CAATSA, a sticking point

Mains Paper: 2 | International Relations 
Prelims level: CAATSA
Mains level: How CAATSA is important for U.S. India relations? 

Introduction 

• The much-delayed inaugural ‘2+2’ dialogue between India and the U.S. held on September 6. 
• These range from the likely signing of the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement, which is meant to provide a legal framework for the transfer of communication security equipment from the U.S. to India.
• The possible announcement of several high-end defence deals worth billions of dollars. 
• And yet, some statements from Washington over the last week have come as a reality check. 
• They open the possibility of the 2+2 dialogue becoming just another high-optics engagement, one that fails to address the structural issues that could adversely affect the deepening strategic partnership between India and the U.S.

Importance of CAATSA

• The potential is to derail the relationship from Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). 
• India had made it clear that it would go ahead with the S-400 Triumf missile system deal with Russia even as U.S. sanctions loom large.
• U.S. officials expressed concern over the S-400 sale, they had assured India that a way would be found by the Trump administration to shield friends and allies from sanctions. 
• The U.S.’s change in tone and expectations directly impinge on India’s core national interests and interfere in its policymaking.
• Then there are practical considerations, the Indian military is heavily reliant on Russian equipment in many areas. 
• Given the specific requirements of the military, the services will continue to choose Russian equipment, although they are also now diversifying their inventory.
• For India’s choice
• U.S. officials and experts have suggested that India should procure alternatives from the U.S. Speaking at the NATO summit in July.
• India has its own due diligence to follow regarding what suits it best and what it needs the most. 
• The best product may not always be what is needed. 
• The product that gives the best value for money and performs well under Indian conditions is what is procured. 
• While the U.S. may expect India to do more for the support rendered by it at various levels, India’s defence cooperation doesn’t fall in that ambit.

Way forward 

• The India-U.S. relationship has moved past the stage of the usual rhetoric of extolling “large democracies”. 
• India is a rising power looking for a greater say on the global stage, the U.S. should be sensitive to its core interests.
• The U.S.  is to find a way out on CAATSA if it is really serious about taking forward the strategic partnership.
• It is an opportunity for India and the U.S. to address the issue now and prevent it from escalating further.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) Which of the following is true about "CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act)", recently in news ?
1.    The act is passed by USA for countries having significant defence relations with North Korea.
2.    It would be tough for India to carry on defence deals with USA if the act is not diluted on case to case basis.
3.    Both 1 and 2
4.    Neither 1 nor 2                     
Answer: Option 2 

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) How CAATSA is important for U.S. India relations?

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Steps to stop the rot: on dangers of storing foodgrains in the open  

Mains Paper: 3 | Agriculture 
Prelims level: Mouldy grain
Mains level: Explain the important of storing food grains with proper mechanism. 

Introduction

•    In India, the height of the rainy season is a time that one prays will pass because of flooded roads, wet clothes, masses of insects and mould.
•    No place is safe from the growth of fungi that spring up overnight. 
•    With the humidity in the air and the warmth of summer, all that fungi need is something to feed on.
•    To prevent fungal attack. 
•    We need to store food items at home in airtight containers with well-fitting lids or in sealed plastic bags.

comparison between and other countries 

•    In other parts of the world, grain is stored in silos. 
•    The stored grain is kept dry and aired so as to prevent fungal and insect attacks. 
•    Today, the U.S. has a permanent storage capacity nearly equivalent to its annual grain production. 
•    But in India, the government has considered only four silos to be sufficient for the nation’s needs.
•    In Uttar Pradesh, is the most modern with a storage capacity of 500 tonnes.

Invitation to illness

•    According to WHO report eating mouldy grain causes a variety of illnesses. 
•    The paper says: Aflatoxicosis causes abdominal pain, vomiting, hepatitis and (sometimes) death after acute exposure to high concentrations in food. 
•    Chronic low dose exposure to aflatoxin can result in impaired growth in children.
•    For these reason traditional wisdom ensured that mouldy food was discarded. 
•    Today, our grain, especially wheat and paddy, is stored outdoors under tarpaulins through the rainy season. 
•    After this, grain is converted to flour or flour-based products or de-husked, which we store in airtight containers and bins to prevent mould. 
•    However, this is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. 
•    The mycotoxins which we seek to prevent by keeping food dry are already present from the time the flour was stored in the form of grain.

Steps need to be taken by governments 

•    The government is aware of the deadly consequences of grain with mycotoxins.
•    Although there are regulations in place to prevent the purchase of mouldy grain from farmers. 
•    There do not seem to be any published studies on the extent of mould infection in grain stored using the CAP method.
•    However, one does not need these studies. 
•    All one has to do is purchase flour from the market, make rotis, bread or biscuits and compare the taste with similar products from developed countries.
•    The “nutty taste” of wheat is missing in what is available in the Indian market.
•    If you get wheat from farmers and get it ground, you will find the “nutty taste”.

Way forward

•    When there is an abundance of steel, cement and other building materials, money and the technological know-how? 
•    Why is the government not moving on a war footing to store food grains in the proper manner?
•    How is it acceptable that our foodgrains, which the public pays to procure, are stored in the open under tarpaulins?
•    How can we gloat about a growing economy when 30 million tonnes of foodgrain is stored outside under tarpaulins? 
•    Why is there no effort being made to ensure that grain being procured annually is stored properly? 
•    Are our planners unaware of what is going on even in their own kitchens?

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) Consider the following statement about mouldy Grain. 
1.    Eating mouldy grain causes a variety of illnesses
2.    According to a World Health Organisation paper, mycotoxins, which are found in mouldy grain/foods, are associated with human disease and produce aflatoxins (cancer-causing), trichothecenes, ochratoxins, citrinin and other toxins
3.    Aflatoxicosis causes abdominal pain, vomiting, hepatitis and (sometimes) death after acute exposure to high concentrations in food
4.    Chronic low dose exposure to aflatoxin can result in impaired growth in children
Choose the correct statement(s) from the above 
A.    1 only 
B.    2 and 4 only 
C.    2 and 3 only 
D.    All of the above 

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) Explain the important of storing food grains with proper mechanism. 

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Addressing soil loss 

Mains Paper: 3 | Environment 
Prelims level: Weathered soil
Mains level: Explain the impact of soil loss on environment. 

Context

•  Rains abate in Kerala and parts of Kodagu district in Karnataka, the loss of lives and the devastation of infrastructure and crops is apparent.
•  However, as rebuilding is planned, what is often ignored is the soil that has been washed away. 
•  While roads and houses will be rebuilt, and crop losses compensated partially through insurance, the gradual loss of soil productivity can have a lasting impact on the local economy.

Impacts of soil degradation 

•  Soil degradation due to flooding is a serious concern.
•  A 2014 review of soil degradation in India by multiple institutions shows that an estimated 14 million hectares suffer soil degradation due to flooding annually.
•  Researchers from the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP) and other institutes estimate that 13 flood hit districts lost 287 million tonnes of top soil and soil nutrients across 10.75 million hectares of farmland. 
•  The replacement of nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates and iron would have cost ₹1,625 crore, while another ₹853 crore would have been spent on replenishing organic material lost.

Wayout 

•   To recover and replace would take a “considerable” amount of time, and a steadfast programme of recovery. 
•  There is no comprehensive scheme for recovery, and the effect of the floods is still visible on the ground. 
•  A soil profile of a few affected districts, done under the State’s integrated watershed scheme. 
•  It shows large swathes of these areas having “shallow or very shallow” soil depth, organic carbon deficiency, and low productivity of land.

Conclusion 

•  Not all floods are bad for the soil, as seen in the oft occurring floods along the banks of the Ganga, Kosi, Brahmaputra and other rivers taking birth in the Himalayas.
•  There, the gushing river emanating from the mountains carries with it loosened alluvial soil, and not only washes over farmlands, but also replenishes flood plains with fertile soil. 
•  However, in south and central India, floods wash away rich, weathered soil, which are deposited in reservoirs or as sand bars along the river bed or in the sea.
•  Any rehabilitation programme must consider this lost soil.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) Deforestation may reduce the chances of:
A.    Rain fall 
B.    Frequent cyclones 
C.    Erosion of surface soil 
D.    Frequent landslides
Answer: Option A                  

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) Explain the impact of soil loss on environment.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Mission Vidya: teachers as missionaries

Mains Paper: 2|Education
Prelims level: Mission Vidya
Mains level: Need to train the teachers to improve the education system of India.

Introduction

• Research shows that lower primary levels, especially Class IV and below, are critical in laying a foundation for learning and ensuring a liking for school.
• The recently concluded ‘Mission Vidya’ in Gujarat once again draws attention to the intractable problem of low learning levels among government school children.
• The month long remedial teaching programme targeted more than 200,000 Class VI VIII children with poor achievements in reading, writing and mathematics.

Concerns for governments.

• The government is evaluating the programme and one hopes, at least for the children’s sake, that the results are positive.
• First, why does the need for such a heroic measure arise when we have well established schools? The most popular answer is student absenteeism.
• The children belong to socio economically disadvantaged groups and are under many compulsions that make them miss school regularly.
• A mission can address the resulting learning deficit.
• But surely short missions cannot overcome the alienation from school that underpins such irregularity.
• Schools should understand how their own practices and environment contribute to this alienation, which unfortunately begins much earlier in the student life cycle.

So, is the Class VI VIII stage too late?

• Research has shown that lower primary levels, especially Class IV and below, are critical in laying a foundation for learning and ensuring a liking for school.
• It is by this stage that children should be transitioning from “learning to read and write” to “reading and writing to learn”—but our biggest failure is here.
• So, while attending to struggling Class VI VIII children is morally defensible, the focus should be on the earlier stages.

Changing the current approach of teaching?

• Research has shown that remedial teaching needs a lot of customization.
• It is, to use an unfortunate analogy, giving the right medicine for the correctly identified disease.
• For this, a strong IT based plan is needed. Our experience in dealing online with thousands of teachers shows that this can be done with a little effort.
• It is possible to build a system that provides diagnostic data, advises on the strategies to overcome the learning problems identified, and supports regular assessment.
• This is equally important, the field level control of mentoring and monitoring such programmes.
• It has to pass to those teachers who have performed in the system, and not to high level bureaucrats.
• The first line of support for the teachers of the lower primary stage in a block or district has to comprise teachers who are respected in that area for their performance.
• There are cluster resource centre coordinators who cover a cluster of schools, but they are identified with the regular administrative hierarchy.

Way forward

• Governments must believe that there are good and motivated teachers, perhaps a minority, in their own ranks.
• They must be ready to empower such teachers and trust them to deliver.
• Flattening hierarchies and decentralizing authority will be resisted, but today we have no option. Is it difficult to find such teachers?
• The spearhead teams should have about 25 to 30 members in a district or a set of blocks.
• Finding this small number should not be a problem.
• Our work with innovative teachers shows that today it is easier to organize such a team since we have a better sense of who the performers are.
• These teams must be allowed to mentor and monitor the teachers of whom they are in charge with the help of the diagnostic and assessment data, and to develop locally contextualized teaching and assessment strategies.
• The government schools are increasingly catering to the socio economically marginalized sections of our society and that improving learning levels is a matter of social justice and inclusion,
• The better it will be for our society.

UPSC Prelims Questions:

Q.1).The policy recommended by the Kothari Commission vis à vis language is
(A) Three language formula
(B) Two language formula
(C) Hindi
(D) Mother Tongue

Answer: A

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) Why it is important to improve the RTE policy taken by government a decade ago?
 

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Routes to Afghanistan: on 2+2 talks 

Mains Paper: 2 | International Relations 
Prelims level: 2+2 talks
Mains level: The 2+2 talks must take into account U.S. policy as well as India’s own role in the region 

Introduction 

• U.S. President Donald Trump announced his “South Asia policy” for Afghanistan, senior American officials will be in the region for talks this week. 
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis visit Delhi for the first 2+2 talks on Thursday with their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. 
• Mr. Mattis is expected to come via Kabul, while Mr. Pompeo and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, will swing by Islamabad.

From the perspective of Afghanistan 

• Afghanistan today is by no means how Mr. Trump had envisioned it in terms of the security situation, regional solutions for the peace process as well as economic development. 
• The past few weeks have seen a spike in violence, with the Taliban carrying out a set of coordinated assaults around Afghanistan, rejecting an offer of a three-month ceasefire by President Ashraf Ghani and laying siege to Ghazni city. 
• Before U.S. Special Forces and the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces were able to clear them out, the Taliban had shown up the fragile hold Kabul has on this provincial capital less than 150 km away. 
• The fight against the Taliban took massive U.S. air fire power as well to finally secure Ghazni, with the once bustling city now war-torn. 
• While the Taliban suffered heavy casualties, so did the Afghan Army.
• The impact of the Taliban assault in Ghazni and other cities in August, including the deadly bombing of a Kabul school, was three-fold. 
• The violence this year has also put 2018 on course to be the deadliest year for Afghan civilians, with an average of nine people killed every day, according to UN data.
• Kabul’s security structure has seen a dramatic series of sackings and resignations in the aftermath. 
• National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar has been replaced by Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the U.S., Hamdullah Mohib. 
• The developments, along with the faltering peace process, will make the task of holding parliamentary elections due in October, as well as presidential elections in April 2019, much more challenging.

From the perspective of Iran 

• The Trump administration’s collision course with Iran is another hurdle to realising its South Asia policy. 
• Iran is a neighbour to both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and any action against Tehran will have consequences on the region. 
• The new American push to sanction and isolate Iran by November will undoubtedly shift the focus from the task of resolving the situation in Afghanistan.
• This mirrors earlier U.S. offensive actions — in Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011, Syria in 2014 — each of which took its eye off the ball in Afghanistan. 
• Iran is also an alternative route for landlocked Afghanistan’s trade routes to the sea, which ties in with India’s desire to circumvent Pakistan by developing the Chabahar port. 
• It may have benefited from access to the alternative supply lines to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
• Insisting instead on India cutting off ties with Iran, as successive U.S. delegations have done in the past few months, will only jeopardise this route, and affect Iran’s desire to assist with the access.

From the perspective of  India

• India must focus on assisting Afghanistan in every manner possible to ensure that the country’s elections are as peaceful and participative as possible. 
• India’s development assistance has been the source of its considerable influence and goodwill among Afghan citizens, and this is not the time to make cuts. 
• The outlay for 2017-18 at ₹365.96 crore was far lower than its commitment in 2015-2016 at ₹880.44 crore, according to figures tabled in Parliament. 
• The major projects, such as the Salma Dam and Parliament building in Kabul, that began in 2008-09, have now been completed. 
• But this begs the question, why are more ambitious projects not being planned?

Look at the double-quick

• India must move quickly to provide helicopters as well as engineering/tech support for Afghan hardware. 
• India’s plans at Chabahar are equally important to its efforts at keeping its lines to Afghanistan independent of other considerations. 
• Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to Kabul next week for a trilateral India-Afghanistan-Iran meeting will be important to take them forward.

Way forward 

• The government must realise that its consistent undermining of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) because of problems with Pakistan.
• It  is also weakening Afghanistan’s engagement with the subcontinent, which India had worked hard to foster. 
• The conversations at the 2+2 meet on Thursday must take into account not just India’s role in Mr. Trump’s South Asia policy but its own role in its neighbourhood.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) 1. Consider the following statements 
1.    It is a diplomatic arrangement between India and U.S.
2.    It is going to be held in July in which Indian External Affairs and Defence Ministry will held meeting with their U.S counterparts.
3.    It is expected to further cement the India-U.S. engagements.
4.    It key focus areas will be concluding COMCASA and BECA pacts.
Choose the correct statement(s) from the above 
A.    1 only 
B.    2 and 4only 
C.    2 and 3 only 
D.    All of the above 

Answer: D 

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) Importance of 2+2 talks from the context of Afghanistan. 

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

Still too many children out of school 

Mains Paper: 2 | Education 
Prelims level: National Sample Survey (NSS)

Beyond uniformity: on ruling out a uniform civil code 

Mains Paper: 2 | Judiciary 
Prelims level: uniform civil code 

What the RBI data on demonetization tells us

Mains Paper: 3 | Economic Development 
Prelims level: Demonetisation 

Green shoots of revival: on BIMSTEC summit

Mains Paper: 2 | International Relations 
Prelims level: BIMSTEC 

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 3 September 2018 (Retail therapy: on India-U.S. 2+2 dialogue  )

Mains Paper: 2 | International Relations 
Prelims level: 2+2 dialogue

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 3 September 2018 (Open the black box )

Mains Paper: 2 | Education
Prelims level: Institutions of Eminence

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 3 September 2018 (Risks remain: on GDP growth )

Mains Paper: 3 | Economic Development 
Prelims level: GDP growth

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 3 September 2018 (For a shift in gear: On Managing Natural Disasters)

Mains Paper: 3 | Environmental hazards and climate change