Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for several capital acquisition projects of the Indian defence forces.

• This includes the procurement of next-generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy at an approximate cost of Rs 36,000 crore.

What is a Corvette?

• A Corvette is the smallest class of naval ships and it falls below the warship class of a frigate.
• These are highly agile ships and are categorised as missile boats, anti-submarine ships, coastal patrol crafts and fast attack naval vessels.
• The word corvette itself is derived from French and Dutch origin.
• Corvettes date back to the 18th and the 19th century when they were extensively used in the naval warfare duels that were fought at high seas
• During World War II, the term Corvette was used to describe vessels which had anti-submarine roles assigned to them.
• Modern Corvettes can go up to 2,000 tons in displacement which helps in keeping them agile.

What kind of Corvettes does the Indian Navy possess?

• The Indian Navy at present has the Kamorta Class Corvettes, which are also known as Project 28.
• These ships have an anti-submarine role and are manufactured at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.
• The four Kamorta Class Corvettes that the Indian Navy possesses are named INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti.
• The first of these was commissioned in 2014 and the last one in 2020.

What new capabilities will the new generation Corvettes have?

• The next-generation Corvettes will be manufactured for various roles like surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search and attack and coastal defence.
• As per the AoN accorded by the DAC, these next-generation generation Corvettes will be constructed based on new in-house design of the Indian Navy using latest technology of ship buildings and would contribute to further the government’s initiative of Security and Growth for all in the region (SAGAR).

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

With the EV industry growing rapidly, the demand for lithium, an essential resource for EV battery makers, has surged along.

Significance:

It is estimated that if the entirety of ore from the African mines are extracted, it will be sufficient to meet the demand for at least 27.78 million vehicles with 60 kWh batteries.

 About Lithium

• It is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
• It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in mineral oil. It is an alkali metal and a rare metal.

 Key Characteristics and Properties:

• It has the highest specific heat capacity of any solid element.
• Lithium’s single balance electron allows it to be a good conductor of electricity.
• It is flammable and can even explode when exposed to air and water.

Uses:

• Lithium is a key element for new technologies and finds its use in ceramics, glass, telecommunication and aerospace industries.
• The well-known uses of Lithium are in Lithium ion batteries, lubricating grease, high energy additive to rocket propellants, optical modulators for mobile phones and as convertor to tritium used as a raw material for thermonuclear reactions i.e. fusion.

Prescribed substance:

• The thermonuclear application makes Lithium as “Prescribed substance” under The Atomic Energy Act 1962 which permits AMD for exploration of Lithium in various geological domains of the country.
• Under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, “Prescribed Substance” means any substance including any mineral which the Central Government may, by notification, prescribe, being a substance which in its opinion is or may be used for the production or use of atomic energy or research into matters connected therewith and includes uranium, plutonium, thorium, beryllium, deuterium or any of their respective derivatives or compounds or any other materials containing any of the aforesaid substances.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Reserve Bank of India has proposed to allow the linking of credit cards with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

• RBI also stated integration will first begin with the indigenous RuPay credit cards.

What is the significance of the move?

• Experts believe that the linkage of UPI and credit cards could possibly result in credit card usage zooming up in India given UPI’s widespread adoption.
• The integration also opens up avenues to build credit on UPI through credit cards in India, where in the last few years, a number of startups have emerged
• The move could also be a push to increase adoption by banking on UPI’s large user base.
• So far, UPI could only be linked to debit cards and bank accounts.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI):

• It is an advanced version of Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)- round–the-clock funds transfer service to make cashless payments faster, easier and smoother.
• UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application  merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.
• UPI is currently the biggest among the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) operated systems including National Automated Clearing House (NACH), Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS), Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), RuPay etc.
• The top UPI apps today include PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and BHIM, the latter being the Government offering.
• NPCI launched UPI with 21 member banks in 2016

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Around 18,000 Kashmiri Pandits and other devotees visited the Kheer Bhavani temple in Kashmir Valley’s Ganderbal district on Jyeshtha Ashtami.

• The religious sanctity of the Mata Kheer Bhavani temple, built atop a holy spring, has a special spiritual significance among Kashmir Pandit devotees across the world.

About Kheer Bhavani temple

• Mata Kheer Bhavani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
• The temple is dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi.
• Situated 30 km from Srinagar city, it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
• The temple gets its name from Kheer, or milk and rice pudding, that pilgrims pour into the spring inside the temple complex as an offering to the goddess.
• Legend has it that the water of the temple’s spring changes colour from white to red and black.
• The colour of the water is said to predict the impending future.
• Maharaja Pratap Singh of Jammu and Kashmir and Maharaja Hari Singh contributed to building and renovating the temple.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

India and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support

• Also signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’, which will significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation
• And agreed for early finalization of $US 500 million Defence Line of Credit extended to Vietnam.

What are Logistics agreements?

• Logistics agreements are administrative arrangements facilitating access to military facilities for exchange of fuel and provisions on mutual agreement simplifying logistical support and increasing operational turnaround of the military when operating away from India.

India- Vietnam Relations

• Relations between India and Vietnam have been governed by several areas of shared political interests.

Areas of Cooperation:

Economic ties:

• India is now the 8th largest trading partner of Vietnam.
• Vietnam is the 4th largest trading partner of India among ASEAN countries
• Vietnam is also the second largest export destination for India after Singapore in the ASEAN region.
• India is investing in development and capacity assistance for Vietnam through quick impact projects (QIP), proposals in the area of water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and digital connectivity.

Defence Cooperation:

• The relations between the two countries especially defence ties, benefited extensively from India’s Look East policy.
• Vietnam is interested in India’s Akash surface-to-air systems and Dhruv advanced light helicopters and Brahmos missiles.
• Apart from this, the defence relations include capacity building, dealing with common security concerns, training of personnel, and cooperation in defence R&D.
• Both countries reaffirm the strong India-Vietnam Defence cooperation which is a key pillar of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Strategic partnership:

• Bilateral relations were upgraded to a “Strategic Partnership” in 2017, and upgraded to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” in 2016
• Cooperation in the UN Security Council has been exemplary. The shared respect for international law, including UNCLOS 1982, and a rules-based order is a strong commonality.

Cooperation at Multiple Fora:

• India and Vietnam closely cooperate in various regional forums such as East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), and UNSC.

Tourism:

• Around 169,000 Indians visited Vietnam and over 31,000 Vietnamese visited India in 2019, recording a growth of 28% and 32% over 2018 respectively.
• India is a favored spiritual destination for many Vietnamese because it is home to many famous Buddhist temples

China factor:

• Both countries have border problems with China.
• China aggressively continues to encroach in the territories of the two countries.
• Hence, it is natural for both the countries to come closer with a view to restrain China from its aggressive actions.

Way Forward

• Mutual Co-ordination and Co-operation: Considering the unique challenges of Indo-Pacific region, both the countries should work in close coordination at multiple forums
• Promoting Common areas: India and Vietnam both can mutually benefit each other in the arena of Blue Economy and ocean security.
• Providing financial resources, improving connectivity and establishing good relations in the region, helps both the country to fight Chinese presence in the region

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Union Cabinet hiked the minimum support price (MSP) for 2022-23 Kharif season. The rates for 14 Kharif crops have been increased, the hikes ranging from 4% to 8%.

MSP

• The MSP is the rate at which the government purchases crops from farmers, and is based on a calculation of at least one-and-a-half times the cost of production incurred by the farmers.
• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
• CACP is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The mandated crops include 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and 2 other commercial crops.
• In addition, the MSPs of toria and de-husked coconut are fixed on the basis of the MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively.

Factors for Recommending the MSP:

The CACP considers various factors while recommending the MSP for a commodity, it considers following factors

• Cost of production
• Changes in input prices
• Input-output price parity
• Trends in market prices
• Demand and supply
• Inter-crop price parity
• Effect on industrial cost structure
• Effect on cost of living
• Effect on general price level
• International price situation
• Parity between prices paid and prices received by the farmers
• Effect on issue prices and implications for subsidy

Crops covered

The list of crops is as follows.

• Cereals (7) – paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi
• Pulses (5) – gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil
• Oilseeds (8) – groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed
• Raw cotton
• Raw jute
• Copra
• De-husked coconut
• Sugarcane (Fair and remunerative price)
• Virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Environment Performance Index-2022, an international ranking system that measures environmental health and sustainability of countries

India’s Performance

• India was ranked last among 180 countries that have been ranked
• With a score of 18.9, India’s 180th ranking comes after Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar — the bottom five together make up the poorest performing countries for environmental health.
• India has also scored low on rule of law, control of corruption and government effectiveness
• India was ranked 168th in EPI-2020, with a score of 27.6

About EPI

• The EPI, a biennial index, was started in 2002 as Environmental Sustainability Index.
• EPI is published by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network
• Using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, EPI ranks 180 countries on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
• Top five rank holders this year are – Denmark, UK, Finland, Malta and Sweden

Findings of the report

• It has found that good policy results are associated with wealth, meaning economic prosperity makes it possible for nations to invest in policies and programmes that lead to desirable outcomes
• This is especially true under environmental health, as building the necessary infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and sanitation, reduce air pollution, control hazardous waste etc yields large returns for human well-being
• The report says that top-performing countries have paid attention to all areas of sustainability, while their lagging peers tend to have uneven performance.
• It highlights that countries making concerted efforts to decarbonize their electricity sectors have made the greatest gains in combating climate change, with associated benefits for ecosystems and human health.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The government of India, for the first time this year, will present a unified count of the tiger, leopard and elephant populations of the country.

Benefits of the new method:

Given that 90% of the area occupied by elephants and tigers is common, and once estimation methods are standardised, having a common survey can significantly save costs.

• Also, the ‘head count’ method, or one currently deployed to count elephants was “obsolete” and frequently led to animals being double counted.

How are they counted currently?

Currently, the tiger survey is usually held once in four years and elephants are counted once in five years.

• Since 2006, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, which is affiliated to the Environment Ministry, has a standardised protocol in place that States then use to estimate tiger numbers. Based on sightings in camera traps and indirect estimation methods, tiger numbers are computed.
• Elephant numbers largely rely on States directly counting the number of elephants. In recent years, techniques such as analysing dung samples have also been deployed to estimate birth rates and population trends in elephants.

Numbers:

• According to the most recent 2018-19 survey, there were 2,967 tigers in India.
• According to the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India.

Efforts aimed at conservation of Elephants and their corridors at all- India level:

• ‘Gaj Yatra’, a nationwide campaign to protect elephants, was launched on the occasion of World Elephant Day in 2017. The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.
• The campaign aims to create awareness about elephant corridors to encourage free movement in their habitat.

Forest Ministry guide to managing human-elephant conflict (Best Practices):

• Retaining elephants in their natural habitats by creating water sources and management of forest fires.
• Elephant Proof trenches in Tamil Nadu.
• Hanging fences and rubble walls in Karnataka.
• Use of chili smoke in north Bengal and playing the sound of bees or carnivores in Assam.
• Use of technology: Individual identification, monitoring of elephants in south Bengal and sending SMS alerts to warn of elephant presence.

Efforts by Private Organizations in this regard:

• Asian Elephant Alliance, an umbrella initiative by five NGOs, had, last year, come together to secure 96 out of the 101 existing corridors used by elephants across 12 States in India.
• NGOs Elephant Family, International Fund for Animal Welfare, IUCN Netherlands and World Land Trust have teamed up with Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) in the alliance.

About Asian Elephants:

• Asian elephants are listed as “endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
• More than 60% of the world’s elephant population is in India.
• Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The West Bengal government’s decision to make the Chief Minister the Chancellor of State-run universities, instead of the Governor has refocused the attention on the Governor’s Role in Universities

• The area of conflict here are the appointment of Vice-Chancellors and the functioning of universities
• VCs were appointed by the Chancellor of the universities

Similar Instances:

Tamil Nadu

• Tamil Nadu recently passed Bills to empower the State government, instead of the Chancellor, to appoint VCs.
• It also passed a separate bill to establish a new university for alternative systems of medicine with the Chief Minister as its Chancellor.

Kerala

• In Kerala, the situation is different, with Governor asking the Chief Minister to take over the Chancellor’s role in the light of alleged political interference in the functioning of universities.

These developments underscore that the conferment of statutory roles to Governors may be a source of friction between elected regimes and Governors who are seen as agents of the Centre

Governor’s Role in

State Universities:

• In most cases, the Governor of the state is the ex-officio chancellor of the universities in that state.
• While the Governor’s powers and functions as the Chancellor are laid out in the statutes that govern the universities under a particular state government.
• Their role in appointing the Vice-Chancellors has often triggered disputes with the political executive.

Central Universities:

• Under the Central Universities Act, 2009, and other statutes, the President of India shall be the Visitor of a central university.
• Chancellors are appointed by the President in his capacity as Visitors.
• They are titular heads with their role limited to presiding over convocations in central universities.
• The VCs too are appointed by the Visitor from panels of names picked by search and selection committees formed by the Union government.
• The President, as Visitor, shall have the right to authorize inspections of academic and non-academic aspects of the universities and also to institute inquiries

The original intent of making Governors hold the office of Chancellor and vesting some statutory powers on them was to insulate universities from political influence

Sarkaria Commission

• Justice R.S. Sarkaria Commission noted the use of discretion by some Governors in some university appointments had come in for criticism.
• It acknowledged the distinction between the Governor’s constitutional role and the statutory role performed as a Chancellor, and also underlined that the Chancellor is not obliged to seek the government’s advice.

M.M. Punchhi Commission

• Noted that Governor should not be “burdened with positions and powers, which may expose the office to controversies or public criticism, it advised against conferring statutory powers on the Governor, it advised against conferring statutory powers on the Governor.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has published a fresh draft of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021

What are the proposed amendments to the IT Rules, 2021?

• The draft proposes to create government-appointed appeal committees that will be empowered to review and possibly reverse content moderation decisions taken by social media companies.
• It means in case a user is not satisfied with the content moderation decision taken by a company’s grievance officer, they can appeal that decision before the proposed government-appointed appeals committee.
• Every order passed by the Grievance Appellate Committee shall be complied with by the concerned intermediary
• Currently, the only recourse a user has against companies’ content decisions is to approach the courts
• Responsibility on grievance officers appointed by social media companies – if a user complains about content which is “patently false”, infringes copyright, and threatens the integrity of India, among other things, a grievance officer will have to expeditiously address it within 72 hours.
• Under current rules, grievance officers have 15 days to act on and dispose of users’ complaints.

What prompted the amendments?

• The IT Rules, 2021 provide for a robust grievance redressal mechanism.
• However, there have been many instances that grievance officers of intermediaries either do not address the grievances satisfactorily and/or fairly.
• In such a scenario, the need for an appellate forum has been proposed to protect the rights and interests of users

Concerns

• The proposal, without any legislative basis, seeks to subject content on social media to the direct scrutiny of the government by permitting users to appeal decisions of social media platforms to a Grievance Appellate Committee constituted by MeitY

IT Rules, 2021

• These new rules deal with social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
• These rules have been framed in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000

New Guidelines for Social Media/Intermediaries:

Categories of Social Media Intermediaries:

• Based on the number of users, on the social media platform intermediaries have been divided in two groups:
• Social media intermediaries.
• Significant social media intermediaries.

Features

• In case, due diligence is not followed by the intermediary, safe harbor provisions will not apply to them.
• The safe harbor provisions have been defined under Section 79 of the IT Act, and protect social media intermediaries by giving them immunity from legal prosecution for any content posted on their platforms.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism is Mandatory:

• Intermediaries shall appoint a Grievance Officer to deal with complaints and share the name and contact details of such officers.
• The grievance Officer shall acknowledge the complaint within twenty-four hours and resolve it within fifteen days from its receipt.

Ensuring Online Safety and Dignity of Users:

• Intermediaries shall remove or disable access within 24 hours of receipt of complaints of contents that exposes the private areas of individuals, show such individuals in full or partial nudity or in sexual act or is in the nature of impersonation including morphed images etc.

Additional Due Diligence for the Significant Social Media Intermediaries:

• Appointments: Need to appoint Chief Compliance Officer, a Nodal Contact Person and a Resident Grievance Officer, all of whom should be resident in India.
• Rules for News Publishers and OTT Platforms and Digital Media:

For OTT:

• Self-Classification of Content: The OTT platforms, called as the publishers of online curated content in the rules, would self-classify the content into five age based categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult).
• Parental Lock: Platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as “A”.
• Display Rating: Shall prominently display the classification rating specific to each content or program together with a content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content

For Publishers of News on Digital Media:

They would be required to observe Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act 1995 thereby providing a level playing field between the offline (Print, TV) and digital media.

• Grievance Redressal Mechanism:  A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the rules with different levels of self-regulation.
• Self-regulation by the Publisher:

• Publisher shall appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer based in India who shall be responsible for the redressal of grievances received by it.
• The officer shall take decision on every grievance received by it within 15 days.

• Self-Regulatory Body:

• There may be one or more self-regulatory bodies of publishers.
• Such a body shall be headed by a retired judge of the SC, a High Court or independent eminent person and have not more than six members.
• Such a body will have to register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• This body will oversee the adherence by the publisher to the Code of Ethics and address grievances that have not been resolved by the publisher within 15 days.

Oversight Mechanism:

• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall formulate an oversight mechanism.
• It shall publish a charter for self-regulating bodies, including Codes of Practices. It shall establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing grievances.