Syllabus– General Studies 1 (geography)

Human Aspects – Population distribution, Urban Population, Internal Migration.

Context

India touches a demographic milestone this World Population Day, but roadblocks remain.

Key Findings of the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) indicators by Guttmacher Institute:

• India has entered a demographic sweet spot that will continue for another two to three decades.
  • Half of India’s population is under 29 years of age, which means that in this period, a greater proportion of young people will drive India’s economic growth and social progress.
  • To these young people apart from health, knowledge and skills, the country must also provide the rights and choices to develop to their fullest potential, including, and especially, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
• Progressive policies for maternal health have resulted in improved rates of institutional delivery and a decline in maternal mortality ratio (MMR) from 327 in 1999-2001 to 113 per 100,000 live births in 2016-18, as per Sample Registration System (SRS) data.
• There have also been significant shifts in family planning in the past decade.
• The data from the National Health Family Survey 5 for the year 2019-20 (NFHS-5) show how contraceptive prevalence has improved in most States.

Development Goals:

• India’s population growth is now stabilising.
• The decline in overall fertility notwithstanding, the population will continue to grow because of the effect of population momentum.
  • The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), presently at 2.2 children, will soon reach replacement level (2.1).
    • However, the TFR remains higher than the national average of 2.2 children among women who live in rural areas, have little formal education and are in the lowest income quintile — a majority of them live in the poorer States.

Syllabus:

Context:

The centre’s project to doubling farmer’s income by 2022 appears to be making very slow progress.

Most small farmers have a monthly household income of less than ₹6,000, fragmented landholdings and a 30 per cent probability of buying seeds and pesticides.

They are facing the challenges of changing patterns of the monsoons.

Possible solutions to these challenges include collectivisation, increasing the price the farmer receives, improved practices to reduce inputs, value addition at farm gate, insurance, and credit models that are farmer-friendly.

But there is one issue that underlies all these solutions and that is of reach. There is a practical challenge of reaching these small and marginal farmers, who number around 70 million today and the costs involved in such an effort. Farmer producer organisations provide a way of addressing this, while also giving them more ‘bargaining’ power as a group.

Farmer produce organisation:

A farmer producer organisation (fpo), formed by a group of farm producers, is a registered body with producers as shareholders of the organisation.

It is an entity formed by primary producers, like farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen, etc.

It deals with business activities related to farm produce and works for the benefit of member producers.

It can be established in the form of a producer company, a cooperative society or any other legal form which provides systems for sharing of profits/benefits among the members.

Syllabus- General Studies 3 (science and technology)

Context

Even as the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to drive the rise in infections around the world, another variant, Lambda, is increasingly being seen by scientists and health experts as a new emerging threat.

Recently, the World Health Organization designated the Lambda variant, previously known by its formal scientific name C.37, as the seventh and newest “variant of interest”.

More in the news:

• Like the Delta variant, the Lambda variant, which has now been detected in more than 25 countries. 
• It is feared to be more transmissible than the original virus, although it is not yet established because of the lack of enough studies on it.
• It has been the dominant variant in Peru and other countries of South America. 
• The Lambda variant has not yet been found in the Indian population but has recently been detected in the UK and other European countries.

About Lambda variant:

Syllabus– General Studies 2 (polity)

Functions and responsibilities of Union and States, issues and challenges pertaining to

the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up-to local level and challenges

therein.

Context

Between vaccine wars, heated debates over the Goods and Services Tax (GST), fracas over West Bengal’s Chief Secretary, and the pushback against controversial regulations in Lakshadweep, issues related to federal structure have come to the forefront.

• The opposition parties has begun to craft an ideological narrative on State rights, by re-introducing the term Union into the public discourse and pushing back against increased fiscal centralisation.
• This might serve to be a new opportunity for forging a new politics.

Federalism in India

• Federalism in India has always had political relevance, but except for the States Reorganisation Act, federalism has rarely been an axis of political mobilisation.
• This was true even in the days of coalition politics when State politics mattered to national electoral outcomes.
• Fiscal and administrative centralisation persisted despite nearly two decades of coalition governments.
• Electoral politics have created significant impediments in creating a political consensus for genuine federalism.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3 (Economics)

Context:

Brent crude prices crossed the $75-per-barrel psychological level last week and closed at $76.18, the highest since october 29, 2018.

While the increase in international oil prices, brent was trading at just over $41/barrel a year ago is being fully passed on to indian consumers.

India and world:

In the below figure, it shows global prices of major agricultural commodities, too, now ruling way above than their levels a year ago.

• The un food and agriculture organization’s (fao) world food price index (fpi)touched 127.1 points in may, its highest value since september 2011.
• But unlike fuel, the increase in global food pricesis not getting reflected in what consumers in india are paying.
• Annual consumer food price index (cfpi) inflationin india, at 5% in may, was far lower than the 39.7% year-on-year rise in the fao-fpi for the same month (see image above).
• While the cfpi and fao-fpi inflationrates moved more or less in tandem till about february 2020, the period thereafter has seen a marked divergence.

Syllabus- General Studies 2 (Polity)

Parliament and State legislatures, Structure, Organization and functioning of the Union and

State Executive and the Judiciary.

Context

The Union government appears to be steadfast in its resolve to implement reforms in recruitment and appointment to the subordinate judicial services.

Background:

• In 2019, the Centre spearheaded a consultative process for the creation of the All India Judicial Service (AIJS).
  • Initially, only 4 States and 2 High Courts supported the proposal.
  • Eight States rejected it, five suggested changes, and 11 are yet to respond.
• Recently, the Centre took the ordinance route to effect changes in the appointment of members to various tribunals.
  • In a single stroke, it abolished several tribunals.
• The manner of appointment of members to the remaining tribunals underwent a sea change.
• It is likely that the ordinance may not pass judicial scrutiny in light of the Supreme Court’s judgment in Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank (2019).

Constitutional Perspective:

• Article 233(1) of the Constitution lays down that appointment of persons to be, and the posting and promotion of, district judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.

Syllabus:

Context:

The latest round of meetings among the opec+ group of oil-exporting countries has stalled.

Background:

• The opec+ group of countries had, in april 2020, entered into a two-year agreement.
  • It entailed steep cuts in crude production to deal with a sharp fall in the price of oil as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
  • The price of brent crude hit an 18-year low of under $20 per barrel in april 2020 as economic activity around the world crashed as countries dealt with the pandemic.
  • The initial production cut by opec+ was about 10 million barrels per day or about 22 per cent of the reference production of opec+ nations.
• In november 2020, however,the price of brent crude started climbing consistently by the steady rollout of vaccination programmes around the world.
• Opec+, however, maintained lower levels of production despite crude oil prices reaching pre-covid levels.
  • With saudi arabia, notably, announcing a further cut in production of 1 million barrels per day for the february-to-april period.
  • It helped boost rising prices even further.
• The opec+ group ran into sharp criticism from developing economies, including india, for deliberately maintaining low supply levels to raise prices.
• The petroleum minister had even stated the high price of crude oil was slowing down the economic recovery of developing economies post the pandemic.
• In april, opec+ agreed to gradually increase crude production as prices reached $64.5 per barrel including a phased end to saudi arabia’s 1 million barrel per day cut in production by july 2021.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3 (Agriculture)

Context:

• For dairy farmers, this increase in milk prices is not commensurate with the increase in their feed and other costs. Their margins are getting squeezed.

Milk production in india:

• India is the world’s largest producer and consumer of milk. It produces around 150 million tonne milk annually.
• India has the world’s largest livestock population— 58 per cent of buffaloes and 15 per cent of cattle.
• Uttar pradesh is the leading state in milk production followed by rajasthan and gujarat.
• India exports only 0.01% of the world dairy export market. The productivity of indian dairy animals is at present only 1806 kg per animal per year against the world average of 2310 kg/animal/ year.
• About 80 million rural households are engaged in milk production with a veryhigh proportion being landless, small & marginal farmers.

Significance of diary sector:

• Milk is our biggest agri-commodity in terms of value, greater than paddy (rice), wheat, and sugarcane combined.
• Lifeline of rural economy: our dairy sector is dominated by small holders with an average herd size of 4-5 animals.
• The overall growth in the dairy sectorfor the last 20 years has been between 4-5 per cent per annum, and lately, it has accelerated to even 6 per cent.
  • In comparison, cereals have been growing at about 1.6 per cent per annum over the same period.

Government initiative:

• National programme for dairy development (npdd):department of animal husbandry has approved strengthening of dairy laboratories under the national programme for dairy development (npdd) for detecting adulteration in milk.

Syllabus- General Studies 3 (Economy)

Poverty and Inequality, Unemployment, Inflation in India.

Context

The rating agency ICRA recently postulated that the government had room to cut cess levies on retail prices of petrol and diesel, thereby easing prices.

• Lower fuel prices will likely help cool inflation levels, which are currently beyond the 6% upper limit specified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

More on the news:

• ICRA anticipates that with  an increase in the mobility of the population and economic recovery after the easing of Covid-19 curbs and increasing vaccination rates;
  • It forecasts that the consumption of petrol and diesel would grow at about 14% and 10%, respectively, in the financial year 2021-22 (from the low base in a national lockdown hit 2020-21).
• The agency projects aggregate revenue from such taxes on these two fuels to expand by about 13% in FY22 from the previous year, assuming that the total cesses on unbranded petrol and diesel remain unchanged at ₹32.9/litre and ₹31.8/litre, respectively.
• The forecast for government revenue from the cesses imposed on these two fuels is ₹3.6 lakh crore this fiscal or about ₹40,000 crore more than in the last financial year.
• If the government decides to forgo the additional revenue that could accrue with higher fuel

Syllabus- General Studies 2 (Polity)

Issues relating to quality of life: livelihood, poverty, hunger, disease and social inclusiveness.

Context

The Spanish government recently approved the first draft of a bill that would allow anyone over the age of 14 to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis or hormone therapy.

Furthermore:

• Currently, for someone to change their gender in official records, the law first requires two years of hormone therapy and a psychological evaluation.
• The proposed law will remove these requirements for everyone above 14 years of age. Those between 14 and 16, however, would require parental approval.

What is gender self-identification?

Self-identification, or ‘self-id’, is the concept that a person should be allowed to legally identify with the gender of their choice by simply declaring so, and without facing any medical tests. This has been a long held demand of trans-right groups around the world, including in India, as prejudice against trans people remains rampant.

Issues

• In Europe, this issue has remained divisive not only on liberal-conservative lines, but also within the LGBT community
• While some believe that the current processes for declaring one’s desired gender are lengthy, expensive and degrading, some feminist and gay-rights groups insist that such a law could endanger women and cause more gay teenagers to be told that they might be trans and thus encouraged towards hormones and surgery.
• Feminist forums that believe that sex is not something which can be chosen have insisted that allowing self-identification could put at risk all laws that specifically prevent discrimination against women, and have instead asked lawmakers to look at concerns that they say are more pressing, such as the gender pay gap.