Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Why in News?

• Recently, Japan has adopted a new policy promoting greater use of Nuclear Energy to ensure a stable power supply amid global fuel shortages and to reduce carbon emissions.

What is Japan’s New Policy?

• It is Japan’s major reversal of its nuclear phase-out plan following the Fukushima crisis in 2011.

• Fukushima accident caused by Tsunami in 2011 was the second worst nuclear accident in the history of nuclear power generation. The site is on Japan’s Pacific coast, in northeastern Fukushima prefecture about 100 km south of Sendai.

• The Policy seeks to maximize the use of existing nuclear reactors by restarting as many of them as possible and prolonging the operating life of old reactors beyond their 60-year limit, and by developing next-generation reactors to replace them.
• It pledges to sustain use of nuclear power into the future. Most nuclear reactors in Japan are more than 30 years old.
• It aims to push for the development and construction of “next-generation innovative reactors” with safer features to replace about 20 reactors now set for decommissioning.

• Nuclear energy accounts for less than 7% of Japan’s energy supply, and achieving the government’s goal of raising its share to 20-22% by fiscal 2030 will require about 27 reactors, from the current 10.

What is the Prospect of India’s Nuclear Energy?

• Status of Nuclear Energy:

• Nuclear energy is the fifth-largest source of electricity for India. India has over 22 nuclear reactors in 7 power plants across the country which produces 6780 MW of nuclear power. The 7 power plants are:

• Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), Maharashtra.
• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station (KKNPS), Tamil Nadu
• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS), Gujarat.
• (Kalpakkam) Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Tamil Nadu.
• Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS), Uttar Pradesh.
• Kaiga Generating Station (KGS), Karnataka.
• Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS), Rajasthan.

• The public sector entity, Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), is responsible for designing, building, commissioning and operating nuclear power reactors in the country.

• NPCIL operates under the Indian government’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

• Significance for India:

• Availability of Thorium: India is the leader of the new resource of nuclear fuel called Thorium, which is considered to be the nuclear fuel of the future.

• With the availability of Thorium, India has the potential to be the first nation to realise the dream of a fossil fuel-free nation.

• Cuts Import Bills: Nuclear energy will also relieve the nation of about USD 100 billion annually which we spend on importing petroleum and coal.
• Stable and Reliable Source: The greenest sources of power are definitely solar and wind. But solar and wind power, despite all their advantages, are not stable and are dependent excessively on weather and sunshine conditions.

• Nuclear power, on the other hand, provides a relatively clean, high-density source of reliable energy with an international presence.

• Cheaper to Run: Nuclear power plants are cheaper to run than their coal or gas rivals. It has been estimated that even factoring in costs such as managing radioactive fuel and disposal nuclear plants cost between 33 to 50% of a coal plant and 20 to 25% of a gas combined-cycle plant.

• Challenges:

• Insufficient Nuclear Installed Capacity: In 2008, the Atomic Energy Commission projected that India would have 650GW of installed capacity by 2050; the current installed capacity is only 6.78 GW.

• Such targets were based on the expectation that India would import many light-water reactors after the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal. But the deal has not led to the establishment of a single new nuclear plant, over 13 years after it was concluded.

• Lack of Public Funding: Nuclear power has never received the quantum of generous subsidy the fossil fuel received in the past and renewable is receiving currently.

• In absence of public funding, nuclear power will find it tough to compete against natural gas and renewables in the future.

• Acquisition of Land: Land acquisition and selection of location for Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is also a major problem in the country.

• NPP’s like Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh have met with several delays due to the land acquisition related challenges.

• Impact of Climate Change: Climate change will increase the risk of nuclear reactor accidents. During the world’s increasingly hot summers, several nuclear power plants have already had to be temporarily shut down or taken off the grid.

• Further, nuclear power plants depend on nearby water sources to cool their reactors, and with many rivers drying up, those sources of water are no longer guaranteed.

• Deployment at Insufficient Scale: It might not be the appropriate choice for mitigating India’s carbon emissions since it cannot be deployed at the necessary scale.
• Nuclear Waste: Nuclear waste can have drastically bad effects on life, causing cancerous growths, for instance, or causing genetic problems for many generations of animals and plants.

• In a densely populated country such as India, land is at a premium and emergency health care is far from uniformly available.

What are India’s Initiatives Regarding Nuclear Energy?

• Three-stage Nuclear Power Programme:

1. India has consciously proceeded to explore the possibility of tapping nuclear energy for the purpose of power generation.
2. In this direction a three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s.

• The Atomic Energy Act, 1962:

1. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962 was framed and implemented with the set objectives of using two naturally occurring elements Uranium and Thorium as nuclear fuel in Indian Nuclear Power Reactors.

• Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors:

1. In December, 2021, the Government of India informed Parliament about building ten indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to be set up in fleet mode and had granted “in principle approval” for 28 additional reactors, including 24 to be imported from France, the U.S. and Russia.

• Nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra:

1. Government has given in-principle (first step) approval for setting up of six nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
2. Jaitapur would be the world’s most powerful nuclear power plant. There would be six state-of-the-art Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs) with an installed capacity of 9.6 GWe that will produce low carbon electricity.
3. The six nuclear power reactors, which will have a capacity of 1,650 MW each, will be set up with technical cooperation from France.

Way Forward

• The global energy crisis should spur a rational relook at an energy source as clear as nuclear which needlessly seen as a hot potato.

• We must make the right choices between various low-carbon technologies, all of which have some social and environmental impact.

• To meet rising energy demands, nuclear power is one of the better solutions.
• Considering lower capacity utilisation of renewables, rising fossil fuel prices and ever soaring pollution problems, the potential of nuclear power must be fully exploited.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Why in News?

• As many as 13 farmers known for innovative farming were felicitated to mark Kisan Diwas or National Farmers Day on 23^rd December, 2022.
• The Kisan Diwas is observed across the country to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India.

What are the Key Facts about Chaudhary Charan Singh?

• He was born in 1902 at Noorpur in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh and was the Prime Minister of India from 28^th July 1979 to 14^th January 1980.
• Being a proponent of rural and agricultural development, he made continuous efforts for keeping agriculture at the centre of planning for India.
• He was given the nickname ‘Champion of India’s Peasants’ for his work towards upliftment of farmers and development of agriculture throughout the country.
• He took a leading part in formulation and finalisation of the Debt Redemption Bill 1939, in order to give relief to the peasantry from moneylenders.
• He was instrumental in bringing about the Land Holding Act, 1960 which was aimed at lowering the ceiling on land holdings to make it uniform throughout the Uttar Pradesh.
• He left Congress in 1967 and formed his independent party known as the Bharatiya Lok Dal.
• He served twice as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He became Prime Minister of India in 1979.
• He was the author of several books and pamphlets, including ‘Abolition of Zamindari’, ‘Co-operative Farming X-rayed’, ‘India’s Poverty and its Solution’, ‘Peasant Proprietorship or Land to the Workers’ and ‘Prevention of Division of Holdings Below a Certain Minimum’.

What are the Related Initiatives for Farmers?

• PM-KISAN: Under the scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of all landholding farmers irrespective of the size of their land holdings.
• National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture: It aims at promoting sustainable agriculture practices best suitable to the specific agro-ecology.
• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: It has three main components namely Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Har Khet ko Pani (HKKP), and watershed development components.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): It was initiated in 2007, and allowed states to choose their own agriculture and allied sector development activities as per the district/state agriculture plan.
• Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Programme: Under this programme, fertilizers are provided to the farmers at the subsidized rates based on the nutrients (N, P, K & S) contained in these fertilizers.
• Rashtriya Gokul Mission: It is being implemented for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: It provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.
• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana: Launched in 2015, it is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• Kisan Credit Card : The scheme was introduced in 1998 for providing adequate and timely credit support from the banking system, under a single window with flexible and simplified procedure to the farmers.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Why in News?

• Outer Space Institute (OSI) has called for both national and multilateral efforts to restrict uncontrolled re-entries of Satellites.
• OSI is a network of world-leading space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space.

What are the Stages of a Rocket Launch?

• Primary Stage:

• The primary stage of a rocket is the first rocket engine to engage, providing the initial thrust to send the rocket skyward.
• This engine will continue to operate until its fuel is exhausted, at which time it separates from the rocket and falls to the ground.

• Secondary Stage:

• After the primary stage has fallen away, the next rocket engine engages to continue the rocket on its trajectory.
• The second stage has considerably less work to do, since the rocket is already traveling at high speed and the rocket’s weight has significantly decreased due to the separation of the first stage.
• If the rocket has additional stages, the process will repeat until the rocket is in space.

• Payload:

• Once the payload, whether it be a satellite or a spacecraft, is in orbit, the rocket’s final stage falls away, and the craft will be manoeuvred using smaller rockets whose purpose is to guide the spacecraft. Unlike the main rocket engines, these manoeuvring rockets can be used multiple times.

What is Uncontrolled Re-entry?

• In an uncontrolled re-entry, the rocket stage simply falls. Its path down is determined by its shape, angle of descent, air currents and other characteristics.
• It will also disintegrate as it falls. As the smaller pieces fan out, the potential radius of impact will increase on the ground.
• Some pieces burn up entirely while others don’t.But because of the speed at which they’re travelling, debris can be deadly.

• As per a 2021 report of the International Space Safety Foundation, an impact anywhere on an airliner with debris of mass above 300 grams would produce a catastrophic failure, meaning all people on board would be killed.

• Most rocket parts have landed in oceans principally because earth’s surface has more water than land. But many have dropped on land as well.

What are the Concerns?

• There have been many instances in the past where rockets striking some parts on Earth.
• Russian rocket in 2018 and China’s Long March 5Brockets in 2020 and 2022 striking parts of Indonesia, Peru, India and Ivory Coast, among others.
• Parts of a SpaceX Falcon 9that fell down in Indonesia in 2016 included two “refrigerator-sized fuel tanks”.
• If re-entering stages still hold fuel, atmospheric and terrestrial chemical contamination is another risk.
• It is estimated that casualty risk from uncontrolled rocket body re-entries will be of order of 10% in the next decade” and that countries in the ‘Global South’ face a “disproportionately higher” risk of casualties.

• The U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP) require all launches to keep the chance of a casualty from a re-entering body to be below 0.01%.

• There is no international binding agreement to ensure rocket stages always perform controlled re-entries nor on the technologies with which to do so.
• The Liability Convention 1972 requires countries to pay for damages, not prevent them.
• These technologies include wing-like attachments, de-orbiting brakes, and extra fuel on the re-entering body, and design changes that minimize debris formation.

What can make Minimum Damage?

• Future solutions need to be extended not just launching satellites but to re-entering satellites as well.
• Advances in electronics and fabrication have made way for smaller satellites, which are easier to build and launch in large numbers. These satellites experience more atmospheric drag than if they had been bigger, but they are also likely to burn up during re-entry.

• India’s 300-kg RISAT-2 satellite re-entered earth’s atmosphere in October after 13 years in low-earth orbit. The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) tracked it with its system for safe and sustainable space operations management from a month beforehand. It plotted its predicted paths using models in-house.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

• Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has notified “J&K Land Grant Rules 2022” which has ended the owners right to hold on to properties on lease in the Union Territory (U.T.) and plans to outsource these properties afresh online.

What are the Key Features of J&K Land Grant Rules 2022?

• The new laws replaced “J&K Land Grants Rules 1960”,which had liberal lease policy such as 99-year lease period and extendable.
• Most hotels at famous tourist places in the Valley and prime commercial structures in twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar are on lease land.
• The new laws state that all leases, except the subsisting or expired residential leases, including lease granted under the J&K Land Grants Rules 1960, notified area (All Development Authorities set in tourism sector) Land Grants Rules, 2007 and leases expired or determined prior to the coming into force of these rules or issued under these rules shall not be renewed and shall stand determined.
• The Lieutenant Governor administration plans to hold a fresh online auction to outsource these lease properties.
• All the outgoing lessees would immediately hand over the possession of the land taken on lease to the government, failing which the outgoing lessee shall be evicted.
• J&K’s land laws were regressive.

Why are the Rules being Opposed?

• Few Political Parties have argued that the newly-introduced Land Grant Rules-2022 will push six to seven lakh people into the unemployment bracket and will only pave the way for millionaires and capitalists from outside to buy hotels and commercial establishments in J&K.
• The fresh Land Grant Rules-2022 will end the rights of present owners and sell it at market price. No local businessman has purchasing power compared to millionaires and billionaires from the rest of the country.
• The present owners with bank loans will be forced to sell their houses to repay their loans.
• The current bank borrowing from the J&K Bank stands at ₹60,000 crore, an indicator of the loans raised by locals to survive the turbulent times since 1990s.

What are Administrations’ Claims for the Rules?

• The J&K Administration has claimed that no poor will be impacted by the amendments to the land laws. Rule of law outside has to be implemented here too.
• There were properties worth ₹100 crore, which were being leased for ₹ 5 as payment. Only such people are worried by the amendments. New rules are to bring J&K at par with the rest of the country.
• Lieutenant Governor claimed that the land laws in J&K were regressive and were not framed keeping in view the interests of the common masses. Around 40% – 45% cases in various courts are due to land disputes only.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

• It is estimated that around April 2023, India’s 1.43 billion people will exceed China’s population.
• In 2022, China will for the first time register an absolute decline in its population.

What are the Drivers of these Shifts?

• Mortality and Fertility:
• Crude Death Rate (CDR): The CDR — the number of persons dying per year per 1,000 population — was 23.2 for China and 22.2 for India in 1950.
• It fell to single digits for China first in 1974 (to 9.5) and for India in 1994 (9.8), and further to 7.3-7.4 for both in 2020.
• Life Expectancy at Birth: Another mortality indicator is life expectancy at birth. Between 1950 and 2020, it went up from 43.7 to 78.1 years for China and from 41.7 to 70.1 years for India.
• Total Fertility Rate: The total fertility rate (TFR) — the number of babies an average woman bears over her lifetime — was as high as 5.8 for China and 5.7 for India in 1950.
• India’s TFR fell to 2 in 2019-2021, from 3.4 in 1992-93.
• Sustained Lows in TFR:
• Populations can keep growing even with TFRs falling. De-growth requires TFRs to remain below replacement levelsfor extended periods.
• The effects of that — fewer children today becoming parents tomorrow and procreating just as much or less — may reflect only after a couple of generations.
• China’s TFR dipped below replacement first in 1991,which was almost 30 years before India’s.

What are the Challenges and Opportunities?

• Challenges:
• Having the most people on the planet could prove to be a big negative for India unless it can provide food, education, housing, health services and jobs to its people.
• The scale of this challenge is ­gigantic.
• Across India, water scarcity is a chronic issue. All these needs are crucial but by far the single most important thing for India to do is to generate jobs. The scale of this ­particular challenge is truly daunting.
• In 2020, India has 900 ­million people (67% of the total population) in the working age group of 15-64.
• This is expected to expand by another 100 million by 2030.
• Opportunity:
• Claim for permanent member at UNSC: If India becomes the largest country, it will give Indians a claim to be the permanent member of the Security Council.
• New population will push its existing demand for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
• The geopolitical reality has changed and new powers have emerged which deserve a place alongside the old – Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States.
• Increase in Fiscal Space: Fiscal resources can be diverted from spending on children to investing in modern physical and human infrastructure that will increase economic sustainability of India.
• Rise in Workforce:With more than 65% of the working age population, India can rise as an economic superpower, supplying more than half of Asia’s potential workforce over the coming decades.
• Increase in the Labour Forcethat enhances the productivity of the economy.
• Rise in Women’s Workforce that naturally accompanies a decline in fertility, and which can be a new source of growth.

What should be the Strategy of India?

• Mass Prosperity Strategy:
• India’s large remittances from a small population overseas reinforce that our mass prosperity strategy should be human capital and formal jobs.
• 8 % of software employment workers generate 8 % of GDP.
• This case is reinforced by remittances from the overseas population of less than 2 % of our resident population crossing USD 100 billion last year.
• Qualitative Shift in Employment:
• The qualitative shift during the previous five years from low-skilled, informal employment in Gulf countries to high-skilled formal jobs in high-income countries is significant.
• In 2021, the US replaced the UAE as the single biggest source country with 23 % of remittances. Our rich forex remittance harvest — roughly 25 % higher than FDI and 25 % less than software exports — is fruit from the tree of human capital and formal jobs.
• Additional Jobs:
• To absorb the influx of young people into the workplace, India would need to create close to 12 million additional, non-farm jobs every year, starting in 2023.
• This was triple the four million non-farm jobs created annually between 2012 and 2018.
• India would need a growth rate of 10% per annum to be able to invest in industry so that this army of young people can be absorbed.
• Investments in Education:
• While India is expected to have a demographic dividend from this large workforce, reaping its potential benefits requires significant investments in education.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

• Recently, responding to the demands by the Opposition, the Lok Sabha has referred the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill 2022to a joint committee of Parliament.
• The Bill is aimed at overhauling the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, which was enacted 20 years ago.

What is a Cooperative Society?

• About:
• Cooperatives are organizations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining in the marketplace.
• This can mean different kinds of arrangements, such as using a common resource or sharing capital, to derive a common gain that would otherwise be difficult for an individual producer to get.
• In agriculture, cooperative dairies, sugar mills, spinning mills etc. are formed with the pooled resources of farmers who wish to process their produce.
• Amul is perhaps the best-known cooperative society in India.
• Jurisdiction:
• Cooperatives are a state subject under the Constitution, meaning they come under the state governments’ jurisdiction, but there are many societies whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state.
• For example, most sugar mills along the districts on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border procure cane from both states.
• Cooperatives of more than one state are registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act (MSCS) of 2002 Act.
• Their board of directors has representation from all states they operate in.
• Administrative and financial control of these societies is with the central registrar, with the law making it clear that no state government official can wield any control over them.

What is the Need for Amendment?

• Since 2002, many changes have taken place in the field of cooperatives. At that time, Cooperation was a department under the Ministry of Agriculture. However, in July 2021, the government carved out a separate Cooperation Ministry.
• Part IXB was inserted in the Constitution via 97^th Constitutional Amendment Act 2011. In view of the insertion of Part IXB, it has become imperative to amend the Act.
• Under 97^thAmendment:
• The right to form cooperative societies was included as Right to Freedom (Article 19 (1)).
• Promotion of Cooperation societies was inserted as one of the DPSPs (Article 43-B).
• Further, developments over the years also necessitated changes in the Act so as to strengthen the co-operative movement in the multi-State co-operative societies.

What are the Proposed Amendments?

• Merger of Cooperatives:
• The Bill provides for the merger of “any co-operative society” into an existing MSCS by a resolution passed by majority (at least 2/3rd) of the members present and voting at a general meeting of such society.
• At present, only MSCS can amalgamatethemselves and form a new MSCS.
• Co-operative Election Authority:
• The Bill seeks to establish a “Co-operative Election Authority”, with a view to bring “electoral reforms” in the co-operative sector.
• The Authority shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a maximum of 3 more members to be appointed by the Centre.
• All the members will hold office for 3 years or until they attain the age of 65 years (whichever is earlier) and shall be eligible for re-appointment.
• Stricter Punishments:
• The Bill seeks to increase the amount of penaltyfor certain offences.
• If the board of directors or officers receive any unlawful gains while transacting matters related to such society, they will be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one month but which may extend to one year or with fine.
• Cooperative Ombudsman:
• The government has proposed to appoint one or more “Co-operative Ombudsman” with a territorial jurisdiction for inquiring into the complaints made by the members.
• The Co-operative Ombudsman will have the powers of civil court in summoning and examination.
• Rehabilitation and Development Fund:
• The Bill also seeks the “establishment of the Co-operative Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Development Fund”for revival of “sick MSCS”.
• It also proposes to insert a new section70A relating to “concurrent audit” for MSCS shaving an annual turnover or deposit of more than the amount as determined by the Central Government.

What are the Criticisms of the Proposed Bill?

• The Opposition members in the Lok Sabha have argued that the bill seeks to “take away” state governments’ rights.
• Some of the objections are based on the fact that cooperative societies are a state subject. Entry 43 of the Union List (7^thSchedule) makes it clear that co-operative societies do not come in the Centre’s domain.
• Entry 43 says– “Incorporation, regulation and winding up of trading corporations, including banking, insurance and financial corporations, but not including co-operative societies”.

Question for practice

1. “In the villages itself no form of credit organization will be suitable except the cooperative society.” – All India Rural Credit Survey.
2. Q. Discuss this statement in the background of agricultural finance in India. What constraints and challenges do financial institutions supplying agricultural finance face? How can technology be used to better reach and serve rural clients? (2014)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

• Several studies have examined Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s concept of democracy, primarily through the lens of social, political, and economic philosophy.

What Constitutes Democracy in Ambedkar’s Opinion?

• Morality:
• A look at the Buddha and his Dhamma sheds light on how Ambedkar viewed democracy,  as an approach that affected every aspect of human existence.
• Buddha, Kabir and Mahatma Phule’s philosophies played an important role in Ambedkar’s own engagement with democracy.
• According to him, democracy must also be viewed morally despite its pillars of equality, liberty, and fraternity.
• Use of Morality in Caste System:
• Ambedkar used the lens of morality in investigating the caste system, the Hindu social system, the nature of religion and Indian history.
• Since Ambedkar brought the most marginalized communities into democracy, it was difficult to place his framework of democracy within these rigid religious structures and socio-political systems.
• Thus, Ambedkar attempts to construct a new structure based on the principles of Buddhism.
• Balancing Individualism and Fraternity:
• He was critical of extreme individualism that was a possible outcome of Buddhism, as such characteristics failed to engage in activism that challenged social order.
• Thus, he believed that there needed to be a balance between individualism and fraternity for a harmonious society.
• Importance to Practicality:
• Ambedkar gave utmost importance to practicality.
• For him, concepts and theories needed to be tested as they were supposed to be practised in society.
• He used rationality and critical reasoning to analyse any subject matter, because he believed that a subject must first pass the test of rationality, failing which, it must be rejected, altered or modified.

What is Ambedkar’s view of Indian society?

• Caste System:
• According to his analysis of Indian society, the caste system is a particularistic value in Hinduism.
• Particularism is apolitical theory where one group promotes its own interests without regard to the interests of larger groups.
• The upper castes, according to Ambedkar, universalise the negative particularity (their dominance over the other groups) and particularise the negative universal morality (wherein the caste system and the subsequent alienation of certain groups is justified).
• This negative social relation is essentially ‘undemocratic’.
• It is to fight such separation that Ambedkar attempted to bring the democratic processes of Buddhism into the discourse of modern democracy.
• Role of Religion in Democracy:
• In Ambedkar’s view, democracy was born from religion, without which associated living was impossible.
• Thus, instead of removing aspects of religion completely, he attempts to reconstruct a new version of democracy that accepts the democratic aspects of religions like Buddhism.
• Finally,Ambedkar realises that in order to conceptualise democracy as a way of life, it was important to distinguish principles and rules in society.
• In the Buddha and His Dhamma, Ambedkar elaborates how the concepts of Dhamma, which includes Prajna or thinking and understanding, Sila or good action and finally Karuna or kindness, emerge as a‘morally transformative’ concept that dismantles regressive social relations.

What are the Conditions put forward by Ambedkar for Democracy to Function?

• Tackling Inequalities in Society:
• There must not be any glaring inequalities in society and there must not be an oppressed class.
• There must not be a class that has got all the privileges and a class that has got all the burdens to carry.
• Strong Opposition:
• He emphasized on the existence of a strong opposition.
• Democracy means veto power. Democracy is a contradiction of hereditary authority or autocratic authority, where elections act as a periodic veto in which people vote out a government and opposition in parliament act as an immediate veto that curbs the autocratic tendencies of the government in power.
• Liberty:
• Additionally, he argued that parliamentary democracy instills a passion for freedom; freedom to express thoughts and opinions, freedom to live a respectful life, freedom to do what one values.
• But we can see a parallel fall of India in the Human Freedom Index along with a weakened opposition and consequently falling democratic credentials.
• Equality in Law and Administration:
• Ambedkar also upheld equality in law and administration.
• Likes should be treated likely and there should be no discrimination based on class, caste, gender, race and so on.
• He brought forward the idea of constitutional Morality.
• For him, the constitution contains only the legal skeleton, but the flesh is what he calls constitutional morality.

Question for practice

1. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate. (UPSC 2015)
2. Constitutional Morality’ is rooted in the Constitution itself and is founded on its essential facets. Explain the doctrine of ‘Constitutional Morality’ with the help of relevant judicial decisions. (UPSC 2021)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Why in News?

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a report titled- “State of the Economy”, which warns of a darkening global outlook.

What are the Highlights of the Report?

• Darkening Global Outlook:
  • The balance of risks gets increasingly tilted towards a darkening global outlook for 2023, the year that will bear the brunt of monetary policy actions of this year.
• Emerging Market Economies:
  • Emerging market economies (EMEs) appear precarious, having battled currency depreciations and capital outflows in addition to slowing growth and high
• Energy Prices:
  • An unease hangs over energy prices, for now, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus stayed its hand in cutting production, but an oil price cap threatens to unleash disruptive financial forces, with hedge funds already cutting net long positions in crude contracts.
  • Despite moderation in global commodity markets, climate change and the war in Ukraine are set to keep food prices at higher than pre-pandemic levels.
• Debt:
  • Debt distress is rising, with a surge in default rates and an appreciating US dollar – the principal currency in which debt is denominated – although more recently it has tumbled down from 20-year highs.
• Indian Growth Outlook:
  • Inflation:
    • Inflation may be slightly down, but it is certainly not out.
    • Inflation is likely to moderate in 2023 from current levels, but it would remain well above targets in most economies.
      • The easing of inflation is primarily driven by the sharp moderation in food inflation. The index declined by 11 bps month-on-month (m-o-m), which along with a favorable Base Effect.
    • Domestic Drivers:
      • The near-term growth outlook for the Indian economy is supported by domestic drivers.
        • Domestic economic activity remained resilient in November and early December of 2022.
      • The outlook for private consumption and investment is looking up, although relatively higher inflation in rural areas is muting spending in those regions.
      • Headline inflation moderated by 90 basis points to 5.9 % in November 2022 driven by a fall in vegetables prices even as core inflation remained steady at 6 %.
    • Equity Inflow:
      • Equity markets touched a string of new highs during November buoyed by strong portfolio flows to India.
      • Waning input cost pressures, still buoyant corporate sales and turn-up in investments in fixed assets are heralding the beginning of an upturn in the capex cycle in India which will contribute to a speeding up of growth momentum in the Indian economy.
    • Future Prospects:
      • In December 2022, as India engages in setting out its priorities and deliverables under itsG20 Presidency, there is a sense that perhaps it’s time for India in the centre of the world’s stage has arrived.
      • As the third largest economy in PPP (Purchasing power parities) terms, and the 5^thlargest in terms of market exchange rates, India accounts for 3.6 % of G20 GDP while its share in real (PPP) terms is much higher at 8.2 %.
      • In 2023, India is projected to be among the fastest growing economies within G20.
      • India’s priorities under the G20 Presidency encapsulate a vision of unity and interconnectedness. They will also reflect the priorities of the global South: One Earth, One Family, One Future.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

 Why in News?

• Under the SAMARTH Scheme of Textile Ministry, more than13,235 artisans have been trained in the last three years.

What is the Samarth Scheme all about?

• About:
  • Samarth (Scheme for Capacity Building In Textile Sector) is a flagship skill development scheme approved in continuation to the Integrated Skill Development Scheme for 12^thFive Year Plan (FYP), Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs.
  • The office of the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) is implementing the SAMARTH to provide skill training to handicraft artisans under the component ‘Skill Development in Handicrafts Sector’ of National Handicrafts Development Programme (NHDP).
• Objectives:
  • To provide demand-driven, placement-oriented skilling programmes to incentivize the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the organized textile and related sectors to promote skilling and skill up-gradation in the traditional sectors through respective sectoral divisions/organizations of the Ministry of Textile.
  • To provide livelihood to all sections of the society across the country.

What is the Status of the Textile Sector in India?

• About:
  • Textiles & garments industry is a labour intensive sector that employs 45 millions people in India and is second only to the agriculture sector in terms of employment.
  • India’s textiles sector is one of the oldest industries in the Indian economy, and is a storehouse and carrier of traditional skills, heritage and culture.
  • It can be divided into two segments:
    • The unorganised sector is small scale and uses traditional tools and methods. It consists of handloom, handicrafts and sericulture (Production of silk).
    • The organised sector uses modern machinery and techniques and consists of the spinning, apparel and garments segment.
  • Other Schemes of the Textile Sector:
    • Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP):Launched in 2005, it aims to provide the industry with world-class state of the art infrastructure facilities for setting up their textile units.
    • Power-Tex India: It is an all-inclusive scheme that’s made for the development of the power loom sector which further addresses the unheard needs of the power loom sector.
    • Silk Samagra Scheme: It focuses on improving the quality and productivity of domestic silk thereby reducing the country’s dependence on imported silk.
    • Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS):It is a credit linked Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) scheme to catalyze capital investments for technology upgradation and modernization of the textile industry.
    • National Handloom Day: National Handloom Day is observed every year on 7^th August to mark the importance of the handloom weaving community in India.
    • National Technical Textile Mission: The mission aims to position India as a global leader in Technical Textiles by increasing the domestic market size from USD 40 billion to USD 50 billion by 2024.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Why in News?

Recently, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying announced that employment will be given to more than 50 lakh farmers.

• Under Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM) there is a scheme to provide subsidy on cow/buffalo/pig/chicken/goat breeding farms and silage making units of which 50% subsidy will be given by the Government of India. Also, 3% interest subvention on the loan amount can also be taken under the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) scheme.

What is Rashtriya Gokul Mission?

• About:
  • It is being implemented for development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
  • The scheme is also continued under umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojna from 2021 to 2026 with a budget outlay of Rs.2400 crore.
• Nodal Ministry:
  • Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying
• Objectives:
  • To enhance productivity of bovines and increasing milk production in a sustainable manner using advance technologies.
  • To propagate use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.
  • To enhance Artificial insemination coverage through strengthening breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers doorstep.
  • To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.
• Significance:
  • The RGM will result in enhanced productivity and benefit of the programme, percolating to all cattle and buffaloes of India especially with small and marginal farmers.
  • This programme will also benefit women in particular since over 70% of the work involved in livestock farming is undertaken by women.
• Components:
  • Availability of High genetic Merit Germplasm
  • Extension of Artificial Insemination Network
  • Development and Conservation of indigenous Breeds
  • Skill Development
  • Farmers Awareness
  • Research Development and Innovation in Bovine Breeding
• Implementing Agency:
  • Rashtriya Gokul Mission will be implemented through the “State Implementing Agency (SIA viz Livestock Development Boards).
• Significant Initiatives:
  • Gopal Ratna Awards:
    • For farmers maintaining the best herd of Indigenous Breed and practicing best management practices.
  • Kamdhenu Awards:
    • For best-managed Indigenous herd by Institutions/Trusts/ NGOs/ Gaushalas or best-managed Breeders’ societies.
  • Gokul Grams:
    • RGM envisages the establishment of integrated cattle development centers, ‘Gokul Grams’ to develop indigenous breeds including up to 40% nondescript breeds(belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind) with objectives to:
      • Promote indigenous cattle rearing and conservation in a scientific manner.
      • Propagate high genetic merit bulls of indigenous breeds.
      • Optimize modern Farm Management practices and promote Common Resource Management.
      • Utilize animal waste in an economical way i.e., Cow Dung, Cow Urine.
    • Recently, funds have been released for setting up of 16 Gokul Grams.
  • National Kamdhenu Breeding Centre (NKBC):
    • It is being established as a Centre of Excellence to develop and conserve Indigenous Breeds in a holistic and scientific manner.
  • E-Pashu Haat:
    • It is a web portal which provides information on pet cattle, trading of bovine animals that were not offered on any other platform in the country.
  • Nakul Prajnan Bazaar:
    • An e-market portal connecting breeders and farmers, for quality- disease-free bovine germplasm.
  • Pashu Sanjivni:
    • An animal wellness program encompassing the provision of animal health cards (‘Nakul Swasthya Patra’) along with unique identification and uploading data on National Database.
  • Advanced Reproductive Technology (ART):
    • Including Assisted Reproductive Technique- IVF/Multiple Ovulation Embryo Transfer (MOET) and sex-sorted semen technique to improve the availability of disease-free female bovines.
  • National Bovine Genomic Center for Indigenous Breeds (NBGC-IB):
    • It will be established for selection of breeding bulls of high genetic merit at a young age using highly precise gene-based technology.
  • AHIDF Scheme:
    • AHIDF of Rs.15000 crore has been set up under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan stimulus package for incentivizing investments by individual entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME, Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) and Section 8 companies to establish:
      • the dairy processing and value addition infrastructure,
      • meat processing and value addition infrastructure and
      • Animal Feed Plant.