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General Studies – 1
Introduction
Dance in India has a rich and vital tradition dating back to ancient times. Excavations, inscriptions, chronicles, genealogies of kings and artists, literary sources, sculpture and painting of different periods provide extensive evidence on dance. Myths and legends also support the view that dance had a significant place in the religious and social life of the Indian people. Excavations have brought to light a bronze statuette from Mohenjo-Daro and a broken torso from Harappa (dating back to 2500-1500 B.C.E.) are suggestive of dance poses.
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Sangeet Natak Academy confers “classical” status on 8 dances – Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Manipuri, Odissi and Sattriya. The earliest treatise on dance available to us is Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra. Dance and music are an inextricable part of drama.
Aspects of Indian classical dances
- Dance is considered as having three aspects: natya, nritya and nritta.
- Natya highlights the dramatic element and most dance forms do not give emphasis to this aspect today with the exception of dance-drama forms like Kathakali.
- Nritya is essentially expressional, performed specifically to convey the meaning of a theme or idea.
- Nritta is pure dance where body movements do not express any mood (bhava), nor do they convey any meaning.
- To present nritya and natya effectively, a dancer should be trained to communicate the navarasas. These are: love (shringaara), mirth (haasya), compassion (karuna), valour(veera), anger (roudra), fear (bhayanak), disgust (bibhatsa), wonder (adbhuta) and peace (shaanta).
- An ancient classification followed in all styles is of Tandava and Lasya.
- Tandava the masculine, is heroic bold and vigorous. Lasya the feminine is soft, lyrical and graceful.
- Bharata and Nandikesvara, the main authorities conceive of dance as an art which uses the human body as a vehicle of expression.
- The major human units of the body (anga) are identified as the head, torso, the upper and lower limbs and the minor human parts (upangas), as all parts of the face ranging from the eyebrow to the chin and the minor joints.
- Two further aspects of natya are the modes of presentation and the style.
- There are two modes of presentation, namely the Natyadharmi, which is the formalised presentation of theatre, and the Lokadharmi sometimes translated as folk, realistic, naturalistic or regional.
- The style or vrittis are classified into Kaishiki, the deft lyrical more suited to convey the lasya aspects, the Arbati, the energetic masculine, the Satvati often used while depicting the rasas and the Bharati, the literary content.
- Kathak is one of the main genres of ancient Indian classical dance and is traditionally regarded to have originated from the travelling bards of North India referred as Kathakarsor storytellers. Are people who narrate stories largely based on episodes from the epics, myths and legends.
- The Vaishnavitecult which swept North India in the 15th century. and the resultant bhakti movement contributed to a whole new range of lyrics and musical forms. The Radha-Krishna theme proved immensely popular alongwith the works of Mirabai, Surdas, Nandadas and
- The weight of the body is equally distributed along the horizontal and vertical axis.
- The technique is built by the use of an intricate system of foot-work.
- As in Bharatnatyam, Odissi and Manipuri, Kathak also builds its pure dance sequences by combining units of movement. The cadences are called differently by the names tukra, tora, and parana– all indicative of the nature of rhythmic patterns used.
- Kathak has emerged as a distinct dance form. Being the only classical dance of India having links with Muslim culture, it represents a unique synthesis of Hindu and Muslim genius in art.
- Kathak is the only form of classical dance wedded to Hindustani or the North Indian music. Both of them have had a parallel growth, each feeding and sustaining the other.
Conclusion
Nurtured for centuries, dance in India has evolved in different parts of the country its own distinct style taking on the culture of that particular region, each acquiring its own flavour. Today there is also a whole new body of modern experimental dance.
General Studies – 2
Reference: Indian Express
Introduction
Defection is “desertion by one member of the party of his loyalty towards his political party” or basically it means “When an elected representative joins another party without resigning his present party for benefits”. The institutional malaise is defection and party-hopping is state- neutral, party-neutral, and politics-neutral.
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Background
- For a very long time, the Indian political system was impacted by political defections by members of the legislature. This situation brought about greater instability and chaos in the political system.
- Thus, in 1985, to curb the evil of political defections, the 52nd constitution amendment act on Anti-defection law was passed and the 10th Schedule was added in the Indian Constitution.
- The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections” which may be due to reward of office or other similar considerations.
- The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies. However, there are several issues in relation to the working of this law.
- 91st Constitution Amendment Act-2003 was enacted and was aimed at limiting the size of the Council of Ministers to debar defectors from holding public offices, and to strengthen the anti-defection law.
Flaws of the current Anti-defection law
- Does not prevent Defection: The Anti-defection law has failed to curb “horse trading” and defection, leading to toppling of governments through machinations of corrupt legislators.
- Eg: The 17-MLA’s of coalition government resigned in Karnataka, leading to change in government. The 17 MLA’s later contested from the party that formed new government.
- Wholesale defection: The law prevents individual defections, but not wholesale defections.
- Eg: Congress government in Madhya Pradesh lost majority due to resignations of MLA’s.
- Against the true spirit of representative democracy: The anti-defection law seeks to provide a stable government by ensuring the legislators do not switch sides.
- However, this law also enforces a restriction on legislators from voting in line with their conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate.
- Impedes legislative control on government: The anti-defection law impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the party leadership.
- In short, if legislators are not able to vote on laws independently, they would not act as an effective check on the government.
- The Anti-Defection Law, in effect, dilutes the separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature – and centralises power in the hands of the executives.
- Role of presiding officer of the house: The law lays down that legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.
- However, there are many instances when presiding officers play a part with the vested interests of a political party/government in power.
- Also, the law does not specify a time period for the Presiding Officer to decide on a disqualification plea.
- The decision thus is sometimes based on the whims and fancies of the presiding officer.
- Affects the debate and discussion: The Anti-Defection Law has created a democracy of parties and numbers in India, rather than a democracy of debate and discussion.
- In this way, it does not make a differentiation between dissent and defection and weaken the Parliamentary deliberations on any law.
Steps to be taken
- To be used for major decision making: Several experts have suggested that the law should be valid only for those votes that determine the stability of the government. e.g. passage of the annual budget or no-confidence motions as recommended by Dinesh Goswami Committee.
- Non-partisan authority: Various commissions including National Commission to review the working of the constitution (NCRWC) have recommended that rather than the Presiding Officer, the decision to disqualify a member should be made by the President (in case of MPs) or the Governor (in case of MLAs) on the advice of the Election Commission.
- Independent committee for disqualification: Justice Verma in Hollohan judgment said that tenure of the Speaker is dependent on the continuous support of the majority in the House and therefore, he does not satisfy the requirement of such independent adjudicatory authority.
- Also, his choice as the sole arbiter in the matter violates an essential attribute of the basic feature.
- Thus, the need for an independent authority to deal with the cases of defection.
- Intra-party democracy: 170th Law Commission report underscored the importance of intra-party democracy by arguing that a political party cannot be a dictatorship internally and democratic in its functioning outside.
- Thus, the parties should listen to the opinions of the members and have discussions on the same. This would give the freedom of speech and expression to its members and promote inner-party democracy.
- Limiting Speaker’s discretion: Recent Supreme Court Judgement ruled that Speaker must decide on disqualification within three months of receiving application. It cannot be the discretion of the Speaker to take no action.
Conclusion
There is a need to prevent unholy defections that lead to instability in the governance system of the nation. The current law is clearly flawed and has not effectively curbed defection due to lure of power and money. There is a need for a more rationalised version of anti-defection laws which will help establish a truly representative democracy.
Reference: Polity by M. Laxmikanth.
Introduction
In the Indian Parliament, a Parliamentary Standing committee is a committee consisting of Members of Parliament. It is a permanent and regular committee which is constituted from time to time according to the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business. Both houses of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and Lok Sabha have similar Committee structures with a few exceptions. Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).
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The Parliament of India has been a victim of the coronavirus pandemic. The Budget session ended early — and rightly so, given the surge in Covid-19 cases. The monsoon session has not been scheduled yet. Given the compulsions of social distancing, the predicament of officials in coming up with a workable formula to ensure that India’s most important democratic institution is functional — but safe — is understandable
Significance of Parliamentary Standing Committees:
- Parliament is the embodiment of the people’s will. Committees are an instrument of Parliament for its own effective functioning.
- Committees are platforms for threadbare discussion on a proposed law.
- The smaller cohort of lawmakers, assembled on the basis of the proportional strength of individual parties and interests and expertise of individual lawmakers, could have more open, intensive and better-informed discussions.
- Committee meetings are ‘closed door’ and members are not bound by party whips, which allows them the latitude for a more meaningful exchange of views as against discussions in full and open Houses where grandstanding and party positions invariably take precedence.
- Members of Parliament may have great acumen but they would require the assistance of experts in dealing with such situations. It is through committees that such expertise is drawn into law-making.
- Executive accountability to the legislature is enforced through questions in Parliament also, which are answered by ministers. However, department standing committees go one step further and hear from senior officials of the government in a closed setting, allowing for more detailed discussions.
- This mechanism also enables parliamentarians to understand the executive processes closely.
Role of committees:
- Support Parliament’s work.
- Examine ministerial budgets, consider Demands for Grants, analyse legislation and scrutinise the government’s working.
- Examine Bills referred to by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha.
- Consideration of Annual Reports.
- Consideration of national basic long term policy documents presented to the House and referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha.
Challenges faced:
- Current challenges during COVID-19:
- virtual meetings of panels have not been allowed, and physical meetings are difficult given that Members of Parliament (MPs) are spread out across the country, with difficulties in mobility and state-specific quarantine rules
- The Parliamentary rules doesn’t allow virtual meetings of the Parliamentary committees.
- The need for secrecy — which may not be possible during a virtual meeting is another major concern.
- Insisting on physical meetings — just recently, MPs who attended a committee meeting had to go into quarantine because a staff of a committee secretariat tested positive — isn’t wise.
- Other challenges:
- Persistent absenteeism from meetings of department-related standing committees should cost MPs their spot on these parliamentary panels was a strong view that emerged during a meeting of chairpersons of the committees with Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu recently.
- Eleven of the 22 Bills introduced in the ongoing session of Parliament have been passed, which makes it a highly productive session after many years.
- But these Bills have been passed without scrutiny by parliamentary standing committees, their purpose being to enable detailed consideration of a piece of legislation.
- After the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha, parliamentary standing committees have not been constituted as consultations among parties are still under way.
- Partly as a result of this, the Bills were passed without committee scrutiny. They were discussed in Parliament over durations ranging between two and five hours.
Measures needed:
Immediate measures:
- Ensuring the use of technological platforms which are secure, and owned and vetted by the government.
- The prime minister, for instance, uses video conference facilities for a range of meetings; Same can be replicated for the legislature too.
Long-term measures:
- Parliamentary committees don’t have dedicated subject-wise research support available. The knowledge gap is partially bridged by expert testimony from government and other stakeholders.
- Their work could be made more effective if the committees had full-time, sector-specific research staff.
- The national commission to review the working of the Constitution has recommended that in order to strengthen the committee system, research support should be made available to them.
- Currently, the rules of Parliament don’t require every bill to be referred to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. While this allows the government greater flexibility and the ability to speed up legislative business, it comes at the cost of ineffective scrutiny by the highest law-making body.
- Mandatory scrutiny of all bills by parliamentary committees would ensure better planning of legislative business.
Conclusion:
India is confronted by a range of serious issues, from the pandemic to economic distress, from the security threat from China to rapidly changing global geopolitics. All of them require careful examination. MPs have a role in providing inputs, scrutinizing the executive’s approach, involving domain experts in the discussion, and ensuring accountability. Thus, the PSC act as check and balance which must be constituted at the earliest.
General Studies – 3
Reference: Indian Express
Introduction
The WHO defines antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a condition wherein microbes survive when exposed to the drug which would have normally caused them to die. It is the resistance acquired by any microorganism like bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasite, etc. against antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarial, and anthelmintic) that are used to treat infections and is regarded as a major threat to public health across the globe.
Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.
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A growing list of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, gonorrhoea, and foodborne diseases – are becoming tougher, and at times impossible, to treat as antibiotics become less productive, emergence and spread of resistance is made worse because of procurement of antibiotics for animal and human consumption without a doctor’s supervision or a prescription etc.
AMR: a global threat
- AMR represents an existential threat to modern medicine.
- All these effects will be felt globally, but the scenario in the low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Asia and Africa is even more serious.
- 7 million people worldwide die annually because they cannot access drugs for infections that are treatable.
- Without concerted action, Drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050, and trigger an economic slowdown to rival the global financial crisis of 2008.warned the UN Ad Hoc Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance in a report.
- It added that by 2030, antimicrobial resistance could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty. In the worst-case scenario, the world will lose 3.8% of its annual GDP by 2050.
- Currently, at least 7,00,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases, including 2,30,000 people who die from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
- It also noted that more and more common diseases, including respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections, are becoming untreatable.
- Lifesaving medical procedures are becoming riskier, and food systems are getting increasingly precarious. A very significant part of out-of-pocket expenditure on health care is on medicines. The ineffective drugs and/or second line expensive antibiotics is pushing the treatment costs higher.
- The report noted that the world is already feeling the economic and health consequences as crucial medicines become ineffective.
- Without investment from countries in all income brackets, future generations will face the disastrous impacts of uncontrolled antimicrobial resistance.
AMR in India:
- Burden of infectious disease (Bacterial infections) is high and healthcare spending is low.
- The National Health Policy 2017 highlights the problem of antimicrobial resistance and calls for effective action to address it.
- The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) identified AMR as one of the top 10 priorities for the ministry’s collaborative work with WHO.
- In 2012, India’s medical societies adopted the Chennai Declaration, a set of national recommendations to promote antibiotic stewardship.
- India’s Red Line campaign demands that prescription-only antibiotics be marked with a red line, to discourage the over-the-counter sale of antibiotics.
- National Policy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance 2011.
- National Action Plan on AMR resistance 2017-2021.
- India has instituted surveillance of the emergence of drug resistance in disease causing microbes in programmes on Tuberculosis, Vector Borne diseases, AIDS, etc.
- Since March 2014 a separate Schedule H-1 has been incorporated in Drug and Cosmetic rules to regulate the sale of antimicrobials in the country.
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) banned the use of antibiotics and several pharmacologically active substances in fisheries.
- The government has also capped the maximum levels of drugs that can be used for growth promotion in meat and meat products.
International Efforts
- A multi-sectoral $1 billion AMR Action Fund was launched in 2020 to support the development of new antibiotics.
- Peru’s efforts on patient education to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.
- Australian regulatory reforms to influence prescriber behaviour.
- Denmark’s reforms to prevent the use of antibiotics in livestock have not only led to a significant reduction in the prevalence of resistant microbes in animals, but also improved the efficiency of farming.
- India proposed laws to curb the amount of active antibiotics released in pharmaceutical waste
Way forward
- In addition to developing new antimicrobials, infection-control measures can reduce antibiotic use.
- It is critical to ensure that all those who need an antimicrobial have access to it.
- To track the spread of resistance in microbes, surveillance measures to identify these organisms need to encompass livestock, wastewater and farm run-offs.
- We need sustained investments and global coordination to detect and combat new resistant strains on an ongoing basis.
- International alignment and coordination are paramount in both policymaking and its implementation.
- Solutions in clinical medicine must be integrated with improved surveillance of AMR in agriculture, animal health and the environment
Conclusion
Anti-Microbial Resistance is not a country specific issue but a global concern that is jeopardizing global health security. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major public health problems. Reducing the incidence of infection through effective infection prevention and control. As stated by WHO, making infection prevention and hand hygiene a national policy priority is need of the hour.
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Reasons for the spread of AMR:
- Antibiotic consumption in humans
- Unnecessary and injudicious use of antibiotic fixed dose combinations could lead to emergence of bacterial strains resistant to multiple antibiotics.
- Social factors
- Self-medication.
- Access to antibiotics without prescription.
- Lack of knowledge about when to use antibiotics.
- Cultural Activities
- Mass bathing in rivers as part of religious mass gathering occasions.
- Antibiotic Consumption in Food Animals
- Antibiotics which are critical to human health are commonly used for growth promotion in poultry.
- Pharmaceutical Industry Pollution
- The wastewater effluents from the antibiotic manufacturing units contain a substantial amount of antibiotics, leading to contamination of rivers and lakes.
- Environmental Sanitation
- Untreated disposal of sewage water bodies – leading to contamination of rivers with antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant organisms.
- Infection Control Practices in Healthcare Settings
- A report on hand-washing practices of nurses and doctors found that only 31.8% of them washed hands after contact with patients.
Reference: Down to Earth
Introduction
Hydrogen is all set to play a significant role in decarbonising energy system. The hydrogen economy is an envisioned future where hydrogen is used as fuel for vehicles, energy storage and long-distance transport of energy. The different pathways to use hydrogen economy includes hydrogen production, storage, transport and utilization.
In this regard, A National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM) to transform transportation in India was announced during Union Budget 2021-22.
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Potential of Hydrogen Fuel in achieving India’s COP-26 targets:
- Hydrogen is the lightest and first element on the periodic table. Since the weight of hydrogen is less than air, it rises in the atmosphere and is therefore rarely found in its pure form, H2.
- At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, non-metallic, odourless, tasteless, colourless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
- Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.
- It can be produced from renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind. At present, there are a number of ways to produce hydrogen, but the most common method is natural gas reforming and electrolysis.
- Its use can reduce CO2 related emissions significantly and decarbonise the entire value chain, enabling reduced emissions and climate change threats.
- Hydrogen can also bridge the gap between supply and demand, in both a centralized or decentralized manner, thereby enhancing the overall energy system flexibility.
- Hydrogen can be used to meet both seasonal and daily supply-demand mismatch in the case of renewables.
- At present, the current global demand for hydrogen is 70 million metric tons, most of which is being produced from fossil fuels– 76% from natural gas and 23% from coal and remaining from the electrolysis of water– consumes 6% of the global natural gas and 2% of the global coal. This results in CO2 emissions of around 830Mt/year out of which only 130Mt/year is being captured and used in the fertilizer industry.
- Much of the hydrogen produced is used for oil refining (33%), ammonia (27%), methanol production (11%), steel production via DRI (3%) and others.
Steps taken by India towards hydrogen economy:
- India has a huge edge in green hydrogen productionowing to its favourable geographic conditions and presence of abundant natural elements.
- India’s goal of attaining 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and to decarbonise by 2050 got an impetus in the Union Budget 2021-22.
- The National Hydrogen Mission has created a road-map for this, and pilot projects on blue hydrogen, green hydrogen and hydrogen compressed natural gas (CNG) have been initiated.
- The proposed introduction of green hydrogen consumption obligations for fertiliser and petroleum refining industry, indicate the country’s resolve to transition towards an economy fuelled by green hydrogen.
- The government has given impetus in scaling up the gas pipeline infrastructureacross the length and breadth of the country, and has introduced reforms for the power grid, including the introduction of smart grids. Such steps are being taken to effectively integrate renewable energy in the present energy mix.
- In October 2020, Delhi became the first Indian city to operate Hydrogen-enrichedCNG (H-CNG) buses in a six-month pilot project.
- The Government of India is planning to focus on five key areas: (a)Research and Development (b) Demand creation (c) how to use it in the industry (d) how to create an eco-system (e) how to bring it on board along with international partnerships.
Way forward for India:
- At this juncture, with a calibrated approach, India can uniquely position itself to take advantage with increasing investment in R&D, capacity building, compatible legislation, and the opportunity for creation of demandamong its vast population. Such initiatives can propel India to become the most favoured nation by exporting hydrogen to its neighbours and beyond.
- Proactive industry collaboration with the government is key to creating a hydrogen economy in India.
- This will help bring best-in-class hydrogen technology, equipment, and know-how to create a hydrogen supply chain in India — in many cases, these could be “Made in India”.
- By prioritising national hydrogen demonstration projects, innovations to further reduce the cost of hydrogen will become prominent locally.
- A robust policy framework akin to the one that guided the country’s solar revolution could lead to an increase in production and demand of this green fuel.
- The Government of India should consider setting up a multi-agency mission to bring multiple ministries, private industry and academia together in a partnership to scale up the deployment of hydrogen across sectors and industries.
- Having a clear mid-term and long-term target inspires confidence in the private sector to make their investments in a new energy source.
- Tax benefits that solar and wind receive should be extended to all players in the green hydrogen ecosystem.
- In the short term, the price of hydrogen generated through steam methane reformation should be capped.
- Generating hydrogen from biomass should also be incentivised as it also has the potential to increase farmer incomes.
- India should ramp up international collaborations for more effortless transfer of technology and resources related to hydrogen.
- Low solar prices coupled with pragmatic policies can help India take a leadership position in driving the global hydrogen economy.
- India needs to secure supplies of raw materials that are needed for this technology.
- Major institutions like the DRDO, BARC and CSIR laboratories have been developing electrolyser and fuel-cell technologies, which could further boost hydrogen economy.
- There is a need for a manufacturing strategy that can leverage the existing strengths and mitigate threats by integrating with the global value chain.
Conclusion
Green hydrogen is one of the most promising fuels in the efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Green hydrogen energy is vital for India to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions and ensure regional and national energy security, access and availability. Hydrogen can act as an energy storage option, which would be essential to meet intermittencies (of renewable energy) in the future.
Value addition:
Challenges:
- One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green or blue hydrogen.
- The technology used in production and use of hydrogen like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)and hydrogen fuel cell technology are at nascent stage and are expensive which in turn increases the cost of production of hydrogen.
- Several challenges in scaling up the commercial-scale operations of green hydrogen persist.
- Maintenance costsfor fuel cells post-completion of a plant can be costly.
- The commercial usage of hydrogen as a fuel and in industries requires mammoth investment in R&D of such technology and infrastructurefor production, storage, transportation and demand creation for hydrogen.
- Another key challenge has been portability and transporting the gas.
- Currently costs of production of Green Hydrogen are too high to be competitive with other fuels.
- Most renewable energy resources that can produce low-cost electricity are situated far from potential demand centres
Answer the following questions in 250 words:
General Studies – 1
Reference: A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir (Spectrum Publishers)
Introduction
The Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) was an armed force formed by Indian Nationalists in 1942, through the patronage of the Imperial Japanese Army, to secure the Independence of India. The INA was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan (present-day Malaysia) campaign and at Singapore.
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Role played by INA
- In 1943 Bose lost hope that Germany could be of any help in gaining India’s independence. He then turned to Asia where he finally came at the helm of the Indian National Army (INA).
- INA found support among expatriate Indians and under its aegis Bose formed the Azad Hind governmentwhich came to produce its own currency, postage stamps, court and civil code. It was recognised by Axis states.
- While his memory is still held in high esteem in India, in the West Bose is much less revered, largely because of his wartime collaboration with the Axis powers.
- During the final two years of the war, Bose withconsiderable Japanese backing- led the forces of the Indian National Army into battle against the British.
- Indian prisoners of war in Japanese camps provided a ready recruiting ground for the I.N.A., which was able to rally about 20,000 out of the 60,000 prisoner of wars, and financial aid and volunteers came from Indian trading communities settled in South East Asia.
- The INA was essentially non-communal, with Muslims quite prominent among its officers and ranks, and it also introduced the innovation of a women’s detachment named after the Rani of Jhansi.
- Between March and June 1944, the INA was in action on Indian soil, besieging Imphal along with Japanese troops in a campaign which ended in total failure.
- The Japanese collapse in 1945 made the INA men prisoners again, while Bose mysteriously disappeared, allegedly killed in an air-crash which some still believe to have been faked.
- In November, 1945, a British move to put the INA men on trial immediately sparked off massive demonstrations all over the country.
- Even more significant was the probable link between the INA experience and the wave of disaffection in the British Indian army during the winter of 1945-46, which culminated in the great Bombay naval strike of February 1946 and was quite possibly one of the most decisive reasons behind the British decision to make a quick withdrawal.
Netaji Bose’s role in INA
- The INA revealed Subhash Bose’s greatness as a military leaderand an organizer One of the INA Brigades advanced with the Japanese army upto the frontiers of India. The Indian national flag was hoisted in Kohima in March 1944.
- However with the change of fortune in the war and the retreat and defeat of the Japanese the INA collapsed. The role of INA had far reaching influences on the Indian political scene.
- When the stories of their remarkable courage and sacrifice came to the knowledge of the Indian peopleat the end of the war, the nation came under a wave of revolutionary upsurge.
- The British Government could realise that patriotism for Indians was greater than their service to a foreign power.
- In spite of his principle of violence Subhash Chandra Bose’s grand scheme of India’s liberation and the high idealism through INA movement inspired the people of India in an unprecedented manner.
Conclusion
The INA lost a substantial number of men and materiel in this retreat. A number of units were disbanded or used to feed into new divisions of the now declining Japanese Army. Following the Japanese defeat in World War 2, most of the members of the INA were captured by the British. Subash Chandra Bose himself eluded capture and was reported to have died in a plane crash near Taiwan in September 1945.
General Studies – 2
Reference: India Polity by M. Laxmikanth
Introduction
Tribunal means a set or a bench upon which judge or judges sit and decide controversies between the parties and exercises judicial powers as distinguished from purely administrative functions. It is a quasi-judicial institution that is set up to deal with problems such as resolving administrative or tax-related disputes. Part XIV-A of the Constitution which consist of two Articles 323A and 323B deals with these Tribunals E.g.: National Green Tribunal, Central Administrative Tribunal etc
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Tribunals and judicial efficiency
- Flexibility: Rigid procedures and evidence ordeals of courts are not followed, rather it goes by the principle of natural justice.
- Less Expensive: Administrative justice ensures cheap and quick justice. Its procedures are simple and can be easily understood by a layman.
- Relief to Courts: The tribunals perform an important and specialised role in justice mechanism. They take a load off the already overburdened courts. They hear disputes related to the environment, armed forces, tax and administrative issues.
- Reduce pendency: To overcome the situation that arose due to the pendency of cases in various Courts, domestic tribunals and other Tribunals have been established under different Statutes, hereinafter referred to as the Tribunals.
- Adequate Justice: In the fast-changing world of today, administrative tribunals are the most appropriated means of administrative action, and also the most effective means of giving fair justice to the individuals.
- Lawyers, who are more concerned about aspects of law, find it difficult to adequately assess the needs of the modern welfare society
- Efficiency: The Tribunals were set up to reduce the workload of courts, to expedite decisions and to provide a forum which would be manned by lawyers and experts in the areas falling under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.
Critical examination of the performance of tribunals in India:
- The manner of appointment of its members, performance appraisal, career path for tribunal members, remuneration, terms of service, are all outside the oversight of the judiciary. This is the foremost problem with tribunalisation.
- In India, executive interference in the functioning of tribunals is often seen in matters of appointment and removal of tribunal members, as well as in provision of finances, infrastructure, personnel and other resources required for day-to-day functioning of the tribunals.
- Administrative tribunals, with their separate laws and procedures often made by themselves, puts a serious limitation upon the principles of Rule of Law.
- Most of the tribunals do not enjoy the same amount of independence of the Executive as do the Courts and the judges.
- Recently, the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana-led bench of the Supreme Court pulled up the central government for the rising number of vacancies in various law tribunals across the country. The bench asked the centre to “clear its stand” on the urgent need to fill these vacancies.
- The civil and criminal courts have a uniform pattern of administering justice. A uniform code of procedure in administrative adjudication is not there.
- Administrative tribunals are manned by administrators and technical heads who may not have the background of law or training of judicial work. At times they adopt summary procedures to deal with cases coming before them
- In Chandra Kumar case, SC held that the appeals to such tribunals lies before the court and hence defeats the whole purpose of reducing burden of the superior courts.
- Since the tribunals are mainly chaired by the retired judges who are appointed by the government, so the present judges in courts may favour government in certain matter to gain political patronage in appointment to such tribunals after retirement.
- Lack of adequate infrastructure to work smoothly and perform the functions originally envisioned for them. There is a lack of understanding of the staffing requirements in tribunals.
National tribunal commission – a way forward ?
- The idea of an NTC was first mooted by the Supreme Court in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997).
- NTC is envisaged to be an independent umbrella body to supervise the functioning of tribunals, appointment of and disciplinary proceedings against members, and to take care of administrative and infrastructural needs of the tribunals.
- NTC will support uniform administration across all tribunals. It could set performance standards for the efficiency of tribunals and their own administrative processes.
- Giving the NTC the authority to set members’ salaries, allowances, and other service conditions, subject to regulations, would help maintain tribunals’ independence.
- The NTC could pave the way for the separation of the administrative and judicial functions carried out by various tribunals.
- A ‘corporatised’ structure of NTC with a Board, a CEO and a Secretariat will allow it to scale up its services and provide requisite administrative support to all tribunals across the country.
- NTC could function as an independent recruitment body to develop and operationalise the procedure for disciplinary proceedings and appointment of tribunal members.
- An NTC will effectively be able to bring in uniformity in the appointment system meanwhile ensuring that it is independent and transparent.
Conclusion
The tribunalisation of justice was introduced to speed up the adjudication process, and they have been productive in their goal. The tribunals have carved out a distinct position in the Indian landscape by adjudicating several interesting issues. The independence of these tribunals was described as a fundamental feature of the Indian Constitution in the case of Rojer Mathew’s decision. This fundamental feature must be encapsulated and maintained in reality through the creation of the NTC, which will be solely responsible for choosing, monitoring, and removing appointees to make sure that the tribunals are occupied with men of honesty and great behaviour.
Value addition:
Tribunals and their mandate
- The original Constitution did not contain provisions with respect to tribunals.
- The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added a new Part XIV- A to the Constitution.
- This part is entitled as ‘Tribunals’ and consists of only two Articles–Article 323 A dealing with administrative tribunals and Article 323 B dealing with tribunals for other matters.
- Article 323 A empowers the Parliament to provide for the establishment of administrative tribunals for the adjudication of disputes relating to recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services of the Centre, the states, local bodies, public corporations and other public authorities.
- Under Article 323 B, the Parliament and the state legislatures are authorised to provide for the establishment of tribunals for the adjudication of disputes relating to the following matters:
- Taxation
- Foreign exchange, import and export
- Industrial and labour
- Land reforms
- Ceiling on urban property
- Elections to Parliament and state legislatures
Introduction
The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilization ties. India and Japan established diplomatic relations on 28 April 1952. The year 2022 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and India.
Japan is regarded as a key partner in India’s economic transformation. In the recent past, the India Japan relationship has transformed to a partnership of great substance and purpose. Japan’s interest in India is increasing due to a variety of reasons including India’s large and growing market and its resources, especially the human resources.
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India-Japan bilateral relation
- Within India: Japan has been a leading financial donor in the form of ODA (Official Development Assistance)to India.
- It continues to maintain a high degree of interest and support for India’s mega infrastructure projects like the Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail
- Outside India: Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGR)announced in 2017 and joint projects in some third countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka and in Africa as well will be taken jointly.
- Defence ties:Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a strategic dialogue between India, United States, Japan and Australia will be carried out.
- Malabarexercise has been carried by India Japan and USA on a continuous basis.
- 2+2 dialogueat the defence and foreign minister level.
Potential areas of development
- There are a plethora of fields that we can cooperate in security issues including cyber security, outer space and economic security to build a rules-based free and open international order.
- Our economic partnership can further strengthen the economy of the Indo-Pacific, as well as the world economy.
- In spite of CEPA India Japan trade it has not produced the anticipated results. In 2011-12, the total volume of the bilateral trade was $18.43 billion, but it declined to $13.48 billion during 2016-17.
- The defence technology sharing is still a thorn. The US-2 amphibian aircraft has been on the back burner.
- Both have diverging interest with respect to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
- Both countries do not have a specific China policy.
- India and Japan need to strengthen their naval power vis-à-vis China and hasten the pending projects in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean respectively
Way Forward
- It is clear that the government has set India-Japan ties on an accelerated geopolitical course that will be a major factor in its dealings with the rest of the world, especially China, at a time when the U.S. is perceived to be retreating from the region.
- However, the strategic partnership needs stronger economic ties. While Japan is India’s largest donor and the third largest provider of FDI, bilateral trade has steadily declined since 2013.
- Today, India-Japan trade languishes at around $15 billion, a quarter of trade with China while Japan- China trade is around $300 billion.
- The two countries have decided to boost defense ties given the escalating tension in the region in the wake of the nuclear test by North Korea and China’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
- However, certain issues still remain like sharing of the defence technology, delay of US-2 amphibian aircraft.
- Both countries need to work on trade, defence and regional issues. A strong Indo- Japan will arrest the inconsistency being witnessed in the region thus contributing to peace and prosperity in the region and the world.
- Cultural exchanges including literature, movies, music, sports and academics are essential for our relations, enabling a better understanding.
General Studies – 3
Reference: New Indian Express
Introduction
Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian economy. The sector is highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development and enjoys intense focus from Government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world class infrastructure in the country. Infrastructure sector includes power, bridges, dams, roads, and urban infrastructure development.
Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth. In the absence of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant from its potential and frontier growth trajectory.
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Background
The infrastructure sector will be the key to overall economic growth and macroeconomic stability, the Survey said emphasising that the year after the crisis (2021-22) will require sustained and calibrated measures to facilitate the process of economic recovery and enable the economy to get back on its long-term growth trajectory.
Investment in infrastructure is essential for more rapid and inclusive economic growth
- Foundation for growth:
- Basic infrastructure facilities in the country provide the foundation of growth.
- In the absence of adequate infrastructure, the economy operates at a suboptimal level and remains distant from its potential and frontier growth trajectory.
- Increases employment:
- Infrastructure development such as road construction, real estate, railway construction, etc. is labour intensive, leading to increase in employment opportunities in formal and informal sectors and thus, fuelling domestic demand.
- Raises Farmer’s Income:
- Investment in infrastructure would play critical role in ensuring doubling of farmers income through focus on increased irrigation infrastructure and storage, processing and marketing infrastructure.
- Health and Well-being:
- Infrastructure development of superior healthcare facilities, electronic health records and better equipped health infrastructure at primary levels. (Telemedicine)
- Reduces Logistic Cost:
- Building world class roads, railways, ports, inland water ways, will cut down logistic costs and improve competitiveness and promote exports.
- This would bring more revenues to government and may promote socio – economic development.
Way forward
- Rs 111 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline for 2020-2025 will be a game-changer for the Indian economy. Sectors like energy, roads, urban infrastructure, railways have a lion’s share in it that will help boost growth.
- To boost private investment in infra sector, it said the government has set up the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) for appraisal of PPP projects.
- Revamping of the proposed VGF scheme will attract more PPP projects and facilitate the private investment in social sectors (Health, Education, Waste Water, Solid Waste Management, Water Supply etc.)
- The Aatmanirbhar Bharat has brought manufacturing at centre stage and emphasized its significance in driving India’s growth and creating jobs.
Reference: Indian Express
Introduction
India has one of the longest and most varied of international borders. Historical and political reasons have left India with an artificial unnatural border. Border Management is an integral approach towards borders in which along with security enhancement, infrastructure & human development is undertaken. The challenge of coping with long-standing territorial and boundary disputes with China and Pakistan, combined with porous borders along some of the most difficult terrain in the world, has made effective and efficient border management a national priority.
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India has had to deal with numerous challenges with respect to border management such as:
- Porous borders: International borders with Pakistan and Bangladeshrun through diverse terrain including deserts, marshes, plains and mountains. This porosity of borders facilitates various illegal activities such as smuggling, trafficking of humans, drugs and arms and infiltration.
- Contested International borders: History of mistrustand constant border skirmishes with Pakistan along line of control (LOC) makes India highly susceptible to cross-border terrorism. Similarly, India’s border with Myanmar is threatened by several insurgent groups that have found sanctuaries in jungles along the border. Political boundary issues of “enclaves and adverse possessions” in Bangladesh have resulted in political sensitivity along the entire eastern border.
- Inefficiency in Border management: Indian borders continue to be guarded by military and police forces that report to different ministries in the Centre and states, making the border management task arduous and leading to duplication of efforts by the security forces.
- Lack of critical infrastructure: Critical infrastructure such as observation towers, bunkers, Border Flood Lights etc. are lacking in many border areas which also prevent deployment of hi-tech equipment.
- Poor intelligence and resource efficiency: Security forces are ill-equipped to handle border management given poor intelligence capabilities and severe resource deficiency.
- Ethnic conflicts and separatist movements: The situation has worsened due to the changed demographic profile of many Border States and shift in ethnic balance of communities as a result of illegal migration.
- Over-population in the border areas: Density of population in the border areas at some places is approximately 700-800 persons per square km on the Indian side and about 1,000 persons on the Bangladesh side.
- Political instability and disorder in its periphery impacts India’s security directly or indirectly. Proxy war between India and Pakistan adds to this security risk.
The implications on the internal security due to the above challenges of border management is marked by
- increased cross-border terrorism
- infiltration and ex-filtration of armed militants
- emergence of non-state actors
- nexus between narcotics traffickers and arms smugglers
- left-wing extremism
- fake Indian Currency network
- separatist movements aided and abetted by external powers
- illegal cattle trade
Is a single agency managing all its borders a good idea
- In India, we have unwieldy arrangements. As a result, there is a lack of a coherent policy on training, planning and the conduct of guarding operations among various outfits. Overall coordination is also affected.
- India needs a single security agency adequately equipped, suitably armed and trained in advanced military drills and sub-unit tactics to guard our borders.
- The manpower and infrastructure should be created by pooling and merging the resources of the CAPF and Assam Rifles.
- It augments the battle efficiency, a fixed percentage of manpower, including the officer cadre, should be drawn on deputation from the army.
- It could have the explicit mandate to effectively retaliate against cross-border transgressions and stabilise the situation till the operations are taken over by the armed forces.
However, entire border management under a single agency has its own drawbacks
- It would reduce the niche skills of the various forces currently managing the various borders.
- The borders themselves have a huge diversity which could pose huge investment risks on training all soldiers in all types of terrain.
- Further, with more localites getting associated with the forces in the region, its easier for them to adapt to the environs quickly.
- It could lead to centralization of powers and thus leading to unnecessary redtapism.
Way forward:
- Infrastructure along with border has to be improved – rail connectivity along with road connectivity has to be provided for quick mobilization.
- Building of additional checkpoints and Border posts along major and minor trade routes connected with borders
- Building of floating bridges, walls & electrical fences where there is high probability of infiltration.
- Taking up of joint Border management with Countries like Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal.
- Improving healthcare, physical infrastructure and digital connectivity in villages around borders thus making them stakeholder in Border Management.
- Madhav Godbole task force recommendations on border management need to be implemented.
- It had recommended that the CRPF should be designated as the primary national level counter-insurgency force. This would enable the other central paramilitary forces like the BSF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police to return to their primary role of better border management.
- It had also recommended that all paramilitary forces managing unsettled borders should operate directly under the control of the army and that there should be lateral induction from the army to the paramilitary forces so as to enhance their operational effectiveness.
- The principle of ‘single point control’ must be followed if the borders are to be effectively managed.
- The advances in surveillance technology, particularly satellite and aerial imagery, can help to maintain a constant vigil along the LAC and make it possible to reduce physical deployment.
Conclusion:
Keeping a strong vigil on its border is very important for any nation to check any kind of illegal activities or intrusion through them. For India, the task becomes difficult where terrain and climate is very complex across some of its border areas. Focussing on improved technology will help in making the task easier for the security forces and make its borders more secure.
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