General Studies Paper 3

Context

• When the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was released in 2017, it revealed the unemployment rate of India to be 6.1%, the highest ever recorded in India. The PLFS of 2021-22 showed unemployment reducing to 4.1%, much lower than before, but higher than some developed economies.

Defining unemployment

• Unemployment is not synonymous with joblessness.
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines unemployment as being out of a job; being available to take a job; and actively engaged in searching for work.
• Therefore, an individual who has lost work but does not look for another job is not unemployed.
• The labour force is defined as the sum of the employed and the unemployed.
• Those neither employed nor unemployed — such as students and those engaged in unpaid domestic work — are considered out of the labour force.
• The unemployment rate is measured as the ratio of the unemployed to the labour force.
• The unemployment rate could also fall if an economy is not generating enough jobs, or if people decide not to search for work.

Measuring unemployment in India

• The situation is complicated in a developing economy, because decisions to search for work are constrained by social norms.
• According to a 2009-10 survey undertaken by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), 33.3% of rural women and 27.2% of urban women aged 15 and above who were engaged in domestic work reported willingness to work if it were made available within the premises of the household.
• Measuring unemployment in India is difficult due to the informal nature of jobs.
• Unlike developed economies, individuals do not hold one job year-round. An individual may be unemployed this week, but may have worked as a casual labourer last month, and as a farmer for most of the year.
• The NSSO adopts two major measures for classifying the working status of individuals in India — the Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status (UPSS) and the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
• An individual’s principal status, whether employed, unemployed or out of the labour force, is based on the activity in which they spent relatively long time in the previous year.
• A person who is not a worker, according to the principal status, would still be counted as employed according to the UPSS if they were engaged in some economic activity in a subsidiary role for a period not less than 30 days.
• The CWS adopts a shorter reference period of a week. An individual is counted as being employed if they have worked for at least one hour on at least one day during the seven days preceding the date of survey.
• UPSS unemployment rates will always be lower than CWS rates because there is a greater probability that an individual would find work over a year as compared to a week.

The lockdown effect

• The lockdown announced in March 2020 was a profound disruption to the Indian economy.
• But this wasn’t reflected in the PLFS unemployment rates, which covers a period between July of one year to June of the next.
• The lockdown would have been covered in the last quarter of the 2019-20 PLFS, its after-effects seen in the 2020-21 PLFS.
• However, unemployment rates — measured both by the UPSS and CWS standards — fell in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
• Unemployment spiked during the lockdown quarter, but reduced thereafter. The CWS unemployment over the year would not show such a high rise.

Conclusion

• Unemployment is shaping up to be an important factor in the upcoming election. In order to successfully tackle it, it is important to understand how it is defined and measured in a developing economy.

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — these two words capture a deep philosophy. It means ‘the world is one family’. During India’s G-20 Presidency, this has translated into a call for human-centric progress.

The post pandemic world

• The post-pandemic world order is very different from the world before it. There are three important changes, among others.
• First, there is a growing realisation that a shift away from a GDP-centric view of the world to a human-centric view is needed.
• Second, the world is recognising the importance of resilience and reliability in global supply chains.
• Third, there is a collective call for boosting multilateralism through the reform of global institutions.

G-20 Presidency

• Our G-20 Presidency has played the role of a catalyst in these shifts.
• In December 2022, when we took over the Presidency from Indonesia. This was especially needed in the context of mainstreaming the marginalised aspirations of developing countries, the Global South, and Africa.
• The Voice of Global South Summit, which witnessed participation from 125 countries, was one of the foremost initiatives under our Presidency.
• It was an important exercise to gather inputs and ideas from the Global South.
• Further, our Presidency has not only seen the largest-ever participation from African countries but has also pushed for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the G-20.
• The G-20 2023 Action Plan on Accelerating Progress on SDGs will spearhead the future direction of the G-20 towards implementing SDGs.
• We believe there is a need to move away from a purely restrictive attitude of what should not be done, to a more constructive attitude focusing on what can be done to fight climate change.
• The Chennai High Level Principles (HLPs) for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue Economy focus on keeping our oceans healthy.
• A global ecosystem for clean and green hydrogen will emerge from our Presidency, along with a Green Hydrogen Innovation Centre.

Global Biofuels Alliance

• In 2015, we launched the International Solar Alliance. Now, through the Global Biofuels Alliance, we will support the world to enable energy transitions in tune with the benefits of a circular economy.
• Just like Yoga became a global mass movement for wellness, we have also nudged the world with Lifestyles for Sustainable Environment (LiFE).
• Due to the impact of climate change, ensuring food and nutritional security will be crucial. Millets, or Shree Anna, can help with this while also boosting climate-smart agriculture.
• In the International Year of Millets, we have taken millets to global palates. The Deccan High Level Principles on Food Security and Nutrition is also helpful in this direction.
• Technology is transformative, but it also needs to be made inclusive. In the past, the benefits of technological advancements have not benefited all sections of society equally.
• For instance, the billions across the world that remain unbanked, or lack digital identities, can be financially included through digital public infrastructure (DPI).

Significance of G-20 Summit in India

• Our G-20 Presidency is working on bridging the gender digital divide, reducing labour force participation gaps and enabling a larger role for women in leadership and decision-making.
• For India, the G-20 Presidency is not merely a high-level diplomatic endeavour. As the Mother of Democracy and a model of diversity, we opened the doors of this experience to the world.
• The G-20 Presidency has become a people-driven movement. Over 200 meetings will have been organised in 60 Indian cities across the length and breadth of our nation.
• Our G-20 Presidency strives to bridge divides, dismantle barriers, and sow seeds of collaboration that nourish a world where unity prevails over discord, where shared destiny eclipses isolation.

Conclusion

• As the G-20 President, we had pledged to make the global table larger, ensuring that every voice is heard and every country contributes. We have matched our pledge with actions and outcomes.

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• Traditionally, Western powers have been the major donors of health aid while non-western nations have been the recipients. Aid of this kind has been a part of a country’s diplomatic toolkit, to be deployed judiciously in pursuit of geopolitical goals. During the Cold War, for instance, the two big powers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both developed and delivered vaccines against small pox and polio, in what came to be known as ‘vaccine diplomacy’.

Vaccine diplomacy

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time in history, three non-Western powers — Russia, China and India — dominated international vaccine diplomacy.
• These countries, which had long been recipients of health aid, finally made their debut on the world stage as vaccine inventors.
• Not only were they more proactive than Western powers in distributing vaccines to emerging markets, they did so at a time that was remarkable for two reasons — one, many countries were in desperate need of vaccines; and two, Western nations were hoarding vaccines.
• This provided an opening for non-Western powers to step in.
• Countries with an advantage in vaccine R&D would be more open to technology transfer; countries with greater manufacturing capability would be more likely to keep vaccine production within their borders than outsourcing it overseas; and countries with expansive distribution networks would prefer bilateral to multilateral distribution.

India’s massive donations

• As for India, the paper notes that the country was producing 60% of the world’s vaccines even before the pandemic.
• So India’s vaccine diplomacy was characterised by mass-production of Western-invented vaccines, prompt bilateral donations, and large-scale sales to bilateral buyers and multilateral COVAX initiative.
• The “Western-invented” Covishield was the major currency of India’s vaccine diplomacy, as it leveraged the massive capacity of SII, the world’s largest vaccine producer.
• India quickly rolled out large scale bilateral programs called ‘Vacciner Maitri’ (Vaccine Friendship).
• With more than 90 countries swiftly approaching India, neighbouring countries got priority access to India’s donations.
• One of India’s largest donations was to Nepal (1.1 million doses), where India and China are competing over influence.
• Myanmar, which also shares a border with both India and China, was another big beneficiary of India’s vaccine diplomacy.
• The paper notes two broad patterns in India’s vaccine diplomacy: a ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, and a preference for a range of Caribbean and African states with sizeable populations of Indian diaspora.
• But geopolitical interest was not India’s only consideration. Also important was the need to cover the cost of manufacturing.
• So, the sales versus donation conundrum was resolved. Thus India concentrated donations on countries with which it has strong geopolitical and economic ties, but it sold a much larger sum to relatively wealthy countries beyond its geopolitical reach.
• India’s vaccine diplomacy, however, was interrupted by the second wave of COVID-19, which hit India in early April 2021.
• Facing skyrocketing domestic demand amid spiralling infection rates, India banned all vaccine exports starting mid-April. This provided an opportunity for Chinese manufacturers to step up and fill the gap,

Suggestions

• Governmental support for industry could be a game-changer — both in enhancing vaccine R&D capability and increasing production capacity.
• Both Russian and Chinese governments poured vast resources into vaccine R&D, but the Indian government did not.
• Similarly, though China’s vaccine manufacturing capacity was initially moderate, the government poured in resources to help vaccine developers expand production and backed their marketing strategies abroad. In contrast, in India, SII and Bharat Biotech had to finance their own production without support from the Indian government.
• It was only in April 2021, amid the Delta wave, that the Indian government agreed to provide $600 million to these two companies to expand production.

Conclusion

• The slow and limited governmental support made it unavoidable for India to delay its promised vaccine delivery to COVAX and bilateral buyers by half a year. This has affected India’s reputation as a reliable vaccine supplier.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• While many countries are mulling incorporating ecocide into their respective legal frameworks, debate continues on how it can be criminalised, identifying the burden of proof, and – especially in India – how it will sit with other laws that keep the door open for environmental harm on various grounds.

Defining Eocide and Ecocide

• Ecocide, derived from Greek and Latin, translates to “killing one’s home” or “environment”.
• Such ‘killing’ could include port expansion projects that destroy fragile marine life and local livelihoods; deforestation; illegal sand-mining; and polluting rivers with untreated sewage.
• Ecocide constitutes the unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

Ecocide – A crime

• Ecocide is a crime in 11 countries, with 27 others considering laws to criminalise environmental damage that is wilfully caused and harms humans, animals, and plants.
• The European Parliament voted unanimously this year to enshrine ecocide in law.
• Most national definitions penalise “mass destruction of flora and fauna”, “poisoning the atmosphere or water resources” or “deliberate actions capable of causing an ecological disaster.”
• None of the existing international criminal laws protect the environment as an end in itself, and that’s what the crime of ecocide does.
• The movement also responds to harsh climate realities. Over a third of the earth’s animal and plant species could be extinct by 2050. Unprecedented heat waves have broken records worldwide. Changing rainfall schemes have disrupted flood and drought patterns.

The purpose

• The purpose of ecocide laws is to define the “significant harm” of environmental damage, together with accountability and liability.
• Deforestation of the Amazon, deep-sea trawling or even the catastrophic 1984 Bhopal gas disaster could have been avoided with ecocide laws in place, according to Stop Ecocide International.
• These laws could also hold individuals at the helms of corporations accountable.
• That something is morally questionable usually doesn’t hinder investment.
• Laws provide boundaries and sanctions for investment, as no company or organisation – such as the World Bank – would want to invest in something potentially criminal.
• Ecocide laws could also double up as calls for justice for low- and middle-income countries disproportionately affected by climate change.

India’s stance

• Some Indian judgments have affirmed the legal personhood of nature by recognising rivers as legal entities with the right to maintain their spirit, identity, and integrity.
• More importantly, some others have used the term ‘ecocide’ in passing but the concept hasn’t fully materialised in law.
• India’s legislative framework vis-à-vis environmental and ecological governance includes the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986, the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, and the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAMPA) 2016, as well as separate Rules to prevent air and water pollution.
• According to Prof. Siddiqui, these separate laws have to be consolidated into a unified code and institutions have to be streamlined so that debates like the one about ecocide and rights of nature find “their proper way through legal channels.
• Notably, the National Green Tribunal, India’s apex environmental statutory body, does not have the jurisdiction to hear matters related to the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the Indian Forest Act 1927, and other State-enacted laws.
• As a result, mining of sand on the banks of the Chambal river or the Himachal floods would qualify as being environmental crimes under the current articulation.

Way forward

• Even before ecocide laws come up internationally, India needs to first bring its [environmental] laws in tune with the idea of ecocide.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Observations from Adtiya L1 will help us understand the dynamics of the Sun and how solar variability impacts the climate on Earth and affects the space weather.

Monitoring the Sun

• Discovered by mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange, L1 is one of the five points located approximately 1.5 million kilometres away, where the gravitational forces of the Sun and the Earth are in equilibrium.
• Hence, a spacecraft placed at L1 orbits the Sun at the same rate as Earth and affords an uninterrupted view of the Sun, making it an ideal observation post for space-based solar observatories.
• The L1 is currently home to the European Space Agency (ESA)- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observing the Sun and its dynamics.
• Aditya L1 will join this observatory to unravel the mysteries of the dynamics of the Sun.
• Launched on September 2, the craft will undergo five orbit-raising manoeuvres before being slingshot to the L1 point.
• The ship will coast for about four months before it reaches L1. At that stage, the thrusters will be fired to make the craft circle around the L1, placing it in what is known as a halo orbit around L1.
• From this vantage point, Aditya L1 can observe the Sun 24X7 using its four remote sensing payloads, and measure in-situ the various parameters of space weather.

To understand climate variability

• Like a heartbeat, solar activity is measured in terms of the number of sunspots.
• Sunspots are cooler regions on the Sun’s surface which increase and decrease in a cycle of 11 years.
• When the Sun is active, the number of sunspots is in the hundreds, and at solar minimum, the numbers are nearly zero.
• Whatever changes we observe in the solar radiation, nearly 80% occur in the ultraviolet range.
• The Earth’s upper atmosphere absorbs most of the solar UV rays. The absorbed energy affects the atmosphere’s composition, temperature and other parameters.
• The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) developed by the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics, will observe the UV radiation from different zones of the solar atmosphere.
• The onboard intelligence system will detect any sudden appearance of bright spots, such as solar flares on the disc.
• Observing the Sun using the SUIT will enable us to better understand climate variation on Earth.

Looking deeper

• At times, the Sun sneezes. Like a tongue of fire, a chunk of the corona suddenly accelerates and leaps into interplanetary space.
• Called Coronal Mass ejection (CME), this cloud consisting of billion tonnes of energetic plasma mixed with a solar magnetic field is hurled at 250 kilometres per second to 3,000 km/s.
• Usually, the corona is not visible in the glare of the radiant Sun, except during the brief moment of a total solar eclipse.
• However, solar physicists can create artificial eclipses in the solar telescope, called coronograph, to observe the corona.
• The Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) developed by the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics in close collaboration with the ISRO can peek as close as 1.05 solar radii, a region never imaged by any solar telescope.

Conclusion

• Earth’s climate has definitely changed. Global warming is real. The data from SUIT and other papers of Aditya L1 will help us resolve the contribution of natural and anthropogenic factors driving climate change.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Gender equality and environmental goals are mutually reinforcing and create a virtuous circle that will help accelerate the achievement of the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals].

Impacts of climate change

• The impact of climate change is one that has profound consequences for humans and has emerged as one of the biggest global challenges in recent decades.
• The effects of climate change vary according to location, socioeconomic status, and gender.
• An International Labour Organization study (2019) said that in 2030, 2.2 percent of total working hours worldwide will be lost to high temperatures, a productivity loss equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs.
• The United Nations (2009) highlighted that across genders, women are considered to be highly vulnerable and disproportionately affected by climate change than men to the impact of climate change.

Felt more in low-income countries

• However, women in developing and less developed countries (especially in low-income areas) are more vulnerable to climate change because of their dependence on natural resources and labour-intensive work for their livelihood.
• Women are more likely to live in poverty than men, which is just one of several social, economic, and cultural variables that makes them more susceptible to the effects of climate change.
• Women from low-income households are more at risk because they are more responsible for food, water, and other homely unpaid work.
• Women may be at increased risk for health and safety because they must travel long distances every day to collect water and fuel.
• This is why climate change has a disproportionate effect on rural women.
• Women in low-income countries (predominantly South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) engage in climate-vulnerable occupations such as farming and other labour-intensive work.
• According to the ILO, over 60% of working women in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are still in agriculture, where they are often underpaid and overworked.
• Despite being the backbone of the food production system, women own only about 10% of the land used for farming.

Gender-specific issues

• According to a UN study, most (80%) of those displaced by climate-related disasters are women and girls.
• When women are uprooted, they are more susceptible to prejudice and exploitation.
• For instance, after the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) found women were more exposed to trafficking and exploitation.
• Separation from social networks, a higher risk of gender-based violence, and decreased access to employment, education, and essential health services, such as sexual and reproductive health care and psychosocial support, are just some gender-specific issues women face.

Impacts on agriculture and food security

• Climate change impacts agricultural productivity negatively and significantly.
• Heat stress affects workers a lot in this sector, especially in South Asia and Africa.
• Changing precipitation patterns and more frequent extreme weather events are just the beginning of the problems.
• Their effects on crop production and food security fall disproportionately on these people, who already face significant challenges in obtaining resources, expertise, and technology.
• Women engaged in agriculture do not have access to quality inputs and possess low education and technical knowledge.
• Various studies also reflect how flooding has increased water scarcity and also violence against and the exploitation of women.

Invest in women’s education, training

• According to estimates, 130 million people could be pushed into poverty by 2050 due to climate change risks, natural disasters, and food inflation, impacting women’s inequality.
• Investments in women’s education, training, and access to resources are essential if we are to be resilient to the impact of climate change.
• Reduce the negative impacts of climate change on people’s living standards by teaching them how to practise sustainable agriculture, water management, and energy generation.
• For example, in India, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) teaches women farmers how to respond to shifting climate patterns to support themselves better financially.

Conclusion

Women’s participation in climate policy decision-making at all levels is crucial for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies as well as getting decent employment. As women face greater risks in climate change, gender parity in decision-making bodies is essential.

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• Despite being a major food producer with extensive food security schemes and the largest public distribution system in the world, India still grapples with significant levels of food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition.

Index and Report

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2022, ranked India 107 among 121 countries, behind Nigeria (103) and Pakistan (99).
• The GHI provides a composite measurement and tracks undernourishment and hunger at the national level across three dimensions: calorie undernourishment, child malnutrition, and under-five mortality.
• According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report of 2022, India is home to 224.3 million undernourished people.
• Leveraging subnational data that encompasses the three dimensions of the GHI enables the development of an India-specific hunger index at the level of States and Union Territories.
• This plays a pivotal role in evaluating the extent of undernourishment at a more localised scale, which is critical for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of eradicating hunger and malnutrition.

The State Hunger Index

• The GHI is computed using four indicators — the prevalence of calorie undernourishment; and of stunting, wasting, and mortality among children below the age of five; and under-five mortality rate.
• The State Hunger Index (SHI) is calculated using the same indicators except calorie undernourishment, which is replaced by body mass index (BMI) undernourishment among the working-age population, as data on calorie undernourishment are not available since 2012.
• Data for stunting, wasting, and mortality among children below the age of five are sourced from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), while the prevalence of BMI undernourishment is computed using NFHS-5 (2019-21) and Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (2017-18).
• The calculation of the SHI score involves combining the normalised values of the four indicators using the techniques recommended by the GHI.
• The SHI scores range between 0 and 100, with higher scores indicating more hunger.
• Scores below 10 signify low hunger, 10-20 moderate, 20-30 serious, 30-40 alarming, and 50 or above extremely alarming.

The Data

• In the SHI, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh scored 35, which places them in the ‘alarming’ category.
• Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, and West Bengal all scored above the national average (29).
• On the other hand, Chandigarh scored 12, and Sikkim, Puducherry, and Kerala all scored below 16.
• These States, along with Manipur, Mizoram, Punjab, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Tamil Nadu, fall under the ‘moderate hunger’ category.
• All the other States, which scored below the national average and above 20, have a problem of ‘serious hunger’. No State falls under the ‘low hunger’ category. The impact of COVID-19 on the SHI is not captured here since post-pandemic estimates are not yet available.

Facing the reality

• While the GHI has faced significant criticism from experts regarding its conceptualisation, indicator selection, and aggregation methods, it does provide critical insight into the state of undernourishment and child nutrition.
• India’s poor performance in the GHI is primarily attributed to its high prevalence of undernourishment and child malnutrition.
• India ranks unfavourably in child wasting, performing worse than many low-income African nations.
• The NFHS-5 indicated that one-third of children under the age of five are stunted and underweight, while every fifth child suffers from wasting.

Conclusion

• Despite India’s notable progress in alleviating extreme poverty over the last 15 years, as indicated by the recent National Multidimensional Poverty Index, challenges persist in addressing the disparity in food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition.

General Studies Paper 1

Context

• In its judgment recently a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India, comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and others interpreted the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 and gave a binding declaration of the law interpreting the Act, which, under the constitutional scheme, becomes the law of the land and binds all courts within the territory of India under Article 141 of the Constitution of India.

Constitutional basis to an assurance

• The Preamble to the Act states: “An Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
• The law has been enacted to fulfil two purposes. First, it prohibits the conversion of any place of worship. In doing so, it speaks to the future by mandating that the character of a place of public worship shall not be altered.
• Second, the law seeks to impose a positive obligation to maintain the religious character of every place of worship as it existed on 15 August 1947 when India achieved independence from colonial rule.

Places of worship

• “Place of worship” includes temple, mosque, gurudwara, church, monastery or any other place of public religious worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof, by whatever name called.
• Parliament determined that independence from colonial rule furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past by providing the confidence to every religious community that their places of worship will be preserved and that their character will not be altered.
• The law speaks to our history and to the future of the nation. Cognizant as we are of our history and of the need for the nation to confront it, Independence was a watershed moment to heal the wounds of the past.
• Historical wrongs cannot be remedied by the people taking the law in their own hands.

Issues

• The Bench has singularly failed to follow a binding precedent to which Justice Chandrachud himself was a party in the Ram Janmabhoomi temple case.
• There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Gyanvapi mosque has been a place of public worship for centuries for Muslims and, therefore, there is an absolute and total bar on changing its character in any manner, into a place of worship of a different religious denomination.
• The Supreme Court has completely overlooked that the obligations under the Act were upon the state as also on every citizen of the nation and those who govern the affairs of the nation at every level were bound by it.
• The Supreme Court is the ultimate custodian of constitutional values and morality.
• Applying the spirit of the judgment of Ram Janmabhoomi temple case, the three courts ought to have been extraordinarily mindful about the rights and feelings of the minority community.
• Bigotry during parts of the Islamic period has always stood condemned; in fact that led to the rise of the powerful Marathas, Rajputs and Sikhs, resulting in overthrowing the Muslim empire.

The opening of a Pandora’s box

• We must remember that while injustice was done to the Hindus by Muslim rulers, democratic India cannot perpetuate them to undo them.
• One can only remember that rulers like Akbar respected Hindus and allowed religious freedom to them.
• The Bhakti movement which produced some of the greatest saints such as Chaitanya, Surdas, Tulsidas, Gopala Bhatt, Sankardeva, Eknath, Tukaram, Dadu, Meera Bai, and Guru Nanak raised the status of non-Brahmins, especially Dalits amongst Hindus. In that sense, religion was democratise.

Conclusion

• When history is written in future, there should not be any reference that the Hindus of the 21st century indulged in religious bigotry. For over 5,000 years Hinduism has been a way of life and one of the greatest religions marked by Liberalism, Tolerance and Absorption. Let us hope for peace and prosperity in our beloved India.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Inflation, monsoon pose fresh risks even as residual stress lingers in economy.

Growth of Indian economy

• India’s economy, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as the Gross Value Added (GVA), grew 7.8% in the first quarter (Q1) of the year.
• This is the highest GDP uptick in four quarters, but slightly underwhelming relative to the 8% growth estimated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• The central bank’s 6.5% growth projection for 2023-24 factors in a decline in the uptick rate in each of the subsequent quarters of this year, culminating at 5.7% in the final quarter.
• One will have to wait till October’s meeting of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to assess how this math is reworked, although the Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran believes these GDP numbers do not signal any discomfort in hitting the 6.5% mark for the full year.
• India remains the fastest growing major economy by a comfortable margin, with China recording a 6.3% rise in the same quarter and facing a fresh slowdown.

The sectors

• Farm sector GVA maintained its growth pace to rise 3.5% in Q1, but may taper off thanks to the monsoon’s tepid progress and the fear that low reservoir levels may also hurt the rabi crop.
• The headline growth rates for the services sectors were robust.
• Trade, hotels and transport rose 9.2%, but in absolute terms, the employment-intensive segment remained 1.9% below pre-COVID-19 levels, indicating the recovery is still incomplete.
• While the government has been asserting that the private investment cycle has finally taken off, the gross fixed capital formation trends indicate it is still government capital spending that is doing the heavy lifting.
• Manufacturing GVA grew for the second successive quarter after six months of contraction, but only accelerated slightly so a broader rebound in consumption demand is likely still awaited.
• Private consumption spending rose 6% but economists believe this is still dominated by demand from high income earners.
• Depending on how long the current streak of spiked inflation, especially in food items, persists, demand from lower income segments would be dented afresh.
• A feeble recovery in rural demand could also come undone if farm incomes take a hit. Interventions to counter inflation, such as export curbs on rice and onions, will hurt growth and the external trade balance, while relief measures, such as the ₹200 cut in LPG cylinder prices, that may proliferate ahead of the general election, also pose risks to the fiscal math and growth.

Conclusion

• The months ahead could prove to be more challenging with global headwinds that have hit goods exports and manufacturing already, combining with domestic pressures from the renewed spurt in inflation and the likelihood of a weak monsoon playing truant with crop yields and farm incomes.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• Restoring popular rule in J&K and its statehood ought to be a priority

About

• Four years after the State’s status was downgraded to that of a Union Territory, all that the Union government can say about it now is that the status as a Union Territory is temporary and that it is taking steps towards making J&K a complete State.
• When queried by the Supreme Court Bench, which is hearing the challenge to the abrogation of J&K’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, about a timeline for the return of Statehood, the Solicitor-General said he was unable to give an exact time period.
• It is true that the State had faced disturbances for decades, but whether it can still be cited as the reason for the delay in restoration of statehood is a relevant question to raise.
• Alongside the President’s declaration of Article 370 as inoperative and the application of the whole of the Constitution to J&K, the State was reorganised into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, with a Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh, without an Assembly.
• The Centre favours holding of panchayat and municipal elections as well as polls to the Assembly.
• The Election Commission of India and the State’s Election Commission will have to take a call soon, as even the work of updating the electoral rolls is said to be nearing completion.

Challenges

• Given the government’s claim that the situation is quite normal and that terrorism, infiltration and incidents of stone-throwing have all substantially come down, it is difficult to account for any further delay in the holding of elections.
• However, the picture of normality portrayed by the government should not, and is unlikely to, influence the adjudication of the constitutional issues arising from the manner in which the abrogation of special status was achieved.
• As the Chief Justice of India, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, observed during the proceedings, the development work the government says it has undertaken after August 2019 is not relevant to the constitutional challenge.

Conclusion

• Any positive change brought about by the administration in the ground situation should be a pointer to the need for early elections and the restoration of popular government as well as Statehood and should not be used to demonstrate the correctness of the government’s actions in 2019.