General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to decode passwords by analysing the sound produced by keystrokes. The study highlighted the accuracy of Acoustic Side Channel Attacks (ASCA) when state-of-the-art deep learning models were used to classify laptop keystrokes and their mitigation.

Defining ASCA

• To understand Acoustic Side Channel Attacks, one should know Side Channel Attacks (SCAs).
• SCAs are a method of hacking a cryptographic algorithm based on the analysis of auxiliary systems used in the encryption method.
• These can be performed using a collection of signals emitted by devices, including electromagnetic waves, power consumption, mobile sensors as well as sound from keyboards and printers to target devices.
• Once collected, these signals are used to interpret signals that can be then used to compromise the security of a device.
• In an ASCA, the sound of clicks generated by a keyboard is used to analyse keystrokes and interpret what is being typed to leak sensitive information.
• These attacks are particularly dangerous as the acoustic sounds from a keyboard are not only readily available but also because their misuse is underestimated by users.
• While most users hide their screens when typing sensitive information, no precautionary steps are taken to hide the sound of the keystrokes.
• And though over time, the sound of keyboard clicks has become less profound with devices making use of non-mechanical keyboards, the technology with which the acoustics can be accessed and processed has also improved drastically.
• Additionally, the use of laptops has increased the scope of ASCAs as laptop models have the same keyboard making it easier for AI-enabled deep learning models to pick up and interpret the acoustics.

The accuracy

• The study found that when trained on keystrokes by a nearby phone, the classifier achieved an accuracy of 95%, the highest accuracy seen without the use of a language model.
• When a deep learning model was trained on the data with default values, the model was able to acquire a meaningful interpretation of the data.
• Additionally, when the AI model was made to recognise keystrokes using audio captured through a smartphone microphone, it was able to achieve 95% accuracy.

ASCA attacks

• ASCA attacks are not new and have been around since 1950 when acoustic emanations of encryption devices were used to crack their security.
• Over the past decades, researchers have published papers talking about the threats from ASCA attacks with the advent of modern technology that brought more microphones in close proximity to keyboards, making it easier to collect and interpret acoustic data.
• However, with the increasing use of AI and the accuracy with which deep learning models can recognise and analyse keystrokes, the threat from ASCA has resurfaced.

Protection against ASCA

• While there is no explicit means of defence against ASCAs, simple changes to typing could reduce the chances of attacks.
• Using touch-based typing can also reduce the chances of successful keystroke recognition from 64% to 40%, making it more difficult for threat actors to leak sensitive information.
• Additionally, changes in typing style and creating stronger passwords that use a combination of upper- and lower-case alphabets can make it more difficult for criminals to launch successful ASCA attacks.

Way forward

• Users should also avoid the use of easily recognisable phrases which can make it easier for AI models to predict the text.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• On August 17, the RBI commenced a pilot programme endeavouring to evaluate the feasibility and functionality of the ‘Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit’. The suggested platform would strive to “enable delivery of frictionless credit by facilitating seamless flow of required digital information to lenders.”

The Platform

• Digital delivery of credit (delivering credit/loans though digital means) or any loan is preceded by a process of scrutiny known as credit appraisal.
• The process attempts to evaluate and accordingly predict the prospective borrowers’ ability for repayment of credit/loan and adhering to the credit agreement.
• This pre-disbursal process is particularly important for banks since it would in turn determine their interest income and impact on the balance sheet.
• The central banking regulator has observed that the data required for the process rests with different entities like central and state governments, account aggregators, banks, credit information companies, and digital identity authorities.
• This new platform would bring all of it together in a single place. To facilitate “frictionless” and “timely delivery” of loans, the central banking regulator had instituted a pilot project for the digitalisation of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans.
• It tested “end-to-end digitalisation of the lending process in a paperless and hassle-free manner”.
• The pilot is currently ongoing in select districts of Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• It provides for “doorstep disbursement of loans in assisted or self-service mode without any paperwork.”

About new pilot

• The platform is premised around the learnings from all the ongoing programmes, and further expands the scope to all types of digital loans.
• The public platform will be developed by its wholly owned subsidiary, the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH).
• The proposed end-to-end platform will have an open architecture, open Application Programming Interfaces (API) and standards, to which all financial sector players would be able to connect seamlessly in a ‘plug and play’ model.
• With the participation from certain banks, the platform would extend its focus also towards dairy loans, MSME loans (without collateral), personal loans and home loans.
• It is expected to link with services like Aadhar e-KYC, Aadhar e-signing, land records from onboarded State governments, satellite data, PAN validation, transliteration, account aggregation by account aggregators (AAs), milk pouring data from select dairy co-operatives, and house/property search data.
• Thus, it would cover all aspects of farming operations alongside those necessary for ascertaining financial profiles.
• Based on the learnings from this project, the scope and coverage would be further expanded to include more information providers and lenders.

Serving the purpose

• Experts, including the World Bank, point out that improved access to information provides the basis for fact-based and quick credit assessments.
• It ensures that credit is extended to a larger set of borrowers with good credit history.
• The borrowers too would benefit by the resulting lower cost of accessing capital, which would translate into productive investment spending.
• Availing formal credit may entail multiple visits to the bank alongside cumbersome documentation.
• This translates to higher operational costs for lenders which may also get distributed to borrowers.

Conclusion

• As per media reports, an RBI survey indicated that processing of farm loans used to take two to four weeks and cost about 6% of the loan’s total value. All in all, the lending platform would bring about “reduction of costs, quicker disbursement and scalability,” RBI noted.

General Studies Paper 3

Introduction

• India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing in double digits, the Indian economy being the world’s fastest, and also highlighted glowing reports by foreign institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Morgan Stanley. The whole debate among India’s leading economic policymakers has revolved around whose GDP growth was higher (i.e. the National Democratic Alliance or the UPA), or what must be done to achieve higher growth.

The issue is job potential

• India’s economy is growing so rapidly, but the demand for minimum wage work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme also growing fast.
• That is, when India was apparently the fastest growing economy in the world, more and more people were also clamouring for MGNREGA work.
• If the economy is doing well, it should be creating many jobs, which should then lower the demand for minimum wage MGNREGA work. MGNREGA demand should be inversely proportional to economic growth.
• Clearly, there is a big dissonance between GDP growth and its translation into actual jobs and incomes for people.
• Further, even the jobs that are being created tend to exacerbate India’s social fissures.
• People from higher castes constitute nearly three quarters of the formal service sector jobs that GDP growth produces while 80% of workers under the MGNREGA programne are from the oppressed castes of Dalits, tribals and backward castes.
• here is an alarming decline in the number of jobs that are being created with every percentage growth in GDP. This is a function of the poor quality of GDP growth, rapid increase in productivity and extreme automation.
• Thus, it is important to focus on the job intensity of economic initiatives rather than merely chase headline GDP growth.

The Mines and Minerals Bill, India’s future

• The MMA Bill can be a potential booster shot in India’s economic arm, if administered properly.
• The world is in the midst of an inevitable transition to electric mobility. While electronic chips and equipment are key to this transition, the fountainhead for this change are minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite and other ‘rare earths’.
• These minerals are the foundation for the whole electric mobility supply chain which countries such as China are pursuing aggressively.
• China dominates this supply chain through a belligerent geo-economic policy of sourcing, extracting and refining these minerals from various parts of the world.
• Various studies have shown that India’s topography is very conducive to finding similar mineral deposits as found in Afghanistan and Western Australia
• But India has not explored even 10% of its potential mineral deposits below the earth and has mined even less.
• With a coastline that is over 7,000 kilometres long, India’s potential in finding rich strategic minerals can be even greater through deep sea mining.
• However, lack of access to latest mining technologies, environmental concerns and previous incidents of labour exploitation in mines have prevented India thus far from exploring this opportunity.
• The new MMA Bill promises to change that through private sector participation in exploration of strategic minerals including lithium.

Way forward

• It is very important for political leaders to change the nation’s economic discourse and abandon this blind quest for headline GDP growth.
• Economists, technocrats and the IMF peddle GDP growth, since it is a convenient measure to compare what they can forecast through excel models on their computers.
• For political leaders who are entrusted with people’s real welfare, it is critical not to fall prey and question whether such headline GDP delivers true economic prosperity to all its people.

General Studies Paper 2

Recent Context:

• Recently, central government introduced three Bills in the Lok Sabha to reform criminal law:
• The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860,
• the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and
• the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
• The three Bills have since been referred to the relevant Parliamentary Standing Committee for review and recommendations.

Changes made in recently introduced bills

• The enactment of the new Sanhita is a crucial step to dispel the colonial shadow.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, the proposed replacement for the Indian Penal Code (IPC), does not contain IPC Section 377 (or an equivalent section), which was read down by the Supreme Court in 2018
• Repealing Sedition law: The repeal of the sedition law points to a welcome shift in the balance struck between individual liberty and national security, but also frames that shift’s incompleteness
• But the proposed Sanhita contains a provision that penalises “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.
• Without calling it sedition, it expands its definition, including aiding through financial means and “subversive activities”, and encouraging “feelings of separatist activities.
• Inculcation of past judgments of courts (Anurag Soni v State of Chhattisgarh (2019). for eg. Introduction of the deceitful promise to marry as a criminal offence deceitful means” will include the false promise of employment or promotion, inducement or marrying after suppressing one’s identity.
• Introduction of reformative form of justice
• The insertion of community service as an alternate form of punishment could prevent more undertrials languishing in jails
• New bills also include recognition of murder by a mob on ethnic, caste and communal lines.
• Inculcation of technological advancement:
• A new case, commencing from the FIR (first information report) leading to a case diary on its way to a chargesheet and culminating in a judgment is now to be maintained online — via digitised recordkeeping.
• Provisions of the bill allow witnesses, accused, experts and victims to appear through electronic means.
• It also allows electronic evidence to have the same legal value as documents and seeks to expand the scope of secondary evidence to include copies made from the original by mechanical processes as proof of evidence.
• Anew case, commencing from the FIR (first information report) leading to a case diary on its way to a chargesheet and culminating in
• The Protection Code now makes it mandatory for a forensic expert to visit the crime scene and collect forensic evidence for information relating to an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for at least seven years
• The Protection Code now provides that the decision to grant or reject sanction to prosecute a public servant must be reached by the government within 120 days of receiving the request. If the government fails to do so, sanction shall be deemed to be accorded.
• No sanction shall be required in cases involving public servants when accused of sexual offences or trafficking of human beings.
• More reform comes in the form of a provision that mandates that no person can be arrested without prior permission of an officer of the minimum rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police for offences punishable with less than three years imprisonment, if the accused is above the age of 60 years.

Areas of concern in recently introduced bill

• Protection Code enables trial in absentia if the judge is satisfied that the “personal attendance of the accused before the Court is not necessary in the interests of justice” or if the accused “persistently disturbs the proceedings in court”.
• It provides for the scope for abuse of a provision such as this given the wide latitude afforded to the judge in deciding when the presence of an accused is not necessary.
• Hamper the civil liberalities of accused
• Permits the magistrate to authorise detention in police custody for a period beyond the current 15-day limit, extending up to 90 days.
• Such detention extending to 90 days is for offences punishable with death, life imprisonment and imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years.
• The Protection Code enables detention in police custody beyond the current 15-day mandate and up to 60 days for “any other offence”

Conclusion

• While there are many reforms that should be welcomed in the Protection Code, 2023, all of that will be rendered meaningless if an accused can be detained for long periods of time in police custody.
• Three months of uninterrupted police custody will render any accused extremely vulnerable to coercion and intimidation. Therefore, reform should be carried out while considering the basic rights of accused.

General Studies Paper 2

 Context

• Recently, 5 Members of Parliament were suspended from the houses during the monsoon session.

Rules regarding the suspension of MP

• Both Houses of Parliament possess the power to discipline recalcitrant members so that they can function undisturbed.
• This power is given to ensure the smooth functioning of the Houses and to punish those who create disorder.
• Rule 374 of the Lok Sabha empowers the chair to name the member who “disregards the authority of the Chair or abuses the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully obstructing the business thereof” — whereupon the government brings a motion instantly to seek the approval of the House to suspend that member.
• When the House adopts the motion, the member stands suspended.
• Rule 256 of the Rajya Sabha is identical
• On suspension, the member is required to immediately leave the House or he will be forcefully removed
• As the member is temporarily disqualified, he is not allowed to attend the meetings of the House or any meeting of the committees of which he may be a member, during his suspension.
• Similarly, he won’t be allowed to give any notice of questions, motions or resolutions. In effect, he is compelled to remain a non-member during this period.

Concern over recent suspension of MP

• As, we discussed, suspension of a member can be done only in accordance with the rules (374 and 256). Further, residuary powers under Rule 266 of the Rajya Sabha can be invoked only when the House has to deal with matters that are not explicitly provided for in the rules.
• Suspension is expressly provided for in rule 256, and therefore residuary powers of the Chairman cannot be invoked.
• The suspensions for an indefinite period and therefore do not conform to the rules.
• As The Supreme Court held in Ashish Shelar vs Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (2022) that any suspension beyond the period prescribed in the rules is unconstitutional
• The court said, “If the resolution passed by the House was to provide for suspension beyond the period prescribed under the said rule, it would be substantially illegal, irrational and unconstitutional”.
• Therefore, Willful and persistent obstruction of the business alone qualifies for the naming and suspension of a member. Moreover, suspension cannot be for an indefinite period

Right to punish a member is vested in the House only, and not in the Chair

• As per the rule, the right to punish a member is vested in the House only, and not in the Chair. So, if the motion is not passed by the House, the member is not suspended.
• Under the above rules, the maximum period of suspension is until the end of that session. The rules also provide for the termination of suspension at any time.

Suspension should be used as last resort by the house

• Suspension is resorted to as a last step. It should be done when there is blatant and shocking defiance of the Chair persistently by the member.
• Similarly, willful and persistent obstruction of the business alone qualifies for the naming and suspension of a member.
• This means that a very aggravated form of defiance and obstruction can, in itself, leave the Chair with no option other than suspension of the member
• Secondly, suspension is a temporary punishment that can be revoked even the next day.
• There are numerous instances in both Houses when suspension has been revoked within a day or two, even though the members were initially suspended for the remainder of the session
• The basic principle is that the House needs the uninterrupted services of all its members and so suspension is to be a last resort.

Conclusion

• The legislative houses are in turmoil due to a variety of political reasons. The political class has the task of finding ways to end the turmoil and bring harmony to our legislatures.
• Exercising the disciplinary powers of the House cannot be the only effective way to run the supreme legislative body of the country. The true genius lies in finding and applying the right methods to carry out business of the house.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• According to officials, the latest round of border talks between India and China did not lead to any solution
• As, more than three years and three months have passed since the border standoff started in eastern Ladakh but concluding result is achieved.

Background of India China Border Dispute

• Western Sector
• India and China share a 2152-kilometre-long border in the western sector. It is located between the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir and the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
• There is a territorial dispute in this sector over Aksai Chin.
• Middle Sector
• In this sector, India and China share a 625-kilometre-long border that runs from Ladakh to Nepal.
• In this sector, the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand touch the border with Tibet (China). In this area, there is little disagreement between the two sides

Eastern Sector

• In the eastern sector, India shares a 1140km boundary with China. The boundary line is called McMahon Line runs from the eastern limit of Bhutan to a point near the Talu Pass at the trijunction of Tibet, India, and Myanmar.
• The majority of the territory of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China as a part of Southern Tibet.

India’s counter against China to safeguard its international border

• Tension along the border led to an unprecedented buildup of troops on both sides.
• Over the last three years, the Indian Air Force is estimated to have airlifted nearly 70,000 troops and heavy platforms including tanks, artillery guns weighing over 9,000 tonnes as part of efforts towards enhancing the overall operational preparedness in eastern Ladakh.
• The government has built infrastructure in the border areas over the last nine years, which has led to faster deployment of forces since the standoff.

India’s stand over China’s aggression along LAC

• India has made it clear so far that the border standoff affects bilateral relations, and only a complete de-escalation will lead to normalcy in the ties.
• However, disengagement at the specific friction points can be achieved, a broader de-escalation will take time. That is because troops and equipment will take time to be moved from the border areas.
• In that sense, this standoff is more complicated than the recent ones in the last 10 years. It is similar to the Sumdorong Chu standoff in 1986-87, which took almost seven years to completely disengage and de-escalate.

International institutions provide platform for discussion to deescalate the forces

• As in 2017, the two-and-half month Doklam border standoff was resolved just days before Modi and Xi met in Xiamen for the BRICS leaders’ summit and three-week-long 2013 standoff in Depsang was resolved weeks before then Chinese Premier Wen Jaibao was visiting India.
• The window of opportunity exists between now and Chinese President Xi’s visit to India for the G20 summit.
• There could also be a breakthrough before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Johannesburg for the BRICS leaders’ summit on August 22-23.

Conclusion

• India must not budge and demand complete withdrawal of troops and de-escalation, before it normalises ties. Xi’s visit next month gives India some leverage; the government must use it.

General Studies Paper 3

Recent Context

• Recently Trade data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry points towards a continuing weakness in India’s exports

Highlights of Trade related data

• Merchandise exports fell to a nine-month low of $32.25 billion in July, a decline of almost 16 per cent. Alongside, goods imports also fell by 17 per cent to $52.9 billion.
• In the first four months of the financial year (April-July), exports and imports have now contracted by 14.5 per cent and 13.8 per cent respectively.
• While part of the decline can be traced towards lower commodity prices, both non-oil exports and imports have fallen indicating weak global and domestic demand. These are worrying signs.

Sector and regional specific decline in trade:

• The disaggregated data shows that 19 of the 30 major export items have declined during April-July.
• These also include labour intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, leather products, textiles and others.
• However, electronic exports continue to grow at a robust pace, rising by 37.6 per cent in the financial year so far.
• As per an analysis by Crisil, the decline in India’s exports has been more pronounced in the Asia Pacific region.
• In the first two months of the financial year, exports to APAC declined by 21.8 per cent, followed by the US (12.9 per cent), Africa (8.6 per cent) and Europe (6 per cent).
• As per this analysis, the share of APAC in India’s goods exports has been on a decline since the beginning of the pandemic.
• While in 2019, the region accounted for 33 per cent of India’s merchandise exports, by 2022-23, its share in the country’s export basket had declined to 26.5 per cent, while the combined share of the US and the EU rose to 34 per cent.

Global economic situation which going to impact India’s export

• In the near term, slowing global demand and trade will continue to weigh down exports.
• As per the International Monetary Fund’s, World Economic Outlook report, the world economy is likely to grow at 3 per cent this year, down from 3.5 per cent the year before.
• Alongside, world trade volume growth (goods and services) is expected to slow down from 5.2 per cent last year to 2 per cent this year.
• In fact, growth this year is now projected to be 0.4 percentage points lower than the IMF’s earlier forecast.

The Government has taken the following measures to boost exports

• Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) extended upto 31-03-2023.
• Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit has also been extended upto 31-03-2024.
• Assistance provided through several schemes to promote exports, namely, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) and Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme.
• Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme to promote labour-oriented textile export has been implemented since 07.03.2019.
• Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme has been implemented since 01.01.2021.
• Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilization by exporters.
• 12 Champion Services Sectors have been identified for promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans.
• Districts as Export Hubs has been launched by identifying products with export potential in each district, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products and supporting local exporters/manufacturers to generate employment in the district.
• Active role of Indian missions abroad towards promoting India’s trade, tourism, technology and investment goals has been enhanced.

Way Forward

• Investment in Infrastructure sector: Improved infrastructure and logistics are critical for enhancing export competitiveness.
• India should prioritise investments in transportation networks, ports, customs clearance processes, and export-oriented infrastructure such as export promotion zones and specialised manufacturing zones.
• This can reduce transportation costs, improve supply chain efficiency, and boost export capabilities.
• Skill Development and Technology Adoption: Skill development programs should be implemented to enhance the availability of skilled labour in export-oriented industries.
• Additionally, incentivizing and promoting technology adoption, such as automation, digitization, and Industry 4.0 technologies, can boost productivity, competitiveness, and innovation in the export sector.
• Exploring Joint Development Programmes: Amidst a wave of deglobalisation and slowing growth, exports cannot be the sole engine of growth.
• India can also explore joint development programmes with other countries in sectors like space, semiconductor, solar energy to improve India’s medium-term growth prospects.

Conclusion

• Considering its broader economic implications such as on job creation and the current account, policy must focus on boosting merchandise exports.

General Studies Paper 2

Recent Context:

• On July 7 and 8, Ahmedabad hosted the Urban 20 (U20) summit. In the history of G20 meetings, the Summit was the sixth of its kind.

About U20

• Urban 20 or U20 is a city diplomacy initiative, comprising of cities from G20 countries.
• It strives to establish a lasting practice of engagement among cities to develop a collective message that emphasizes the role of cities in taking forward the sustainable development agenda
• U20, established in 2018 to generate discussions among G20 members on urban issues, was first chaired and hosted by the city of Buenos Aires.
• For this year, the leadership was handed over to Ahmedabad as the 2023 Chair from the city of Jakarta, the Chair for 2022

Ahmedabad city is a model for urban development with concern

• First, Ahmedabad is a very good example of how cities in the Global South can achieve infrastructural development goals.
• The city has been comparatively successful in its implementation of innovative and liberal urban planning policies and as a result, has been able to organise its expansion better than most Indian cities.
• Ahmedabad has also shown what good quality public spaces can do for a city’s residents and its businesses.
• The city has executed some very challenging large-scale public projects in the last three decades and has become an example for many others to follow.
• Second, Ahmedabad also shows exclusionary and catastrophic socio-legal urban governance.
• The city is one of the most communally segregated urban areas in the country.
• Scholarship has shown that parts of the city that are homogeneously occupied by minorities and underprivileged caste communities — areas such as Dani Limda, Juhapura, etc. are neglected by the government.

Recommendation made for upcoming G20 meet: 

• It gives a promising six-point message
• Encouraging environmentally responsible behaviours
• ensuring water security
• accelerating climate finance
• championing local culture and economy
• re-inventing frameworks for urban governance and planning, and
• catalysing digital urban futures.
• While being heavy on the agenda of climate change and climate justice, the Communique also argues for equality and justice in urban development.

Certain areas of concern which are not addressed by U 20

• Over the last two decades, India has shown enthusiasm towards planned urban development, which is much needed and commendable.
• However, Mayors Summit’s conversations failed to address the Gujarat’s unique Disturbed Areas Act and the politics of urban exclusion and forced segregation along religio-ethnic lines.
• As communal narratives and segregation have made urban development increasingly exclusionary. This has distributed the costs and benefits of development unequally with communal identity acting as the marker of this distribution.

Conclusion

• The upcoming G20 meet is a good opportunity to reflect upon and judge India’s own urban governance and politics against the vision of the U20 Communique.
• Therefore, the upcoming G20 meeting should focus on issue of urban exclusion so that inclusive urban growth can be achieved and vision of G20 motto “One Earth, One Family, One Future” can be realised in letter and spirit.

General Studies Paper 2

Context

• The Supreme Court is set to hear on August 18, petitions challenging the Patna High Court (HC)’s verdict upholding the Bihar government’s ongoing caste survey.

Caste-based survey

• The year, the State government launched a two-phase caste survey in Bihar, stating that detailed information on socio-economic conditions would help create better government policies for disadvantaged groups.
• The survey is estimated to collect the socio-economic data for a population of 12.70 crore in the 38 districts of Bihar.
• The first phase of the survey, which involved a house listing exercise, was carried out and in the middle of the second phase, the survey was halted due to a stay order from the HC.
• However, a recent HC verdict dismissed all petitions opposing the move, and the government on August 2 resumed work on the second phase of the survey. In the second phase, data related to castes, sub-castes, and religions of all people is to be collected.
• The final survey report can be expected in September, less than a year before the 2024 election.

Need for a caste-based census

• The Census conducted at the beginning of every decade does not record any caste data other than for those listed as Scheduled Castes (SCs).
• In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
• Despite this ambiguity, the Union government has categorically ruled out conducting a socio-economic caste census, saying it is unfeasible, ‘administratively difficult and cumbersome.’
• Responding to a writ petition filed by the State of Maharashtra, the Centre in its affidavit said that excluding any castes other than the SCs and Scheduled Tribes was a ‘conscious policy decision’ adopted since the 1951 Census, and that there was a policy of ‘official discouragement of caste’.
• The Union government in 2011 had undertaken a survey of castes through the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011. However, the collected raw data of nearly 130 crore Indians was never made public due to flaws in the data.
• On August 13, 1990, the V.P. Singh government announced the decision to implement the Mandal Commission report, which recommended a 27%reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC).
• In 1992, with the Supreme Court ruling in Indra Sawhney & Others versus Union of India (1992) that caste was an acceptable indicator of backwardness, the recommendations of the Mandal Commission were finally implemented. The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%.
• However, it is debatable whether the estimate holds true today. Opposition parties, have continued to demand a caste census saying that such an exercise is necessary to streamline welfare policies.

The challenge

• The petitions in the Supreme Court contend that the survey is unconstitutional since only the Centre is exclusively authorised to conduct a census under the Constitution.
• They also point out that the State Government does not have any independent power to appoint District Magistrates and local authorities for collating data, without a notification under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948 by the Centre.
• The HC verdict has also been assailed on the ground that it violates the Puttaswamy judgment as it permits the collection of personal data by the State under an executive order.

Conclusion

• India runs the world’s largest affirmative welfare programme based on caste identity.
• Reservation in educational institutes and government jobs are provided on the basis of caste identities. The absence of fresh caste census data means that the caste estimates of 1931 are being projected for formulating welfare policies in 2021.

General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Recently Russia launched Luna-25, mission to moon. It is likely to enter the moon’s orbit by August 16 and attempt the soft landing by August 21 or 22
• India also launched Chandrayaan-3 mission to moon which is expected to land on south pole of moon after 23 August 2023.

Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?

• Although Luna-25 was launched earlier this week aboard its Soyuz rocket — almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on July 14. it will cover the 3.84-lakh-km journey within days.
• This is because the Russian mission was able to follow a more direct trajectory towards the moon, owing to its lighter payload and more fuel storage.
• The lift-off mass for Luna 25 is just 1,750 kg as compared with the 3,900 kg of Chandrayaan-3. Chandrayaan’s Lander-Rover alone weighs 1,752 kg, with the propulsion module weighing another 2,148 kg.
• To make up for the lower fuel reserve available on the LVM3 vehicle that launched India’s mission, a more circuitous route was taken. After being launched around the Earth, the orbit of the spacecraft was increased in a series of manoeuvres to help it gain velocity.
• Over the next few days, Chandrayaan-3 will reduce its orbit and velocity around to the moon in preparation for the soft landing likely to be attempted on August 23
• Another reason Luna-25 can land a couple of days before India is because lunar dawn at its landing site will happen earlier.
• One lunar day is equal to 14 Earth days. With the payloads being powered by solar panels, landing at the beginning of a lunar day ensures that the experiments get the full 14 earth days.

How do the missions differ?

• Apart from being lighter than the Indian mission, Luna-25 does not carry a rover.
• The Russian lander has eight payloads mainly to study the soil composition, dust particles in the polar exosphere, and most importantly, detect surface water.
• The Indian mission also has scientific instruments to study the lunar soil as well as water-ice. The location near the southern pole was chosen because of the presence of craters that remain in permanent shadow, increasing the likelihood of finding water-ice.
• Instrument to Chandrayaan-3: The lander will carry four experiments on-board.
• The Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) has a Langmuir probe used to study properties of electrons and ions such as temperature and density. It will study these properties near the surface of the moon and how they change over time.
• The Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE) will study the thermal properties of the lunar surface near the polar region. T
• he Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) will measure the lunar quakes near the landing site and study the composition of the moon’s crust and mantle.
• The LASER Retroreflector Array (LRA) is a passive experiment sent by NASA on-board the mission. LRAs are optical instruments that act as a target for lasers and can be used for very precise tracking by spacecrafts in the lunar orbit

Is India also in the race to land humans on moon?

• It was the discovery of water molecules by India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008 that has propelled another race to the moon.
• The United States and China now have plans to take humans to moon again; a first after the cold war era. To date, only 12 men aboard US’ Apollo Missions have set foot on the lunar surface.
• Although India with its limited resources has been able to catch up with countries with more advanced and older space agencies, there is still a long way to go before humans can be sent to the moon.

How have India and Russia collaborated on moon missions and other space activities?

• Many have speculated whether Russia’s launch was targeted for the same time as India’s mission, but Russia dismissed this.
• As, India and Russia have been long-time collaborators, especially when it comes to space activities.
• In fact, Russia was initially supposed to design the lander-rover for India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission. However, it withdrew after the failure of its Fobos Grunt mission to one of Mars’ moons. This then prompted India to develop the lander-rover independently. This is the reason there is a gap of 11 years between the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions.
• Also, the predecessors of the LVM3 that launched Chandrayaan-3 were based on cryogenic engines sold to India by Russia. India later developed the technology on its own as Russia did not transfer the technology.

Conclusion

• Therefore, India and Russia missions to moon are sent their respective objectives to carry put moon related study. It will shape the future mission to moon and other celestial body of space.