Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

President of India inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar (Uttar Pradesh)

• According to legends, Kabir is said to have departed from the mortal world in Maghar.

Sant Kabir Das

• Sant Kabir Das was born in the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was a 15th century mystic poet, saint and social reformer and a proponent of the Bhakti Movement.
• Teacher: His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu Bhakti leader Ramananda.
• He belonged to Nirguni tradition, in this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being.
• Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – Dohas (short two liners), Ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as Padas (verses) and Sabdas (words).
• Kabir Das’ writings had a great influence on the Bhakti movement and includes titles like Kabir Granthawali, Anurag Sagar, Bijak, and Sakhi Granth.
• His verses are found in Sikhism’s scripture Guru Granth Sahib.
• The major part of his work was collected by the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev.
• He was best known for his two-line couplets, known as ‘Kabir Ke Dohe’.
• Language: Kabir’s works were written in the Hindi language which was easy to comprehend. He used to write in couplets to enlighten people.

Kabir’s critique of religion and caste:

• Kabir synthesized Islam and Hinduism
• While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he proclaimed his independence from them
• He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books
• Instead of God being an external entity that resided in temples or mosques, Kabir argued that God existed inside everyone.
• Kabir’s revolt against the caste system also sought to do away with the complex rituals and ceremonies performed by the Brahmins.
• He argued that it was only through bhakti, intense love or devotion to God could one attain salvation.
• He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.

Kabir’s legacy

• Kabir’s legacy is still going on through a sect known as Panth of Kabir, a religious community that considers him as the founder.
• A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community
• Today, the sect exists as a large and distinct community, with various sects under different spiritual leaders.
• However, all regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture. The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. (NARCL), set up to take over large bad loans of more than ₹500 crore from banks, will pick up the first set of such non-performing assets (NPAs) in July.

What is NARCL?

• Setting up of NARCL, the proposed bad bank for taking over stressed assets of lenders, was announced in the Budget for 2021-22.
• The plan is to create a bad bank to house bad loans of ₹500 crore and above, in a structure that will contain an asset reconstruction company (ARC) and an asset management company (AMC) to manage and recover dud assets.
• The new entity is being created in collaboration with both public and private sector banks.

• Majority-owned by state-owned banks, the NARCL will be assisted by the India Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), in turn majority-owned by private banks, in resolution process in the form of a Principal-Agent basis.

How is NARCL different from existing ARCs? How can it operate differently?

1. The proposed bad bank will have a public sector character since the idea is mooted by the government and majority ownership is likely to rest with state-owned banks.
2. At present, ARCs typically seek a steep discount on loans. With the proposed bad bank being set up, the valuation issue is unlikely to come up since this is a government initiative.
3. The government-backed ARC will have deep pockets to buy out big accounts and thus free up banks from carrying these accounts on their books.

What is an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC)?

It is a specialized financial institution that buys the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) from banks and financial institutions so that they can clean up their balance sheets. This helps banks to concentrate on normal banking activities.

• The asset reconstruction companies or ARCs are registered under the RBI.

Legal Basis: 

The Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 provides the legal basis for the setting up of ARCs in India.

Capital Needs for ARCs:

• As per amendment made in the SARFAESI Act in 2016, an ARC should have a minimum net owned fund of Rs. 2 crores. The RBI raised this amount to Rs. 100 crores in 2017.
• The ARCs also have to maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 15% of its risk weighted assets.

Need

The total stress in the banking system would be in excess of Rs 15 lakh crore. The banks burdened with stressed assets and limited capital will find it difficult to manage the NPAs. There is also limited capital that the government can provide. This is where the bad bank model would step in and help both the government and banks.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Recently, the ruling party of India suspended its national spokesperson and expelled its Delhi spokesperson, following comments they had made about Islam and the Prophet

• The move came after three countries in the Gulf region had summoned the Indian ambassadors to their nations to register their protest
• The ruling party’s action underlines the significance of the Gulf region for India
• Barring the Jewish state of Israel, the 10 other countries of the Gulf region — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Yemen — together account for one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population, and are among the strongest voices of the Muslim world.

Why is the region important for India?

• The two most important reasons for the relationship are oil and gas, and trade.
• Two additional reasons are the huge number of Indians who work in the Gulf countries, and the remittance they send back home.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

June 6 marked the completion of 25 years since the 1997 Bangkok Declaration launched a grouping BIMSTEC

BIMSTEC

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organisation comprising seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
• This sub-regional organisation came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar joined the grouping later
• The BIMSTEC Secretariat is in Dhaka.

Institutional Mechanisms:

• BIMSTEC Summit
• Ministerial Meeting
• Senior Officials’ Meeting
• BIMSTEC Working Group
• Business Forum & Economic Forum

Key achievements

• It has crafted a new Charter for itself, spelling out the grouping’s vision, functions and has secured a legal personality.
• It has prioritized the sectors of cooperation with each member-state serving as the lead country for the assigned sector
• Survival through the turns and twists of internal tensions: influx of over a million Rohingya refugees, Military coup in Myanmar and political and economic crisis afflicting Sri Lanka
• Unlike SAARC and IORA, BIMSTEC has continued to hold its summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers and it has now resolved to hold regular summits once in two years
• The grouping has also registered progress in combating terrorism, forging security cooperation, and creating mechanisms and practices for the better management of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
• Institutions such as an Energy Centre and the Centre on Weather and Climate are in place to push sectoral cooperation forward.

The Fault Lines

• A major failure relates to the continuing inability to produce a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 18 years after the signing of the Framework Agreement.
• Connectivity: Only limited progress has been achieved so far, despite the adoption of the Master Plan for Connectivity supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Access to financial resources: For greater regional connectivity, more financial resources are needed. The movement towards establishing the BIMSTEC Development Fund is minimal.
• The grouping has talked about the Blue Economy but is yet to begin any work on it.

Way Ahead

In this Indo-Pacific century, BIMSTEC has the potential to play a pivotal role, deepening linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia. It should accelerate the region’s economic development by collaborating with the newly minted Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). New synergy should be created between BIMSTEC and the IPEF.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

India successfully tested the Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Agni-4, which met all parameters

• The successful test was part of routine user training launches carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command
• The successful test reaffirms India’s policy of having a ‘Credible Minimum Deterrence’

Agni-IV    

• Agni-IV is the fourth in the Agni series of missiles which was earlier known as Agni II prime. Agni-IV bridges the gap between Agni II and Agni III.
• CLASS: Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM)
• It is surface to surface missile
• WARHEAD: Nuclear or conventional
• RANGE: 3,000 – 4,000 km
• PROPULSION: Two-stage solid propellant
• PAYLOAD: 1,000 kg

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Three Chinese astronauts docked at the country’s space station on Sunday.

About China’s Space Station:

• The space station will operate in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 340-450 km above Earth’s surface.
• Tiangong, which means“heavenly palace”, is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year and is set to be operational for at least 10-15 years

Significance of the Space Station:

• The low orbit space station would be the country’s eye from the sky, providing round the clock bird’s-eye view for its astronauts on the rest of the world.
• It shall aid China’s aim to become a major space power by 2030.
• It replicates the International Space Station (ISS), from which China was excluded.

Comparing with the International Space Station:

The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada)

• ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit. The Chinese station will be smaller and similar in design, meaning it will have limited capacity for astronauts (three versus six on ISS).
• The completed station will be similar to the Soviet Mir station that orbited Earth from the 1980s until 2001.

But the ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned after 2024 to leave place for the Lunar Gateway, a small outpost that will orbit the Moon. This is an international initiative part of the US-led Artemis Programme that again sees China excluded.

Concerns about Chinese monopoly?

• Until the gateway is launched, however, Tiangong – which will be placed in lower Earth orbit and have an expected life of 15 years – will probably remain the only functioning space station. Some worry this makes it a security threat, arguing its science modules could be easily converted for military purposes, such as spying on countries.

Others planned Space Stations:

• Lunar Gateway: involving four of the ISS partner agencies: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is planned to be both the first space station beyond low Earth orbit and the first space station to orbit the Moon.
• The Russian Orbital Service Station is scheduled to begin construction in 2025.
• Starlab is the name given to the planned LEO space station designed by Nanoracks for commercial space activities uses.
• Indian Human Spaceflight Programme: India plans to deploy a 20-tonne space station as a follow-up programme of the Gaganyaan mission, it will be deployed in 5–7 years after the completion of the Gaganyaan project.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Telangana celebrated its 8th anniversary after becoming a separate state in 2014

Telangana rebellion

• The Telangana rebellion was started by a group of peasants in late 1945, against the prevalent jagirdari system where power to collect revenue and govern certain landholdings was installed in certain officers.
• Represented by the Comrades Association, who were affiliated with the Communist Party of India, the rebellion turned violent and clashed with the Razakars, a militia headed by Kasim Rizvi.
• In 1945 Nizam of Hyderabad put forward multiple conditions to join India — all of which were unacceptable to the Indian state
• In the meantime, Kasim Rizvi and his Razakars became increasingly dominating, difficult to ignore presence in Hyderabad.
• He influenced all major decisions the Nizam undertook and installed his chosen men in the government.
• In order to ensure that Hyderabad’s already deteriorating law and order condition did not worsen further, India signed the Standstill Agreement with Hyderabad, stating that all administrative agreements that were in place between the Nizam and the British Crown would continue between the Nizam and India.

‘Operation Polo’

• The signing of the Standstill Agreement, however, ensured peace for only about a year. Almost instantly, Hyderabad started violating the conditions, simultaneously the violent activities of the Razakars increased, creating an atmosphere of anarchy in the state.
• As a last resort, India launched ‘Operation Polo’ in September 1948 and defeated the rebel forces within five days to make Hyderabad an integral part of India.

Linguistic Reorganisation

• In 1955, States Reorganization Committee recommended that Hyderabad be linguistically reorganised.
• Andhra had expressed the desire to integrate the Andhra State and Telangana in order to create Vishalandhra, however the SRC was against this.
• The Committee suggested the idea of maintaining Telangana as an separate state till 1961, where post general elections the state could voluntarily vote to integrate itself with the Andhra State.
• The government ignored this and on passing the States Reorganisation Act later that year, Andhra State and Telangana were merged into a single state called Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad becoming the capital.

The ‘Mulki Rules’ agitation

• Telangana region also had what were called the Mulki Rules, which were safeguards in place to ensure that Mulkis or native residents did not face difficulty in procuring government jobs.
• The rules had 4 conditions to be met in order to be classified as a Mulki. When in 1952, the Hyderabad government accepted a large number of non-Mulkis into government positions, protests broke out.
• January 1969 was a turning point as Andhra Pradesh witnessed widespread student protests over the violations of the safeguards that the Gentlemen’s Agreement signed between Telangana and Andhra State in February 1956 to allow the formation of Andhra Pradesh.
• While the government took measures to placate the population, the fire barely subsided.

Call for Telangana Statehood

• In 1969, the Telangana Praja Samiti was formed to further the call for a separate Telangana state, and when protests for the same turned increasingly violent, the Andhra Pradesh High Court state declared the Mulki Rules null and void, only for the decision to be stopped by a divisional bench of the same court.
• In 1972, when the Supreme Court upheld the Mulki Rules, the Jai Andhra movement asking for a separate Andhra state picked up, causing the state to be put under President’s Rule in January 1973.
• Days prior to this in December 1972, Parliament also passed the Mulki Rules Act to limit the operation of Mulki Rules.
• In September of 1973, Indira Gandhi initiated the 32nd Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that Andhra Pradesh would be divided into 6 zones, with reservation for jobs being decided on the basis of zones. As a result of the same, the Mulki Rules Act was repealed.

The Telangana movement and KCR

• K Chandrashekhar Rao revived the movement in 2001 when he established his own political party — the Telangana Rashtra Samithi which had the singular aim of establishing a separate Telangana.
• While in 2009 the TRS’s performance at the polls was dismal, the party continued to push forward and in September that, post the death of Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhara Reddy, an opportunity presented itself.
• KCR exploited the political turmoil, beginning a fast unto death and eventually the then Union Home Minister declared that Telangana would achieve statehood, separate from Andhra Pradesh.
• The state of Telangana was finally created on June 2, 2014 after years of political turmoil and repeated reassessment of state boundaries to emerge as a separate state

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Heavy Toxic Metal Pollution

• Three out of every four river monitoring stations in India posted alarming levels of heavy toxic metals such as lead, iron, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and copper.
• Of the 33 monitoring stations in Ganga, 10 had high levels of contaminants.
• India has 764 river quality monitoring stations across 28 states.
• Of the 588 water quality stations monitored for pollution, total coliform and biochemical oxygen demand were high in 239 and 88 stations across 21 States – an indicator of poor wastewater treatment from industry, agriculture and domestic households.
• India dumps 72% of its sewage waste without treatment.
• Ten States do not treat their sewage at all, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.

Coastline erosion

• Over a third of India’s coastline that is spread across 6,907 km saw some degree of erosion between 1990 and 2018.
• West Bengal is the worst hit with over 60% of its shoreline under erosion.
• The reasons for coastal erosion include increase in frequency of cyclones and sea level rise and anthropogenic activities such as construction of harbours, beach mining and building of dams.
• While the global average of the Ocean Health Index, a measure that looks at how sustainably humans are exploiting ocean resources, has improved between 2012 and 2021, India’s score in the index has declined over the same period.

Forest Cover

• India’s total forest cover has registered a little over a 0.5% increase between 2017 and 2021 though most of the increase has taken place in the open forest category, which includes commercial plantations.
• This has happened at the cost of moderately dense forest, which is normally the area closest to human habitations.
• At the same time, very dense forests, which absorb maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, occupy just 3% of total forest cover.
• India has a forest cover of 77.53 million hectares. But recorded forests—the area under the forest department— with forest cover are only 51.66 million. This gap of 25.87 million hectares —a size bigger than Uttar Pradesh— remains unaccounted

State of Environment Report 2022

• State of Environment Report 2022 is published by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), an NGO
• The report is the annual publication of the CSE and Down To Earth (magazine).
• The report focuses on climate change, migration, health and food systems.
• CSE is a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

India needs to be cautious and have clarity on the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity

• Recently in Quad Summit, United States announced the establishment of Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with other partner countries
• Within days of its launch, IPEF expanded its membership to the Pacific Island states, with Fiji joining the initiative.
• At its launch, the IPEF was proposed as an elaborate framework of rules covering four pillars, namely, fair and resilient trade, supply chain resiliency, clean energy decarbonisation, and tax and anti-corruption.

Areas of Concern

On IPRs

• Under the “fair and resilient trade” pillar, the initiative aims to develop high-standard, worker-centered commitments covering labour rights, the environment and climate etc
• Notable exclusion from this list is intellectual property rights (IPRs) that have generally been at the heart of the U.S.’ economic engagements with its partner countries.

Import Tariffs

• The primary objective of the IPEF is to ensure a high degree of regulatory coherence and to make market access contingent upon realisation of regulatory standards.
• The standards and regulations in most developed countries often create discriminatory barriers to trade and overcoming these barriers is usually beyond the capacities, both institutional and otherwise, of lesser developed countries.

Labour Rights and the Environment and Climate Change

• Labour rights and the environment and climate change are included in IPEF
• WTO members had arrived at a consensus that the internationally recognized core labour standards of the ILO should be used to deal with issues pertaining to labour rights.
• The UNFCCC had cautioned that measures taken to combat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade.
• The IPEF could threaten abrogation of these decisions at the WTO and the UNFCCC.

Data Portability

• Control over data, the driver of the digital economy, will increasingly determine the dynamics of economies, and hence the issue of data portability assumes critical importance

For India to Watch

• On this issue of data localisation, the Government of India has not yet taken a clear position.
• In 2019 in the Draft National e-Commerce Policy, wherein it had backed restrictions on cross-border data flows. The key challenge for India is to sustain this diametrically opposite view to an uncompromising position of the U.S. on data localisation.
• India should also be wary of emphasis that is being given to strengthening labour rights in the on-going discussions on the IPEF

Way Forward

• Establishing Common Standards: Such standards will cover labour rights, environmental standards, protection of intellectual property rights.
• Addressing Tech-related Issues: Clear framework on Data flow
• Balancing Self-Reliance and Globalisation: India has always expressed its desire to attract foreign investment and become part of global supply chains, it is time to utilize the opportunities provided under IPEF with carefully framed policies.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Government of India is exploring the possibility of inviting manufacturers of Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to set up base in India.

What is eVTOL?

• As the acronym suggests, an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is one that uses electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically.
• Most eVTOLs also use what is called as distributed electric propulsion technology which means integrating a complex propulsion system with the airframe.
• It has grown on account of successes in electric propulsion based on progress in motor, battery, fuel cell and electronic controller technologies
• Thus, eVTOL is one of the newer technologies and developments in the aerospace industry.
• eVTOL is being described as “a runway independent technological solution” for the globe’s transportation needs – it opens up new possibilities which aircraft with engines cannot carry out in areas such as manoeuvrability, efficiency and even from the environmental point of view.
• The global market for eVTOLs was put at $8.5 million in 2021 and is to grow to $30.8 million by 2030. The demand will be on account of green energy and noise-free aircraft, cargo carrying concepts and the need for new modes of transport.

Origin

• It all began in 2009-10 by NASA researcher Mark D. Moore who came up with the concept of a personal (one man) air vehicle “Puffin”
• In his paper, “NASA Puffin Electric Tailsitter VTOL Concept”, Moore described “electric propulsion as offering dramatic new vehicle mission capabilities, but the only penalising characteristic” being “the current energy storage technology level”.

What are the challenges?

• As the technology so far is a mix of unpiloted and piloted aircraft, the areas in focus include “crash prevention systems”.
• There are also issues such as ensuring safety in case of powerplant or rotor failure.
• Aircraft protection from cyberattacks is another area of focus.
• Operating in difficult terrain, unsafe operating environments and also bad weather are cause of concern.

Indian Scenario

The government of India has asked the market players to look into the Indian market.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Taskforce for Urban Air Mobility has suggested regulatory authorities in India to look at:

• Formulating regulations for pilotless vehicles, airworthiness certifications, and the need for a pilot’s licence;
• Implementing efficient energy management systems, onboard sensors, collision detection systems and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence;
• Having in place infrastructural support such as take-off and landing zones, parking lots, charging stations and what are called vertiports;
• Creating a robust air traffic management system that is integrated with other modes of transportation, and putting in place a database to ensure operational and mechanical safety.