General Studies Paper 2

INTRODUCTION

• The Indus Waters Treaty (1960), or IWT, that regulates the Indus water courses between the two riparian states of India and Pakistan, is cited by many as an example of cooperation between two unfriendly neighbours for many reasons. These include the IWT having survived several wars and phases of bitter relations, and its laying down of detailed procedures and criteria for dispute resolution.

CURRENT STATUS

• In the last decade, exercising judicial recourse to settle the competing claims and objections arising out of the construction and design elements of the run-of-river hydroelectric projects that India is permitted under the IWT to construct on the tributaries of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab before these rivers flow into Pakistan, has increased.
• In January this year, Pakistan initiated arbitration at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration to address the interpretation and application of the IWT to certain design elements of two run-of-river hydroelectric projects — on the Kishanganga (a tributary of the Jhelum) and Ratle, a hydro-electric project on the Chenab.
• India raised objections as it views that the Court of Arbitration is not competent to consider the questions put to it by Pakistan and that such questions should instead be decided through the neutral expert process.
• On July 6, 2023, the court unanimously passed a decision (which is binding on both parties without appeal) rejecting each of India’s objections. The court determined that it is competent to consider and determine the disputes set forth in Pakistan’s request for arbitration.

FUTURE SUPPLY OF WATER

• In an atmosphere of a lack of trust, judicial recourse appears to be the only rational strategy by the IWT parties.
• But it is not likely to address the rapidly growing industrial needs of the two countries, apart from food and energy needs.
• The IWT provides only some element of predictability and certainty with regard to the future supplies of water to the riparian states, but it needs to incorporate mechanisms that allow flexibility to changes in the quantity of water available for allocation among the parties.
• Bilateral water agreements are vulnerable to climate change as most of them include fixed allocation of amounts of water use that are concluded under the assumption that future water availability will remain the same as today.
• Under the partitioning logic in the IWT, envisaging a vesting of proprietary rights does not take into account future water availability.

PRINCIPLES OF WATER COURSE

• The partitioning of the rivers goes against the logic of treating the entire river basin as one unit which is needed to build its resource capacity.
• The thrust of the IWT is optimal use of the waters which India believes to be the object and purpose of the IWT as opposed to Pakistan’s understanding to be the uninterrupted flow of water to its side.
• Reconciling this divergent approach can be sought with the help of two cardinal principles of international water courses law accompanying binding obligations, i.e., equitable and reasonable utilisation (ERU) and the principle not to cause significant harm or no harm rule (NHR).
• Although there is no universal definition of what ERU amounts to, the states need to be guided by the factors mentioned in the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997, including climate change.
• The NHR is a due diligence obligation which requires a riparian state undertaking a project on a shared watercourse having potential transboundary effect to take all appropriate measures relating to the prevention of harm to another riparian state, including carrying out a transboundary environmental impact assessment.
• In order to ensure rapid development, the states prioritise the ERU over the NHR.

WAY FORWARD

• In an atmosphere of a lack of trust between the two neighbours, the World Bank, a party to the IWT, may use its forum to forge a transnational alliance of epistemic communities (who share a common interest and knowledge to the use of the Indus waters), to build convergent state policies, resulting in the ultimate inclusion of these two principles in the IWT. Thus, revisiting the IWT is a much-needed step.

General Studies Paper 2

CONTEXT

• During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the UAE, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and its Abu Dhabi-headquartered counterpart the Central Bank of the UAE signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs). While the first established a framework to promote the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions, the other was for interlinking payment systems.

PROMOTION OF LOCAL CURRENCIES

• The first of the two MoUs aims to establish a Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS) to promote the use of rupee and the dirham bilaterally. It will cover all current and permitted capital account transactions.
• This, the RBI said, would enable exporters and importers to send invoices and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would help the development of the INR-AED foreign exchange market.
• It would also help promote investments and remittances between the two countries.
• Broadly, the arrangement would help optimise transaction costs and settlement time for transactions, including for remittances from Indians residing in UAE.

SIGNIFICANCE TO EXPORTERS

• The focus on denominating export contracts and invoices in the local currency helps avert exchange-rate risks (such as when a third currency is being used as a standard), which further facilitates the scope to discover competitive pricing.
• Moreover, it could also lead to enhanced avenues for cooperation among the banking systems of the two countries, thereby contributing to the expansion of trade and economic activity for both.
• The major items of export from India to the UAE include mineral fuels, mineral oils and products, bituminous substances, mineral waxes, followed by pearls, precious stones and metals, electrical machineries and equipment, among other things.
• The major items imported by India are petroleum crude and petroleum related products.
• India-UAE trade rose to $85 billion in 2022. Furthermore, the UAE was India’s third largest trading partner and second-largest export destination in FY2022-23. Conversely, India was the UAE’s second largest trading partner.

INTERLINKING OF PAYMENT SYSTEMS

• The second of the two MoUs links India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with its UAE-counterpart Instant Payment Platform (IPP).
• This is alongside the linking of card switches, that is, RuPay switch and UAESWITCH. Card switches entail facilitating communications and transactions between different payment service providers.
• The agreement would also explore linking of payment messaging systems of the two countries.
• The apex banking regulator in India said that the UPI-IPP linkage would enable users in either country to make fast, convenient, safe, and cost-effective cross-border fund transfers.
• As for card switches, the regulator stated, it will facilitate mutual acceptance of domestic cards and processing of card transactions.
• This is relevant to 3.5 million resident Indians living in the UAE.

THE IMPORTANCE

• One of the several issues with sending remittances back home, especially for low wage earners, is the high costs of transactions.
• The World Bank noted in the 2023 Migration and Development Brief that India experienced a 24.4% increase in remittances to $111 billion in 2022 on a year-over-year basis.
• This represented 3.3% of the GDP. It further stated that at present, remittance inflows from GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, which accounts for about 28% of the country’s total remittance inflows, also soared in 2022.
• High energy prices favoured the employment and incomes of the less-skilled Indian migrants in the GCC countries, while the GCC governments’ special measures to curb food price inflation shielded migrants’ remitting potential.
• About 36% of the remittances were attributed to high-skilled and largely high-tech Indian migrants in the U.S., the U.K., and Singapore.

CONCLUSION

• Continued collaboration in areas such as technology, renewable energy, infrastructure development, tourism, and healthcare can further strengthen the bilateral relationship between India and the UAE.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• A determined battle by environmentalists in the Supreme Court of India against Delhi University’s genetically modified (GM) herbicide-tolerant (HT) mustard is all that stands between GM food and Indian farmers and consumers.

GM CROPS

• GM crops are quite different from conventional varieties and hybrids, such as those developed by farmers, agricultural research institutions and companies.
• Biotechnologists insert select genes at a random location in the DNA of a plant to develop a GM crop.
• The insertion makes a GM crop express traits that it ordinarily would not.
• For instance, GM mustard has been altered to withstand the broad-spectrum plant-killer or herbicide glufosinate.
• This makes it easier to develop hybrid mustard seeds for higher yields.
• And farmers growing GM mustard can spray the herbicide to kill all plants except the mustard.

THE DEBATE ON GM CROPS IN INDIA

• India has seen a robust debate on GM crops in the last two decades.
• Environmentalists, scientists, politicians, farmers, consumers and the higher judiciary have asked probing questions about the safety, efficacy and even the very necessity of GM food.
• Many have been alarmed by the experience with Bt cotton, the first and only GM crop approved in the country.
• Long-term research suggests that Bt cotton has provided only fleeting benefits to farmers, while enormously increasing their costs of cultivation and risk.
• On the other hand, some seed companies have profited handsomely from the expensive GM seeds.
• In the wake of the fierce debate, two Standing Committees of the Parliament independently and comprehensively examined GM crops and food.
• The Supreme Court also appointed a Technical Expert Committee (TEC) in the public interest litigations filed separately by the non-government organisation Gene Campaign.

CONVERGENCE IN RISK ASSESSMENT

• The Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests made a specific reference to GM mustard, and asked the government to conduct a thorough, independent, and transparent assessment of long-term biosafety, environmental risk and socio-economic impacts.
• Five of the six TEC members found HT crops completely unsuitable in the Indian context and warned of serious harm to the environment, rural livelihoods and sustainable agriculture if they were released.
• Given the overwhelming political and technical consensus, the government needs to approach the issue of HT crops transparently and robustly with an emphasis on precaution.

MISLEADING THE COURT

• In recent hearings in the Supreme Court, to get around the growing evidence of long-term ecological and health risks of HT crops, the government has argued that GM mustard should not be considered HT at all — since the objective for developing it was to improve yields.
• In fact, a crop that can withstand herbicides is an HT crop. As far as the science of biotechnology and ecology go, there is no doubt that GM mustard is an HT crop.

CONCLUSION

• The apparent disregard with which the government is steamrolling science-based concerns and opposition to GM mustard is horrifying. If the Supreme Court allows GM mustard to go through, it will likely pave the way for the release of other HT crops such as cotton, rice, and maize. The future of farming and India’s food culture and heritage hangs in the balance.

General Studies Paper 3

 CONTEXT

• Recently, India’s third Moon mission, Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Srihari Kota launching range.
• The spacecraft is in an elliptical orbit, going as far as 41,762 km from Earth and coming as close as 173 km.
• While conducting various tests and calibrations, before it is transferred, free from the Earth, to be captured in orbit around the moon (translunar injection) a few days later.
• This orbit will gradually shrink, bringing the spacecraft closer and closer to the moon and finally, it will attempt a soft landing at a location near the South Pole of the moon, from a circular orbit of about 100 km from the surface.

ABOUT CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION

• Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It is launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
• Lander payloads:
• Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA)
• Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE)
• Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA)
• Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) Rover:
• Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
• Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) Propulsion Module:
• Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE)
• The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are:
• To demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface
• To demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and
• To conduct in-situ scientific experiments

SIGNIFICANCE OF CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION

• The significance of Chandrayaan-3 for the Indian space programme is immense.
• The mission is a major step forward in India’s lunar exploration programme, and it is sure to make significant contributions to our understanding of the moon.
• More importantly, it will showcase India’s capabilities and build its reputation in the global space community, which will help attract more investment in the country’s space industry.

PROMOTING THE PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN SPACE PROGRAMMES

• Private sector in India, despite being capable, is engaged in only a tiny fraction of the space enterprise in the international industrial sector, currently valued at about $500 billion. This has to change and the Indian industry must become a major global player.
• As, the government’s newly-unveiled Space Policy 2023 states that
• India’s space programme should “enable, encourage and develop a flourishing commercial presence in space”.

CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION REPRESENTS THE COLORATION OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR IN SPACE PROGRAMMES

• Chandrayaan-3 is a clear example of how India’s space programme is helping achieve this goal. The mission is a joint project between ISRO and the Indian private sector.
• This is the first time that India has partnered with the private sector on a major space mission and it demonstrates the government’s commitment to the new Space Policy.
• The lander and rover that will be deployed on the Moon were developed by a consortium of Indian companies in collaboration with ISRO laboratories.
• The mission’s ground control systems were also developed by ISRO with the help of the industry, and much of the mission’s data will be processed and analysed by the private sector.

ISRO JOINS INTERNATIONAL SPACE ACCORD TO ENHANCE ITS ROLE IN SPACE SECTOR

• India is now a signatory to the Artemis Accords, an agreement with the other leading Space Agencies of the world – NASA (US), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan) and the CSA (Canada) — for moon exploration with a view to colonise it.
• If Chandrayaan-3 can lead the way in this challenging region, future Artemis astronauts, based on ISRO’s pioneering work, will be able to collect core samples and volatiles from these regions.
• This could have a profound impact on the future of deep space exploration and eventual commercial activities.
• India’s scientists are now taking part in a few frontline worldwide projects that are pushing technological boundaries
• . India has dealt with hardware and software challenges in the Thirty Meter Telescope project, in collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and in the preliminary stages of the recently-approved Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory in India (LIGO-India) and the Square Kilometre Array in Radio Astronomy.
• The technological achievements in the astrophysics and space sectors strengthens Inda’s position globally.

CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION AIMS TO EXPLORE SOUTH POLE OF MOON

• Landing site of Chandrayaan-3 mission is  more or less the same as the Chandrayaan-2: near the south pole of the moon at 70 degrees latitude.
• AS, there are many geographical variations on the surface of the moon, and many are worth exploring.
• The southern hemisphere has many high mountains, and deep craters, which are more extreme in nature than those in the north.
• These block sunlight, and so, there are large areas of permanently shadowed regions near the poles, where temperatures can go down to -200 degrees Celsius.
• These are home to volatiles, which are chemical elements or compounds that melt or vaporise at moderately warm temperatures. This includes water, which, we suspect, exists in large quantities in supercooled ice form.
• Therebefore, extremely cold temperatures here mean that anything trapped in the region would remain frozen in time, without undergoing much change.
• The rocks and soil in Moon’s north and south poles could therefore provide clues to the early Solar System, Hence the mission is expected to provide valuable insights into the history of the solar system.

CONCLUSION

• The missions such as Chandrayaan-3 will inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
• It was so wonderful to see the beaming faces of the youngsters at the launch, at our campus, and on the streets.
• Therefore, the success of Chandrayaan-3 will send a message to young people across the country that it is possible to do quality scientific research, and make a difference, here, on Indian soil.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• As more deaths of cheetahs have been reported last week from the Kuno National Park (KNP), Madhya Pradesh, an expert committee charged with managing the Project Cheetah programme has recommended that all animals undergo a thorough medical review.

PROJECT CHEETAH

• Project Cheetah is India’s cheetah relocation programme and is perhaps among the most ambitious of its kind in the world.
• The attempt is to, over the next decade, bring in 5-10 animals every year until a self-sustaining population of about 35 cheetahs is established.
• Unlike cheetahs in South Africa and Namibia that are living in fenced reserves, India’s plan is to have them grow in natural, unfenced, wild conditions.
• As of today, 11 of the translocated cheetahs are in the true wild with four in specially designed one-square-kilometre enclosures called ‘bomas,’ to help the animals acclimatise to Indian conditions.
• Five of the translocated animals and three of four cubs born in India have died.

THE NEED OF MEDICAL REVIEW

• One of the cheetahs, nicknamed Surya, was found dead in KNP last week.
• Veterinarians examining the animal saw a wound on its neck, infected with maggots.
• The larvae of the maggots were also found on the radio-collar fitted onto the cheetah’s neck.
• There was a chance that chafing from the collar may have indirectly sickened the cheetah.
• The collars that the cheetahs wear are made from polystyrene and equipped with a radio-frequency tracking chip that helps monitor the animals.
• Coupled with the moisture from the monsoon season — something that South African cheetahs aren’t acclimatised too — the animal may have been unable to lick itself clean which allowed parasites to fatally lodge inside the wound.
• There is also a hypothesis that via the wound the African animal may have been exposed to parasites that Indian big-cats are usually resistant too.
• However, the Environment Ministry in a note on July 16 dismissed these suggestions as hearsay…in the absence of scientific evidence.
• To investigate these points, the expert committee has recommended that all surviving animals be subject to a thorough physical examination.

SUCCESS RATE OF PROJECT CHEETAH

• In September 2023, it will be one year since a batch of eight cheetahs from Namibia arrived in India.
• They were followed by 12 others from South Africa in February 2023. While conceived as an experiment that is susceptible to failure in the initial years, independent critics have argued that there are some basic flaws in the project.
• For one, it is a mistake to have had all 20 cheetahs in KNP as it’s too little space and prey, given that the animal is a courser and needs large distances.
• Moreover, having cheetahs for extended periods in quarantine have affected their adaptive capabilities and caused them to have psychological adjustment problems, making them more vulnerable.
• Unlike tigers and leopards, cheetahs are relatively delicate animals and are more likely to be fatally injured in the wild.
• Currently, Indian cheetahs face no competition from other comparable predators such as lions and leopards. So, it remains to be seen if the animals can successfully establish themselves in India, over time.

WAY FORWARD

• While officials say that there is enough space and prey in the Kuno reserve, there are plans to develop a second reserve in Gandhisagar, Madhya Pradesh and also establish a cheetah rehabilitation centre.

General Studies Paper 1

 CONTEXT

• During the last few years, the delay in onset of monsoon is observed, for e.g., recently, it arrived in Mumbai and New Delhi on the same day June 24. The monsoon’s onset in these cities is generally around June 10 and June 30, respectively.
• As, immediately after its arrival, many places across India received heavy to very heavy rainfall. It is unusual to see flooded rivers and cities in June/early July since most of the flooding usually occurs in the later months of the monsoon.

THERE IS NEED FOR FLOOD MANAGEMENT TO HANDLE THE FLOOD DISASTER

• Studies and expert appraisals have concluded that citizens, properties, and infrastructure in India cannot be provided with complete flood protection.
• As, after the end of the flood season in October, many parts of the country begin to face scorching summers and droughts.
• Therefore, there is need to shift attention and efforts from flood control to flood management.
• But the hydro-infrastructure for river regulation in India is inadequate for effective flood management. If a large part of the flood flows can be safely conserved, damages would reduce.
• The saved water would help partially mitigate the upcoming droughts. Storage to manage river flow variability and mitigate droughts is an attractive opportunity for India.

IMPACT OF FLOOD AND TOOLS FOR ITS MANAGEMENT

• In recent times, India has faced at least one major flood event each year and floods are beginning to repeat the pattern of damage and destruction.
• According to the National Disaster Management, every year 1,600 lives on average are lost due to floods, Authority. Floods also affect 75 lakh hectares of land and inflict damage worth Rs 1,805 crore to crops, houses and public utilities.
• In order to handle it, a range of tools are available to manage floods, Broadly, these are classified as structural and non-structural.
• Structural measures include
• storage reservoirs, embankments, and diversions.
• These reduce flood hazards by keeping damage-causing waters away from agricultural areas, cities, industries, etc.
• Storage reservoirs moderate the flood peak by storing water during high-flow periods and releasing it after they have subsided.
• They also conserve water for irrigation, electricity generation, water supply, etc. Their effectiveness in flood moderation depends on the space available.
• In addition, tanks and ponds are traditional means of water conservation in India. They also aid in groundwater recharge and promote biodiversity.
• Non-structural methods such as flood forecasting, warnings, and flood plain zoning, help in the timely evacuation of people and regulate the use of floodplains.
• A forecasting and warning system provides a priori estimate of approaching floods so that people and movable assets are relocated to safer places in time.
• India has more than 5,500 large dams. Accurate inflow forecasts help moderate floods by estimating the space needed for storage in reservoirs.
• As s common saying goes: “Floods are acts of God but flood losses are largely acts of man”.
• Non-structural methods don’t involve construction and hence don’t create an adverse impact on the environment or otherwise. However, the resource (water) is neither conserved nor put to alternate use.
• Large and medium water conservancy projects can save huge quantities of damage-causing water. So, to manage increasing variabilities, existing infrastructure should be upgraded or new infrastructure created.

THERE IS NEED TO CONSERVE WATER DURING FLOOD TIME

• In India, most of the water comes from the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, Narmada and Tapi river basins. The monsoon’s presence makes Indian rivers highly seasonal.
• During the four months of monsoon, Indian rivers carry about 75 per cent of their annual flows
• Therefore, there is need for water conservation during the high flow of water in river basin
• However, Options for water conservation vary in size from large storage to farm ponds and the impact also varies local in scale to a large region based on its advantages, limitations, concerns and requirements.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADDS A NEW DIMENSION TO FLOOD MANAGEMENT

• Climate change will add a new dimension to flood management — rainfall patterns, intensities, and durations are likely to change.
• Recently IPCC released Assessment Report 6 where they noted that intense rains are likely to become more common in this warming world.
• Therefore, flows in Indian rivers and their variabilities will increase in the future. This will lead to more instances of floods and droughts.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• According to a 2023 survey by Thales Cloud Security, which included responses from nearly 3,000 IT and security professionals across 18 countries, 35% of organisations in India note that their data was breached in a cloud environment last year. Moreover, 68% of businesses in India, and 75% globally, say that more than 40% of data stored in the cloud is classified as sensitive.

CLOUD STORAGE AND IT’S USES

• Cloud storage is a method through which digital data, including files, business data, videos, or images, are stored on servers in off-site locations.
• These servers may be maintained by the companies themselves or by third-party providers responsible for hosting, managing, and securing stored data.
• These servers can be accessed either by the public or through private internet connections, depending on the nature of the data.
• Companies use cloud storage to store, access and maintain data so that they do not need to invest in operating and maintaining data centres.
• An added advantage of cloud storage is its scalability — organisations can expand or reduce their data footprint depending on its needs.
• Most cloud providers offer security features like physical security at data centres, in addition to zero-trust architecture, identity and access management, and encryption to ensure the security of data on their servers.

RISK ASSOCIATED WITH CLOUD STORAGE

• The risks arise from the deployment of incompatible legacy IT systems and third-party data storage architecture.
• Additionally, the use of weak authentication practices and easily guessable passwords can allow unauthorised individuals to access sensitive data.
• Data stored in the cloud also faces the risk of exposure due to insecure APIs, poorly designed or inadequate security controls, internal threats due to human error and inadequate encryption during transfer or storage.

LEGACY SYSTEMS WEAKENS STORAGE SETUP

• Though cloud security may appear similar to legacy IT security, the difference in their architecture necessitates different strategies.
• Due to the lack of support or upgrades, legacy IT security may have known vulnerabilities that are yet to be fixed.
• Such vulnerabilities make them an appealing target for hackers who may use the gaps to gain unauthorised access to cloud resources connected with these legacy systems.
• Additionally, legacy systems may not be capable of supporting more advanced encryption techniques such as secure boot methods or hardware-based encryption, which increases the risks to cloud infrastructure.
• Therefore, updating and auditing legacy systems when used in tandem with cloud infrastructure is important.

SYSTEM MISCONFIGURATIONS

• A system misconfiguration arises when there is a lack of thorough security configurations on the devices accessing the cloud data and the servers, or a weakness in the software used.
• Misconfigurations can expose user data, making it accessible to unauthorised individuals, and compromising security.
• Many times, companies using cloud storage leave security configuration to the cloud vendor, but the cloud vendor is just a vendor and the plans companies opt for may not include access encryption or firewall rules on the cloud.

DATA PROTECTION

• The onus of ensuring data security lies with the companies even though they grant access to data to vendors and partners.
• If the data is sensitive in nature, it is the company’s responsibility to make sure that a selected vendor has all the right checks in place and has conducted due diligence.
• This includes checking cloud compliances like ensuring passwords have two-factor authentication, monitoring access to the database, ensuring it is encrypted, and ensuring all firewall rules are set so that only access through certain places and certain departments is allowed.
• Data encryption is seen as one of the most effective approaches for securing sensitive information in the cloud.
• However, it comes with its own set of challenges which include encryption before data is stored, ensuring the security of encryption keys, and changing the encryption keys periodically to ensure continued safety.

RISKS OF DATA MIGRATION IN CLOUD

• There is risk involved when switching between vendors for cloud storage or when systems are upgraded.
• Without a proper migration plan and process based on thorough assessment of the cloud provider, data could get exposed.
• Additionally, ensuring that data is encrypted whenever in transit, and making relevant backups are also key aspects of ensuring data security, he added.

USERS’ SAFETY

• When users get to know of possible data breaches, they are recommended to change passwords and the two-factor authentication setup, push security question answers, and monitor accounts for unauthorised transactions and SMSs for suspicious activity.
• The lifespan of financial data exposed in a breach is short. It is used by threat actors within weeks.
• However, for personally identifiable data, the lifespan can be longer, with data sold on the dark web to target users for phishing scams and other illicit activities.

WAY FORWARD

• Data breaches and data exposure incidents in the cloud should be treated identically.
• While in a data breach, confidential or protected information is exposed to unauthorised individuals, data exposure is often depicted as the unintentional disclosure or accidental disclosure of data, resulting from misconfiguration or human error.
• Both data breaches and data exposure incidents require close monitoring to ensure the confidentiality and availability of sensitive information housed in the cloud.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• The latest Consumer Price Index data showing a resurgence in retail inflation proves exactly why the RBI’s monetary authorities have reiterated the need to keep the policy approach firmly tilted towards ensuring price stability.

THE INFLATION FIGURES

• With food prices becoming unmoored and spiralling up, June’s CPI-based provisional inflation reading accelerated by half a percentage point to a three-month high of 4.81%.
• Inflation in the food and beverages group, the single-largest constituent of the CPI that contributes almost 46% of its weight, led the resurgence, quickening from May’s level to 4.63%.
• The food price inflation was broad-based with 10 of the 12 sub-groups witnessing year-on-year increases: cereals registered 12.7% price gains, eggs logged 7%, dairy experienced 8.56% inflation, pulses posted 10.5% and spices saw gains exceed 19%.
• Month-on-month, vegetable price inflation soared to 12.7%, the highest sequential rate of price gains in the essential food group since October 2021.
• With the exception of three vegetables, including lady’s finger and lemon, in the 19-member basket, all the others including the most widely used potatoes and onions registered sharp sequential inflation.
• Of the non-food items, clothing and footwear, as well as health and personal care saw price gains that exceeded 6% in June.
• Education prices too continued to keep rising steadily.

TACKLING INFLATION

MONETARY POLICY MEASURES

• Using contractionary monetary policy, the money supply in the economy can be decreased. This leads to decrease in aggregate demand in the market and thereby reduces inflation.
• Decrease in supply of money → rate of interest increases → Investment decreases → Aggregate demand decreases → prices decline → rate of inflation is lower
• Rates like CRR, SLR, Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate are increased to impact the money supply in the economy by the RBI to control inflation.

FISCAL POLICY MEASURES

• Fiscal Policy refers to the revenue and expenditure policy of the government. Contractionary Fiscal Policy can be useful to tackle high inflation rates.
• The process is as follows: Increased taxes (keeping government spending constant) → disposable personal income decreases→ consumption decreases → aggregate demand decreases → prices decline → rate of inflation is lowered
• Similar process follows if the government cuts down on its expenditures without raising taxes (or reduces its deficit/ increases surplus).
• Some of the fiscal policy measures are – reducing import duties, banning exports or Imposing minimum export prices, suspending the futures trading of commodities, raising the stock limit for commodities, etc.

SUPPLY MEASUREMENT MEASURES

• Supply Management Measures aims to increase the competitiveness and efficiency of the supply chain, putting downward pressure on long-term costs.
• Some of the supply management measures taken are- Restricting exports of commodities in short supply and increasing their imports.
• Effective implementation of the Essential Commodities Act, 1952 to prevent hoarding and speculation.
• Incentivizing the increase in production of commodities through tax concessions, subsidies, institutional support etc.
• Higher MSP has been announced to incentivize production and thereby enhance the availability of food items which may help moderate prices.
• Fixing the ceiling prices of the commodities and taking measures to control the black marketing of those goods.
• Reforming the supply chain through infrastructure development, foreign investments etc.

CONSTRAINTS IN CONTROLLING INFLATION

• India imports more than 80 percent of its oil requirements. Oil prices are volatile owing to the various Political and Economic events in the international arena.
• Long overdue supply-side reforms.
• Inefficiencies in the monetary policy transmission.
• Limited control of Government and RBI in controlling rupee depreciation.
• Political compulsion in reducing expenditure and fiscal deficit.
• Populist measures of the government.

CONCLUSION

• Policymakers must tighten their grip over prices to prevent the broader economic recovery from floundering.

General Studies Paper 2

CONTEXT

• India’s lack of a credible explanation in hosting a virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit indicates New Delhi’s diplomatic drift as far as the SCO is concerned.

ABOUT

• At a media briefing on July 4, India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra vehemently asserted that the fact that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit was held virtually in no way signifies, hints, insinuates the dilution in the objectives that we are trying to seek of the SCO Summit.
• He did not disclose, however, any reason for not holding the summit physically or in hybrid mode.
• Kwatra’s failure to give even one credible reason for having a virtual summit indicates that India is moving away from the approaches which led it to become an SCO full member in 2017.

CHINA’S ACTS AS REASON

• China’s actions towards India in 2020 and the evolving international order have obviously compelled a re-appraisal of Indian interests in the SCO.
• This is evident from the point of not only holding a virtual summit but also Mr. Modi’s combative assertiveness on issues of concern to India (terrorism and connectivity) on which it rightly has fundamental differences with China and Pakistan.
• While neither Pakistan nor China will change course on terrorism, the issue resonates in the Central Asian Republics that continue to have deep concerns of terrorist groups using Afghanistan.
• On connectivity, though, which is a core issue for the SCO, India’s isolation in the organisation is apparent.
• Prime Minister reiterated India’s position that connectivity projects should respect national sovereignty.
• His target was China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which violates Indian sovereignty.

THE BRI AND THE EURASIAN GAME

• The BRI’s negative consequences have not inhibited the enthusiasm of SCO members for it.
• India, therefore, needs to be alive to the danger of China integrating Eurasia and shutting it out of the region with Pakistan’s active support.
• This is not to suggest that India should endorse the BRI, which is an instrument of Chinese expansionism, but it has to find ways to maintain close ties with Eurasia.
• Certainly, the promotion of Buddhist heritage, however laudable the endeavour, will not help in drawing SCO members towards India and prevent their growing links with China.
• Besides, the Chabahar project (Iran) has not moved ahead as it needs to.
• India has to devote far greater resources and energy to develop connectivity through Iran though it is not easy to deal with it.
• Active air corridors with the Central Asian Republics and a pragmatic policy towards Afghanistan are also essential to remain, howsoever tenuously, in the Eurasian game.

A SILENCE ON THE UKRAINE WAR

• Expectedly, the SCO Declaration was silent on the Ukraine war.
• India, Pakistan or China also did not refer to it in their summit statements.
• The virtual summit ensured that Mr. Modi did not have to meet any of the leaders, including Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif, personally.
• That avoided ripples of the kind the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting generated in Goa, in May 2023.
• The price though paid in avoiding controversies and embarrassment including what would have been caused by the optics of Mr. Putin in India was in the demonstration of where India currently stands in Eurasia and its western neighbourhood.

CONCLUSION

• Many eyes will now be on the BRICS summit in South Africa in August where Mr. Xi and perhaps Mr. Putin will be present. Many wait to see if India goes to South Africa or prefer to avoid any chance of muddying the waters before his great moment in the diplomatic sun — the G-20 summit in Delhi in September.

General Studies Paper 3

CONTEXT

• It is important for scientific research institutions to encourage social and political discussions, rather than seeking to shut them down like the IISc and IISER administrations have done.

RESEARCH INSTITUTES

• Scientific research institutes are part of the broader society; and so their members have the same constitutional right as others to participate in social discussions.
• Researchers at such institutions are offered the leisure and the training to pursue critical inquiry into a variety of subjects.
• This privilege, which relies on the public support that these institutions receive, means that they have an added responsibility to educate and express themselves on matters of public interests.
• For scientific researchers to fail to stand up for justice, especially at a time of great social turmoil, would be an abdication of this responsibility.

SCIENCE HAS MULTIPLE LINKS

• A narrow perspective might suggest that scientists should restrict themselves to science and stay away from social questions.
• However, it is artificial to erect intellectual silos around what is considered “science” and proscribe discussions outside those limits.
• For instance, an investigation of the science of climate change can naturally flow into complex geopolitical issues about colonialism and historical responsibility.
• These issues are not peripheral to the subject but help to determine which scientific questions deserve focus.
• As another example, research on energy policy cannot be separated from environmental concerns or questions about the usage and equitable distribution of energy.
• Most recently, research on artificial intelligence has thrown up a host of ethical dilemmas.
• Some scientific fields, such as quantum physics, are further separated from current affairs.
• But the generous public support for research in these areas — the recently announced “national quantum mission” — arises from the expectation that this research, either directly or through spinoffs, will lead to public benefit.
• However, scientific and technological advances do not automatically lead to social progress; they can also facilitate oppression or entrench inequality.
• So, it is important for scientists to involve themselves in decisions of how science is deployed, and not cede this ground entirely to capitalists or the government.
• Therefore, a broader political and historical perspective on scientific research is helpful even in pure science.

AN ENGAGEMENT WITH SOCIAL ISSUES

• India has a rich and unique tradition of scientists who have engaged with social issues.
• The All-India Peoples Science Network has consistently advocated that science be used for social benefit rather than private profit.
• To be clear it is possible for individual scientists to focus on narrow scientific topics and ignore larger questions.
• My argument is that scientific issues are often related to broader political issues, and that society has benefited from the participation of scientists in these discussions.

THE PRESSURES

• Administrators worry that they might be seen as promoting views that are hostile to the government of the day and might incur its wrath.
• Often, they do not even wait for instructions from the government but proactively censor discussions deemed to be controversial.
• This attitude predates the current government. However, it is no secret that the pressure to conform and the level of self-censorship has increased significantly under the current dispensation.

CONCLUSION

• Unless this censorship is resisted robustly, academic freedom in scientific institutions is likely to come under further attack. A key value in science is to challenge the arbitrary use of authority. It is time for members of the Indian scientific community to put this value into practice in their own institutions.