Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2 

The Prime Minister inaugurated the Digital India Week 2022.

• The theme for Digital India Week 2022: Catalyzing New India’s Techade.
• The programme will celebrate the anniversary of Digital India and demonstrate how public digital platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, Cowin, Digilocker etc. have enabled ease of living for citizens.
• Multiple digital initiatives were launched.
• PM launched ‘Digital India Bhashini’, ‘Digital India GENESIS’ and ‘Indiastack global’; also dedicates ‘MyScheme’ and ‘Meri Pehchaan’.
• The first cohort of 30 Institutions to be supported under Chips to Startup Programme were also announced

Initiatives launched:

Digital India Bhashini

• ‘Digital India Bhashini’ will enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages.
• The key intervention in building AI-based language technology solutions for Indian languages will be the creation of multilingual datasets.
• Digital India Bhashini will enable massive citizen engagement to build datasets through a crowd sourcing initiative called Bhasha Daan.

Digital India GENESIS

• ‘Digital India GENESIS’ (Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups) – a National Deep-tech Startup Platform, to discover, support, grow and make successful startups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India.

Indiastack.global

• ‘Indiastack.global’ – a global repository of key projects implemented under India Stack like Aadhaar, UPI, Digilocker, Cowin Vaccination Platform, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), DIKSHA Platform and Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission.

MyScheme –

• A service discovery platform facilitating access to Government Schemes.
• It aims to offer a one-stop search and discovery portal where users can find schemes that they are eligible for.

Meri Pehchaan

• National Single Sign On for One Citizen Login.
• National Single Sign-On (NSSO) is a user authentication service in which a single set of credentials provide access to multiple online applications or services.

Chips to Startup Programme

• The C2S Programme aims to train specialized manpower in the area of design of semiconductor chips at Bachelors, Masters and Research levels, and act as a catalyst for the growth of Startups involved in semiconductor design in the country.
• It offers to mentor at the organisational level and makes available State-of-the-art facilities for design to the institutions.
• This is part of the India Semiconductor Mission to build a strong design ecosystem in semiconductors.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

• The Sahar, Sehariya, or Sahariya is an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh and some districts of Rajasthan.
• They are classified as particularly vulnerable tribal groups.
• The Sahariya community considers every adult member part of a governing council which is headed by a patel.
• The Sahariyas are expert woodsmen and forest product gatherers.
• They are particularly skilled in making catechu from Khair trees.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

• PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups.
• In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups.
• In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as PVTGs.
• PVTGs have some basic characteristics – they are mostly homogenous, with a small population, relatively physically isolated, absence of written language, relatively simple technology and a slower rate of change etc.
• Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

What is the NIA?

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008.
• It is a central agency mandated to investigate all the offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, friendly relations with foreign states, and the offences under the statutory laws enacted to implement international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its agencies and other international organisations.
• These include terror acts and their possible links with crimes like smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders.
• The agency has the power to search, seize, arrest and prosecute those involved in such offences.
• Headquartered in Delhi, the NIA has its branches in many cities of India.

When did the NIA come into being?

• In the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in November 2008, GoI decided to establish the NIA.
• The agency came into existence on December 31, 2008, and started its functioning in 2009.
• Government stated that the agency would deal with only eight laws mentioned in the schedule and that a balance had been struck between the right of the State and duties of the Central government to investigate the more important cases.

What are the scheduled offences?

The list includes the

• Explosive Substances Act,
• Atomic Energy Act,
• Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,
• Anti-Hijacking Act, Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act,
• SAARC Convention (Suppression of Terrorism) Act,
• Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act,
• Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act and relevant offences under the Indian Penal Code,
• Arms Act and the Information Technology Act.

In September 2020, the Centre empowered the NIA to also probe offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act that are connected to terror cases.

How wide is NIA’s jurisdiction?

The law under which the agency operates

• Extends to the whole of India and also applies to Indian citizens outside the country;
• Persons in the service of the government wherever they are posted;
• Persons on ships and aircraft registered in India wherever they may be;
• Persons who commit a scheduled offence beyond India against the Indian citizen or affecting the interest of India.

How does the NIA take up a probe?

• As provided under Section 6 of the Act, State governments can refer the cases pertaining to the scheduled offences to the Central government for NIA investigation.
• Even when the Central government is of the opinion that a scheduled offence has been committed which is required to be investigated under the Act, it may, suo moto, direct the agency to take up/over the probe
• Where the Central government finds that a scheduled offence has been committed at any place outside India to which this Act extends, it can also direct the NIA to register the case and take up investigation.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India’s largest floating solar plant is now fully operational at Ramagundam in Telangana’s Peddapalli district.

• The 100-megawatt (MW) floating solar power photovoltaic project was commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation.
• As of July 1, following the commissioning of the plant, the total commercial operation of floating solar capacity in the southern region has risen to 217 MW.

What are floating solar plants?

• Solar plants or solar farms can be either ground-mounted or set up on the surface of waterbodies.
• Floating farms are a bit more expensive than the traditional ones mounted on land surfaces, there are many advantages of floating farms
• Floating farms do not require land to be acquired for the installation of photovoltaic panels.
• They are more efficient as the presence of water underneath helps them keep cool.
• They also reduce water evaporation, thereby saving more water for hydropower generation.

How are these panels kept floating?

• The solar modules are placed on floaters manufactured with high-density polyethene material that keeps floating irrespective of water-level fluctuations.
• The entire spread is divided into blocks, each of these blocks consists of a floating platform and an array of solar modules.
• The floating platform consists of an inverter, transformer, and a high-tension circuit breaker.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India has a grim record in police brutality and custodial violence.

• Between 2001 and 2018, 1,727 persons died in police custody, but only 26 policemen were convicted for such deaths.
• The recent spate of custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu has yet again highlighted the methods used by the police during interrogation.
• Custodial deaths are common despite enormous time and money being spent on training police personnel to embrace scientific methods of investigation.

Use of technology

• Given the problem of custodial deaths, technology has been proposed as a silver bullet by many.
• Several technological solutions are available to help prevent custodial deaths.

Technologies used

• This includes body cameras and automated external defibrillators. These technologies help avert police custodial deaths.
• For example, body cameras could hold officers liable.
• Deception detection tests (DDTs), which deploy technologies such as polygraph, narco-analysis and brain mapping, are valuable in learning information that is known only to a criminal regarding a crime.
• Among the DDTs, the Brain Fingerprinting System (BFS) has proved helpful for solving crimes, identifying perpetrators, and exonerating innocent suspects.
• There is increasing use of robots for surveillance and bomb detection.
• Many departments want robotic interrogators for interrogating suspects
• Robots equipped with AI and sensor technology can build a rapport with the suspects, utilise persuasive techniques like flattery, shame and coercion, and strategically
• ML can in real-time alert superiors when police are meting out inhumane treatment to suspects.

Concerns

• There is a lot of concern about AI or robot interrogations, both legally and ethically.
• There exists the risk of bias, the peril of automated interrogation tactics, the threat of ML algorithms targeting individuals and communities, and the hazard of its misuse for surveillance.
• Therefore, while the technology available to the police and law-enforcement agencies is constantly improving, it is a restricted tool that can’t eradicate custodial deaths.
• While it might provide comfort and transparency, it can never address the underlying issues that lead to these situations.

Way forward

• There is a need for multi-pronged strategy by the decision-makers encompassing legal enactments, technology, accountability, training and community relations.
• The Law Commission of India’s proposition in 2003 to change the Evidence Act to place the onus of proof on the police for not having tortured suspects should be considered.
• Stringent action must be taken against personnel who breach the commandments issued by the apex court in K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1997) – a landmark judgment given by the apex court in the case of an increasing number of custodial deaths in India.
• The draft bill on the Prevention of Torture, 2017 needs to be revived.
• Technology may make policing more convenient, but it can never be an alternative for compassionate policing established on trust between the police and the citizens.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Prime Minister to launch year-long celebrations to remember contributions of Alluri Sitarama Raju.

• Prime Minister will launch the year-long celebrations on the 125th birth anniversary of Alluri, enabling a new generation to be aware of the heroics of Alluri and the sacrifices he made for the tribal community.

Alluri Sitarama Raju

• Alluri Sitarama Raju was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed campaign against British colonial rule in India.
• Born on July 4, 1897, into a humble middle-class family in a small village near the Coastal city of Visakhapatnam.

Freedom Struggle

• Sitarama Raju, under the influence of Gandhi’s Non-cooperation movement, inspired the tribals to seek justice in the local panchayat courts and boycott the colonial courts.
• He made Adivasi areas in the Eastern Ghats and started to work for the Adivasis, who were living in abject poverty and being fleeced by police, forest and revenue officials, in ‘Manyam’ (forest area).
• He became involved in anti-British activities in response to the 1882 Madras Forest Act, which effectively restricted the free movement of Adivasis in their forest habitats and prevented them from practicing a traditional form of agriculture known as podu.
• As a result, in August 1922, he launched the Rampa Rebellion against the British
• Alluri Sitarama Raju, along with 500 tribals, attacked the police stations of Chintapalli, Krishnadevipeta, and Rajavommangi and walked away with 26 police carbine rifles and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
• Though his battle with the British lasted only for two years, he made an indelible mark in the history of the Indian Freedom Struggle and found a permanent place in the hearts of the countrymen.
• In 1924, Raju was taken into police custody, tied to a tree, and shot by a public execution, effectively ending the armed rebellion.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

MoEFCC has notified Forest (conservation) Rules 2022, under the Forest (conservation) Act, 1980.

New Rules

• On Monitoring: Constitute an advisory committee, a regional empowered committee and a screening committee at the State/UT
• Integrated Regional Office: It will examine all the linear projects (e.g. roads, highways, etc) involving land up to 40 hectares and the use of forest land up to 0.7 canopy density
• Time Frame: A fixed time for quicker review of each project
• Responsibility to States: States are given the responsibility of settling forest rights of forest dwellers (Forest Rights Act, 2006) and allowing diversion of forest land.
• Allows Compensatory Afforestation (CA) in Other States: If the state already has over two-thirds area under green cover or over one-third area under forest cover, then CA could be taken in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%

Previously, the government has started to rank state environment impact assessment authorities (SEIAAs) based on the speed at which they cleared proposals and provided environmental clearance for projects.

MoEF proposes amendments in Environment Protection Act 1986

• Decriminalize provisions: The ministry has proposed the removal of imprisonment as a penalty for the “less severe’’ contraventions and replace it with monetary penalty.
• However, serious violations of EPA which lead to grievous injury or loss of life shall be covered under the provision of Indian Penal Code.
• EPA provisions will be in force for penal provisions of the single use plastic ban which has come into force from today.
• Current Provisions: Under the current provisions of the EPA, the violator can be punished with imprisonment up to five years or with a fine up to Rs 1,00,000, or with both.
• Creation of an “Environmental Protection Fund’’: To remit the amount of penalty

About EPA: Enacted under Article 253 of the Constitution, the EPA came into force in 1986. The Act establishes “the framework for studying, planning, and implementing long-term requirements of environmental safety and laying down a system of speedy and adequate response to situations threatening the environment.”

Three Main Entities Responsible for Environmental Laws in India:

• Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change
• Central Pollution Control Board at the National level
• State Pollution Control Boards at the State level

The Main Environmental Laws in India are: 

• Environmental (Protection) Act 1986
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981
• Rules made under the above acts

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The government has transformed Banks Board Bureau (BBB) into Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) by making some amendments.

Financial Services Institutions Bureau

Aim:

• It will make recommendations for appointments of full-time directors as well as the non-executive chairman of banks and financial institutions.
• Issues guidelines to select general managers and directors of public sector general insurance companies.

Amendment required:

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has asked the Department of Financial Services to carry out necessary modifications in the Nationalized Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme of 1970/1980 with the approval of the Finance Minister, and then notify the government resolution for establishing FSIB as a single entity

 Why the need for revamping:-

• Delhi HC order: Delhi high court last year observed that the bureau was not a competent body to recommend appointments at PSU general insurers, and held that circulars enabling BBB to select general managers and directors of PSU insurers were not legally valid. Thus, the need for an overhaul.
• Slow Recruitment Process: Despite the BBB’s good work, recruitment to a higher level has been slow. Also, BBB’s extended two-year term ended, and new recruitment can restart only when a new body is in place.

About BBB:

It was set up in February 2016 as an autonomous body– based on the recommendations of the RBI-appointed Nayak Committee.

• It was part of the Indradhanush Plan.
• It will make recommendations for the appointment of whole-time directors as well as non-executive chairpersons of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and state-owned financial institutions.
• The Ministry of Finance takes the final decision on the appointments in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Composition:

Banks Board Bureau comprises the Chairman, three ex-officio members i.e Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services and Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and five expert members, two of which are from the private sector.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

In recent times, India’s optical fibre industry has seen unfair competition from cheap imports from China, Indonesia and South Korea. These countries have been dumping their products in India at rates lower than the market price.

What is Dumping?

When the goods are exported by a country to a foreign country at a price lower than the price it charges in its own home market is called dumping.

• Dumping is a situation of international price discrimination this unfair trade practice has a negative impact on international trade.

Dumping is legal: Under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, dumping is illegal only if the foreign country can reliably show the negative effects the exporting firm has caused its domestic producers.

• In order to protect domestic producers from dumping, countries use tariffs and quotas.

What is “Anti-dumping”?

Anti-dumping is a protectionist tariff, imposed by a domestic government on foreign imports that are at a price lower than the price it normally charges in its own home market.

• Anti-dumping duty is imposed as a remedy to the distortive trade which arises due to the dumping of goods. This tool of fair competition is permitted by the WTO.
• From a long-term perspective, anti-dumping duties can reduce the international competition of domestic companies producing similar goods.

Difference between anti-dumping duty and Countervailing duty?

Countervailing Duty: It is a customs duty on those goods that have received some kind of government subsidies whether in the originating or exporting country.

• Whereas, anti-dumping duty is a form of customs duty on imports. It actually provides protection against the dumping of goods at prices substantially lower than the normal value.

Sunset clause for Anti-Dumping Duty:

Unless revoked earlier, the validity of anti-dumping duty is for five years from the date of imposition. It can be extended for a further period of five years through a sunset or expiry review investigation.

Which authority in India administers trade remedial measures like anti-dumping?

Directorate General of Trade Remedies, the apex national authority under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry administers all trade remedial measures.

• Trade remedial measures include anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures.
• Its job is to provide trade defence support to the domestic industry.
• It provides safeguards to the exporters in dealing with increasing instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India’s aspiration to become a $5-trillion economy is predicated on the growth of its international trade to $2 trillion by 2030, equally contributed to by merchandise and services. This translates into a three-fold growth or almost 20 per cent CAGR over this period.

• Expectation of services exports to overtake merchandise and manufacturing, or at least be on par.
• But possible only if services are viewed from the same prism as manufacturing in terms of fiscal encouragement and incentives.
• While around 50 per cent and more of services exports are contributed by IT-ITES, which continues to innovate its offerings and grow, the rest is the input from management, legal, accounting, logistics, travel and tourism, education, healthcare, etc.
• Services sectors beyond IT require careful nurturing, especially capex-intensive sectors like hospitality, healthcare and education.

Concerns in the Services Industry

Even though it comprises over 50 percent of the GDP, the services sector does not receive the recognition — and more importantly, the encouragement in the form of incentives — it deserves.

1. The perception at one level of the sector as comprising only IT: And the IT Sector has flourished because of minimum government intervention. Ergo, the sector as a whole does not require any hand holding. This is a fallacious perspective.
2. Not Recognising and celebrating: In the year 2021-22, services exports had exceeded $254 billion, an increase of over 20 per cent year-on-year, even though contribution from three sectors — education, healthcare and especially travel and tourism — was overall reduced by over $20 billion because of travel restrictions during the pandemic.

• Further, consider that merchandise and manufacturing exports are $200 billion-negative in that we imported $600 billion versus our exports of over $400 billion. Services exports, by contrast, were over $100 billion-positive, underlining the importance of ensuring that the growth trajectory in services exports is maintained.

3.Lack of Incentives:

• During the reign of MEIS (Merchandise Exports Incentive Scheme), merchandise exporters benefited to the extent of over Rs 40,000 crore in 2018-19, whereas under the corresponding SEIS (Services Exports Incentive Scheme) exporters could avail of only a tenth of that amount.
• Even though SEIS is committed under the Foreign Trade Policy, it was only through intense advocacy that a sum of Rs 2,000 crore was finally earmarked for services exports for 2019-20, largely on compassionate grounds as sectors like travel and tourism had suffered immensely due to Covid restrictions.
• These incentives cannot be viewed as charitable handouts — they serve to make businesses internationally competitive as well as recognise contributions made by service providers. These incentives are clearly temporary impetus providers and there must be a slew of economic measures with both long-term effects and benefits for services.

The Way Forward

To quadruple services exports over the next 7-8 years is surely a herculean task and certainly not achievable unless there is a strategic road map with the right sort of government intervention.

• Focus to move beyond IT: The burden cannot be only on the IT sector, which at present contributes around 55 per cent of total services exports. Clearly, other sectors will have to bring exponential growth to the table.
• Triple International arrivals & make India ready to attend to them: Government needs to embark on a crash programme to enhance infrastructure.

• While the government can work on physical connectivity through public-private partnerships by building more airports and highways, it will require individual entrepreneurship to increase the hospitality quotient by adding more hotel rooms.
• The government provides attractive incentives, including direct taxation for green field projects in the manufacturing sector. The same blueprint must be initiated for the services sectors, especially in the building of hotels, hospitals and universities, with an emphasis on those that attract forex.

• Incentives Services Sector: With a similar scheme like Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme with a well-laid-out process that ensures capex investment, resulting in increased productivity and avenues for employment. It can be introduced for services with substantial scope for capex in areas like hospitality, education and health care.

Conclusion

Services Sector

In these adverse times, if economic momentum has to be sustained and every initiative and effort has to be made to yield the desired result, then the perception of services, especially their exports, must radically transform. This is also to ensure that as a major economy, India’s reliance should be on multiple horses in the race — manufacturing and services.

About the Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)

• Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) aims to promote export of services from India by providing duty scrip credit for eligible exports.
• A Duty Credit Scrip is like a credit certificate issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and can be used to pay various duties/taxes to the Central Govt.
• Service providers of eligible services shall be entitled to duty credit scrip at notified rates on the net foreign exchange earned.
• Duty credit scrips can be used for the payment of custom duties, excise duties, GST on procurement of services etc.
• Further, the SEIS scheme has given relaxation to the actual user condition and duty credit scrips and goods imported using duty credit scrips are freely transferable. Duty credit scrip would be valid for a period of 18 months from the date of issue.
• The scheme is implemented and administrated by the Government’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in association with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).