Make it less taxing (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level: Tax to GDP ratio
Mains level: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

Context:

• Last week, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest” platform, aimed at easing the compliance burden and rewarding honest tax payers.
• Later, a tweet put out by MyGovIndia, a platform of the government, proposed an increase in the list of reportable financial transactions by individuals, apparently in a bid to widen the tax base. 

Bureaucratic overreach:

• In a country where only a minuscule portion(1.5Cr) of the population pays taxes, efforts to widen the tax base and curbleakages need to be encouraged. 
• However, widening the list of reportable transactions, which will dramatically increase the compliance burden of honest taxpayers, and create even more space for harassment by an overzealous tax administration, is not the way to do this. 
• While the tweet has since been removed, it may be indicative of the dissonanceacross various government departments on the approach to tax administration. 
• Proposals such as these reekof bureaucratic overreach, and would increase the degree of complexity of the tax regime, adding to both the time taken and cost of complying with it.

Increase in external and internal price:

• The proposal that was being contemplatedentailed covering financial transactions, including, among others, hotel payments over Rs 20,000, life insurance premium above Rs 50,000, and health insurance premium over Rs 20,000. 
• Such transactions are incurred by large sections of the salaried middle class — the honest taxpayers the government seeks to reward. 
• It is possible that the costs of complying with such proposals are distorting for salaried individuals while being progressive for non-salaried taxpayers. 
• But they would lead to an increase both in the internal and external price paid for compliance for all individuals. 
• Further, most high value transactions today require an individual to disclose her permanent account number (PAN), which is linked to the Aadhaar number. 
• Surely, in the age of big data, there are better ways of sourcing and cross-checking this data to check for evasion rather than putting the burden of compliance on taxpayers.
• The dissonance between the prime minister’s talk of a tax system that is “seamless, painless and faceless”, and such proposals is too obvious to ignore. 

Conclusion:

• Complex laws and procedures, compoundedby an inefficient and uncooperative tax department will further disincentivisecompliance. 
• Rather, the focus should be on building up the capabilities of the tax department to check tax evasion.
• Increasing burden of compliance on taxpayer is a bad idea. Better ways of checking tax evasionmust be found.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Quit India movement, consider the following statements:
1. On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of Do or Die to all Indians to drive away Britishers from the country. 
2. The movement had begun from Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the major objectives of the Transparent Taxation?

What is criticism and what is contempt?(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity 
Prelims level: Contempt of Court
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• A recent order of the Supreme Court found senior advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt for two tweets.

Criminal contempt:

• For the purpose of the topic at hand we are concerned only with criminal contempt and not those wilfully disobedient litigants who ignore the orders of the courts. 
• Section 2(c) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 defines criminal contempt. 
• It defines as the publication of any matter or the doing of any other act which lowers the authority of any court; or prejudices or interferes with the due course of any judicial proceeding; or obstructs the administration of justice.
• Does this mean that one can never voice any criticism of the judiciary? No. 
• What the law permits you to say regarding the functioning of Indian courts forms the basis of this particular article, i.e., there is a thin line separating criticism and contempt.
• Freedom of speech is a fundamental right guaranteed to every Indian citizen under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, albeitsubject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2). 
• In C.K. Daphtary v. O.P. Gupta (1971), the Supreme Court held that the existing law of criminal contempt is one such reasonable restriction. 
• That does not mean that one cannot express one’s ireagainst the judiciary for fear of contempt.

Fair critique of a judgement:

• As long back as in 1968, Lord Denning M.R. set out guidelines in matters of contempt of court. He stated that contempt is not the means to uphold the court’s dignity. 
• What does the Indian judiciary deem permissible and impermissible? 
• The Supreme Court has held that if a comment is made against the functioning of a judge, it would have to be seen whether the comment is fair or malicious. 
• If the comment is made against the judge as an individual, the Court would consider whether the comment seeks to interfere with the judge’s administration or is simply in the nature of libel or defamation. 
• The Court would have to determine whether the statement is fair, bona fide, defamatory or contemptuous. 
• A statement would not constitute criminal contempt if it is only against the judge in his or her individual capacity and not in discharge of his or her judicial function. 
• Criminal contempt does not seek to afford protection to judges from statements which they may be exposed to as individuals. Such statements would only leave the individual liable for defamation. 
• Statements which affect the administration of justice or functioning of courts amount to criminal contempt since public perception of the judiciary plays a vital role in the rule of law. 
• An attack on a judge in his or her official capacity denigratesthe judiciary as a whole and the law of criminal contempt would come down upon such a person unless it is a fair critique of a judgment.

Various example:

• Sections 4 and 5 of the Contempt of Courts Act are akinto a defense a person may take in a case of defamation i.e., fair comment. 
• In Re: S.Mugolkar v. Unknown (1978), the Supreme Court held that the judiciary cannot be immunefrom fair criticism, and contempt action is to be used only when an obvious misstatement with malicious intent seeks to bring down public confidence in the courts or seeks to influence the courts. 
• In this judgment, Chief Justice M.H. Beg opined that at times the judiciary adopts a “magnanimously charitable attitude even when utterly uncharitable and unfair criticism of its operations is made out of bona fide concern for improvement.” 
• The same Justice Beg remarked post-retirement that Justice H.R. Khanna’s famous dissent in the ADM Jabalpur case (1976) made no contribution to law but only to his popularity. 
• The Allahabad High Court citing Brahma Prakash Sharma (1953) did not find Justice Beg guilty of contempt.
• Speaking for the Supreme Court in 1988, Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee found that these statements did not impairthe administration of justice. 
• He only opined that the language could have been milder given the Minister’s own legal background. 
• He also said: “If antisocial elements and criminals have benefited by decisions of the Supreme Court, the fault rests with the laws and the loopholes in the legislation. The Courts are not deterred by such criticisms.”

Conclusion:

• The above cases would show that whether a comment would constitute criminal contempt or not depends entirely on the facts and circumstances of each case. 
• In conclusion, tweets or remarks by conscientious citizens certainly do not affect the dignity of the Indian judiciary.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to marketing of petrol and diesel, consider the following statements:
1. The Ministry of petroleum and Natural Gas has simplified the guidelines for grant of authorization for bulk and retail marketing of Motor Spirit (Petrol) and High Speed Diesel (Diesel). 
2. The simplified guidelines aim at increasing private sector participation in the marketing of Motor Spirit (Petrol) and High Speed Diesel (Diesel). 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the types of contempt of court? 

Jurisdictional conflict in the running of Delhi (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity 
Prelims level: NCT of Delhi
Mains level: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Context:

• Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Government of NCT of Delhi vs. Union of India (2018) said the following-
• “The exercise of establishing a democratic and representative form of government for NCT of Delhi by insertion of Articles 239AA and 239AB would turn futileif the Government of Delhi that enjoys the confidence of the people of Delhi is not able to usher in policies and laws over which the Delhi Legislative Assembly has powers to legislate for the NCT of Delhi.” 
• The issue before the Supreme Court was the jurisdictionalconflicts between the government of NCT and the Union Government and its representative, the Lieutenant Governor.

Issues and Possible Solution:

• The judgment which runs into more than 1,000 pages analyses the contentious issues which hobbledthe State government and attempts to resolve them. 
• Very lofty principles concerning constitutional morality, co-operative federalism, constitutional conscience, pragmatic federalism, etc., have been enunciatedin this judgment. 
• It reminds the Lt. Governor what his real functions are. 
• It tells the State government that it should remember that Delhi is a special category Union Territory and lays down the parameters to enabling the harmonious functioning of the government and the Lt. Governor.
• The judgment clarified and settled many contentious issues such as the powers of the Lt. Governor vis-à-vis the elected government.
• It also clarified Lt. Governor’s discretionary powers, the extent of the executive powers of the State government, etc. 
• On the face of it, it did not very clearly delineatethe issues in respect of which the Lt. Governor can refer a decision taken by the Council of Ministers to the President in the event of a difference of opinion between the Lt. Governor and the State government. 
• Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has settled the law in regard to the ‘aid and advice’ of the Council of Ministers by affirming that the Lt. Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice except in respect of ‘Land’, ‘Public Order’ and the ‘Police’.

Loophole:

• The Court has also made it clear that there is no requirement of the concurrence of the Lt. Governor and that he has no power to overrule the decisions of the State government. 
• However, there is a catch here — in the operationalisation of Article 239AA (4) (proviso) which says that in the case of a difference of opinion between the Lt. Governor and his Ministers on any matter, the Lt. Governor shall refer it to the President for decision and act according to that decision.
• In the meantime, if the Lt. Governor thinks that the matter is urgent he can take immediate action on his own. 
• So, ultimately things are back to square one. 
• If a Lt. Governor, for example, wants to frustrate the efforts of the government, he can declare that there is a difference of opinion on any issue decided by the elected government and refer it to the President which in reality means the Union Home Ministry. 
• The Lt. Governor being its representative, it is easier for him to secure a decision in his favour. The State government will be totally helpless in such a situation.

Delhi Riot cases:

• The recent appointment of prosecutors for conducting the Delhi riot cases in the High Court is a case in point. 
• As per the High Court and the Supreme Court, the appointment of prosecutors is exclusively within the purview of the State government. 
• When the government decided to appoint them, the Lt. Governor referred it under proviso to Article 239AA (4) to the President stating that there is a difference of opinion between him and the government over this matter. 
• In the meantime the Lt. Governor appointed all the prosecutors whose names were submitted by the Delhi Police and thus the State government’s list was rejected.
• This episode clearly points to the faultlines which still exist in the power equations in the capital’s administrative structure. 
• The key question is whether the Lt. Governor can refer a routine administrative matter such as the appointment of prosecutors to the President.
• A close reading of the Supreme Court judgment in the NCT Delhi case (supra) would reveal that he cannot. Just take a look at what the Supreme Court says. 
• “The words ‘any matter’ employed in the proviso to Article 239AA (4) cannot be inferred to mean ‘every matter’. 
• The power of the Lieutenant Governor under the said proviso represents the exception and not the general rule which has to be exercised in exceptional circumstances by the Lt. Governor. 

Matters of Jurisdiction:

• The Court further says, “the Lieutenant Governor should not act in a mechanical manner without due application of mind so as to refer every decision of the Council of Ministers to the President.” 
• The highest judicial forum in the country in its own majestic style directs the Lt. Governor not to refer to the President normal administrative matters. 
• Doing so would disturb the concept of Constitutional governance, principles of collaborative federalism and the standards of Constitutional morality. 
• Reference of the appointment of Prosecutors by the Lt. Governor to the President seems to be a negation of these principles.
• There is another point which emerges from the judgment and attention needs to be paid to it. 
• That is that the executive power of the Union does not extend to any of the matters which come within the jurisdiction of the Delhi Assembly. 
• Parliament can legislate for Delhi on any matter in the State List and the Concurrent List but the executive power in relation to Delhi except the ‘Police’, ‘Land’ and ‘Public Orders’ vests only in the State government.
• The Supreme Court says, “Article 239AA (3)(a) reserves the Parliament’s legislative power on all matters in the State List and Concurrent List. 
• But clause (4) explicitly grants to the Government of Delhi executive powers in relation to matters for which the Legislative Assembly has powers to legislate.” 
• This statement of law by the Supreme Court implies that the Union Government is not empowered to exercise executive authority on a matter which comes within the exclusive jurisdiction of the State government. 
• The only occasion when the Union Government can overrule the decision of the State government is when the Lt. Governor refers a matter to the President under the proviso to clause (4). 
• But this proviso cannot totally override the executive decisions of the State government under clause (4).

Resolving the contradiction:

• The judgment of the Supreme Court resolves this apparent contradiction between the powers of Lt. Governor and State government. 
• It enjoinsthe Lt. Governor to keep in mind while making a reference to the President the constitutional morality, principles of collaborative federalism, concept of constitutional governance, objectivity, etc. 
• Although the Court did not specify the matters which can be referred by the Lt. Governor to the President, the high principles described above broadly indicate what can be referred and what cannot. 
• In any case it is unambiguously clear that the executive decisions of the State government cannot be referred to the President merely because the Lt. Governor has a different personal opinion about some of them. 
• The top court wants the Lt. Governor and the Council of Ministers to use in full the mechanism provided in the Government of NCT of Delhi Act and the Transaction of Business Rules to thrash out differences. 
• The Court seems to elevate to a higher level the issues that can be referred to the President as distinct from the normal decisions taken in exercise of the executive powers of the State. 
• The President is the highest Constitutional authority and his decision should be sought only on constitutionally important issues.

The last word:

• Finally, the Supreme Court gives wise advice to the Lt. Governor. 
• “We may reiterate that the Constitutional scheme adopted for the NCT of Delhi conceives of the Council of Ministers as the representatives of the people on the one hand and the Lt. Governor as the nominee of the President on the other who are required to function in harmony within the Constitutional parameters. 
• In the said scheme of things, the Lt. Governor should not emerge as an adversary having a hostile attitude towards the Council of Ministers of Delhi; rather, he should act as a facilitator.”
• So, when we analyse the reference by the Lt. Governor to the President the issue of appointment of prosecutors within the parameters laid down by the Supreme Court, we find that it is not in consonance with these principles enunciatedby the Court. 
• It is against constitutional morality which requires strict adherence to the constitutional principles of collaborative federalism, constitutional balance and the concept of constitutional governance. 

Conclusion:

• All these principles act as bulwarkagainst the usurpationof powers of the State by the Union. 
• When the Court declares the law and requires the constitutional authorities to follow it, they have to act in compliance and not in defiance.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, consider the following statements:
1. It is being observed on August 9.
2. This year’s theme is “COVID-19 and indigenous peoples’ resilience”.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What the Supreme Court verdict says regarding Jurisdictional conflict in the running of Delhi? What is the statutory basis for contempt of court? Also highlights its significance and criticism.

A better test: on rapid, inexpensive, saliva test for coronavirus (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level: Saliva Test
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Context:

• On August 15, six and a half months after the first novel coronavirus case was reported in the country, India crossed another grim milestone — 50,000 deaths. 
• The total number of cases reported as on Saturday stood at nearly 2.6 million; India has been reporting the most fresh cases in a day in the world since August 2. 
• More than the total death toll, now 51,045, what is troubling is the shorter time taken for the death toll to double.

 Underreporting:

• The toll count crossed 25,000 on July 16 and doubled to over 50,000 in just 30 days. 
• It is certain that there is some extent of underreporting of deaths across the country, especially when deaths have occurred outside the health-care system. 
• For instance, reporting of COVID-19 cases and deaths by States such as Gujarat, West Bengal and Telangana have been suspect right from the beginning. 
• The pandemic-defying trend seen in these States is in stark contrast to the rest of the country. 
• No combination of factors can explain the low daily mortalityfigures in Gujarat and Telangana. 
• In fact, in the last one month, the death toll on any single day in Telangana has never crossed 15 and has been in single digits on many days; the State even reported zero deaths on July 26, while in Gujarat, deaths have never crossed 30, except on one day. 
• However, under-reporting notwithstanding, it is unlikely to be huge enough to change the death toll several-fold.

Saliva Test:

• Like in most Southeast Asian countries, deaths per million population have been low in India. 
• While the case fatality rate too has been low, the continuous dip in the rate might be due to more cases, including asymptomatic ones, being detected due to increased testing with rapid antigen tests. 
• Also, large cities that witnessed strained health-care infrastructure due to the surgein cases, leading to more deaths, seem to have passed the peak. 
• A big shortcoming of rapid antigen tests is their low sensitivity, and despite the ICMR’s recommendation, most States have very low rates of validation of negative test results using the molecular method. 
• Relying mostly on rapid antigen tests will result in many of the infected continuing to spread the virus. 
• If speed, low cost and constraints of molecular testing capacity are the reasons why many States have embraced rapid antigen testing, the emergency use authorisation granted recently by the U.S’s FDA for a saliva test developed by Yale University should be good news for India. 
• This rapid, inexpensive, non-invasive and highly sensitive test that uses saliva samples will not only help detect more cases but also reduce the need for trained care workers to collect samples. 
• With the testing protocol made freely available, India should facilitate rapid adoption of the tests by States, after local validation.  

Conclusion:

• Early results of the saliva test have been encouraging and India will hugely gain by embracing it in lieuof the unreliable rapid antigen test, particularly when the virus spreads to rural areas.
• India should quickly adopt the rapid, inexpensive, and sensitive saliva test.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the pyrolysis, consider the following statements:
1. Plastic from used personal protective equipment (PPE) can be transformed into renewable liquid fuels, according to a new study published in the journal Biofuels.
2. The researchers call for PPE waste to be converted into fuel using chemical a process called pyrolysis.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are different tests used to detect the COVID-19 like one is Rapid-Antigen Test? What are the other mitigation strategies needed? 

Democracy needs an Internet ombudsman (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Governance 
Prelims level: Personal Data Protection Bill
Mains level: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability

Context:

• In any triangle of relationship, trust is the first casualty. 
• In the interplay between government, companies and citizens for big data, information asymmetry has become so skewedthat it has eroded the very spirit of democracy by limiting the unbiased communication of ideas. 
• Governments and private companies are using the Internet as ‘a means of control and surveillance, extending from cases of fraud detection, storage and exchange of criminal and financial records to those of political surveillance and control’. 
• Citizens who receive a flood of unfiltered information, information with colour but no patterns, information with images that can never add up to the real picture, recirculate the same back into the infantileworld for greater chaos. 

No security:

• The Internet is the new jazz and a tool as also a venue for all political hues.
• It is important to understand how government, political parties and citizens are responding to this new triangular interplay between data protection, privacy and a flow of information. 
• When the Government of India banned 59 Chinese apps on the ground of transgressing Indian security, the question as to why in the first instance were they allowed into India did not get sufficient importance. 
• Was there no security or privacy audit? While Facebook and Amazon are facing scrutiny on their own soil for their data mining policies, how did we allow so many apps without any check? 
• Government policy on national security should be based on advance strategic assessment rather than on a reactive basis.

Control and also data theft:

• On the privacy front, even after the SC had declared privacy as a fundamental right, the government insisted on affidavit in the top court that informational privacy or data privacy cannot be a fundamental right. 
• The Aadhar Act diluted the notion of ‘privacy’ and the standard of proportionality test set up by the Supreme Court. 
• In an ongoing dilemma, even the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app is battling to satisfy the conscience of privacy overseers. 
• The clear impression is that the government is more interested in ‘control’ than ‘protection’ of data. A national policy on data privacy of individuals is still a non-starter. 
• People continue to suffer because of the regular incidents of data theft. India’s cybersecurity watchdog, CERT-In, last year reported huge data theft of Facebook and Twitter users by malicious third party apps. 
• Reportedly, more than 1.3 million credit and debit card details from Indian banks and the data of 6.8 million users from an Indian health-care website were stolen in the same year.

Private firms and elections:

• Private data analytics companies have emerged to exploit the electoral process with the sole objective of customising political messaging. 
• While the customisation of political messaging is not per se illegal, it certainly is unlawful to indulge in unauthorised data mining and collection by the industry. 
• According to a report by Omidyar Network India and Monitor Deloitte, many private enterprises routinely share the personal data of individuals with third parties including political organisations. 
• The fact that there are dedicated IT cells which carry out a digital form of warfare with propaganda and fake news being two powerful weapons is making things more complicated. 
• The present legal framework leaves these menaces outside the ambit of election laws as they were framed in a time and space that was primitive when compared to contemporary technological advancements.
• For citizens, digital media are carriers of images and sounds, rather than words and thoughts, and the system where images run faster than thoughts is suitable for the spread of fake news. 
• Times of fear and uncertainty also provide a fertile ground for disinformation to grow. 
• The fake WhatsApp forwards that triggered the primitive “Us v/s Them” group mentality and is manifested in Delhi riots reports, and the forwards on the novel coronavirus which declare COVID-19 a bacteria and the World Health Organization stating that vegetarians cannot be infected with COVID-19, are all reminders of the potency of data, true or false, in a democracy.

Regulation and independence:

• Should there be a gatekeeper to balance appetites for technology, security and privacy? 
• The answer is yes, so long as the gate keeper is for regulation, not surveillance, and so long as it is completely and genuinely independent. Otherwise it will perform an unacceptable legitimation function. 
• The Personal Data Protection Bill, struggling to be born in Parliament despite conception in 2018, is more about control and surveillance than about promoting privacy and protection of data. 
• Far-reaching exemptions, in large measure swallowing the rule, have been carved out where personal data can be processed. 
• Section 35, which provides the government with unfettered access to personal data, negates the three tests of legality, necessity and proportionality given by the SC. 
• The Bill also allows State and private parties to process personal data without obtaining consent.
• Such broad exemptions would not only open the floodgates for misuse but also reduce India’s prospects of entering into bilateral arrangements for law enforcement access. 
• Selection committees, terms of appointment and of removal establish beyond doubt that the Authority is likely to be like a rehabilitation centre for retired bureaucrats, yet a sinecure wholly controlled by the government. 
• It is a classic case of rolling up judge, jury and executioner. 

Way forward:

• Only an Internet ombudsman with experts on cyber and Internet laws, IT, data management, data science, data security, public administration and national security, and consciously involving eminent sections of civil society, can be an effective antidoteto unregulated technological disruptions.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the online patriotic film festival, consider the following statements:
1. It is organized by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). 
2. The festival is a part of Independence Day Celebrations by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)Governments and private companies are using the Internet as ‘a means of control and surveillance, in this context, examine whether this surveillance is a threat to privacy and what are the safeguards available?

Limited peace: On UAE-Israel peace agreement (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level: UAE-Israel peace agreement
Mains level: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Context:

• The peace agreement reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has formalised the thawin Arab-Israeli relations that has been under way for a few years. 
• As part of the deal announced by U.S. President Trump on Thursday, the UAE would recognise the state of Israel and establish formal diplomatic relations. 
• Israel too would haltits controversial plan to annex swathes of the Palestinian West Bank. 

Significance of the landmark agreement:

• It is a landmark agreement given that the UAE is only the third Arab country and the first in the Gulf recognising Israel. 
• It could pave the way for the region’s Sunni Arab kingdoms and the Jewish-majority Israel enhancing regional cooperation against their common foe, Shia Iran. 
• Israel has said it would focus on “expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world”.
• The U.S. has expressed hope that more Arab countries would follow the UAE’s lead — Arab-Israeli relations have largely been conflict-ridden ever since the state of Israel was declared in 1948. 
• For Mr. Trump who played a critical role, it is a rare diplomatic victory just months before he seeks re-election. 
• His other foreign policy bets — Iran, North Korea or Afghanistan — were either disastrous or inconclusive. But in the case of Israel and the UAE, both allies of the U.S., quiet diplomacy worked. 
• The U.S. had arranged several meetings between Israeli and Emirati officials last year, which probably laid the foundations for the agreement.
• While the deal has the potential to change Arab-Israeli relations for good, it also shows how the Arab countries are gradually decoupling themselves from the Palestine question. 
• The UAE offered full diplomatic recognition in return for Israel’s suspension of a planned annexation, not for any relaxation of the actual occupation. 
• As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, Israel made peace with an Arab country without “our returning to the 1967 borders”. 
• The Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi Arabia initiative endorsed by the Arab League, offered recognition to Israel in exchange for its full withdrawal from the occupied territories. 
• Ironically, the UAE’s peace agreement comes close on the heels of the Trump administration’s back-to-back decisions to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and its sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights. 
• Clearly, the UAE has moved away from the Arab initiative. 
• The question now is whether the Emiratis would be able to press the Jewish state to relax its inhuman and illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and start talks between the occupier and the occupied. 
• If it cannot, the UAE-Israel deal would be of little significance for the Palestinians. 

Conclusion:

• The Palestinian leadership, on its part, should understand the emerging reality in West Asia — the Arab-Israel conflict is coming to a close, but the Palestine-Israel conflict is to continue without any respite.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the National Handloom Day, consider the following statements:
1. National Handloom Day is being organised on August 7 by the Ministry of Textiles. 
2. It aims to commemorate the Quit India Movement which was launched on the same date in the year 1942.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1)Highlights the significance of the landmark agreement between Israel and UAE. Also discuss its impact on India.

Talking tough: On the Naga issue (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Security 
Prelims level: Nagaland- Isak-Muivah
Mains level: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security

Context:

• Five years since the signing of a framework agreement between the Indian government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), the deadlock in the talks that came about in October 2019 persists with the emergence of bottlenecks.
• The NSCN (I-M) has demanded that Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi should be removed as the interlocutorfor talks on the Naga accord. 

Parallel government:

• Talks were expanded in 2017 by including other Naga groups under the banner, the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs). 
• Clearly, the Governor’s letter in June addressed to Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, alleging the collapse of law and order and that armed gangs “who question the sovereignty and integrity of the nation” were engaging in “blatant extortion”, touched a sore spot for the NSCN (I-M). 
• While the group defended the practice by terming it “tax collection”, the letter was not entirely off the mark. 
• Yet, this has become an issue for the peace process with the NSCN (I-M) going on to release details of the 2015 framework agreement that has not been shared in the public domain so far. 
• While the other Naga groups also took exception to the Governor’s remarks to the Chief Minister, they have differed with the NSCN (I-M) on the demand for Mr. Ravi’s removal as interlocutor.

Greater Nagalim:

• Since 2015, the engagement with other Naga groups has increased, even if the NSCN (I-M) is perceived as the major rebel organisation. 
• The differences between the NNPGs and the NSCN (I-M) are not insignificant. 
• The NSCN (I-M) still insists on a “Greater Nagalim” beyond the boundaries of Nagaland State besides seeking a flag and constitution. 
• Most of the NNPGs based in Nagaland on the other hand have sought to settle the issue without disturbing the State boundaries while keeping the “Greater Nagalim” question in abeyance. 
• Any moves to alter boundaries will intensify ethnic conflicts and insurgencies beyond Nagaland, especially in Manipur. 
• The increasing support in Nagaland for a solution without affecting boundaries should have compelled the NSCN (I-M) to move away from its intransigent position. 
• Instead, the rebel group has sought to redefine the talks process by expressing its lack of confidence in Mr. Ravi. 
• The NNPGs, political parties and other civil society organisations also took exception to the Governor’s stern letter that went beyond raising concerns over law and order. 
• Mr. Ravi wrote that functions such as the “transfer and posting of officials” in charge of law and order above the district level would be done with his approval. 
• But they have delineated clear differences with the NSCN (I-M) on the peace talks issue. 

Conclusion:

• The Central government needs to take their concerns on board and reiterate its commitment to finalising the Naga accord while seeking to re-engage with the NSCN (I-M) without giving in to its arbitrary demands.
• The Centre must re-engage with NSCN (I-M) without giving in to its arbitrary demands

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the National Awards for excellence in Earth System Science, consider the following statements:
1. This year the Life Time Excellence Award is being awarded to Professor Ashok Sahni. 
2. The National Award for Ocean Science & technology is being awarded to Dr. V. V. S. S. Sarma. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What was the Ceasefire Agreement which was signed in 2015?What has happened in the year’s post signing the agreement?What are the present grievances of NSCN-IM?

A self-reliant foreign policy (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level: India’s foreign policy
Mains level: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Context:

• Self-reliance is the theme of India’s 74th Independence Day. 
• This concept is commonly associated with the economy and production of key goods and services within the country in light of the global ‘supply shock’ caused by the pandemic. 
• But it also has a parallel dimension in the domain of foreign policy. 
• If the domestic goal is to reduce dependence on imports for critical commodities, the foreign policy corollaryis to recalibratethe time-tested axiom of ‘strategic autonomy’.
• India has historically prided itself as an independent developing country which does not take orders from or succumbto pressure from great powers. 
• Whether the world order was bipolar (1947 to 1991), unipolar (1991 to 2008 or multipolar (present times), the need for autonomy in making foreign policy choices has remained constant.

Showing flexibility:

• Yet, strategic autonomy has often been adjusted in India’s history as per the changing milieu.
• In moments of crisis, India has reinterpreted freedom and shown flexibility for survival. 
• During the 1962 war with China, the high priest of non-alignment, PM Nehru, had to appeal to the U.S. for emergency military aid to stave off the Chinese from “taking over the whole of Eastern India.” 
• In the build-up to the 1971 war with Pakistan, PM Indira Gandhi had to enter a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union to ward off both China and the U.S. 
• And in Kargil in 1999, India welcomed a direct intervention by the U.S. to force Pakistan to back down. 
• In all the above examples, India did not become any less autonomous when geopolitical circumstances compelled it to enter into de facto alliance-like cooperation with major powers. 
• Rather, India secured its freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity by manoeuvering the great power equations and playing the realpolitik game.
• Today, although there is no prospect of an outright war with China in the wake of its incursions across the Line of Actual Control, India is at an inflection point with regard to strategic autonomy. 
• Non-alignment 2.0 with China and the U.S., as they slide into a new Cold War, makes little sense when India’s security and sovereignty are being challenged primarily by the former rather than the latter. 
• Fears in some quarters that proximity to the U.S. will lead to loss of India’s strategic autonomy are overblown because independent India has never been subordinated to a foreign hegemon.

The essence of self-reliance:

• India should aim to have the American support as well as stay as an independent power centre by means of intensified cooperation with middle powers in Asia and around the world.
• For India, which values freedom, placing all its eggs in the U.S. basket to counterbalance China would be an error. 
• Getting too close to the U.S. can constrict India’s options in other theatres of national interest such as its ties with Iran and Russia and efforts to speed up indigenous defence modernisation.
• Diversification is the essence of self-reliance. 
• A wide basket of strategic partners, including the U.S., with a sharper focus on constraining China, is the only viable diplomatic way forward in the current emerging multipolar world order.
• It is no longer a question of picking one out of two titans or oscillating between them. 
• In an era of dense networks, India must reconfigure autonomy to mean what the American scholar Joseph Nye calls ‘power with others’ to accomplish joint goals.

Conclusion:

• We are free and self-reliant not through isolation or alliance with one great power, but only in variable combinations with several like-minded partners. 
• India is familiar with the phrase ‘multi-vector’ foreign policy.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the India Report on Digital Education, 2020, consider the following statements:
1. The report has been prepared by Digital Education Division of Ministry of HRD in consultation with Education Departments of States and UTs.
2. Kerala has launched Pariksha Vani, an exam preparation program through Doordarshan.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the basic objectives of the India’s foreign policy? What is the importance of self-reliant principle on the present foreign policy and how the foreign policy evolves over time?

Shutting the door on Huawei (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International 
Prelims level: Domino effect
Mains level: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Context:

• In a dramatic reversal of its decision in January allowing Huawei to have a limited role in its telecommunications network, the U.K. has finally decided to ban the Chinese company. 
• This entails banning U.K. mobile providers from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after the end of this year as well as removing all of Huawei’s 5G kit from their networks by 2027. 
• For its part, China “strongly opposed” the U.K.’s “groundless” ban and warned that it would “take measures to safeguard” the “legitimate interests” of Chinese companies as “any decisions and actions must come at a cost”. 
• The British government has been forthright about the delay in 5G’s roll-out as a consequence of its policy shift and the costs of its decision. 
• At a time when London is looking to engage with major global powers in a post-Brexit to enhance its trade ties, this decision, which is likely to alienateChina, will come with some serious strategic costs as well.

A Domino Effect across Europe:

• The U.S.’s imposition of sanctions on Huawei in May, which disrupted the company’s global supply of semiconductors, alteredthe cost calculus for the U.K. 
• The U.K. government had to go in for another round of security review which resulted in the National Security Council’s decision to finally phase off Huawei’s involvement in the country’s 5G network. 
• But the U.S.-U.K. relationship was also facing a moment of reckoningafter the U.K.’s January decision to allow Huawei. 
• At a time when the U.S.-China relationship is entering a phase of Cold War 2.0, the Trump administration had made it clear that the U.K.’s “special relationship” with the U.S. was under the scanner.
• Not only would their security and intelligence ties have been in jeopardybut crucial trade negotiations would have been hampered too. 
• For the Trump administration, the U.K.’s change of stance is a major diplomatic win as it might also convince fence sitters to make a final decision.

Domino effect:

• For Huawei, a domino effectacross Europe might pose a serious challenge given that almost a quarter of its sales come from the European market. 
• France also decided to limit the use of Huawei’s 5G kit by issuing limited term licences. 
• This is widely seen as a ban on the Chinese company though the French government has not said it in so many words. 
• Germany too is reducing its reliance on Huawei as the mood against China has soured across Europe. 
• After years of kowtowingto the Chinese, the European Union is becoming more explicit than ever in challenging China. 
• The issues range from China’s initial mishandling of COVID-19 and Beijing’s disinformation campaign in Europe to the new national security law in Hong Kong. 
• China is viewed as a “systemic rival” that is hell bent on challenging the extant global order with all its concomitanttreaties, norms and institutions. 
• And Huawei is the latest flashpoint with individual countries shunningthe company.

 Awaiting India’s response:

• So what once looked like a battle which the U.S. was waging on its own has suddenly been joined by a number of other players. 
• The Indian response is being closely watched. Last year, India had allowed Huawei to participate in 5G trials which could not happen because of the disruptions caused by the pandemic. 
• Today, India-China ties have altered due to the border crisis and Chinese insensitivity to Indian concerns. 
• New Delhi is toughening its posture across domains and it looks rather unlikely that Huawei would get to participate in the 5G network roll-out in India. 
• India is signalling that it is willing to bear economic and technological costs if it means limiting Chinese involvement in critical infrastructure. 
• But what would not be lost on Beijing is that losing such a large market might be a devastating blow to Huawei as well. 
• It is becoming increasingly clear that the decision on Huawei is not merely a technological or economic decision but a fundamentally political decision for most countries. 

 Conclusion:

• China’s decision to weaponise trade and technology ties might now come back to hauntit as other nations begin to pay back in the same coin.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the recent changes in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms on civil aviation, consider the following statements:
1. It will not permit non-resident Indian nationals to own 100 % stake of Air India.
2. The amendment removes the exception which permitted Overseas Citizens of India 100% FDI in air transport, but not Air India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What is 5G? What made UK to ban Huawei? What has been the response of China?

More than a vaccine, it is about vaccination (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level: Vaccines trials 
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Context:

• Everyone eagerly asks: will we get a COVID-19 vaccine this year or only next year? 
• During a pandemic, expecting vaccines the same year or the next, illustrates the power of technology, human hope and media hype.

Where India stands?

• Globally, innumerable vaccine trials are progressing; in India, two candidates have advanced considerably. 
• An inactivated coronavirus vaccine was created by Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech. 
• It is safe and immunogenic in laboratory animals and humans. 
• It is to be re-confirmed in a phase 2 trial; phase 3 will assess the vaccine’s safety and protective efficacy against COVID-19.
• Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII) is testing Oxford University-AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
• Both company-owners have invested heavily, without extramural research support, or advance purchase contract by the government. 
• Both seem to have the best interests of fellow Indians first in their hearts; profit comes second. Risks are a part of the game. 
• Neither company has all its eggs in one basket — confidence in their flagship antigens is not absolute, both are pursuing alternate vaccine candidates also.
• Some wealthy nations made bilateral financial agreements with manufacturers in order to hogvaccines. 
• Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, created COVAX — a funding facility to ensure up-scaling vaccine production and its access to low income countries as soon as regulatory approvals emerge. 
• COVAX will support the SII with funds to bring down selling-price to $3 per dose.
• With good news on supply side, what about the delivery side? 
• India’s Universal Immunisation Programme is a vaccine-delivery platform for children and pregnant women, funded by the central government but implemented by State governments. 
• However, the COVID-19 vaccine is for all age groups, necessitating an innovative platform, prioritised on the basis of need.

Define policy for clarity:

• The first step is policy definition leading to a plan of action blueprint. The time to create them is now — it costs nothing, but will save time when a vaccine becomes available.
• Policy emerges from objective(s) for vaccine use in individuals and community. 
• Priority for individual need is to protect those at high risk of death (senior citizens and those with medical co-morbidities) and front-line workers who expose themselves to infection while providing health care. 
• Children may be vaccinated before schools reopen to protect them and prevent infection from being carried home.
• Vaccine availability will be limited at first, when we must ensure that those on the priority list receive it. 
• Those who already had COVID-19 or novel coronavirus infection require no vaccination.
• Antibody positives need not be vaccinated (no harm if vaccinated). All data should be saved permanently. 
• Area-wise estimates of the numbers who need vaccination on a priority basis are necessary. Now is the time for State governments to capture all such data.
• A community’s need for vaccination is two-fold. All those who must rebuild essential activities, i.e. economic, educational, trade, transport, sociocultural and religious, must be protected. 
• A more ambitious aim is to break the novel coronavirus transmission and eradicatethe disease altogether. 
• With India’s notable representation in decision-making bodies of the World Health Organization, India is uniquely positioned to play a crucial role in advocating global eradication of COVID-19.

Getting a plan ready:

• We need a vaccine-delivery platform to fulfil all such needs. 
• A practical method is vaccination camps, supervised by a medical officer, staffed by health management and local government, and having the list of people who need vaccination. 
• Information should be updated regularly, deleting those who got infected recently. Enumeration and registration of eligible persons can be started now. 
• Vaccination by appointments will ensure that vaccination is without overcrowding and with minimum waiting time. 
• Post-injection, vaccinated subjects should wait for half-an-hour in case of immediate side effects; emergency drugs to tackle side effects should be readily available.
• Vaccine trials document the absence of serious side effects. Minor and inconsequential reactions are self-limiting fever, pain and swelling at the injection site. 
• As it would be a new vaccine, all side effects must be documented for first and second doses.
• Medical events during the month following each dose must be captured through phone calls, and analysed to check full safety of the vaccine.
• Phase 3 trial is usually in healthy volunteers, hence efficacy and safety profile in others will not be available when a vaccine is rolled out. 
• However, senior citizens and those with co-morbiditiesmust be vaccinated by/on priority. 
• Some countries require that a proportion of volunteers should be the elderly and the vulnerable. 
• In India, careful documentation of all side effects in all individuals, senior citizens, those with co-morbidities, and children must supplement trial data on vaccine safety. 
• This ‘post-marketing surveillance’ must be built into the vaccine roll-out.

Conclusion:

• The vaccine regulatory agency should take a call on the special question of vaccine safety during pregnancy. 
• One vaccine is an inactivated virus and the second is a live virus but non-infectious. 
• Both may be assumed to be safe; yet safety in pregnancy must be ascertained in bridge studies that must be conducted as soon as possible.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the 2020 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, consider the following statements:
1. In 2013, the United Nations designated July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
2. The 2020 theme for the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons will focus on the first responders to human trafficking. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What is the vaccine formation process? Also know about other key terms mentioned in the article like GAVI, Trojan horse approach etc. Discuss. 

Independent but not alone (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level: Not much 
Mains level: Bilateral agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Context:

• For India, August 15 is first and foremost Independence Day. 
• But, the U.K. mark 75 years since peace was achieved in Asia. This is also U.K’s opportunity to thank India for their immense contributions and, in particular, the campaign in Burma.
• From Asia to Africa, the Mediterranean to the Pacific, millions fought for freedom in the six-year long struggle to rid the world of the tyranny and evil of Axis aggressors. 

Largest All-Volunteer Force:

• The statistics alone are astonishing. On land, at sea and in the air, Indians formed the largest all-volunteer force in the world, with over 2.5 million fighting in Europe, North Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong and, Burma. 
• What is more, India provided almost 200 million tonnes of coal, six million tonnes of iron ore and more than one million tonnes of steel to the Pacific war effort, and countless Indian non-combatants secured supply lines.
• Those numbers can’t possibly do justice to their bravery. At Imphal, Indian forces fought even after the siege was lifted. 
• Rao Abdul Hafiz Panwa became the youngest Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross — overrunning Japanese positions despite mortal wounds. 
• At Kohima, an Indian-British force numbering 1,500 men held its own against 15,000 enemy troops for two weeks despite phosphorous bombardments and ferocious infantry attacks. 
• The celebrated “Black Cat” 17th Infantry Division of the Indian Army were in continuous combat during the three-year long Burma Campaign. 
• In total some 87,000 Indians paid the ultimate price. But their efforts also turned the tide of the war. 
• No wonder the commander of the 14th Army in Burma, Field Marshal Slim, described his Indian divisions as “among the best in the world”.

Challenges and opportunities:

• Today’s challenges are different and our relationship has also evolved. But we face shared dangers, whether from pandemics or piracy, extremism or enemies operating below the threshold of conventional conflict. 
• We hold shared values and commitments to justice, stability and free markets. 
• We are on the same side and have a mutual interest in standing together – it is our alliances that give us the ultimate edge.
• And the India-U.K. partnership has plenty of room to grow. 
• UK has already have seven Royal Navy vessels operating in the Western Indian Ocean.
• UK and India’s Armed Forces exercise together biannually and our Defence and International Security Partnership is opening up collaborations in everything from jet engines to cyber technology. 
• And, as India pursues Atmanirbhar Bharat vision India will find Global Britain is eager to work together in a range of areas from defence modernisation to maritime technology. 
• We are determined to elevate our partnership to the next level.

Conclusion:

• We are living through a new era of uncertainty but eight decades ago, our great forebears showed us the way ahead. 
• Seventy-five years on, India is a proud independent nation but you are emphatically not alone. 
• Our common history proves that we are stronger facing adversity together and now is the time to write our shared future in the interests of peace, purpose, and prosperity.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the International Day of Friendship, consider the following statements: 
1. The International Day of Friendship is being celebrated on July 30, 2020.
2. The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: C

Mains Questions:
Q.1)Highlights the scenarios of India-UK bilateral relations.  What are the recent developments and challenges to their relations?

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India-South Korea ties (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International relations 
Prelims level: Indian Culture Centre
Mains level: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Context:

• India and South Korea have signed numerous bilateral agreements with the aim of taking their ties to the next level. 
• However, the economic partnership is struck at $22 billion annually, and their defence partnership appears to have recededfrom great all-round promise to the mere sale and purchase of weapon systems.

Perceptions:

• At the heart of this bilateral stasis is the fact that, Indians and South Koreans are failing to touch a mutually meaningful chord of empathy and move closer to each other as people. 
• This is at least in part due to cultural prejudices on both sides, which stands in the way of a relationship based on openness, curiosity and warmth.
• Yet, clearly, whatever bilateral progress has been made, say in the realm of trade and investment, has not lent sufficient momentum that people start building bridges in other areas. 
• So, for example, there may be a widespread perception among South Koreans of India as a third world country, rifewith poverty and hunger. 
• While it is true that India is far from eradicatingthese deprivations, their extent may be exaggerated in the minds of some. 
• On the flip side, it is often the case that Indians are unable to distinguish between the cultural and social characteristics of South Koreans and people of other East Asian nations.

 Indians in South Korea:

• Within South Korea, the integration of Indians in the local population is far from complete. 
• There have been some instances of what appears to be racial prejudice or discrimination, including toward Indians in work settings in South Korea.
• As in any relationship, mutual respect regarding cultural values is the key to building a robust partnership between two countries. 
• The means to achieving that respect is often filling the information gap that creates a chasm between two strong cultures. 
• How much do Indians based in South Korea know about how Korean culture contributed to the growth of a broader Asian view of the world? 
• It is more likely that to the average Indian mind, the defining traits of Japan’s and China’s cultures are better identified than those of Korean culture. 
• All this is to say nothing of the hostilitythat some visiting South Koreans have faced in India.

Indian culture centre in Seoul:

• This trajectory of India’s engagement with a strategically important Asian nation suggests that an urgent course correction is required. 
• The establishment of the Indian Culture Centre (ICC) in Seoul 10 years ago was a step in the right direction. 
• Its mission was to promote people-to-people contacts. 
• Yet, given the current focus on diplomatic initiatives it can sometimes be complicated for the average South Korean to access to its offices and services. 
• The ICC’s attempts to broad-base an appreciation of Indian culture by, for example, teaching south Indian dances to elementary school students in South Korea, or organising experiential sessions centred on Indian cuisine, are commendable.
• Yet, it may reach an exponentially wider audience if the focus of such efforts was the common man of South Korea, beyond the urban, English-speaking elite of Seoul. 
• The same may be applicable to South Korean culture centres in India.

 Conclusion:

• As the balance of power in the region continues to shift fast, India and South Korea may need each like never before, to protect their ways of life. 
• However, both countries will be able to help each other only if they can fill the cultural gaps. 
• A regional hegemonis already pushing hard into the ambit of the Indian Ocean. 
• The sooner these bonds are renewed the better it would be for all Asian democracies.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)K.V. Kamath committee, recently seen in news, is related to:
(a) To make recommendations on norms for the resolution of COVID-19 related stressed loans.
(b) Report on the working of capital market infrastructure institutions (MIIs)
(c) To decide the appropriate level of reserves that the RBI should hold
(d) None of the above

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1)Highlights about India- South Korea bilateral relations. Why India is important for South-Korea? Critically examine.

Calibrated balance (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International 
Prelims level: Non- Alignment Movement
Mains level: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Context:

• In separate statements this week, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar laid out India’s world view in the face of global challenges, many of which pull it in different directions. 
• Mr. Jaishankar’s contention was that non-alignment as a concept belonged to a bygoneera.

Non-alignment: Bygone era

• He held that multipolarity in the world necessitated that India would have to take a definite stand, and even take “risks” on issues such as connectivity, maritime security, terrorism and climate change. 
• However, he made it clear that India does not reject non-alignment in its entirety, and that while it would no longer remain disentangled from difficult decisions, it would not compromise on its independence. 
• More importantly, he said that India has “never been part of an alliance system, nor will it ever be”. 
• He added that even the U.S. must look beyond its present alliances, and engage with more multilateral arrangements. 
• Mr. Jaishankar explained that while non-alignment worked for India during the Cold War era. 
• He also opined the fact that India and China share a land boundary would always be a factor in a “new cold war” between the U.S. and China. 
• He spoke of Indo-U.S. cooperation in many fields, and the growing maritime collaboration in particular.
• However, he left unsaid the hard reality that military collaboration on land would prove problematic given India’s disputed boundary with China.

 Carefully calibrated balance:

• Mr. Jaishankar’s comments are a clear-eyed assessment of India’s constraints and avenues for its potential growth. 
• The assertion of India’s strategic independence and resistance to joining any alliance comes as a timely reminder amid speculation that tensions with China will push India into a stronger clinch with Washington. 
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referring to the India-China clashes, the deaths of Indian soldiers at Galwan Valley last month, called for India and the U.S. to jointly “counter” China.
• The government has rightly chosen not to raise its tensions with China in any forum other than bilateral talks with Beijing. 
• Equally significant is the government’s outreach to Moscow, including a visit by Defence Minister and the participation of Mr. Jaishankar in the Russia-India-China trilateral last month. 
• External Affairs Minister’s comments that India should also seek to build coalitions with “middle powers”, such as the European Union and Japan is step in the right direction.

 Conclusion:

• A time of crisis often clarifies priorities. 
• At a time of a double crisis for India — battling the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country and Chinese aggression at the border — the message from New Delhi is one of a carefully calibrated balance.
• Non-alignment as a policy must be rethought, but India must be wary of alliance systems.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Letter of Recommendation module for PM SVANidhi Scheme, consider the following statements:
1. The module is designed to give access to street vendors who do not have Identity Card and Certificate of Vending and are not in the surveyed list for availing benefits under the scheme.
2. It was launched by Union ministry of Finance. 
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What is Non- Alignment Movement? What are its origin and composition? What is the relevance of NAM in the multipolar world?

Science without Prejudice (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level: Arsenicum Album 30
Mains level: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

Context: 

• The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered conversations on the efficacy of non-allopathic forms of medicine in combating the virus, including homoeopathy. 
• The pandemic is a challenge to the scientific community, which is dealing with an unknown pathogen. 
• However, scientists and doctors have known about viruses over the years from research literature and recurring episodes of seasonal flu-like symptoms.
• Homoeopathic practitioners too have been treating several viral diseases. This knowledge can be harnessed to combat COVID-19.

Corona virus:

• Corona virus is akin to several other pathogens that cause flu-lik1e symptoms.
• But the virus grafts itself on to human cells, making the task for the immune system more challenging.
• So COVID-19 is an infectious disorder of greater intensity than several other viral diseases.
• That is why there is no antidote to it yet. The disease is closely knitted to the patient’s fibres, which influence the body’s inner- dynamics.
• This makes it difficult to diagnose the disease early and treat it unless the dynamic principle of the body is brought in.

Highlighting the symptoms:

• We know about the symptoms caused by other SARS viruses. 
• This has given us considerable knowledge of coronaviruses and their pathogenicity.
• The past view of the virus is the sole means to know the character of the present coronavirus.
• This is an opportunity to know the individual’s suffering while allowing homoeopathy to choose possible similar remedies from within its system.
• This is actually the basis for all research work on the virus today.
• Unfortunately, there is much confusion over homoeopathy and COVID-19.
• This is reflected in the debate over the system of medicine after several states recommended a homoeopathy drug, Arsenicum Album 30, for prophylactic use.

Rationale behind homeopathic therapy:

• The therapeutic value of arsenic in homoeopathy must be appreciated in terms of principles embedded in this system of medicine.
• In its natural form, arsenic is a poison that has the capability to produce violent reactions which are similar to what it can cure.
• To judge the scale of this curative power, one must know the rationale behind homoeopathic therapy and the process by which homoeopathic medicines work.
• In this case, the transformation of crude arsenic into a dynamic energy specially adapted to harmonise the vital life forces that restore health.
• Homoeopathic therapy is based on the study of symptoms a substance causes.
• Arsenic Album has been used effectively in treating acute respiratory infections and several other conditions.
• About two months ago, the Ministry of AYUSH convened a meeting of homoeopathic experts along with members of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy.
• The experts unanimously agreed that Arsenic Album could be used as a prophylactic for COVID-19.

Proving efficacy:

• Homoeopathic remedies have usually not had the technical support to prove their efficacy.
• Remedies like Arsenic Album, Antimonium Tartaricum, Bryonia Alba and Gelsemium, have been effectively used in the past.
• The novel coronavirus’s symptoms resemble those associated with Arsenic Album as a homoeopathic remedy. 
• In recent times, it has been observed that an appropriate dose of Arsenic Album and Gelsemium can remove susceptibility to the disease-causing agent.
• These remedies stimulate the body’s defence mechanism.
• Individual practitioners have used Arsenic Album as a prophylacticin the past against virus-related signs and symptoms.

Conclusion: 

• The experiences gathered so far have provided sufficient evidence and knowledge to apply them to the present situation.
• Arsenic Album has proved effective in non-resolving conditions where other so-called proven medicines have failed.
• Of course, no science is complete and all experiments are open for discussion, provided it is without prejudice.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Consider the following statements:
1. According to a recent study by TRAFFIC on the seizure and mortality of ‘common leopards’ the highest numbers of poaching incidents were reported from the States of Kerala and Odisha. 
2. TRAFFIC is a leading wildlife trade monitoring network across the world.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the differences between Allopathy and Homeopathy type of medicine? What are the rationale behind homeopathy therapy to combat COVID 19?

Green and red (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3:Environment 
Prelims level: Draft notification of EIA
Mains level: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context:

• In March, the Union Environment Ministry invited public comments on a draft notification that seeks to overhaulthe country’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure.
• The ministry set June 30 as the deadline for the feedback. The Delhi High Court extended this window to August 11 in response to a petition by environmental activists.
• The court remarked that the “process of consultation is not an obstacle… it has some sanctity”. 

Dilution:

• In its 150-day sojournin the public sphere that ended on Tuesday, the draft has attracted, according to the ministry, “four to five lakh responses”.
• These include criticisms of environmentalists, academics and civil society groups, concerns raised by people from ecologically fragile areas such as the country’s Northeast.
• In parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, people braved the COVID pandemic to protest against the proposed changes — the Kerala government reportedly submitted its comments on Tuesday.
• Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has termed these criticisms as “premature”.
• But the public consultation process has flagged important concerns about the environmental regulatory regime. The ministry must pay heed to them, take them on board.
• Framed in 1994 to address the safety concerns raised in the decade after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the EIA is a part of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. It was last revised in 2006. 
• Activities that “access, utilise and affect natural resources” fall under its purview.
• The regulatory regime was also framed as a social safeguard — it recognised that land sought by project developers could have economic and cultural significance for communities.
• At several places, however, authorities contrived to dilute the EIA’s public consultation process.

Public hearing:

• In 2000, in Centre for Social Justice v the Union of India, the Gujarat High Court observed, “Officials are holding public hearings at district headquarters.
• The persons who are likely to be adversely affected in environmental matters, are poor persons who would not travel a long distance between the proposed project site and the district headquarters.”
• The court also noted that “the minutes of the public hearing are either not recorded or not given to the concerned persons”.
• The Supreme Court also flagged the undermining of public hearing procedures in its Vedanta verdict of 2013.
• The proposed amendments to the EIA have invited criticism for sanctioning — and codifying — such dilutions to the regulatory mechanism.
• The period of public hearing has been reduced from 30 days to 20 days.
• The draft legitimises violations by developers who begin projects without obtaining due clearances, in apparent disregard of the SC’s reservations against post facto certificates — the latest as late as April, this year.
• Exemptions to projects that ostensibly have environmental benefits — renewable energy parks, for example — have also drawn criticism.
• Critics have pointed out that such projects involve diversion of agricultural lands and have a bearing on people’s livelihoods. 

 Conclusion: 

• The environment ministry must make sure that the final EIA draft does justice to the complex relations between environment, development and local communities that the public consultation process has brought to light.
• Environment ministry must heed criticisms of draft EIA, do justice to process of public consultation.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy review, consider the following statements:
1. Only those companies and individuals whose loans accounts are in default for not more than 90 days as on March 1, 2020, are eligible for one-time restructuring.
2. The one-time restructuring window is available across sectors.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:
Q.1)What are the draft provisions of the EIA Act? Also highlights the components of the Environment Impact Assessment. 

• Medium: ENGLISH
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• Philosophical Nature of Indian Music (Dr Pranshu Samdarshi)
• Northeast Relion: Unique Identity (Dr Tapati Baruah Kashyap)
• Bamboo: Rejuvenating Rural Economy (Suresh Prabhu)
• Maharashtra: Richly Diverse and Vibrant (Meenal Joglekar)
• Culture: A Unifying Force (Ashok Kalariya)
• Diverse Millet Culture (Pallavi Upadhyaya)
• Temple Inscriptions of Tamil Nadu  (Pradeep Chakravarthy)
• Harmony Through Dance (Veena Mani)
• Weaving National Honour (Basavaprabhu Hosakeri)
• Memorial Stones of Jammu & Kashmir (Dr Lalit Gupta)
• Territorial Security -  India -China Relations (Dr Srikanth Kondapalli)

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The future of Indian secularism(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1: Society 
Prelims level:B.R. Ambedkar
Mains level: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism and secularism

Context: 

• Our public discourseis resounding with triumphalismon the one hand, and lamenton the other over the death or defeat of secularism. 
• Secularism has paid a heavy price in our country for being at the centre of public and political discourse. It has been persistently misused and abused. 

Respect and critique:

• Constitutional secularism is marked by at least two features. First, critical respect for all religions. 
• Unlike some secularisms, ours is not blindly anti-religious but respects religion. Unlike the secularisms of pre-dominantly single religious societies, it respects not one but all religions.
• However, given the virtual impossibility of distinguishing the religious from the social, as B.R. Ambedkar famously observed, every aspect of religious doctrine or practice cannot be respected. 
• Respect for religion must be accompanied by critique.
• It follows that our state must respectfully leave religion alone but also intervene whenever religious groups promote communal disharmony and discrimination on grounds of religion.
• Therefore, and this is its second feature, the Indian state abandons strict separation but keeps a principled distance from all religions. 
• For instance, it cannot tolerate untouchability or leave all personal laws as they are. Equally, it may non-preferentially subsidise schools run by religious communities. 
• Thus, it has to constantly decide when to engage or disengage, help or hinder religion depending entirely on which of these enhances our constitutional commitment to freedom, equality and fraternity. 
• This constitutional secularism cannot be sustained by governments alone but requires collective commitment from an impartial judiciary, a scrupulous media, civil society activists, and an alert citizenry.

 Advent of opportunism:

• Party-political secularism, born around 40 years ago, is a nefarious doctrine practised by all political parties, including by so-called secular forces. 
• This secularism has dispelled all values from the core idea and replaced them with opportunism. 
• Opportunistic distance (engagement or disengagement), but mainly opportunistic alliance with religious communities, particularly for the sake of immediate electoral benefit, is its unspoken slogan. 
• Today, Indian constitutional secularism is swallowed up by this party-political secularism, with not a little help from the Opposition, media and judiciary. 

Two crucial moves:

• Two crucial moves are needed to kick-start the discourse and practice of secularism. 
• First, a shift of focus from a politically-led project to a socially-driven movement for justice. 
• Second, a shift of emphasis from inter-religious to intra-religious issues. 
• I invoke the name of two great leaders, B.R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru, to make my point. 
• B.R. Ambedkar dispassionately observed that when two roughly equal communities view each other as enemies, they get trapped in a majority-minority syndrome, a vicious cycle of spiralling political conflict and social alienation. 
• B.R. Ambedkar also claimed that when communities view each other as a menace, they tend to close ranks. 
• This has another debilitating impact: all dissent within the community is muzzled and much needed internal reforms are stalled. If so, the collapse of the syndrome unintentionally throws up an opportunity. 
• As the focus shifts from the other to oneself, it may allow deeper introspection within, multiple dissenting voices to resurface, create conditions to root out intra-religious injustices, and make its members free and equal. 
• After all, the Indian project of secularism has been thwarted as much by party-politics as by religious orthodoxy and dogma.

 Europe’s example:

• Here, Europe’s example helps. The fight against the oppression of the church was as much a popular struggle as it was driven by the state. 
• Europe’s secularism provided a principle to fight intra-religious oppressions. 
• Nehru understood this. For him, secularism was not only a project of civic friendship among religious communities but also of opposition to religion-based caste and gender oppressions. 
• For the moment, the state-driven political project of secularism and its legal constitutional form appear to have taken a hit. 
• But precisely this ‘setback’ can be turned into an opportunity to revitalise the social project of secularism. 
• Since the Indian state has failed to support victims of oppressions sanctioned by religion, a peaceful and democratic secularism from below provides a much-needed internal critique and reform of our own respective religions.
• This will enable their compatibility with constitutional values of equality, liberty and justice. 
• A collective push from young men and women untainted by the politics and ideological straitjacketing of the recent past may help strengthen the social struggle of emancipation from intra-religious injustices. 

 Conclusion:

• The political project of secularism arose precisely because religious toleration no longer worked. 
• Needed today are new forms of socio-religious reciprocity, crucial for the business of everyday life and novel ways of reducing the political alienationof citizens.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Kisan Special Parcel Train, consider the following statements:
1. The country's first Kisan Special Parcel Train or Kisan Rail will start from August 7, 2020 to provide seamless supply of perishable produce.
2. The train will transport material between Maharashtra's Devlali and Bihar's Danapur Railway station.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) Highlights the key features of Indian secularism. How its different from western secularism? 

India’s population data and a tale of two projections (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1: Society 
Prelims level:Total fertility rate
Mains level: Population and associated issues

Context: 

• A new study published in the highly regarded journal, The Lancet, has shaken up the world of population policy. 
• It argues that while India is destined to be the largest country in the world, its population will peak by mid-century. 
• And as the 21st century closes, its ultimate population will be far smaller than anyone could have anticipated, about 1.09 billion instead of approximately 1.35 billion today. It could even be as low as 724 million.
• The population projections are also subject to underlying assumptions that deserve careful scrutiny. They predict that by the year 2100, on average, Indian women will have 1.29 children. 
• Since each woman must have two children to replace herself and her husband, this will result in a sharp population decline. 
• Contrast this predicted fertility rate of 1.29 for India with the projected cohort fertility of 1.53 for the United States and 1.78 for France in the same model. 
• It is difficult to believe that Indian parents could be less committed to childbearing than American or French parents.
• The UN projects that India’s population will be 1.64 billion by 2050. 

Fertility decline:

• India’s demographic future contains a peaking and subsequently declining population driven by a sharp reduction in fertility. 
• In the 1950s, India’s Total fertility rate (TFR) was nearly six children per woman; today it is 2.2. 
• Ironically, the massive push for family planning coupled with forced sterilisation during the Emergency barely led to a 17% decline in TFR from 5.9 in 1960 to 4.9 in 1980. 
• However, between 1992 and 2015, it had fallen by 35% from 3.4 to 2.2.
• What happened to accelerate fertility decline to a level where 18 States and Union Territories have a TFR below 2, the replacement level? 
• One might attribute it to the success of the family planning programme but family planning has long lost its primacy in the Indian policy discourse. 
• Between 1975 and 1994, family planning workers had targets they were expected to meet regarding sterilisations, condom distribution and intrauterine device (IUD) insertion. 
• Often these targets led to explicit or implicitcoercion. Following the Cairo conference on Population and Development in 1994, these targets were abandoned.
• If carrots have been dropped, the stick of policies designed to punish people with large families has been largely ineffective. 
• Punitivepolicies include denial of maternity leave for third and subsequent births, limiting benefits of maternity schemes and ineligibility to contest in local body elections for individuals with large families. 

Aspirational revolution:

• If public policies to encourage the small family norm or to provide contraception have been lackadaisical, what led couples to abandon the ideal of large families?
• It seems highly probable that the socioeconomic transformation of India since the 1990s has played an important role. 
• Over this period, agriculture became an increasingly smaller part of the Indian economy.
• School and college enrolment grew sharply and individuals lucky enough to find a job in government, multinationals or software services companies reaped tremendous financial benefits. 
• Not surprisingly, parents began to rethink their family-building strategies. 
• Where farmers used to see more workers when they saw their children, the new aspirational parents see enrolment in coaching classes as a ticket to success.
• The literature on fertility decline in western countries attributes the decline in fertility to retreat from the family.
• Indian parents seem to demonstrate increased rather than decreased commitment to family by reducing the number of children and investing more in each child. 
• Research finds that small and large families do not differ in their leisure activities, women’s participation in the workforce or how many material goods they purchase. 
• However, smaller families invest more money in their children by sending them to private schools and coaching classes. It is not aspirations for self but that for children that seems to drive fertility decline.

Conclusion:

• Demographic data suggest that the aspirational revolution is already under way. 
• What we need to hasten the fertility decline is to ensure that the health and family welfare system is up to this challenge and provides contraception and sexual and reproductive health services that allow individuals to have only as many children as they want.
• The country’s demographic future will see peaking and then declining numbers driven by a sharp fertility reduction

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), consider the following statements:
1. It is for junior athletes in the country with an aim to produce Olympic champions by 2028.
2. Monthly stipend of Rs. 1, 50, 000/- to each athlete is also provided under TOPS.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2027. Discuss the challenges of rising population and suggest a way forward.

Just closure : On Italian marines case (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International 
Prelims level:Permanent Court of Arbitration
Mains level: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate

Context: 

• Two Kerala fishermen were killed by the Italian marines on February 15, 2012. 
• It may seem pragmaticto keep any pending litigation alive until all dues relating to it are paid and all legal issues are settled. 
• However, it is somewhat puzzling that the Supreme Court of India has said it would keep the Italian marines’ case alive until “hefty” and “adequate” compensation is paid by Italy.

No point in delaying:

• The Court has indicated that it would not allow the closure of the trial until such compensation is paid. And it has ordered that the families of the victims be heard on this matter. 
• Union government has declared that it would abide by the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague, which granted immunity to the marines.
• India also favoured Italy as the appropriate jurisdiction where the marines could be tried for the crime. 
• It does not seem proper to delay the process of bringing closure to the matter. 
• For one thing, the PCA, an arbitral tribunal that adjudicatesdisputes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), has itself ruled that India is entitled to compensation. 
• Second, it hardly needs emphasis that the pendency of the matter in court should not become a bargaining point that delays the reaching of a fair settlement. 
• Continuing hearings may also be seen as India being reluctant to ceaseall criminal proceedings against the marines as per the ruling.

Needless objections:

• The Court’s resolve to obtain adequate and hefty compensation for the families of the victims is welcome, though it would be difficult to have a judicial determination of what quantum would satisfy these requirements. 
• The Centre may have approached the top court for formal permission to close the pending trial proceedings as a matter of abundant caution. 
• But as far as the law goes, it could have approached the trial court itself through the public prosecutor for withdrawal from prosecution under Section 321 of the CrPC. 
• Article 253 of the Constitution says Parliament may enact a law to give effect to any international treaty or convention.
• This has been cited by government to argue that in view of the PCA court’s finding on jurisdiction being in conflict with the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2013 that the Union government alone can try the case, a law may be needed before the trial is closed. 
• This is just needless quibblingas the conflict has ceasedafter India agreed to abide by the tribunal’s ruling in keeping with its obligations under UNCLOS. 

 Conclusion:

• India’s focus should now be on negotiating for compensation and ensuring a purposive criminal trial in Italy.
• The focus must be on adequate compensation for families of fishermen killed by marines.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1)With reference to the ammonium nitrate, consider the following statements:
1. In its pure form, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is a white, crystalline chemical which is soluble in water. 
2. Pure ammonium nitrate is an explosive on its own and classified as an oxidiser (Grade 5.1) under the United Nations classification of dangerous goods. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is the Italian Marines case? What are the Permanent Court of Arbitration said and about UNCLOS?