nations to operate more effectively together undersea across the Pacific.
- Timing of announcement: The announcement of this major pact comes against the backdrop of a disastrous withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan that had raised widespread doubts across the Indo-Pacific about the credibility of American commitments in the region.
- Brexit and UK’s projection as global power: Britain aims to play a larger role in the Indo-Pacific, especially after its exit from the European Union.
- The Boris Johnson administration is keen on projecting the idea of a ‘Global Britain’ as the central narrative of British foreign policy after Brexit, and greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific with like-minded nations is a natural corollary to that.
- In July, the UK’s new aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth, sailed through the South China Sea waters despite denunciations from Beijing.
- India’s stance: The latest developments are largely favourable from an Indian viewpoint and as our focus now shifts to the Quad meeting, it is clear that like-minded regional powers are trying to evolve a partnership that will see closer alignment of regional policies and actions as well as greater integration of their defence forces.
- Alongside India’s stated intent to acquire more nuclear-powered submarines, it will amount to a step-change increase in the Quad’s undersea and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
Conclusion
The message from Aukus is that while the current churn in the Indo-Pacific may have begun with Chinese actions, it is now other regional players that are willing to set new terms of engagement with Beijing. They can effectively counter Chinese Aggression and their ‘middle kingdom’ agenda alongside the Quad.
General Studies – 3
Introduction
Globally, India is competing with the US and China in the Agri-startup space. According to Agfunder, India witnessed an increase in funding from $619 million in H1 2020 to $2 billion in H1 2021, behind the US ($9.5 billion) and China ($4.5 billion)
Body
Agri-tech startups in India and their potential
- High potential in terms of value: An Ernst & Young 2020 study pegs the Indian agritech market potential at $24 billion by 2025, of which only 1 per cent has been captured so far.
- Supply chain segments: Among various agritech segments, the supply chain technology and output markets have the highest potential, worth $12.1 billion.
- Currently, it is estimated that there are about 600 to 700 agritech startups in India operating at different levels of Agri-value chains.
- Modern technology to agriculture: Many of them use artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), etc, to unlock the potential of big data for greater resource use efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness. E.g.: Ninjacart, Dehaat, and Crofarm (Otipy) are a few of the many startups that are redefining the agrifood marketplace.
- Establishing an ecosystem: The novelty of startup-led value chain transformation is not limited to empowering farmers but also co-opting local grocery, mom-and-pop, and Kirana stores as well as small agrifood businesses that are an integral part of the agri-food ecosystem.
- Expanding economy around Agri economy: At the same time, the start-up network is able to leverage the bigger front-end players who demand bulk quality produce and have challenges in directly linking with farmers.
Issues faced by the startups
- Government policies: Although government has made a shift in their policies related to agriculture but we still have a long way to go. Today we have Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill in India but nothing converges at the farm level.
- Many agtech firms are grappling with their own set of issues. These include rigid business models that are at times difficult to scale up and lack of insights and expertise on the subject matter which is essential in network build-up.
- Resistant farmers unwilling to adopt technology and most farmers being small and subsistent makes it difficult to introduce technology in agriculture.
- There are glaring gaps in the supply chain management and also poor last-mile connectivity especially at grass-roots level as well lack of investments to drive the businesses.
- Farming companies are also impacted by limited traceability and visibility. Agri input companies still struggle with inefficient field force management and operations along with lack of centralised database that causes huge losses along the value chain.
Hence, it becomes imperative for the government, agritech businesses and food supply chain companies to collectively fix these loopholes and create a transparent system which, in the long-term, will benefit all the stakeholders involved including the investors.
Measures needed
- The startup-FPO partnership can be further strengthened by incentivising the FPOs under the central government’s programme to add 10,000 new FPOs by 2024.
- Collaboration across sectors: The network of agritech start-ups, incubators, accelerators and investors need to work closely with policymakers, academia, think tanks, and government departments to develop a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of the agrifood sector.
- This will also enable the government and policymakers to leverage the existing agritech pool and co-create solutions for shared value.
- If policies, institutions and partnerships can harness the current momentum, the startup ecosystem can be the next-generation technology revolution in the agrifood sector.
- Experts, agritech entrepreneurs and investors believe that new approaches and new institutions are required which can really pull farmers from lifelong penury. This can be achieved if both private and public companies work together in unison to boost the agriculture space in a massive way.
- Skilling farmers to infuse technology in agriculture will not only lead to better Agri-incomes, it will also make agriculture more efficient. Government aids are available to buy machineries and these can be made available to ensure start-ups can scale their reach to farmers.
Conclusion
The Indian agriculture industry, pegged at $39.1 billion as on 2019, is poised for huge growth and contribution to the world food trade. Startups have a crucial role to play in helping farmers harness technology, which will increase crop yield and double the income of farmers. With the infusion of technology in the sector, agriculture is set to make big gains and move towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Introduction
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is a planetary defence-driven test of technologies for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid. DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space. It is a spacecraft designed to impact an asteroid as a test of technology. The spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Body
Aim of DART
- The main aim of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is to test the newly developed technology that would allow a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid and change its course.
- The target of the spacecraft is a small moonlet called Dimorphos which orbits a larger asteroid named
- It is about 160-metre in diameter and the spacecraft is expected to collide when it is 11 million kilometres away from Earth.
- Both these asteroids do not pose any threat to Earth but given that we haven’t come close to tracking all the NEOs, the knowledge that such a technique could work in practice will be crucial when we eventually identify a planetary body that does threaten to impact Earth.
- This asteroid system is a perfect testing ground to see if intentionally crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid is an effective way to change its course, should an Earth-threatening asteroid be discovered in the future.
How DART plans to achieve its aim
- The DART spacecraft will achieve the kinetic impact deflection by deliberately crashing itself into the moonlet at a speed of approximately 6.6 km/s, with the aid of an onboard camera (named DRACO) and sophisticated autonomous navigation software.
- The collision will change the speed of the moonlet in its orbit around the main body by a fraction of one percent, but this will change the orbital period of the moonlet by several minutes – enough to be observed and measured using telescopes on Earth.
- It is a suicide mission and the spacecraft will be completely destroyed.
Conclusion
Until recently, the only real answer proposed to tackle an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, was to, quite literally, hurl a nuclear bomb at it, to change its trajectory. The truth is that this still constitutes one of Earth’s best strategies, and probably the only one if impact is expected within a ten-year timeframe.
Introduction
Demonetization in modest terms is the withdrawal of a particular form of currency (Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes in Indian context) from circulation. It is the action of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. In this, the existing form or forms of money is drawn from circulation and retired, often to be replaced with new notes or coins.
Body
The Government of India had withdrawn Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 from circulation on November 2016. This move of the government was fundamentally to curtail the black money that is running a shadow economy. Apart from black money the purpose was also to counter terror funding, check counterfeit currencies in circulation etc.
Achievements of Demonetization:
- Demonetisation had certain positive impact on the economy which reflected through increase in Assets under Management (AUM) of mutual fund industry.
- As per RBI, 7 specific accounts, like Basic Saving Bank Deposit Accounts, PMJDY Accounts, KCC, dormant or inoperative accounts, co-operative banks’ accounts with scheduled commercial banks, bullion trader/jewellers’ accounts, and loan accounts, saw a steep rise in deposits. These deposits further helped banks’ capacity to lend to small businesses.
- One of the principal achievements of demonetization was seen in the drastic curb of terrorist activities as it stopped the funding to terrorism that used to get a boost owing to the inflow of unaccounted cash and fake currency in large volume.
- Demonetization connected with various Acts and Rules aided to some extent in curbing black practices. It has unveiled numerous unaccounted property in abroad, led to improved tax base by the collection of more taxes, led to undisclosed income detection by the IT department etc.
- Demonetization has compelled the country towards a cashless society and promoted digitalization. Lakhs of the people even in remote rural areas have begun using cashless transactions. This move has promoted banking activities. Now even the minor transactions have begun going through banking channels and the small savings have turned into a huge national asset.
- Measures like IDS and PMGKY imparted fear in the minds of unscrupulous businessmen that resulted in the declaration of Rs 70,250 crore undeclared income. This income was taxed at upwards of 45 per cent, increasing the government’s revenue.
Limitations of Demonetization
- Demonetization was intended to recover about 10 lakh crore of high value notes in circulation out of about 16 lakh crore. The pre-assumption of the government was that about 6 lakh crore rupees was under black money. But the concluding disclosure by the RBI in August 2018 stated that it has recovered 15.31 lakh crore and only Rs. 16,000 crore was not returned to the RBI. This showed that much of the money in circulation or either under black deposits was able to get into the banking system making them legal. And hence, in essence, demonetisation had not encountered the government’s goal of wiping out black money from the Indian economy.
- The move decreased the RBI’s profit as central bank spent Rs. 21,000 crore in the management of the mechanics of demonetisation, including printing of notes. This resulted into RBI paying lesser dividend to the central government.
- The immediate withdrawal had made adverse effect on business and economy. Instead of increasing economy India has become a standstill and no growth economy.
- India is an agriculture based economy. Owing to the cash crunch, the farmers specially small and marginal who mostly depend on cash to buy seeds, fertilizers and to pay for sowing, borrowing water for irrigation and for other associated agriculture equipments remained worst affected and could not complete the crop related activity.
- Since minor branches of the banks were also not provided with adequate cash within time of sowing season of the crop, farmers could not get their crop loans disbursed. This added to the distresses of the farmers leading to weak agriculture production the upcoming year.
- Real Estate sector came to a standstill and is still winded for buyers of the constructed and half constructed inventory without buyers. This resulted in poor cash flow leading to a poor demand.
- Demonetization made the situation chaotic. Tempers were running high amongst the masses as there was an interruption in the circulation of new currency.
- Due to the incapability to pay cash to poor daily wage workers, the small employers had stopped their business activity.
- Absence of Rs. 100 and Rs. 500 notes in circulation (less available) added more to the anguishes of the common people with low incomes as they were unable to get changes of Rs. 2000 in return.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, the demonetization related with other acts, rules and regulations was to some extent successful, however, the unplanned unexpected implementation had led to chaos in market for some time. The move has definitely benefitted the economy in terms of increased tax base, bringing many under tax net, disclosure of income etc. at the same time impacting slow growth of national income.
Introduction
As the incidence of climate variability and extreme weather events increases, urban flooding becomes more and more common. While the untimely heavy rains can be attributed to climate variability, the urban flooding is largely due to an unplanned urbanisation.
Recently, torrential rains that took place in Hyderabad have caused massive urban floods. In many Indian cities, the urban floods have become a frequent phenomenon in recent years. Overburdened drainage, unregulated construction, no regard to the natural topography and hydro-geomorphology all make urban floods a man-made disaster.
Body:
- Causes for the rise in urban floods
- Inadequate Drainage Infrastructure:Cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai rely on a century-old drainage system, covering only a small part of the core city.
- In the last 20 years, the Indian cities have grown manifold with its original built-up area.
- As the city grew beyond its original limits, not much was done to address the absence of adequate drainage systems.
- Terrain Alteration:Lasting irreversible damage has been done to the city by property builders, property owners, and public agencies by flattening terrain and altering natural drainage routes.
- Reducing Seepage:Indian cities are becoming increasingly impervious to water, not just because of increasing built up but also because of the nature of materials used (hard, non-porous construction material that makes the soil impervious).
- Lax Implementation:Even with provisions of rainwater harvesting, sustainable urban drainage systems, etc, in regulatory mechanisms like the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), adoption at user end as well as enforcement agencies remains weak.
- Encroaching Natural Spaces:The number of wetlands has reduced to 123 in 2018 from 644 in 1956.
- Green cover is only 9 per cent, which ideally should have been at least 33 per cent.
- Need for Holistic Engagement:Urban floods of this scale cannot be contained by the municipal authorities alone. Floods cannot be managed without concerted and focused investments of energy and resources.
- The Metropolitan Development Authorities, National Disaster Management Authority, State revenue and irrigation departments along with municipal corporations should be involved in such work together.
- Such investments can only be done in a mission mode organisation with active participation of civil society organisations at the metropolitan scale.
- Developing Sponge Cities:The idea of a sponge city is to make cities more permeable so as to hold and use the water which falls upon it.
- Sponge cities absorb the rain water, which is then naturally filtered by the soil and allowed to reach urban aquifers.
- This allows for the extraction of water from the ground through urban or peri-urban wells.
- This water can be treated easily and used for city water supply.
- Wetland Policy: There is a need to start paying attention to the management of wetlands by involving local communities.
- Without doubt, terrain alteration needs to be strictly regulated and a ban on any further alteration of terrain needs to be introduced.
- To improve the city’s capacity to absorb water, new porous materials and technologies must be encouraged or mandated across scales.
- Examples of these technologies are bioswales and retention systems, permeable material for roads and pavement, drainage systems which allow storm water to trickle into the ground, green roofs and harvesting systems in buildings.
- Drainage Planning: Watershed management and emergency drainage plan should be clearly enunciated in policy and law.
- Urban watersheds are micro ecological drainage systems, shaped by contours of terrain.
- Detailed documentation of these must be held by agencies which are not bound by municipal jurisdictions; instead, there is a need to consider natural boundaries such as watersheds instead of governance boundaries like electoral wards for shaping a drainage plan.
- Water Sensitive Urban Design: These methods take into consideration the topography, types of surfaces (permeable or impervious), natural drainage and leave very less impact on the environment.
- Vulnerability analyses and risk assessments should form part and parcel of city master plans.
- In a changing climate, the drainage infrastructure (especially storm water drainage) has to be built considering the new ‘normal’.
- Tools such as predictive precipitation modelling can help do that and are also able to link it with the adaptive capacity of urban land use.
Conclusion:
These can all be delivered effectively through an urban mission along the lines of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) and Smart Cities Mission. Urban Flood management will not just help control recurring floods but also respond to other fault lines, provide for water security, more green spaces, and will make the city resilient and sustainable.
Answer the following questions in 250 words:
General Studies – 1
Introduction
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are situated on the eastern side of the India’s mainland and is one of the prettiest islands chain of the Indian Ocean Region. These Islands are situated in Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. These islands are very close to Southeast Asia. These islands are divided by Ten Degree Channel in two parts that is Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands. The total land area of these islands is about 8073km square. The Andaman Group has 325 islands (6170 km2) and Nicobar Group has only 24 islands (1765km2).
Body
As the geopolitical importance of the Indo-Pacific increases, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal, will attain increased strategic significance.
Economic importance:
- These islands are full of natural resources.
- Fishing is the major source of income here.
- The main agricultural crops are rice, red oilseeds, rubber, palm and cashew.
- Small scale handicrafts industries are the major contributor of the economy of the people.
- Above all the tourism has become the major industry here during the past few decades.
- The lush green islands are full of floras and faunas.
- Thousands of Indian and foreign tourists came to these islands every year.
- According to Government of India information, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have notified 23 ports for various uses. The biggest and busiest port is Port Blair port.
Geostrategic importance:
- Strategically located, the A&N Islands, larger than several island countries in themselves, are an asset in India’s defence and strategic calculus.
- The Six Degree and Ten Degree Channels in the Andaman Sea which lead to the Malacca Strait are vital to the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) along which flows global commerce, including energy trade, between Asia, Africa and the Pacific.
- The A&N Islands are at the intersection of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and further to the Pacific Ocean, an important fulcrum of the strategic concept of the Indo-Pacific.
- The Andaman and Nicobar chain of islands could be used as a basis for Indian maritime power projection into the Indo-Pacific and even beyond into the south-west Pacific.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be used for India’s Third Fleet and the trans-shipment hub at Car Nicobar, the northernmost island in the chain, could potentially be a strategic game changer, rivalling the ports of Singapore or Colombo.
- India, Japan and the United States could also install sonar surveillance systems in the islands to track Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean. Australia might also choose to take part in such an arrangement.
- the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is an important marker of India’s strategic presence in the Eastern Indian Ocean. In recent years, the Bay of Bengal has emerged as a critical area of interest for China and Chinese companies have been setting up critical shipping and energy infrastructure in Bay states. In a bid to emphasise its regional pre-eminence, the Indian Navy has raised the tempo of naval operations in the Bay of Bengal.
- Beyond active surveillance and submarine hunting, the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is an important marker of India’s strategic presence in the Eastern Indian Ocean.
Conclusion
The A&N Islands have played a key role in enhancing India’s regional engagement with the Bay of Bengal littorals. The GOI constituted the Island Development Agency (IDA) in 2017 for the development of islands.
Introduction
Urban poverty in India is over 25 percent; close to 81 million people in urban areas live below the poverty line. Cities in urban India are flooded with the “poor” like Sumer. Over the years, due to high migration, the poverty in the country is transiting largely from rural to urban.
The Tamil Nadu government released its first-ever draft “Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy” for public comment. The draft policy aims to “ensure that slum dwellers are treated fairly and humanely when they are resettled from objectionable lands
Body
In the next decade urbanisation in India is set to reach 50 per cent. According to a survey by the UN State of the World Population report in 2007, by 2030, 40.76% of country’s population is expected to reside in urban areas.
Causes for urban poverty
- High vulnerability:
- Indian cities are vulnerable to multiple disasters like urban floods, urban heat islands, air pollution, inaccessibility of potable water etc.
- For instance, When the monsoon hits Mumbai this June, the city, which is already fighting the coronavirus pandemic, will be staring at another major challenge: vector-borne diseases.
- People living in slum areas – ‘urban poor’ are also prone to suffer from waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera, as well as from more fatal ones like cancer and HIV/AIDS.
- Also, women and children living in slums are prone to become victims of social evils like prostitution, beggary and child trafficking. Slum dwellers in general and regardless of gender, often become victims of such social evils.
- Proliferation of slums:– land to people ratio in cities has been exacerbated. Also there is lack of hygenic and sanitation in slums leading to various health problem living there.
- Non-inclusive development: Urban poor are not receiving the benefits of the development – rich are getting richer with development while poor are getting poorer. E.g. India is quite far behind in inclusivity index.
- Degradation of environment and habitat:Urban commons like lake, urban forests, green areas in Cities are adversely affected due to the need for development, for instance, Aarey forests in Mumbai.
- Development at the cost of poor:The peri-urban areas where tribes live are being occupied for establishments of industries without proper compensation and rehabilitation.
- Hectic life: as per a survey people in mega cities are spend more time in office than home. Family life has been affected adversely.
- Lastly, hunger, malnourishment, lack of quality education, high infant mortality, child marriage, child labourare some of the other social problems prevalent for urban poor.
Way Forward
- Mobilising Localised Resources:Given the scale of urbanisation, the focus on urban employment generation programmes should be in coordination with local governments.
- This will require actors at the local level to have more resources at their disposal.
- Resource mobilisation could be enabled by the formation of local alliances, involving elected representatives, trade unions, entrepreneurs and community groups
- This can also be the key to solving other problems faced by cities.
- Localised Employment-Intensive Investment Policies:A major local initiative would be to design and implement employment-intensive investment policies. In this pursuit:
- Local enterprise formation needs to be an integral part of the strategy, with converging interests for workers and entrepreneurs on issues related to technology and productivity enhancement.
- Also, Small and micro enterprises which are the fulcrum of industrialisation, need extra support to balance the interests between labour and capital as neither have collective bargaining powers.
- Prioritising Urban Infrastructure:There is a need to prioritise urban infrastructure as it accounts for a large share of total investments in the overall economy.
- A labour- intensive approach to building municipal infrastructure can be a cost-effective alternative to capital intensive-approach as wage rates are low.
- Infrastructure investments would spur employment, generate earnings and contribute to small enterprise formation.
- Construction of low-cost housing is another activity that can be carried out using labour-intensive methods, while yielding substantial collateral benefits for urban dwellers.
- Launching of Urban Employment Scheme:There is need for immediate launch of an urban employment scheme oriented toward building large-scale medical, health and sanitation infrastructure in cities and towns across India.
- Provision of Social Security: There is a need to provide livelihood safety access to urban areas. The livelihood safety net must have comprehensive coverage. Such a net, provided by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), exists only in rural areas
- Promote Cooperation: An urban livelihood scheme can be launched within the existing fiscal space. If not, the Union and States can provide resources together and empower the urban local bodies.
- State Interventions: Himachal Pradesh has launched the Mukhya Mantri Shahri Ajeevika Guarantee Yojana (MMSAGY) with the objective of enhancing livelihood security in urban areas by providing 120 days of guaranteed wage employment to every household at minimum wages in FY 2020-21.
- Minimum Wages For Urban Workers: Setting a separate minimum wage for rural and urban areas does not cause migration to urban areas since the higher cost of living in urban areas has an offsetting effect.
- Focus on Service Delivery: The focus must shift from asset creation to service delivery. Restricting it to asset creation or wage-material ratios may be suboptimal in urban settings.
- Increase Incentives to Reduce Migration:Focusing on rural development to increase employment opportunities in rural areas and to enhance the provision of services like education, health, electricity and water and sanitation services are effective means to control rural to urban migration.
Conclusion
Given the economic contraction, there is a need to generate more jobs and reduce vulnerabilities by providing decent wages & job security in urban areas. Traditionally, governments have addressed this issue from a sectoral viewpoint given the contemporary realities, the need is to approach this from a rural-urban perspective. Thus, the present crisis calls for a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the issue of urban jobs.
Introduction
Salinity refers to the total content of dissolved salts in sea water. It is calculated as the amount of salt (in gm) dissolved in 1,000 gm (1 kg) of seawater. The salinity of the ocean varies from place to place, especially at the surface. Much of the ocean has salinity between 34 ppt and 36 ppt, but there are places that tend to be higher or lower.
Body
Variation in salinity:
-
- On an average, salinity decreases from equator towards the poles. However, it is important to note that the highest salinity is seldom recorded near the equator though this zone records high temperature and evaporation but high rainfall reduces the relative proportion of salt. Thus, the equator accounts for only 35‰ salinity
- The highest salinity is observed between 20° N and 40° N (36‰) because this zone is characterized by high temperature, high evaporation but relatively low rainfall
- The average salinity of 35‰ is recorded between 100 -300 latitudes in the southern hemisphere
- The zone between 40 deg -60 deg latitudes in both the hemispheres records low salinity where it is 31‰ and 33‰ in the northern and the southern hemispheres respectively.
- Salinity further decreases in the polar zones because of influx of Glacial melt-water. On an average, the northern and the southern hemispheres record average salinity of 35‰ and 34‰ respectively
- Vertical distribution of salinity:
-
- Salinity changes with depth, but the way it changes depends upon the location of the sea.
- Salinity at the surface increases by the loss of water to ice or evaporation, or decreased by the input of fresh waters, such as from the rivers.
- Salinity at depth is very much fixed, because there is no way that water is ‘lost’, or the salt is ‘added.’ There is a marked difference in the salinity between the surface zones and the deep zones of the oceans.
- The lower salinity water rests above the higher salinity dense water.
- Salinity, generally, increases with depth and there is a distinct zone called the halocline (compare this with thermocline), where salinity increases sharply.
- Other factors being constant, increasing salinity of seawater causes its density to increase. High salinity seawater, generally, sinks below the lower salinity water. This leads to stratification by salinity.
Regional distribution of salinity in the major oceans across the world
- Indian Ocean: The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is 35 parts per thousand . The low salinity is observed in the Bay of Bengaldue to the influx of river water by the river Ganga. On the other hand, the Arabian Sea shows higher salinity due to high evaporation and a low influx of freshwater.
- Pacific Ocean: The salinity variation in the Pacific Ocean is mainly due to its shape and larger areal extent.
- Atlantic Ocean: The salinity in the Atlantic ocean varies between 20 to 37 parts per thousand according to the location.
- For example, Near the equator, there is heavy rainfall, high relative humidity, cloudiness and calm air of the doldrums.
- Whereas, The polar areas experience very little evaporation and receive large amounts of freshwater from the melting of ice. This leads to low levels of salinity, ranging between 20 and 32 parts per thousand
- North Sea: In spite of its location in higher latitudes, it records higher salinity due to more saline water brought by the North Atlantic Drift.
- The Mediterranean Sea:The Mediterranean Sea records higher salinity due to high evaporation. Surface waters average about 38 parts per thousand in this sea
- The Baltic Sea: Baltic Sea records low salinity due to influx of river waters in large quantity, averaging around 35 parts per thousand
- The Black Sea: Salinity in the Black Sea is very low due to the enormous freshwater influx by rivers, averaging around 13–23 parts per thousand
Conclusion
However, the effect is greater if the salty water gets cold, as temperature has a greater effect on density than salinity does. A combination of high salinity and low temperature makes seawater so dense that it sinks to the bottom of the ocean and flows across ocean basins as deep, slow currents.
General Studies – 2
Introduction
The judges of the Supreme Court and High Court in India are appointed by President as per article 124(2) and 217 of the constitution. In such appointment, the President is required to hold consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as he may deem necessary for the purpose.
Body:
Collegium system:
- The Collegium System is a system under which appointments/elevation of judges/lawyers to Supreme Court and transfers of judges of High Courts and Apex Court are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.’
- The collegium of judges is the Supreme Court’s invention. It does not figure in the Constitution, which says judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
- In effect, it is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
- After some judges were superseded in the appointment of the Chief Justice of India in the 1970s, and attempts made subsequently to affect a mass transfer of High Court judges across the country, there was a perception that the independence of the judiciary was under threat. This resulted in a series of cases over the years.
- The ‘First Judges Case’ (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
- The Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”. It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior most judges in the Supreme Court.
- On a Presidential Reference for its opinion, the Supreme Court, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior most colleagues.
- The recommendations of the Collegium are binding on the Central Government, if the Collegium sends the names of the judges/lawyers to the government for the second time.
Procedure followed by the collegium:
- The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges. As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
- For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI. The CJI consults the rest of the collegium members, as well as the senior most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
- The Chief Justice of High Courts is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States. The collegium takes the call on the elevation. High Court judges are recommended by a collegium comprising the CJI and two senior most judges.
Need for reforms in the Collegium system:
- Credibility of the SC:
- Controversial collegium system of judicial appointments undermines the independence of judges and raises doubts about the credibility of the highest court.
- There is a failure to make an assessment of the personality of the contemnor at the time of recommending his name for elevation.
- Example: The controversy over the proposed elevation of Justice P.D. Dinakaran of the Karnataka High Court to the Supreme Court by the collegium of the Chief Justice and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court was criticized for overlooking apparently suitable judges by the collegiums
- The judiciary off late has been caught in many such situations of credibility crisis off late.
- The executive has little or no role in the appointment of judges as a result.
- Nepotism:
- Unfortunately, in some cases, it has not covered itself with glory. There have been cases where the nearest relative of Supreme Court judges has been appointed as a high court judge, ignoring merit.
- During the regime of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, judges far lower in the combined All India Seniority of High Court judges were appointed to SC, and the reason assigned was that those selected were found more meritorious.
- Supreme court is overburdened:
- The Supreme Court did not realize the burden it was imposing on the collegium of selecting judges for the Supreme Court and High Courts and transferring them from one High Court to another.
- An administrative task of this magnitude must necessarily detract the judges of the collegium from their principal judicial work of hearing and deciding cases.
- Lack of Transparency:
- The lack of a written manual for functioning, the absence of selection criteria, the arbitrary reversal of decisions already taken, the selective publication of records of meetings prove the opaqueness of the collegium system.
- No one knows how judges are selected, and the appointments made raise the concerns of propriety, self-selection and nepotism.
- The system often overlooks several talented junior judges and advocates.
- NJAC, A Missed Opportunity:
- The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) could guarantee the independence of the system from inappropriate politicization, strengthen the quality of appointments and rebuild public confidence in the system.
- The decision was struck down by the SC in 2015 on the ground that it posed a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
- Lack of Consensus among Members:
- The collegium members often face the issue of mutual consent regarding appointment of judges.
- The shadow of mistrust between the members of the collegium exposes the fault lines within the judiciary.
- For instance, recently retired CJI Sharad A. Bobde was perhaps the first chief justice to have not made even a single recommendation for appointment as SC judge due to lack of consensus among the collegium members.
- Unequal Representation:
- The other area of concern is the composition of the higher judiciary. While data regarding caste is not available, women are fairly underrepresented in the higher judiciary.
- Delay in Judicial Appointments:
- The process of judicial appointment is delayed due to delay in recommendations by the collegium for the higher judiciary.
Reforms needed in the collegium system:
- The need of the hour is to revisit the existing system through a transparent and participatory procedure, preferably by an independent broad-based constitutional body guaranteeing judicial primacy but not judicial exclusivity.
- The collegium members have to make a fresh start and engage with each other.
- A transparent process adds accountability that is much needed to resolve the deadlock.
- Individual disagreements over certain names will continue to take place, but care must be taken that the institutional imperative of dispensation of justice does not suffer.
- The new system should ensure independence, reflect diversity, demonstrate professional competence and integrity.
- The system needs to establish a body which is independent and objective in the selection process.
- In several countries of the Commonwealth, National Judicial Appointment Commissions have been established to select judges.
- Such judicial commissions have worked with success in the U.K., South Africa and Canada.
- Setting up a constitutional body accommodating the federal concept of diversity and independence of judiciary for appointment of judges to the higher judiciary can also be thought of as an alternate measure.
- There should be a fixed time limit for approval of recommendations.
- As of now, instead of selecting the number of judges required against a certain number of vacancies, the collegium must provide a panel of possible names to the President for appointment in order of preference and other valid criteria.
- New memorandum of procedure:
- After the Second and Third Judges Cases, a Memorandum of Procedure had been formulated to govern how the process of how the Collegium would make recommendations to the Executive.
- The government therefore suggested that a new MOP be drafted and finalized for appointment of SC judges and the Executive to get a veto over candidates for national security reasons in this new MOP.
Conclusion:
Faced with intense public scrutiny and government pressure, the judiciary’s institutional weaknesses are being laid bare. These are not simply the moral failings of one individual or the consequences of the misjudgment of a few. It is another illustration of the institution’s inability to accept its internal infirmities.
Introduction
WHO defines rare disease as often debilitating lifelong disease or disorder with a prevalence of 1 or less, per 1000 population. As per an estimate, there are 7,000 known rare diseases with an estimated 300 million patients in the world; 70 million are in India. According to the Organization for Rare Diseases India, these include inherited cancers, autoimmune disorders, congenital malformations, Hirschsprung’s disease, Gaucher disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophies and Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs).
Body
Challenges in dealing with rare diseases
- The field of rare diseases is complex and heterogeneous. The landscape of rare diseases is constantly changing, as there are new rare diseases and conditions being identified and reported regularly in medical literature.
- Apart from a few rare diseases, where significant progress has been made, the field is still at a nascent stage.
- For a long time, doctors, researchers and policy makers were unaware of rare diseases and until very recently there was no real research or public health policy concerning issues related to the field.
- Moreover, families that have members with rare diseases are either unaware or found helpless in treating them either due to no home-grown expertise or lack of finances to bear the burden.
- Orphan drugs exist in only few rare diseases and they are exorbitantly priced and beyond the reach of a common man. Eg: Zolgensma for muscular dystrophy costs 16 crore.
National Policy of Rare Diseases 2021
- The Rare Diseases Policy aims to lower the high cost of treatment for rare diseases with increased focus on indigenous research with the help of a National Consortium to be set up with Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as convenor.
- Increased focus of research and development and local production of medicines will lower the cost of treatment for rare diseases.
- The policy also envisages creation of a national hospital-based registry of rare diseases so that adequate data is available for definition of rare diseases and for research and development related to rare diseases within the country.
- The Policy also focuses on early screening and prevention through primary and secondary health care infrastructure such as Health and Wellness Centres and District Early Intervention Centres (DEICs) and through counselling for the high-risk parents.
- Screening will also be supported by Nidan Kendras set up by Department of Biotechnology.
- Policy also aims to strengthen tertiary health care facilities for prevention and treatment of rare diseases through designating 8 health facilities as Centre of Excellence and these CoEs will also be provided one-time financial support of up to Rs 5 crores for upgradation of diagnostics facilities.
- A provision for financial support up to 20 lakhs under the Umbrella Scheme of Rastriya Arogya Nidhi is proposed for treatment, of those rare diseases that require a one-time treatment (diseases listed under Group 1 in the rare disease policy).
- Beneficiaries for such financial assistance would not be limited to BPL families, but the benefit will be extended to about 40% of the population, who are eligible under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
- Besides, the Policy also envisages a crowd funding mechanism in which corporates and individuals will be encouraged to extend financial support through a robust IT platform for treatment of rare diseases.
- Funds so collected will be utilized by Centres of Excellence for treatment of all three categories of rare diseases as first charge and then the balance financial resources could also be used for research.
Limitations of the policy
- As per the National Policy on rare diseases, diseases such as LSD for which definitive treatment is available, but costs are prohibitive, have been categorised as Group 3.
- However, no funding has been allocated for the immediate and lifelong treatment needs, for therapies already approved by the Drugs Controller General of India.
- Experts point out that the costs to help already-diagnosed patients might be in the range of ₹80-₹100 crore annually.
- If the Centre can extend the cost-sharing agreements that it has worked out with Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with other States too, its share of the annual costs will be halved.
- The Centre can, however, still set aside a substantial corpus to fund life-saving treatments, even as it rolls out the policy.
- Doing so will not only complete a job well begun — even if not yet half done — but also cement its commitment towards the welfare of every single citizen in India.
Conclusion
It is binding on a welfare state to take care of every single citizen. Securing the wellbeing of every one, particularly those unable to help themselves, irrespective of whether they constitute a critical mass or not, is important.
Introduction
Motions and resolutions are procedural devices to raise a discussion in the House on a matter of general public interest. With few exceptions, the process of debate in the House is initiated by a member or Minister by making a motion. In its widest sense, the term ‘motion’ means any proposal submitted to the House for eliciting its decision. Every matter is determined in the House by means of a question put from the Chair on a motion made by a member and resolved either in the affirmative or negative. The decision which has thus been elicited, turns the motion into a resolution or order of the house. In other words, by a motion, the House discusses a matter, by a resolution the House declares its own opinion. Motions and resolutions can be moved by private members as well as Ministers. When they are moved by the former, they are called private members’ motions or resolutions.
Body
various types of motions available with the Members of the Parliament
- Privilege motion
- A privilege motion is introduced by the opposition against a minister in case the minister has misled the House by providing false information.
- Its purpose is to censure the concerned minister.
- A privilege motion can be moved against a non-member as well as a member.
- Censure motion
- Censure motion is moved by the opposition against a specific policy of the government or against a minister or against the whole council of ministers.
- It can be moved only in the lower house of the parliament.
- The motion should be specific and self-explanatory so as to record the reasons of the censure precisely and briefly.
- No leave of the House is required to move a censure motion.
- If it is passed, the Council of Minister is bound to seek the confidence of the Lok Sabha as early as possible.
- Call attention motion
- A member may, with the previous permission of the Speaker, call the attention of a Minister to any matter of urgent public importance by moving a motion.
- The Minister may make a brief statement or ask for time to make a statement at a later hour or date.
- The number of call-attention motion is restricted to two motions by one member in a single sitting.
- Adjournment motion
- A motion for an adjournment of the business of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance may be made with the consent of the Speaker.
- The Adjournment motion if admitted leads to setting aside the normal business of the House for discussing the matter mentioned in the motion.
- The motion shall be restricted to a specific matter of recent occurrence involving the responsibility of the Government of India.
- No Day Yet Named motion
- If the Speaker admits notice of a motion and no date is fixed for the discussion of such motion, it is called No-Day-Yet-Named motion.
- The Speaker may, after considering the state of business in the House and in consultation with the Leader of the House or on the recommendation of the Business Advisory Committee allot a day or days or part of a day for the discussion of any such motion.
- Cut motions
- Motions can be moved to reduce demand for grants. Such motions are called cut motions. If a cut motion is adopted by Parliament and the government does not have the numbers, it is obliged to resign. There are three types of cut motions:
- Disapproval of Policy Cut is moved to reduce the amount of the demand to INR 1/-’ representing disapproval of the policy underlying the demand.
- Economy Cut motionis moved to reduce the amount of the demand by a specified amount representing the economy that can be effected. Such specified amount may be either a lump sum reduction in the demand or omission or reduction of an item in the demand.
- Token Cut motionis moved to reduce the amount of the demand by INR 100/- in order to ventilate a specific grievance which is within the sphere of the responsibility of the Government of India.
- No Confidence motion
- This motion is introduced in the Lok Sabha by the opposition. It is a motion expressing want of confidence in the Council of Ministers. No-confidence motions are subject to following restrictions, namely:—
- leave to make the motion shall be asked for by the member when called by the Speaker;
- the member asking for leave shall, that day give to the Secretary-General a written notice of the motion which such member proposes to move.
- A Government can be dismissed by passing a direct vote on a no-confidence motion.
- This motion is introduced in the Lok Sabha by the opposition. It is a motion expressing want of confidence in the Council of Ministers. No-confidence motions are subject to following restrictions, namely:—
- Confidence motion
- It is also called “trust vote”. Confidence motions have evolved as a counter by the government when it wants to demonstrate its majority.
- There is no special provision in the rules for a confidence motion — such a motion is moved as an ordinary motion.
- In recent times, when no party has had a clear majority, the president has appointed a prime minister who he believed had the majority support.
- This person is expected to prove his majority through a confidence motion.
- Motions can be moved to reduce demand for grants. Such motions are called cut motions. If a cut motion is adopted by Parliament and the government does not have the numbers, it is obliged to resign. There are three types of cut motions:
Privilege motion and partisanship
- The lack of clear rules or codification of privileges and privilege motion has led to its abuse and misuse.
- Instances of Privilege motion being used as a tool of political vendetta has been evident time and again.
- Privilege motion has been used more due to party politics rather than its true purpose.
Conclusion
Given the number of such cases of misuse of privilege motion, Parliament and Legislative Assemblies should pass laws to codify privilege. It may also be time for the courts to revisit the earlier judgments and find the right balance between fundamental rights of citizens and privilege of the legislature.
General Studies – 3
Introduction
The global food system is currently responsible for about a quarter of all human made greenhouse gases. The increase in food system emissions alone threatens warming above 1.5℃. Governments at COP26 have pledged to halt deforestation and cut methane emissions 30% by 2030. Eating lots of meat is a big driver of both, but so far no reduction targets have been announced. The pledge to protect nature signed by 45 governments didn’t mention meat consumption at all.
Body
Major reasons to go vegetarian
Livestock have high carbon footprints
- Even though cows, sheep and goats can eat grass, they still need lots of land for grazing which could otherwise store more carbon dioxide as natural forests, grasslands or bogs, or in some cases be used to grow plant crops for human consumption.
- These animals also produce substantial amounts of methane in their digestive systems, which is a powerful greenhouse gas.
- The carbon footprint of beef and lamb is roughly three times higher than that of pork, poultry or farmed fish per 100g of protein, and 24 times higher than pulses such as beans and lentils.
- Livestock produces just 18% of global calories and 37% of protein, but is responsible for more than half of food’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Reducing livestock production would protect nature
- Farmland takes up 50%of Earth’s habitable land, and the vast majority of that farmland is used for livestock and their feed.
- Farming is the leading cause of natural habitat loss, which is the biggest threat to wildlife.
- Beef productionis the top driver of tropical forest loss.
- Eating more meat means that more natural habitat needs to be cleared and deforested, and the diets of people in high- and middle-income countries can be key drivers of global deforestation.
- reducing meat consumption would free up land which could be restored to benefit people and wildlife, and store carbon
- oily fish benefits health but the fuel used by fishing boats means it generally has higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based proteins, while many fish populations are overfished.
- Just as richer countries tend to have higher greenhouse gas emissions, they also tend to eat more meat. For example, the average US citizen is supplied with 124kg of meat a year, whereas in China, Nigeria and India it’s 61kg, 7kg and 4kg respectively.
Way Forward
- Feed Quality and Digestibility improvement:Measures should be taken for improved grassland management, better pasture species, altering forage mix and bigger use of feed supplements. These measures can improve nutrient uptake, increase animal productivity and fertility, and therefore lower emissions per unit of product.
- Animal health and husbandry improvement: There exist a direct link between greenhouse gas emission intensities and animal efficiency- greater productive the animal; lesser the environmental impact. Hence, it is important to improve the same.
- Agroforestry:Agroforestry should be practiced to maintain the balance in livestock production, environmental protection and carbon sequestration to counterbalance emissions from the sector.
- Management of manure: It becomes important to adopt comprehensive manure management to alleviate GHG emissions, decrease nutrient losses from livestock production systems and diminish other detrimental environmental impacts of livestock production such as air and water pollution
- Management of grassland: To improve grazing and grassland management to improve feed quality and carbon sequestration. Further, overgrazing should be heaved to combat land degradation and desertification.
- Shift in Diets: Shifting dietary tendencies in high income regions, -decrease in meat consumption and food waste would help refute the detrimental effects of livestock farming to a large extent.
- Fiscal Measures: It is important to implement fiscal measures like polluter’s pay mechanism to govern emissions from livestock farming. Further, fiscal incentives be provided to facilitate adoption of mitigation/ adaptation strategies by farmers.
- Generating Awareness:Raising awareness about influence of livestock/meat consumption on climate is vital.
- Policy measures:Countries should improve sectorial mitigation policies that assimilate other development objectives, and strive for international support towards their implementation.
- Large part of land use is secured to human diet, from pastures for grazing of meat animals to agriculture. Consequently, the IPCC report states that plants-based diet will be kinder on the planet than a meat-based one.
- It recommends that governments, specially the nations where meat consumption is high, to work on reducing this.
Conclusion
The earth has touched its tipping point and we can’t endure to live with our unsustainable means. Food is a powerful lever, and one with which we can enhance human health and environmental sustainability on this earth. We’re a miniature of this huge structure and each one of us has the power to impact it and try for a sustainable future- a future which ensures the well-being of all: humans, planet and animals.
Introduction
The pollution woes of Delhi and NCR are making people remain indoors these days. Due to the increasing pollution levels in Delhi and NCR, the schools and colleges have been shut down in Gautam Buddh Nagar until further notice. The Supreme Court lashed out at the Centre and the states for their failure to do anything to improve the quality of air in national capital Delhi.
Body
Air pollution in Delhi and the whole of the Indo Gangetic Plains is a complex phenomenon that is dependent on a concoction of natural and anthropogenic factors.
Policy paralysis in the existing mechanisms
- The recurrent tragedy of addressing the problem of air pollution in Delhi is that it invariably descends into a blame game.
- The Centre blames the Delhi government, because it belongs to a different political dispensation, which in turn quite conveniently blames farmers in Punjab.
- What is never addressed head-on is that the air pollution crisis is not a problem that can be solved overnight.
- While there is an official ban on crackers, except so-called ‘green crackers’ that are not widely available, the additional smoke from all of these add to the bad air, spiking air quality meters into the ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ categories.
- National capital shares its border with the states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. One of the main reasons of increasing air pollution levels in Delhi is crop residue burning by the farmers in these states, despite a ban by Supreme Court.
- Investing less on public infrastructure is another reason of air pollution. In India, investment in public transport and infrastructure is low which leads to congested roads, and hence air pollution.
Immediate measures needed
- Short term measures should be accompanied by measures that increase the forest cover of the land and provide farmers with an alternative to burning the remains of their crops.
- An innovative approach could be to use climate change funds to turn farm residues into a resource, using technological options such as converting them into biofuels and biofertilizers.
- Proactive engagements are necessary to persuade and reassure farmers.
- It is important to find other uses for stubble such as biomass, which may encourage farmers to look for alternative sources of income.
- India should at least now give high importance to the WHO warning about air pollution being the new tobacco. Sharply escalated, deterrent parking fees can be implemented.
- From an urban development perspective, large cities should reorient their investments to prioritise public transport, favouring electric mobility.
- Incentives for adoption of alternate mobility technologies should be promoted.
- The World Bank has said it is keen to enhance its lending portfolio to tackle air pollution, opening a new avenue for this.
- Governments should make the use of personal vehicles in cities less attractive through strict road pricing mechanisms like Congestion tax, Green-house Gas tax
- Need to speed up the journey towards LPG and solar-powered stoves.
- Addressing vehicular emissions is within India’s grasp but requires a multi-pronged approach. It needs to combine the already-proposed tighter emission norms (in form of BS VI), with a push for shared mobility and public transport and adoption of alternate mobility technologies.
- NCAP should take precedence from emerging practices in the country—pollution cess in Delhi on truck entry, big diesel cars, and diesel fuel sales and the coal cess—to generate dedicated funds to finance clean air action plan.
- Tackle road dust by mechanised sweeping and water-sprinkling but what would be more beneficial is if the sides of the roads could be paved or covered with grass that holds the soil together and stops the production of the dust in the first place.
- Attention to non-technological aspects such as urban planning, to reduce driving, and to increase cycling, walking, and use of public transport are needed.
Conclusion
India has 12 out of 14 cities which are high levels of air pollution. Involvement of Supreme Court in this issue is a significant moment in India’s battle for clean air, emphasising the need for a comprehensive plan presenting systemic solutions and reminding governments that a plan can be executed successfully only if all stakeholders work in tandem. This template should also be adapted for other Indian cities that suffer appalling air quality. Air pollution extracts an enormous price in terms of health, particularly of children. Combating it must become a governance priority.
Value addition
Government efforts in dealing with air pollution:
- The government acknowledged air pollution as a pan–India problem with the drafting of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which was intended to build and strengthen the institutional capacity to monitor air quality across India, carry out indigenous studies to understand the health impacts of air pollution and create a national emission inventory.
- Banning the use of private vehicles from November 1 onwards in Delhi, although drastic, will definitely not be enough to curb pollution.
- Odd-even schemes and, recently, the allowance by the Supreme Court (SC) for only green or zero-emission firecrackers, are the episodic measures that have been used, and still continue to be, to combat this methodical pollution.
- There have also been instances of ban on construction activities.
- States have got nearly Rs.650 crores to help farmers buy subsidised equipment such as Happy Seeder, Paddy Straw Choppers and Zero Till Drill.
- There is a 50% subsidy to farmers, and a 75% waiver to cooperative societies, agencies that rent out equipment, farmers’ interest groups or gram panchayats to buy such machines.
Introduction
Micro irrigation is a modern method of irrigation; by this method water is irrigated through drippers, sprinklers, foggers and by other emitters on surface or subsurface of the land. In this system water is applied drop by drop nearer the root zone area of the crop. Drip irrigation is most suitable for wider spacing crops. Micro sprinkler irrigation system is mostly followed in sandy or loamy soils. This system is most suitable to horticultural crops and small grasses.
Body
Importance of Micro-irrigation system
- Water saving and higher yield
- Water savings in comparison with flood irrigation are to the tune of 30-50%, with an average of 32.3%
- electricity consumption falls by about 31%
- High quality and increased fruit size
- the average productivity of fruits and vegetables increased by about 42.3% and 52.8%
- Suitable for all types of soil
- Easy method of fertigation and chemigation
- the adoption of micro irrigation results in savings on fertilizers in a range of 7% to 42%
- Saving in labour and field preparation cost
- the overall enhancement of farmers’ income was in the range of 20% to 68%, with an average of 48.5%.
Issues in micro irrigation
- Price controls
- There is no fixed timeline for the inspection and testing of an installed system.
- Field inspections are not carried out for months, resulting in a long pendency of disbursement against bills.
- bureaucratic delays in scheme enrolment, field reviews
- Delays in notifications and guidelines by state governments tend to dissuade farmers from availing the benefits offered under this scheme.
- Despite the availability of funds, as claimed by state governments, scheme applications are processed only at the end of a financial year, done typically to achieve pre-set targets in what is famously known as the ‘March rush’.
- Reimbursement of subsidies
- Unlike other subsidies that are directly transferred to beneficiaries, those for installing drip irrigation systems are transferred to vendors only after due diligence.
- High initial investment
- Clogging of emitters
- Possible damage of system components due to animals.
Way forward
- Farmers should be able to avail the scheme in accordance with their crop cycles or sowing patterns.
- If the state government claims to have a sufficient budget, it must adopt a first-come-first-serve approach, instead of prolonging the selection process and extending delays.
- Set a timeline for each stage, from an application by a farmer to the execution and payment disbursement.
- Strengthen the Centre’s monitoring mechanism by insisting on a periodic review of applications, approvals, work orders and actual installations.
- Establish a central information system to monitor the scheme’s progress.
- Deploy direct benefit transfers for subsidy sums to go straight into the bank accounts of farmers.
- Ask state administrations to operate the scheme throughout the year on a first- come-first-serve basis.
- Link equipment prices to either inflation or underlying input costs.
Conclusion
‘Per drop more crop’ can only be achieved by deploying advanced and efficient irrigation technologies, and these can only be developed if we ensure a wholesome business environment by eliminating delays, discretion and red tape.
Introduction
The Bhopal Gas tragedy has widely been acknowledged as the world’s worst industrial disaster. Leaking toxic gas from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and left lakhs maimed on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984. At the time of the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the only relevant law specifying criminal liability for such incidents.
Body
The legal and institutional framework to prevent industrial disasters in India
- Bhopal Gas Leak (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985, which gives powers to the central government to secure the claims arising out of or connected with the Bhopal gas tragedy. Under the provisions of this Act, such claims are dealt with speedily and equitably.
- The Environment Protection Act, 1986, which gives powers to the central government to undertake measures for improving the environment and set standards and inspect industrial units.
- Under this, the Centre has notified Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989 and the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008 for regulating hazardous substances.
- The principle of ‘absolute and strict liability’ was formulated by the Supreme Court in a crucial judgment in MC Mehta vs Union of India in 1986, when the court was dealing with the leak of oleum gas at the Shriram Foods and Fertiliser Industries plant in Delhi.
- Hazardous Waste (Management Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 1989: Industry required to identify major accident hazards, take preventive measures and submit a report to the designated authorities
- Manufacture, Storage And Import Of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989: Importer must furnish complete product safety information to the competent authority and must transport imported chemicals in accordance with the amended rules.
- Chemical Accidents (Emergency, Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996: Centre is required to constitute a central crisis group for management of chemical accidents; set up quick response mechanism termed as the crisis alert system. Each state is required to set up a crisis group and report on its work.
- The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, which is an insurance meant to provide relief to persons affected by accidents that occur while handling hazardous substances.
- The Environment Relief Fund (ERF), a central fund under the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, was set up to provide immediate relief to victims of accidents in chemical industries. In March, a study found that a corpus of Rs 810 crore with ERF has remained unutilised for nearly three decades.
- The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997, under which the National Environment Appellate Authority can hear appeals regarding the restriction of areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall not be carried out or shall be carried out subject to certain safeguards under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- National Green Tribunal, 2010, provides for the establishment of a National Green Tribunal for effective and expeditious disposal of cases related to environmental protection and conservation of forests.
- Civil Nuclear Liability Act, 2010 deals with instituting civil liability for nuclear damage and granting prompt compensation to victims of a nuclear incident
Way forward
- Chemical disasters, like the one in Bhopal, are preventable if risks are identified and addressed early on.
- It will take the combined effort of competent authorities, private sector and society to prevent tragic environmental events from happening.
- Developing policies to ensure that industries operate in accordance with technical and safety standards and allocating resources for risk assessment and monitoring.
- Most of all, it’s important to adhere to environmental norms. Taking environmental safety and public health risks seriously, and promoting do-no-harm industrial development can make a big difference.
- There is a clear need to promote clean development that innovatively addresses potential negative impacts on the environment.
- To prevent future environmental disasters, all sectors could also do more to integrate environmental emergency preparedness and response activities into strategies and sustainable development programs.
- The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019, which unfortunately, successive governments have not felt it necessary to ratify should be taken up and put into place immediately.
- There is a need to balance the requirements of worker and employer and is beneficial to both the constituents of the world of work.
Conclusion
India’s push to transform itself into a $5 trillion economy is commendable but it is worth considering the dear cost unhindered investment into infrastructural growth could come at, as this relates to the loss of human life and ecological damage resulting from poor planning and maintenance of industrial infrastructure. In the present situation, it has become extremely important to check the grey practices of Indian industry those were previously overlooked as ‘little compromises’. After all, no amount of ease of doing business is more valuable than human life.
[ad_2]