General Studies Paper 2

Context

• Supreme Court (SC) of India has three jurisdictions under the Constitution: original, appellate, and advisory. The Supreme Court serves as a Constitutional Court as well as a Court of Appeal. The Court sits in benches of varying sizes, as determined by the Registry on the directions of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who is the Master of the Roster.

Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court

• Article 145(3) of the Constitution provides for the setting up of a Constitution Bench. It says a minimum of five judges need to sit for deciding a case involving a “substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution”, or for hearing any reference under Article 143, which deals with the power of the President to consult the Court.
• A constitution bench typically comprises 5, 7 or 9 judges who deliberate on a specific issue related to constitutional law. Usually, cases before the SC are heard by Division Benches (2 judges) or full Benches (3 judges) to examine a wide range of topics.
• Under its very broad jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has entertained frivolous public interest litigations (PILs), such as demands that passages be deleted from the Quran or secularism be removed from the Preamble to the Constitution.
• This is why, at present, there are 79,813 cases pending before the 34 judges of the Supreme Court. It is therefore understandable that there has been demand time and again for a structural change in the top court.
• Recently, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud announced his intent to create Constitution Benches of varied strengths as a permanent feature of the Court.

Discourse on a separate Constitution Bench

• In 1984, the Tenth Law Commission of India proposed that the SC be split into two divisions: the Constitutional Division and the Legal Division. The proposal stated that only issues pertaining to constitutional law would be brought to the proposed Constitutional Division.
• It was reported that appeals in the top court mostly comprised matters from High Courts that are closer to the Supreme Court. That is, appeals from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Allahabad High Court, and Delhi High Court formed the major chunk of matters, whereas courts far away from the apex court had fewer appeals filed, due to both difficulties in accessibility and costs.
• Earlier, in Bihar Legal Support Society case (1986), the SC stated that it was “desirable” to establish a National Court of Appeal that would be able to entertain special leave petitions. This would allow the SC to only entertain constitutional and public law related questions.
• The 229th Law Commission Report (2009) recommended four regional benches to be located in Delhi, Chennai or Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai to hear non constitutional issues. It recommended 6 judges from each region at four regional benches take up appellate responsibility, with a Constitution Bench in New Delhi working on a regular basis. By dividing the heavy backlog of nonconstitutional cases among regional benches, the SC, it said, could “deal with constitutional issues and other cases of national importance on a day-to-day basis.”

Evolution of SC

• During colonial times, there were three Supreme Courts: in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. SC, as we know it now, was founded on January 28, 1950, under Article 124 of the Constitution, two days after India became an independent, democratic republic. It came into being in Delhi as a result of Article 130.
• The first Supreme Court included 8 judges, including the CJI. As the workload rose year after year and arrears of cases began to accumulate, Parliament periodically kept increasing the number of judges; the latest being 34 in 2019.
• An overburdened court Today’s Supreme Court issues around 810 decisions each year through Constitution Benches of five or more judges. It serves primarily as an appeals court. Only 4 of the 1,263 decisions issued in 2022 were issued by a Constitution Bench.

Way forward

• SC hears matters between the Centre and the States, as well as between two or more States; rules on civil and criminal appeals; and provides legal and factual advice to the President. Any person can immediately petition the Supreme Court if they consider their basic rights have been infringed.
• The work of the SC could be split so that there is a Final Court of Appeal and a permanent Constitution Bench. This would ensure greater judicial stability and consistency by explicitly distinguishing cases filed under constitutional authority from those filed under appellate and review jurisdiction. A Constitution Bench (Vasanth Kumar v. H.C. Bhatia case) is analysing these issues and contemplating measures to protect a citizen’s basic right to access the Supreme Court.

Conclusion

• Under the guidance of the CJI, there is an opportunity to address this structural gap in the Supreme Court by designating several of the court’s appeal benches as regional benches.

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Europe, Asia, and Africa seem to be in a state of permanent dissonance today, while North and South America are plagued by problems of varying magnitude. All this has set the stage for multipolar disorder.

Multipolar disorder

• The attack on the State of Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian terror outfit, however, represents a new high in the evolution of terrorism. That a little acknowledged Palestinian terror outfit could take on Israel, which boasts of one of the most powerful armies in the world, is having a seismic impact across the world. Hence, there appears to be no end in sight to the challenges posed by fanatic groups intending to achieve their ends and reinforce their beliefs.
• The attack on Ukraine by Russia starting February 2022, though, falls into a different category, viz., of conventional conflicts, but is nevertheless highly disconcerting. The prolongation of the conflict, which was not expected to last for more than a few weeks, to well over 18 months, represents an even more disturbing trend.
• Even as the war continues to fester, neither Russia nor Ukraine (including NATO) is willing to consider a pause. A plethora of new technologies and strategies have proved insufficient to sort out matters on the battlefield. With each month, the risk of a wider conflagration is going up, and the conflict shows few signs of reaching a resolution.
• A new battleground has opened up very recently in West Asia, following the terror attack by Hamas on Israel, which is turning into an all out conflict. Several weeks into the conflict, the threat of an all out war (in a region that has seldom had long periods of peace) looms large. The two state solution for resolving the Palestinian conflict has, in turn, been confined to the detritus of history and the region is all set for another half a century of conflict.
• Abraham Accords and other peace accords have fallen like ninepins. A massive United States Naval deployment, from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Oman, in the wake of the Hamas-Israel conflict, has the potential of bringing Iran- backed Shia militant organisations (such as the Hezbollah) directly, and Iran at a later date, into the conflict. This would substantially alter the nature of the conflict and could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Uneasiness in the Indo-Pacific region

• Notwithstanding the West Asia imbroglio, it is the uneasy situation in the IndoPacific region that contains even greater potential for a wide ranging conflict — one that could well involve the U.S. and China directly. This region is already a byword for strategic competition and contestation.
• As it is, the U.S. and China have little space for cooperation here, as elsewhere, but both now seem intent on enlarging the scope of their conflict. The U.S. appears to think that with China’s growth having slowed, accompanied by its inability to get advanced technology from the West, it now has the upper hand.
• China, for its part, is vigorously pursuing its two contradictory goals viz., to checkmate the ‘U.S.dominated world order’ and in turn ensure the success of a China-dominated order. Issues such as Taiwan are, hence, not receiving the attention they deserve.
• As of now, the West is merely intent on replicating the tactics it employed in Ukraine to stymie Russia’s advance, in the IndoPacific, ignoring the fundamental difference that exists between the situation in Europe and in the IndoPacific at present.
• The East, for instance, has no military arrangement like the NATO and has at best some loose untested security arrangements (such as AUKUS and the Quad) to confront China.Equally important is that few countries in Asia are ready for a military confrontation with China.

Technology risks

• Additionally, in the category of grave risks that confront the world today are many that belong to the technology domain — more specifically Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber. Even as the digital threat scene has verily exploded, digital uncertainty is making a mockery of the established order.
• As growing numbers of people, cognitively and psychologically, become dependent on digital networks, many critical aspects of their thinking and functioning would be conditioned by AI. The emergence of generative AI will be the real game changer, and experts predict that the situation could become even more critical in the near future. The real risk is that it could alter the very fabric of nation states, with truth itself becoming a casualty — the deepfake syndrome.
• The use of AI, especially for military and security purposes, is cause for utmost concern. AI is capable of being vitiated, and subject to different types of ‘adversarial attacks’ viz. ‘poisoning’ (which typically aims to degrade a module’s ability to make relevant predictions), ‘backdooring’ (which involves a malicious trigger input that causes the AI module into misclassifying inputs), ‘evasion’, etc.
• The need for extreme caution, hence, cannot be overemphasised. The cyber domain and the cyber threat again pose serious security risks. The world is already aware of threats such as Ransomware and Phishing, as also the Zero day syndrome, but there is much more to come.
• Digital trackers logged more than 5.5 trillion cyberattacks worldwide in 2021 (over 14.5 billion attacks per day). Since then, the scale of attacks has been increasing in geometrical progression. The twin threats from AI and cyber are thus poised to emerge as the biggest dangers we face and will be the critical elements in future wars.
• Meanwhile, quantum computing is another dimension that is likely to transform the world. Quantum’s unique ability to crunch stacks of data is already reshaping certain designated sectors. Quantum AI simulation denotes a mind boggling degree of effectiveness and efficiency but there are equally intrinsic risks attached to it.
• Another domain of global risk is health, for as humanity advances, health has become a critical factor of everyday existence. The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterised as among the world’s worst epidemics. The health forecast is that more such epidemics are slated to occur.

Conclusion

• In the final reckoning, many experts are of the view that climate change and climate change health issues will be among the biggest global risks as the 21st century advances

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said measles cases in 2022 have increased by 18%, compared to 2021.

Findings on measles in India

• India’s Union Health Ministry has refuted a part of the report which said that globally 22 million children did not get their first measles shot in 2022 and that half of them live in 10 countries including India, where an estimated 1.1 million infants did not get the first dose of the vaccine.
• According to the WHO, measles vaccination averted 56 million deaths between 2000 and 2021. Additionally in 2022, about 83% of the world’s children received one dose of measles vaccine by their first birthday through routine health services — the lowest since 2008.
• Health Ministry maintains that just over 21,000 Indian children did not get the shot in FY 2022-23 and that catchup vaccinations are going on in the states. The ministry also said that the WHO data is based on an estimated number, reported under the WHO UNICEF Estimates National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) 2022 report.

About measles

• Measles is a contagious disease caused by a virus, which spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Measles starts with a cough, runny nose, red eyes, and fever. Then a rash of tiny, red spots break out. It starts at the head and spreads to the rest of the body.
• Measles can be prevented with the MMR vaccine. The vaccine protects against three diseases — measles, mumps and rubella. Two doses of MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles; one dose is about 93% effective.

Universal Immunisation Programme

• India’s UIP is one of the largest public health programmes in the world targeting close to 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually.
• However, due to interruption of routine vaccination during and post-COVID pandemic, India did see several outbreaks of measles in different parts of the country. While the pace of routine immunisation has slowed down due to Covid-19, IMI 4.0 is filling the gaps towards universal immunisation.
• Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 4.0 :
• Mission Indradhanush was launched to fully immunize children who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated under UIP.
• IMI provides vaccination against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD) i.e. diphtheria, Whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae type B infections, Japanese encephalitis (JE), rotavirus vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and measles-rubella (MR).
• IMI 4.0 was launched in 2022 to ensure that Routine Immunization (RI) services reach unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children and pregnant women. Children up to two years are being covered in this drive.

Impact of COVID-19 on the vaccination programme

• The WHO notes that the pandemic has led to setbacks in surveillance and immunisation efforts across the globe leaving millions of children vulnerable to diseases like measles.
• “No country is exempt from measles, and areas with low immunisation encourage the virus to circulate, increasing the likelihood of outbreaks and putting all unvaccinated children at risk,” WHO notes.
• In India, as recently as late last year, Maharashtra and Kerala saw a spike in cases of measles. While Maharashtra recorded over 800 cases and over 10 deaths linked to the disease, Kerala’s Malappuram district reported 160 cases of measles.

Conclusion

• The stakeholders of children’s healthcare must take extra measures for routine and catch up measles vaccination to contain the disease in India.

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• The air quality index (AQI) in many Indian cities has entered the red zone several days this year. Millions of people have to face serious health hazards due to recurring increases in air pollution. It is clear that mitigation strategies have to be prioritised.

Air quality index (AQI)

• AQI by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
• AQI transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour. The pollutants measured include PM 10, PM 2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb.
• As per two seminal studies pertaining to Delhi, the Urban Emission (2015) and the TERI study (2018), a significant contributor to urban smog is PM2.5 and PM10 pollution, which is caused by the transport and construction sector.

Increase in truck fleet

• About 9 lakh new trucks are added to Indian roads every year to an already running fleet of 70 lakh trucks. India carries over 2 trillion tonne kilometres of freight on trucks annually. These trucks consume over one fourth of Indian oil imports and contribute to over 90% of road transport CO2 emissions.
• If all these new trucks are powered by diesel fired internal combustion engines vehicles, as is the case today, our cities will face a greater onslaught of PM2.5 pollution.
• Thankfully, India has already electrified rail freight transportation, but that caters to only about 20% of the freight carried in the country. On roads, India’s electric vehicle penetration rate has crossed the 6% mark, but electric trucks remain a challenge due to upfront costs and charging infrastructure constraints.

Way forward

• Government is aggressively electrifying the bus fleet, and sets electrification targets for bus aggregators. However, the focus must extend to diesel trucks and dust mitigation — significant PM sources requiring immediate attention. This is important both from an energy security perspective and sustainability perspective.
• In this era of urgency, where every breath counts, deploying solutions swiftly is paramount. The recent demand for 7,750 e-trucks in India by 2030, if it materialises, will result in the country saving over 800 billion litres of diesel till 2050.
• However, the Indian truck fleet is likely to reach a figure of 1.7 crore in 2050. Hence, there is a need to push top gear on the pace of transition to etrucks.
• Public funding alone cannot meet the transformational scale required. A pipeline of bankable projects, effectively structured, which can attract private and institutional capital is the need of the hour.
• Though the victory achieved (more than 50% electric vehicle penetration) in three wheelers’ electrification in India is an important milestone for the 2070 net zero agenda, transport sector decarbonisation pathways have to be led by truck electrification.

Green freight corridors

• Declaring some of the expressways and national highways as green freight corridors will have a demonstration effect in the country. Accelerating feasibility studies, demand aggregation, supplier readiness, and a prudent risk allocation strategy are required to create green freight corridors in India. Such corridors can first evolve in small stretches of 500 kilometres on routes with heavy truck movement.

Conclusion:

• Innovative financial instruments, incentivisation of charging infrastructure, facilitation of entrepreneurial efforts, and a conducive regulatory environment in the country can bring forth the much-needed breakthrough for truck electrification in India.

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

• In a parliamentary democracy, Governors do not have a unilateral veto over Bills passed by the legislature. This is the crux of the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case arising from Punjab after Governor Banwarilal Purohit withheld assent to some Bills passed by the State Assembly on the pretext that these were adopted in an illegal session of the House.

Constitutional provision

• The Court’s reading of the scheme of Article 200, which deals with grant of assent to Bills, is in line with the core tenet of parliamentary democracy: that an elected regime responsible to the legislature runs the State’s affairs.
• Article 200 reads: “When a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President.”
• However, the Article has a caveat: it says that the Governor “may, as soon as possible” return Bills other than money Bills, with a message requesting that the House reconsider it in parts or in whole. But once the Legislative House reconsiders the Bill and sends it to the Governor once again, the Governor “shall not withhold assent therefrom”.
• The Supreme Court (SC) has now read the power to withhold assent and the proviso in conjuction, holding that whenever the Governor withholds assent, he has to send the Bill back to the legislature for reconsideration. This effectively means that the Governor either grants assents in the first in­ stance or will be compelled to do so after the Bill’s second passage.
• The Court has done well to point out that Governors, in a system that requires them to function mainly on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, cannot withhold action on Bills and must act as soon as possible.
• This is a clear reprimand administered to Governors who believe they can endlessly delay action on Cabinet or legislative proposals because of the absence of a prescribed time frame.

 Present case and way forward

• Purohit’s stand that the particular session of the Assembly was illegal — because an adjourned House was reconvened by the Speaker on his own — has been rejected. The Court has ruled that the earlier session had only been adjourned and not prorogued.
• The verdict should not give any further scope for controversy over the role played by Governors in the law­making process that culminates with their granting assent to Bills, and must end the tussle between elected regimes and the Centre’s appointees.
• There is still some residual scope for controversy if, as a result of Governors being divested of the power to reject Bills unilaterally, they start referring Bills they disapprove of to the President. Such an eventuality should not be allowed to arise.

Relevant judicial verdicts and commissions

• The landmark case of Shamsher Singh v State of Punjab, decided in 1974 by a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, established that a Governor is required to exercise their formal constitutional powers solely upon and in accordance with the aid and advice of their ministers, except in some exceptional circumstances. These exceptions pertain to the removal of a government that no longer holds a majority, as well as the decision to invite a party to assume governance
• The 1983 Sarkaria Commission on Center-state relations put forth several modifications aimed at augmenting the responsibilities and influence of Governors. There is a suggestion that Governors ought to possess a non-partisan and impartial disposition, while also maintaining a fixed tenure to uphold stability and continuity.
• The 2010 Punchhi Commission proposed that the appointment of governors should involve consultation with the Chief Minister of the respective state, and that governors should be granted enhanced responsibilities in domains such as tribal welfare, regional development, and the promotion of cooperative federalism such as tribal welfare, regional development, and promoting cooperative federalism.
• Most court verdicts as well as commissions have recommended governor’s position as a neutral one between Center and states, without having any extraordinary or parallel legislative powers to that of the state legislature. This is also essential for cooperative federalism.

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• The two most important issues facing humanity in the 21st century are climate change and food insecurity. The world’s southern continents are reportedly experiencing severe drought due to climate change, which negatively impacts agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods.

Impacts of climate change on food systems

• Both population expansion and dietary changes are contributing to an increase in the demand for food. As a result of climate change, traditional farming practices are becoming less productive. Farmers are taking a variety of adaptation measures to reduce the negative effects of climate change.
• The need for a holistic strategy is driven by climate change’s dual challenges of adaptation and mitigation, and the pressing need for agricultural production to rise by 60% by 2050 in order to fulfill food demand.

A viable option

• As a viable option, climate­ smart agriculture (CSA) provides a holistic framework.
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in 2019: “Climate­ smart agriculture is an approach for transforming food and agriculture systems to support sustainable development and safeguard food security under climate change.

CSA comprises three pillars or objectives

• Sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes
• Adapt and build resilience to climate change
• Reduce/remove GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions, where possible.
• Dimensions of climate­-smart practices include water­-smart, weather­-smart, energy­-smart, and carbon-smart practices. They improve productivity, deal with land degradation, and improve soil health.

Future impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity

• In India, crop yield decline owing to climate change (between 2010 and 2039) could be as high as 9%. In order to combat climate change and sustainably boost agricultural output and revenue, a radical reform of the agriculture industry is required.
• United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aim to end hunger and enhance environmental management; CSA’s foundation is in achieving these goals through sustainable agriculture and rural development.
• National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) emphasises the role of climate resilient agriculture in India’s adaptation measures.
• Programmes such as the Soil Health Card Scheme (SHC) use precision nutrient management to optimise agricultural methods. The concept of precision farming is still somewhat novel in India.

Advantages of climate smart agriculture (CSA)

• CSA promotes crop diversification, increases water efficiency, and integrates drought resistant crop types, all of which help lessen the disruptive effects of climate change.
• The importance of CSA lies in its ability to increase agricultural output while maintaining ecological stability, which is essential for long term food security and sustainable resource usage in a warming planet.
• By reducing exposure to climate related dangers and shocks, CSA increases resilience in the face of long term stressors like shorter seasons and erratic weather patterns.
• CSA also helps raise the economic autonomy of farmers. CSA causes a dramatic change in farming communities’ economic and social structure by distributing information about and providing access to climate resilient methods.
• As the climate changes, farmers, significantly those already disadvantaged, can gain enormously from adopting climate­smart techniques. The increasing popularity of CSA is a promising indicator for the future of biodiversity conservation.
• CSA’s ecosystem based approach and different crop varieties help cropland and wild regions coexist together. This collaborative effort helps to safeguard native plant species, keep pollinator populations stable, and mitigate the effects of habitat degradation.

 Agriculture and climate change

• CSA aids in enhancing farmland carbon storage. The Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels by reducing GHG emissions is tied directly to the success of the CSA.
• Agroforestry and carbon sequestration are two examples of CSA measures that could help India meet its international obligations and contribute to the global fight against climate change.

A unique juncture

• The majority of Indian farmers are small or marginal. Therefore, CSA can play a significant role in helping them increase their profits.
• National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change, National Innovation on Climate Resilient Agriculture, Soil Health Mission, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Biotech­KISAN, and Climate Smart Village are a few examples of government initiatives in India focusing on CSA.
• Various public and private sector entities such as farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and NGOs are also working towards the adoption of CSA.

Conclusion

• CSA has the potential to assure food security, empower farmers, and protect our delicate ecosystems by merging innovation, resilience, and sustainability. In the face of a changing climate, the path of CSA stands out as a source of inspiration and transformation for a world working to ensure a sustainable future.

General Studies Paper 3

Context:

• There is an almost linear relationship between global warming and cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 noted that per capita emissions in developing countries are still “relatively low” and that their share in the global emissions will grow to meet their social and developmental needs.

CBDR-RC Principle

• The Convention recognises the ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ (CBDR-RC) principle. This means different States have different responsibilities and respective capabilities in tackling climate change.
• This principle has been reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement, whose main aim is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels’‘ and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrial levels”.
• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6), every 1,000 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions causes an estimated 0.45 degrees Celsius rise in the global surface temperature.
• Axiomatically, limiting the rise in global temperature to a specific level means limiting cumulative carbon dioxide emission to within a carbon budget.

What is the global carbon budget?

• The term ‘global carbon budget’ refers to the maximum cumulative global anthropogenic CO2 emissions – from the preindustrial era to when such emissions reach net zero, resulting in limiting global warming to a given level with a given probability.
• The remaining carbon budget indicates how much CO2 could still be emitted, from a specified time after the preindustrial period, while keeping temperature rise to the specified limit.
• The IPCC AR6 has shown that the world warmed by a staggering 1.07 degrees Celsius until 2019 from pre industrial levels, so almost 4/5ths of the global carbon budget stands depleted. Only a fifth remains to meet the target set in the Paris Agreement.
• For a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the U.S. would have to reach net zero emissions (NZE) in 2025, rather than 2050; and the EU28 bloc by 2031 instead of 2050. India has committed to reach NZE by 2070.

Who’s responsible for cumulative global emissions?

• According to the IPCC AR6, the developed countries have appropriated a disproportionately larger share of the global carbon budget to date. The contribution of South Asia — which includes India — to historical cumulative emissions is only around 4% despite having almost 24% of the entire world population.
• The per capita CO2 FFI (fossil fuel and industry) emissions of South Asia was just 1.7 tonnes CO2 equivalent per capita, far below North America and also significantly lower than the world average (6.6 tonnes CO2eq. per capita).

How does the carbon budget matter for India?

• The global carbon budget for a given temperature limit is a global resource, common to the entire world, but is exhaustible and limited and with only equitable methods of sharing it, consistent with the foundational principles of the UNFCCC.
• India must recognise a ‘fair share of the carbon budget’ as a strategic national resource whose reserves are depleting rapidly due to overexploitation by developed countries.
• In a rapidly depleting global carbon budget, if we fail to deploy resources at our command to forcefully use it as a strategic national resource, we will be short changed by new colonial techniques of developed countries.
• In almost all the emissions scenarios estimated by the IPCC, the world breaches an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre industrial levels in the early 2030s.
• In 2022, oil, coal and gas accounted for 30%, 27% and 23% of the world’s total energy, while solar and wind energy together contributed only 2.4%. The world is still largely powered by nonrenewable energy.

Global North vs Global South

• Developed countries have tried to browbeat developing countries into accepting rapid, economy wide changes. At the COP 26 talks in Glasgow, they forced the issue of phasing down the use of coal but then backtracked by reopening coal plants across Europe after the Russia- Ukraine war created an energy crisis.
• This has illustrated that the immediate phaseout of fossil fuels is infeasible in the face of shocks and also limits developing countries’ access to their ‘room to grow’.

What should India’s stance be at COP 28?

• According to the NITI Aayog, U.N. Development Programme’s (UNDP) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report 2023 review, India has been able to lift more than 135 million poor out of poverty in less than five years (2015-21).
• India has also just extended food security welfare measures to more than 800 million people in the country, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), highlighting the magnitude of the challenge of poverty eradication after COVID-19.

Role of development

• Development is the first defence against climate change. How long will developing countries have to divert their scarce resources, manpower, and attention to meeting global problems created by developed countries?
• It is imperative that developing countries receive a fair and equitable share of their carbon budget alongside stronger and more fruitful commitments from developed countries – including the promised but unmet climate specific new and additional finance.
• The Indian government has led from the front to foster international consensus to tackle climate change. To this end, India has set up the International Solar Alliance (ISA), Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA).
• Through the ‘Lifestyle for Environment’ (LiFE) mission, the Indian government also aims to spread awareness of good lifestyle practices and establish that sustainable lifestyles are the best way forward.

UNFCCC COP 28

• Scientists estimate that at a conservative price of $50/tCO2eq, developed countries’ carbon debt to the world is pegged at over $51 trillion. Based on India’s historical emissions (1850- 2019), it has a carbon credit equivalent of 338 GtCO2eq., equal to around $17 trillion at $50/tCO2eq.
• Without finance and technology as promised in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, developing countries stare at an even more unfair world. The cover decision of the Glasgow Climate Pact recorded an unprecedented “regret” on the failure of the developed countries to provide US $100 billion dollars a year, as promised at the COP 15 talks in Copenhagen in 2009.

Conclusion

• At COP 28, India must demand a fair share of its carbon budget or equivalent reparations to bring about fairness within the global order. Only development brings with it an assurance to tide over the roller coasters of climate change.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Recently Indian Prime Minister announced the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna (PMGKAY), a scheme providing 5 kg of foodgrains free every month to beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), by five years because he does not want any citizen to sleep hungry. This means that 80 crore Indians will still be receiving free foodgrains to stave off hunger in 2028.
• This is the year the government expects India to become the third largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $5 trillion. Will large swathes of Indians still be hungry with a GDP of $5 trillion? Who will benefit from the five year dash to these targets?

The story of Japan and China

• For reference, let’s take a look at Japan today, the third largest economy by GDP in the world. For 40 years, Japan was the world’s second largest economy, powered by manufacturing and exports. But after the 2008 world financial crisis, the wheels came off the Japanese economy. Japan’s population started spending less, exports shrank, and government incentives dried up.
• On the other hand, China enjoyed a manufacturing boom and dislodged Japan to become the world’s second largest economy by GDP. On losing rank, however, Japan displayed remarkable ego free economic diplomacy. As soon as the economy plunged to the third position, Japan’s leadership publicly welcomed China’s ascent, stating that sustained demand from the (then) most populous country could only be good for Japan’s exports.
• However in Japan, as the high value industrial economy took centre stage, the strength of personal and professional relationships withered and the multigenerational family and social structure became atomised. They fell through the cracks into financial collapse and social withdrawal.

 A deep divide

• Today, the Government of India claims that the country is on the cusp of an economic tsunami. How does the sprint to the target of $5 trillion bode for citizens, especially the 80 crore who will still be on free rations in 2028?
• India’s economic growth pivots on capital, productivity and labour, and data show that for over 4/5th of Indians, the $5 trillion economy is a bridge too far.
• Consider capital: in 2021, 1% of the population owned about 41% of the nation’s wealth, while 50% owned 3% of its wealth, according to Oxfam. In such an environment, the dash towards a $5 trillion economic trophy lies in the grip of the resource rich power brokers who will seize the initiative.
• But ironically, it is the low resource citizens who are funding the investment for the proposed $5 trillion economy: approximately 64% of the total Goods and Services Tax (GST) came from the bottom 50% of the population, and the top 10% contributed 3% of GST.
• At the same time, the contribution of labour, the other driver of growth, is hamstrung due to dubious educational and skill attainments and halting digital literacy. Productivity is just beginning to get a boost through the creation of digital and physical infrastructure.
• There are also other issues with Mr. Modi’s guarantee that India will be the third largest economy in five years. First, with a per capita income of $2,400, India ranks 149 among 194 countries in 2022. Since per capita income is a keen index of a population’s wellbeing, note that the average Japanese at $34,000 is considered better off than the average Chinese at a $13,000, even though China has outstripped Japan in world GDP rankings.
• What is India’s per capita income projected to be at $5 trillion? There are no official estimates available.
• Second, the nub of the chase to $5 trillion GDP is in its distribution, or the inequality index, generated by World Economics. A high value indicates a more egalitarian society. The values of both China and Japan are more than 50. These countries appear to be sharing their economic fortunes more evenly than India, which has a value of 21.9.

Conclusion

• Will the divide between the two Indias deepen with the $5 trillion target? India might be on its way to achieving this goal, but most of the population still remains marooned in the slow lanes of an older India, watching as the new caravan’s storm past.

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

• Ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court raise concerns about the conduct of some Governors. The key issue that has forced State governments to approach the court for redress is the perverse manner in which incumbents in Raj Bhavan have used the absence of a timeframe for granting assent to Bills to harass and frustrate elected regimes.

Recent trends:

• When the court raised the question, “What was the Governor doing for three years?” with respect to the Tamil Nadu Governor, R.N. Ravi, it was underscoring the fact that he disposed of pending Bills only after the court’s observations about the delay in an earlier hearing.
• The Governor’s reluctance to act until an aggrieved government approached the court seems deliberate. The hearing was marked by some questions and answers about the implications of the Governor’s action in withholding his assent to 10 Bills, and the response of the State Assembly in passing the Bills for a second time.
• Preliminary observations by the court suggest that the scheme of Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with the presentation of Bills passed by the legislature to the Governor for assent, will come under a good deal of scrutiny in this matter.

 The larger issue:

• With the court noting that the Governor cannot refuse assent to the reenacted Bills, the present legislative impasse can be given a quick resolution if Mr. Ravi acts on the observation. However, the matter should not end there. The larger issue requires a clear enunciation of the law.
• The tenor of Constituent Assembly debates indicates that it intended to make the power of granting or withholding assent to Bills, or even returning them for reconsideration, exercisable solely on the advice of the Council of Ministers. However, in practice, many Governors have acted on their own, especially in reserving Bills for the President’s consideration.

Article 200

• Supreme Court must now come up with an authoritative decision so that uncooperative Governors do not use such grey areas to their advantage. It must also be clarified whether ‘withholding assent’ is a final act of rejection of a Bill or it needs a follow up action in the form of returning the Bill with a message for reconsideration by the House, as stated in the first proviso to Article 200.
• It is a settled position in Indian law now that Governor, while declaring that s/he withholds assent to a bill, will have to disclose the reason for such refusal; being a high constitutional authority, s/he cannot act in an arbitrary manner.
• A constitution bench of the Supreme Court in Rameshwar Prasad and Ors. vs Union Of India and Anr held that if the grounds for refusal disclose mala fide or extraneous considerations or ultra vires, the Governor’s action of refusal could be struck down as unconstitutional.
• Article 200 of Indian Constitution states that “When a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President.”
• The proviso bars Governors from withholding assent to any Bill they had returned for reconsideration and has been adopted again by the legislature.
• The issue has also highlighted constitutional ambiguities on the role of Governors. The ‘aid and advice’ clause that is at the core of parliamentary democracy is somewhat undermined by clauses that allow Governors to give themselves discretion they were never meant to have. Such provisions need wholesome reconsideration.

Conclusion

• The refusal of assent by a ‘rubber stamp’ or nominal head is not followed in other democratic countries(eg USA, UK). In some cases, the Constitution provides a remedy so that a Bill passed by the legislature can become law despite the refusal of assent. In this context, Indian Parliament should examine the role of Governor and end this constitutional deadlock.

General Studies Paper 3

Context:

• Indian economy has an income problem, not a growth problem. Incomes are not growing sufficiently or sustainably for very large numbers of people. Even though overall GDP growth is good, there is increasing pressure for reservations of jobs for all “economically weaker” sections regardless of caste or religion.

Growth and employment:

• Economists on both sides, for the government and those against it, are debating whether the economy is creating enough jobs and are questioning the veracity of the government’s data. Those against the government also want to show that the problem of growth with insufficient jobs has been created by the policies of the present government and not the previous one.

Jobs that are not ‘good’

• The overall problem of incomes in India, according to economists, is that insufficient numbers have moved out of agriculture into manufacturing. This has been the historical pattern for sustainable growth in all countries, including the U.S. a hundred years ago, and China more recently.
• India’s policymakers thought they had found a shortcut in the 1990s, directly from agriculture to services, with the boost in the growth of exportable Information Technology services.
• But there is very little room in high end services to absorb the large numbers of young Indians in need of jobs. Moreover, these jobs require levels of education that people in rural areas do not have. Therefore, when they move out of agriculture, they need work that fits their present abilities, and puts them onto a ladder that they can climb. They need jobs where they can learn higher skills and earn more.
• Labour intensive manufacturing, services, and construction provide them the first step. The millions of Indians who have moved out of agriculture in the last three decades moved into such jobs.
• The problem is that the jobs they have, irrespective of the sector, are not “good” jobs: they do not pay enough, they are temporary or on short contracts, and they do not provide social security or assistance to develop further skills.
• Even in large, modern, manufacturing enterprises, workers are employed through contractors to provide employers with “flexibility” to reduce costs. Contract workers are paid much less than regular workers. They have insecure employment and are not assisted to develop higher skills.

The world at a turning point

• New ideas of economics are required to create a more environmentally sustainable and socially harmonious future. New concepts of work are required; also new designs of enterprises in which the work is done; as well as new evaluations of the social and economic relationships between participants in these enterprises. The drive for green, organic, and “local” to reduce carbon emissions and improve care of the environment will make small enterprises beautiful again.
• “Economies of scope” will determine the viability of enterprises rather than “economies of scale”. Denser, local, economic webs will develop, rather than long, global supply chains through which specialised products made on scale in different parts of the world are connecting producers with consumers in other distant parts.

The economic value in caregiving

• Attention will shift towards creating genuine “social” enterprises, rather than enterprises for creating economic efficiencies and surpluses which corporate enterprises are designed for.
• Those who provide care, and their work of caregiving, must be valued more than economists value them today. In the present paradigm of economic growth, caregivers, traditionally women, are plucked out of families — which are a natural social enterprise — to work in factories, offices, and retail, in enterprises designed to produce monetary economic value.
• When economists measure women’s participation in the labour force, they value only what women do in formal enterprises for money. They seem to assign no value to the “informal” work they do outside their homes to earn money, whether as domestic caregivers in others’ homes or on family farms.
• The prevalent paradigm of economic theory is distorting social organisations, which families are, to suit the requirements of corporations, which are formal economic organisations. Thus, the money measured economy (GDP) grows, while the care that humans can and should give each other reduces.

Measurements of economic growth and employment

• It must not be mired any longer in 20th century concepts of economic growth. They must be reformed to reflect forms of work and enterprises we want more of in the future. For this paradigm shift, the process of policymaking must begin with listening to those who have not been given much value in the present economic paradigm: to workers, smallholding farmers, small entrepreneurs, and women. Presently, their views are overruled by those who have power in the present paradigm: experts in economics, large financial institutions, and large business corporations.

Conclusion:

• The lesson for policymakers is this: “Don’t count on historical statistics to guide good policy for the future: listen to the people and what matters to them.”