General Studies Paper 2

Context: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently confirmed a USD 3 billion bailout plan (under Extended Fund Facility (EFF)) for Sri Lanka’s struggling economy.

• It is also negotiating with Pakistan for a USD 1.1 billion bailout plan on account of its severe economic crisis marked by falling currency and price rise.

What are IMF Bailouts?

• Bailout:Bailout is a general term for extending financial support to a company/country facing a potential bankruptcy threat.
  • It can take the form of loans, cash, bonds, or stock purchases.
  • A bailout may (not) require reimbursement but is often accompanied by greater oversight and regulations.
• IMF Bailouts:Countries seek help from the IMF usually when their economies face a major macroeconomic risk, mostly currency crisis (such as the ones Sri Lanka is facing).
  • Countries seek such assistance from the IMF to meet their external debt and other obligations, to purchase essential imports, and to prop up the exchange value of their currencies.

How is an IMF Bailout Provided?

• Procedure:
  • The IMF lends money to the troubled economies often in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).
    • SDRs simply represent a basket of five currencies, namely the S. dollar,the euro, the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen, and the British pound.
  • This lending is carried out by a number of lending programs such as extended credit facility, flexible credit line, stand-by agreements, etc.
  • Countries receiving the bailout can use the SDRs for various purposes depending on their individual circumstances.
• Conditions:
  • A country may have to agree to implement certain structural reforms as a condition to receive IMF loans.
  • Criticism of Lending Conditions:
    • Believed to be too tough on the public
    • Often accused of being influenced by international politics
    • Free-market supporters criticise the IMF for being too interventionist
  • Acclamation:
    • Conditions are essential for successful lending; it may not make sense for IMF to throw money at a country if its faulty policies that caused the crisis remain untouched.
    • Countries with poor institutional functioning and high corruption are most likely to misspend the bailout money.

What are the Impacts of Providing IMF Bailouts?

• Advantages:
  • They ensure continued survival of the country under difficult economic circumstances and help solve  BoP problems without resorting to measures that can be even more harmful to national/international prosperity.
  • A complete collapse of the financial system can be avoided when industries too big to fail start to crumble.
  • Insolvency of institutions that are needed for the smooth functioning of the overall markets can be avoided.
  • In addition to financial support, the IMF can provide technical assistance and expertise to help a country implement economic reforms and strengthen its institutions.
• Disadvantages:
  • IMF’s strict conditions for economic policy reforms may result in reduced govt spending, increased taxes which can be politically unpopular and may lead to social unrest.
  • Seeking an IMF bailout may harm a country’s reputation in the eyes of investors and lenders, making it more difficult for the country to access international capital markets.
  • Repeated IMF bailouts can create a sense of dependency on external funding and discourage countries from implementing necessary long-term reforms to address their economic problems.
  • IMF bailouts may be viewed as an admission of economic failure by a govt, which can lead to political instability and even the collapse of the govt.

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Recently, the Indian Patent Office rejected U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) attempt for Evergreening of Patent on manufacturing of the anti-tuberculosis drug Bedaquiline in India beyond July 2023.

• Bedaquiline is a crucial drug in the treatment of multidrug resistant TB patients for whom the first-line drug treatment — using Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide and Ethambutol — has stopped working.

Why was the Patent Application Rejected?

• J&J’s patent application was fora fumarate salt of a compound to produce bedaquiline tablets.
• It was argued that J&J’s method to produce a “solid pharmaceutical composition” of bedaquiline doesn’t require an “inventive step”.
  • According to the Indian Patent Act 1970 Section 2(1) (ja), an ‘inventive step’ is an invention that is “not obvious to a person skilled in the art”.
• The current application drew significantly from a previous patent, which discussed a similar compound on which bedaquiline is based.
• The Patents Act, 1970 has imposed certain ‘restrictions’ on patentability.
  • A patent cannot be granted on ‘mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant’.
  • Section 3(d) of the Act does not allow ‘evergreening’ of patents to prevent innovator pharma companies from extending the patent beyond the stipulated period of 20 years, to ensure that the monopoly does not extend forever.
• As of now it is still a patented product and there are no generic versions. However, after the expiry of the Bedaquiline patent, the drug makers can make the generic versions per the law.

Why is the Rejection Notable?

• The rejection is expected to lower the cost of bedaquiline by up to 80%.
  • India has the largest population of people living with drug-resistant TB. J&J’s patent on bedaquiline meant the drug cost USD 400 (revised to USD 340 in 2020) per person, plus the cost of other drugs.
• So far, the Indian government has directly procured the drug and distributed it through State-level TB programmes. After July 2023, manufacturers of generic drugs in India will be able to produce generic versions of bedaquiline.

What is the Evergreening of Patents?

• About:
  • The evergreening of patents is a practice of tweaking drugs in order to extend their patent term and thus their profitability.
  • The Indian Patents Act 1970introduced many provisions to prevent the mischievous practice of “evergreening” of patents.
  • This is to aid millions of people who can’t afford the expensive modified drugs, as well as the development of the domestic generic drug
• Concerns:
  • The process does not produce any increase in the therapeutic efficacy of the drug. In many countries, minor reformulations can qualify for patent protection. The result is that it prevents competition in the market and is considered harmful to the market and consumers.
  • Companies extend the term of protection and charge more for drugs while defending costs incurred in research and development as no cost has been incurred for such compositions as it is only a minor combination or modification of existing drugs.
  • Due to the lack of generic drugs, the variety translates into an increase in the cost of healthcare for consumers.
  • The persistence of patents primarily affects consumers in underdeveloped and developing countries who cannot afford the brand name drugs that can save them from deadly diseases.

What is a Related Supreme Court Decision?

• A popular precedent in this regard is Novartis vs Union of India casein which the Supreme Court (SC) rejected an appeal filed by Novartis rejecting the patent and upheld that the beta crystalline form of Imatinib Mesylate was a new form of the known substance i.e., Imatinib Mesylate, wherein the efficacy was well known and rejected the patent.

General Studies Paper 2

Context: Recent proceedings in the Supreme Court have put the spotlight on the mode of execution in death penalty cases.

Death penalty 

• About:
  • It is the highest degree of punishment that can be awarded to an individual under specified penal law in force.
  • It is a legally backed instrument used by the state to take an individual’s life.
• Evolution in India:
  • During the British raj, there were countless instances of Indians being hanged after trial or even before it.
  • Post Independence, India became a democratic state, and the system of awarding death penalties too changed drastically.
• Constitutional Validity:
  • IPC:
    • The Indian Penal Code in accordance with the provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India provided for awarding of capital punishment for certain specific offences.
  • CrPc:
    • According to Section 354(3) in the Code of Criminal Procedure,while imposing the capital punishment, the judge should specify “the special reasons” for doing so.
  • Supreme Court’s verdict:
    • The constitutional validity of hanging was last considered and upheld by the Supreme Court in September1983 (Deena v. Union of India).
  • The Law Commission of India’s report:
    • The Law Commission of India in its 187th Report (2003) recognised the constitutional impermissibility of death by hanging and recommended that India consider using lethal injections instead.

The recent debate on mode of execution

• About:
  • Historically, societies using the death penalty have moved towards either carrying out executions in private away from the public gaze (like India does in its prisons with very few people witnessing the execution) ortowards sanitising executions to make them look clean and without suffering (like the lethal injection executions in the US).
• The petition:
  • The Supreme Court was recently called upon to reconsider its September 1983 decision on whether India could continue using hanging for executions.
  • The petitioner’s claim was that we must move to lethal injection as a humane method of execution.
    • The petitioners in the current instance seem to have approached the court with the intention of wanting to reduce the pain of death row prisoners during executions.
  • The most immediate question is whether there exists any mode of execution that can meet constitutional requirements.
• Issues with “death by hanging”:

• There is now a strong body of evidence establishing that death by hanging is a cruel and barbaric form of execution that violates human dignity.
• The immediate and the painless nature of death attributed to hanging is an exception rather than the rule.
• Vrious courts including the Privy Council, Supreme Court of Uganda and the High Court of Tanzania have relied on the suffering caused by hangings to reject it as a humane method of execution.

• Executions using lethal injections:
  • How does it work?
    • Most states rely on a three-drug combination of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
      • While sodium thiopental puts the prisoner to sleep, pancuronium bromide renders the prisoner paralytic and unable to show any pain before potassium chloride causes cardiac arrest.
      • Any suffering that the prisoner goes through as a result of the induced cardiac arrest is masked by the effect of pancuronium bromide.
    • Issues:
      • There is now incontrovertible evidence from the US that executions using lethal injections come with a real and substantial risk of being botched and leading to immense suffering.
      • In fact, a study published by the British Journal of American Legal Studies (2012) found that executions using the lethal injection had a higher rate of being botched than any other method.
      • While the US continues to use lethal injection as a mode of execution, the procedure has not been scientifically or medically studied on human beings.

Arguments in favor of Death Penalty

• Favoured by various agencies:
  • In the 35th Report of Law Commission of India (1962), which was presented in 1967, the Law Commission favoured retaining the death penalty in the Indian Judicial System.
• Maintenance of law and order:
  • It said that maintenance of law and order, absence of any empirical research and other similar factors, “India cannot risk the experiment of abolition of capital punishment”.
• Acting as a deterrent:
  • Death punishment serves as a deterrent and a “response to the society’s call for appropriate punishment in appropriate cases”.

Arguments against Death Penalty

• Against the global trend:
  • According to the Amnesty Report, at the end of 2021 more than two thirds of the world’s countries had abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
• The poor are most affected: 
  • In India,the poors are most affected than the rich
  • The numbers of the uneducated and the illiterate sentenced to death outweigh those who are educated and literate.
  • The legal assistance received by the poor facing serious charges is far from satisfactory.
• No reduction of pain:
  • Neither of these options (hanging or lethal injection) are really concerned with reducing pain for the prisoner and neither can they really achieve that reduction of pain.

Way ahead

• It would be better for us to acknowledge that issues surrounding the methods of execution present yet another constitutional crisis point in the administration of the death penalty.
• The issues that need to be addressed are
  • the arbitrariness in death penalty sentencing,
  • the discriminatory and disparate impact of the death penalty on marginalised groups,
  • the brutal realities of life on death row, and
  • the mental health consequences of being on death row, etc.
• The constitutional infirmities with the method of execution is yet another reason to revisit the very administration of the death penalty in India.

General Studies Paper 3

Context: Recently the government announced seven mega textile parks under the scheme PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA).

More about the PM MITRA Scheme

• Key highlights:
  • The seven Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) parks will be set up at Greenfield or Brownfield sites located in different states.
  • It will be developed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will be owned by the State Government and the Government of India in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode.
  • The scheme is inspired by the 5F vision of the Prime Minister of India. The ‘5F’ Formula encompasses
    • farm to fibre;
    • fibre to factory;
    • factory to fashion;
    • fashion to foreign.
  • Core infrastructure: 
    • It will include an incubation centre and plug and play facility, developed factory sites, roads, power, water and waste-water system, common processing house and CETP and other related facilities like design centre, testing centres, among others.
    • These parks will also have support infrastructures like workers’ hostels and housing, logistics park, warehousing, medical, training and skill development facilities.
    • The Scheme shall be implemented on a pan-India basis and is intended for the holistic development of the Textile sector.

The first phase

• Under the first phase of the PM MITRA scheme,large textile parks, spread across at least 1,000 acres, will come up in seven States —
  • Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.
• It will house the entire textile value chain, from fibre to fabric to garments.
• The parks will have plug-and-play manufacturing facilities and all the common amenities required.
• Role of Central government:
  • The Central government will disburse Development Capital Fund of ?500 crore in two tranches for each of the seven facilities. This is for the creation of core and support infrastructure.
• Role of State governments:
  • The State governments will provide the land, be part of the SPV, and give the required clearances.

Significance

• Self sufficiency:
  • It is in line with the vision of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ and to position India strongly on the Global textiles map.
• Streamlining value chain, investments & employment:
  • The scheme seeks to streamline the textile value chain into one ecosystem, taking in spinning, weaving and dyeing to printing and garment manufacturing, is expected to generate investments worth ?70,000 crore.
  • It would also lead to the creation of 20 lakh jobs.
• Strengthening the sector:
  • The parks, which will be open for foreign direct investments, will be located in States that have inherent strengths in the textile sector.
  • Each park will have effluent treatment plants, accommodation for workers, skill training centres and warehouses.
    • It is designed to attract investment from companies looking to scale up, requiring integrated manufacturing facilities in one location.
  • Global competitiveness:
    • It will reduce logistics costs and strengthen the value chain of the textile sector to make it globally competitive.
    • Expanding the fibre and product line will give India a larger share in the global market, from the current 5%.

Impact of PM MITRA on MSMEs

• The industry has mixed views on the immediate impact of the huge investments that are expected to come into the parks in existing units.
• MSME & textile sector:
  • The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is said to control almost 80% of the textiles and apparels currently made in India.
  • Further, the Indian textile and clothing units are more cotton-based.
• Issues with supply chains:
  • With mounting challenges such as the global geopolitical situation, and overseas buyers exploring China as well as other sourcing options, the past two years have seen notable shifts in supply chains.
• Significance of the scheme for the sector:
  • Orders are transitioning to suppliers who are highly price competitive and have sustainable production processes.
  • The MSME exporters are also realising that there is a need for integrated, larger facilities and these factors are expected to drive the industry’s investment plans.

Way ahead

• In order to make a giant leap in exports and domestic sales, the industry has to also be price competitive right from the raw material stage and gear up to meet the sustainability and traceability demands of international buyers.
• The State governments and developers should give thrust to the PM MITRA parks for sustainable and cost-effective solutions for pollution control and other issues that the value-adding segments of the textile chain face.
  • India can take a cue from countries such as Turkey where integrated textile parks are highly efficient.

General Studies Paper 2

Context: The Union government has extended the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA) in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. At the same time, the AFSPA has been removed from several areas in Northeast India.

About

• In Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Northeast India, the AFSPAis a contentious and unpopular law as it allows security services to operate without the risk of prosecution or requirement of a warrant. There have been repeated calls to repeal the law over the years.
• It has long been alleged that human rights violations and extrajudicial arrestsand killings take place under the garb of AFSPA. A string of incidents in recent years have highlighted these concerns, ranging from the Mon killings to the fake encounter in Shopian in J&K.
  • In December 2021, a total of 14 civilians were killed in and after a botched Indian Army operation, according to MHA.

What is Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA)?

• Origin of AFSPA:
  • The Act in its original form was promulgated by the British in response to the Quit India movement in 1942. 
  • After Independence, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru decided to retain the Act, which was first brought in as an ordnance and then notified as an Act in 1958.
  • The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, enacted in the year 1958, grants extraordinary powers and immunity to the armed forces to bring back order in the “disturbed areas”.
  • The Act came into force in the context of increasing violence in the Northeastern States decades ago, which the State governments found difficult to control.
• Meaning:
  • Armed forces have the authority to prohibit a gathering of five or more persons in an area, can use force or even open fire after giving due warning if they feel a person is in contravention of the law.
  • If reasonable suspicion exists, the army can also arrest a person without a warrant; enter or search a premises without a warrant; and ban the possession of firearms.
  • Any person arrested or taken into custody may be handed over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station along with a report detailing the circumstances that led to the arrest.
• Provisions:
  • Under Section 3, the Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.
    • An area can be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
  • Section 4gives the Army powers to search premises and make arrests without warrants, to use force even to the extent of causing death, destroy arms/ammunition dumps, fortifications/shelters/hideouts and to stop, search and seize any vehicle.
  • Section 6 stipulates that arrested persons and the seized property are to be made over to the police with the least possible delay.
  • Section 7offers protection of persons acting in good faith in their official capacity.
  • The prosecution is permitted only after the sanction of the Central Government.

Rationale behind imposition of AFSPA

• Effective functioning of Security Forces: Armed Forces are deployed in counter-insurgency / terrorist operations when all other forces available to the State have failed to bring the situation under control.
  • Armed forces operating in such an environment require certain special powers and protection in the form of an enabling law.
• National Security:  The Act plays a crucial role in maintaining law and order in
• disturbed areas. Thus, protecting sovereignty and security of the nation.
• Boosting morale of Forces:AFSPA boosts the morale (mental well-being) of the armed forces for ensuring the public order in the disturbed areas as removal of the Act would lead to militants motivating locals to file lawsuits against the army.

Arguments against AFSPA

• Violation of the Human Rights: The exercise of these extraordinary powers by armed forces has often led to allegations of fake encounters and other human rights violations by security forces in disturbed areas while questioning the indefinite imposition of AFSPA in certain states.
  • Human rights violations in AFSPA areas are not inquired into and followed by adequate action. Thus, it is against the principle of natural justice.
• Violation of the right to remedy: Section 6 of the Act “immediately takes away, abrogates, frustrates the right to constitutional remedy which has been given in article 32(1) of the Constitution.
  • AFSPA was outside the powers granted in the Constitution since it was declaring a state of emergency without following the Constitutional provisions for such a declaration.
• Ineffectiveness of the Act: Critics argue that this act has failed in its objective of restoring normalcy in disturbed areas although being in existence for about 50 years.

Way Ahead

• Compliance to Human Rights: It needs to be emphasised that human rights compliance and operational effectiveness are not contrarian requirements. In fact, adherence to human rights norms and principles strengthens the counter insurgency capability of a force.
  • The Indian army has been recognised as an apolitical, secular and professional force by the country. The armed forces need to restructure their approach to operations in states where people are increasingly and rightly developing zero tolerance to human rights violations.
• Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee Recommendation: In 2005, this committee recommended that AFSPA be repealed, highlighting that the Act has become “a symbol of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness”.
• Removing Ambiguity in Law: The terms like “disturbed”, “dangerous” and “land forces” need to be clearly defined to ensure greater clarity.
• Development of Disturbed areas:AFSPA is required to counter insurgencies and lack of development in the Northeast region is also a major reason for the insurgency therefore the Government should take urgent steps to create new opportunities for growth and development.
• SC ruling on AFSPA: The constitutionality of AFSPA was challenged in the Supreme Court in 1997. A five-judge Constitution Bench unanimously upheld the law. Although the court agreed that the Constitution did provide for deployment of armed forces in aid of civil power, it held that such deployment can be permitted for a “temporary period” and “until a situation of normalcy was restored”.
  • The court said that while declaring a region as “disturbed area”, the opinion of the state government must be taken and there must be a periodic review of the situation.

A complaint containing an allegation about misuse or abuse of the powers conferred under the Central Act shall be thoroughly inquired into

General Studies Paper 3

Context: A UK-based startup has claimed to have developed a Biotransformation Technology that could alter the state of plastics and make them biodegradable.

What is Biotransformation Technology?

• About:
  • Biotransformation technology is a novel approach to ensure plastics that escape refuse streams are processed efficiently and broken down.
  • Plastics made using this technology are given a pre-programmed time during which the manufactured material looks and feels like conventional plastics without compromising on quality.
  • Once the product expires and is exposed to the external environment,it self-destructs, and bio transforms into bioavailable
  • This wax is then consumed by microorganisms, converting waste into water, CO₂, and biomass.
  • This biotransformation technology is the world’s first that ensures polyolefins fully biodegrade in an open environment causing no microplastics.
• Need for such a Technology:
  • India is generating 3.5 billion kgs of plastic waste annually and that the per capita plastic waste generation has also doubled in the past five years. Of this, a third comes from packaging waste.
  • In 2019, plastic packaging waste from e-commerce firms was estimated at over a billion kilograms worldwide, according to Statista.
  • Seeing such a burden of plastic waste, which could potentially harm biodiversity, it is needed to devise technology in order to tackle the Plastic Menace.
• Utility:
  • Food packaging and health care industries are the two prime sectors that could use this technology to reduce waste.
  • The increase in cost is relatively small compared to conventional plastic that does not contain.

What are the Alternatives to Reducing Plastic Waste?

• A switch to jute or paper-based packaging could potentially cut down plastic waste. This could also build sustainability within the paper industry and save on the import bill on ethylene solutions.
• The Wooden Packaging is yet another alternative, but that will make the packaging bulkier and increase cost.
• The Government of Tamil Nadu, in Chennai, organised National Expo and Conference of Startups to raise awareness on alternatives to single-use plastics.
• The alternatives showcased were made using coir, bagasse, rice and wheat bran, plant and agricultural residue, banana and areca leaves, jute and cloth.

Initiatives Related to Plastic Waste:

• The Indian government has launched multiple initiatives to move the country towards sustainability. They introduced a plastic waste management gazette to help tackle the ever-growing plastic pollution caused by single-use plastics.
• In 2022, the government imposed a ban on single-use plastics to bring a stop to its use in the country.
• The National Dashboard on Elimination of Single Use Plastic and Plastic Waste Management brings all stakeholders together to track the progress made in eliminating single-use plastic and effectively managing such waste.
  An Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)portal helps in improving accountability, traceability, and facilitating ease of compliance reporting in relation to EPR obligations of the producers, importers and brand-owners.
  India has also developed a mobile app to report single use plastics grievancesto check sale, usage or manufacturing of single use plastics in their area.

General Studies Paper 3

Context:

Recently the Synthesis Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released.

Report statement on India’s afforestation policy

• The report states that not degrading existing ecosystems in the first place will do more to lower the impact of the climate crisis than restoring ecosystems that have been destroyed.
  • It is speaking about the increasingly contested policy in India that has allowed forests in one part of the country to be cut down and ‘replaced’ with those elsewhere.

More about Afforestation 

• Afforestation as part of India’s climate pledges: 
  • The government has committed to adding “an additional (cumulative) carbon sink of 2.5-3 GtCO2e through additional forest and tree cover by 2030”.
    • ‘GtCO2e’stands for gigatonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent.
  • Afforestation & CAMPA:
    • Afforestation is also codified in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), a body created on the Supreme Court’s orders in 2002, chaired by the environment minister.
    • According to the environment ministry, “CAMPA is meant to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses.”
  • Forest (Conservation) Act 1980:
    • When forest land is diverted to non-forest use, such as a dam or a mine, that land can longer provide its historical ecosystem services nor host biodiversity.
    • According to the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the project proponent that wishes to divert the land must identify land elsewhere to afforest, and pay the land value and for the afforestation exercise.
    • That land will thereafter be stewarded by the forest department.

Issues

• Unspent fund:
  • The money paid sits in a fund overseen by Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
  • In 2006-2012, the fund grew from Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 23,600 crore. But the Comptroller and Auditor General found in 2013 that most of this money had been unspent. In 2019, the fund had Rs 47,000 crore.
• Facilitating deforestation:
  • CAMPA has also come under fire for facilitating the destruction of natural ecosystems in exchange for forests to be set up in other places.
    • For example, in October 2022, the Haryana government said it would develop the “world’s largest curated safari” using CAMPA funds received from deforestation in Great Nicobar for development projects, 2,400 km away and of very different topography.
  • Issues with CAMPA-funded projects:
    • A 2016 article in Current Science also said that CAMPA-funded projects endangered “landscape connectivity and biodiversity corridors” and exposed forest patches to “edge effects”.
    • It added that planting non-native species or artificial plantations wouldn’t compensate for the ecosystem loss as well as be “hazardous to the existing ecosystem”.
  • No specific conditions for denying:
    • There are no specific conditions laid by the environment ministry for outrightly denying permission for deforestation for development projects.
      • For example, indiscriminately planting mangroves on mudflats which don’t naturally have mangroves to act as a buffer from storms.
      • Destroying grasslands and open natural ecosystems for solar parks.
    • Beyond compensation:
      • What this means is that in addition to livelihood impacts, biodiversity impacts, and hydrological impacts, the climate impacts of such development projects also cannot adequately be ‘compensated’ by compensatory afforestation.

Significance of Natural Ecosystem & way ahead

• Carbon sequestration: 
  • Research has found that natural ecosystems sequester more carbon.
• No comparison with the Natural Ecosystem:
  • We have known all along that creating single-species plantations in, say, Haryana does not really come close to a natural sal forest lost to a development project in, say, Central Indian forests in terms of biodiversity, local livelihoods, hydrological services, and sequestered carbon.
• Time consuming:
  • Of these, sequestered carbon recovers fastest under fast-growing plantations, but even then, it will take many decades before it approaches the level of carbon sequestered in a natural forest.

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment highlighted the funds spent on the scholarship schemes by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

About

• In the first nine months of the financial year 2022-23, the Ministry was able to spend only 1% of its allocation for a pre-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students.
• And less than half the amount allocated for a post-matric scholarship scheme for SC students.
• Under the PM-YASASVI scheme the Government spentjust a little over 2% out of the total budget allocation for the scheme.
• Government’s Response:Earlier, the scheme was split into two — one for SC students and one for children of those engaged in hazardous occupations. It was merged into one and implemented as such from 2022-23.
  • Under the new system, the Centre sends its60% share of the funds through a Direct Benefit Transfer to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the beneficiary, but only after the concerned State government releases its 40% share of the funds.

Pre-matric scholarship scheme

• Pre-Matric Scholarship for ST students (Class IX and X) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 2006 and implemented through respective State/UT administrations.
• It is an open-ended Scheme covering all ST students studying in Std. IXth & Xth, whose parental annual income is up to  2.50 lakhs.
• The contribution from the Government of India is 75%and the state contribution is 25%. 
• In respect of North East states and hilly states, the contribution from Government of India is 90% and the state contribution is 10%. 
• In case of UTs like Andaman & Nicobar without Legislative Assembly and own grants, Govt. of India’s contribution is 100%.

Post matric scholarship scheme

• Post Matric Scholarship for ST students (Class XI and above) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented through respective Ste/UT administrations.
• This is an open-ended Scheme covering all ST students studying in in class XI and above, whose parental annual income is up to Rs. 50 lakhs.
• The contribution from the Government of India is 75% and the state contribution is 25%. 
• In respect of North East states and hilly states,the contribution from Government of India is 90% and the state contribution is 10%.
• In case of UTs like Andaman & Nicobar without Legislative Assembly and own grants, Govt. of India’s contribution is 100%.

PM-YASASVI scheme

• It is formulated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJ&E) and known as PM Young achievers Scholarship Award Scheme for Vibrant India (YASASVI)for award of scholarships to Other Backward Class (OBC), Economically Backward Class (EBC) and Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes Denotified Tribe(DNT) students.
• The annual income of whose parents/guardian is not more than  2.5 lakhs, studying in identified Schools.
• The award of scholarships is at two levels:
  • For students who are studying in Class IX.
  • For students who are studying in Class XI.
• Selection of candidates for award of Scholarships under the Scheme is through a written test known as Yasasvi Entrance Test (YET)conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA).

About National Testing Agency (NTA)

• MSJ&E, Government of India (GoI) has established the National Testing Agency (NTA) as an independent, autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization under the Societies Registration Act (1860).
• It is established for conducting efficient, transparent and international standardized tests in order to assess the competency of candidates for admission to premier Higher Educational Institutions(HEI).

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Recently, The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, approved the creation of a national tribunal for the redressal of GST disputes.

Need for the Tribunal

• In the absence of GST Appellate Tribunals, taxpayers are filing writ petitions to directly move the High Court this burdens the already overburdened High Courts and they may not have specialized benches for GST matters.
• The absence of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has led to a huge pile-up of cases
• Without a tribunal, taxpayers who feel aggrieved have no choice but to wait for justice while revenue authorities aggressively pursue their orders

About GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)

• Section (109) of the Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act)mandates the constitution of a GSTAT and its Benches.
• It is a specialized authority to resolve disputes related to GST laws at the appellate level.
• The principal bench of the GSTAT will be located in New Delhi, and each state can decide on the number of benches or boards they require, subject to GST council approval.

Composition 

• The bench will consist of two judicial members and two technical members, with the selection panel including a senior judicial member from the State High Court.
  • The Tribunal is likely to be headed by a former Supreme Court judge or a former Chief Justice of a High Court
    

Powers of the Appellate Tribunal 

• As per the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the GST Appellate Tribunal holds the same powers as the court and is deemed Civil Court for trying a case.
• It has been granted the powers to hear appeals and to pass orders and directions, including those for the recovery of amounts due, for the enforcement of its orders, and for the rectification of mistakes.
• It also has the power to impose penalties, revoke or cancel registrations, and take such other measures as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the GST laws.
• Its framework may permit the resolution of disputes involving dues or fines of less than Rs. 50 lakh by a single-member bench.

General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Recently, Odisha Government introduced an OBC  law to include castes in the State list by notification.

About

• The State government has proposed an amendment in Section 9 of the Odisha State Commission of Backward Classes Act 1993, by inserting, “notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the State government, may, by notification, include such backward classes in the list, if the said backward classes have been specified in the Central list in relation to Odisha.”
  • This Law gives power to the State government to include any class of citizens as Backward Class in the State listif the said class has already been notified by the Government of India as OBC for the State of Odisha.

Origin: OBCs in India

• First defined in the1980 Mandal Commission report, OBCs among Hindus were identified based on socio-educational field surveys, lists of OBCs notified by various State governments, the 1961 Census report, and extensive touring of the country.
• Among non-Hindus, the caste system was not found to be an inherent part of the religion.
  • However, for equality, untouchables who converted from Hinduism and occupational communities known by their traditional hereditary jobs, such as the Gujjars, Dhobis, and Telis, were also identified as OBCs.

Listing:

• Even though there isone SC & ST list for reservation benefits, in the case of OBCs, States were empowered to maintain their own list of OBCs to provide necessary benefits. Thus, we have
  • Union OBC list for reservation in Central government jobs & Central Educational institutions
  • OBC lists at the State level (varies with each state) for reservation in State government jobs & State Educational institutions.
• The Constitution  (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Castes (NCBC).  It further inserted:
  • Article 338B, which deals with the structure, duties, and powers of the NCBC.
    • It was tasked with monitoring safeguards provided for socially and educationally backward classes, giving advice on their socio-economic development, inquiring into complaints and making recommendations, among other functions.
  • Article 342A,which deals with the powers of the President to notify a particular caste as an SEBC and the power of Parliament to change the list.

Supreme Court’s observations and 127th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2021

• The Supreme Court (in the Maratha Reservation case) had ruled that only the Centre had the power to draw up the OBC list, as per the above interpretation of Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act (Article 342A only mentions President & Parliament with no reference to states)
• To reverse the verdict and to restore the powers of the state governments to maintain state list of OBCs, Parliament passed 127th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2021
  • Amendment in Articles 366(26C) and 338B (9), after which states will be able to directly notify OBC and SEBCs without having to refer to the NCBC, and the “state list” was being taken out of the domain of the President and will be notified by the Assembly.