Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Present occasions of nationwide and worldwide significance.
Mains Examination: Common Research III: Catastrophe and catastrophe administration
What’s the continuing story: When a fireplace at a authorities hospital killed 18 newborns in Jhansi final month, the headlines have been all too acquainted – a doable quick circuit, a healthcare system working past capability, and high-level probes to repair accountability.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• Info and Information’s given on Hearth Security in India by Ministry of Dwelling Affairs, Nationwide Crime Information Bureau (NCRB) and India Danger Surveys-Know the information
• Hearth Companies is a State topic or Concurrent Topic or Union Topic?
• What’s the key to fireside security?
• Nationwide Constructing Code (NBC) of India, 2016 and Hearth and Life Security-Know the provisions
• Ministry of City Growth, Mannequin Constructing by Legal guidelines 2016 and Hearth Security-Join the dot
• What Nationwide Catastrophe Administration Authority (NDMA) says on Hearth and Hearth Security?
• Supreme Courtroom of India’s Pointers on Hearth Security-Know in Element
• What have been the principle causes of hospital fires in India as highlighted within the article?
• Analyse the position of presidency companies in overseeing fireplace security compliance in healthcare establishments.
• What influence do hospital fires have on public belief in healthcare methods?
• Critically analyze the fireplace security norms for hospitals in India. Are they sufficient?
• Talk about the advice of creating fireplace NOCs obligatory for all healthcare establishments, no matter dimension.
• How can insurance policies be restructured to make sure accountability for fire-related fatalities in hospitals?
Key Takeaways:
• 11 outstanding incidents examined over 5 years resulted in 107 deaths. Most fires occurred through the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022), which overstretched the healthcare system. These incidents are solely a fraction of the 105 reported hospital fires between January 2020 and October 2024.
• Widespread Causes: A minimum of 8 out of 11 fires have been attributed to poor upkeep {of electrical} gear. Lack of fireplace security measures: Most hospitals lacked necessities like fireplace extinguishers, sprinklers, smoke alarms, and educated workers. Violations of constructing codes: Hospitals typically operated in unauthorized or improperly modified constructions, some regularized for a price.
• Extended judicial course of: Accused people, together with hospital homeowners and medical doctors, have been granted bail in virtually all instances. 7 out of 11 court docket instances stay pending. Many accused have resumed medical apply or administration roles. Minimal felony motion in authorities hospitals: As an example, in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district hospital, no felony instances have been filed.
• Neglect of security protocols: Examples embody outdated fireplace gear, inadequate exits, and overcrowding. Gujarat’s Patel Welfare Hospital submitted false information of fireplace security compliance. Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar Civil Hospital ignored suggestions for a firefighting system as a consequence of fund shortages. Fires brought on by outdated or overused units (e.g., ventilators and turbines) have been widespread.
• Regulatory lapses: Hospitals operated with expired or non-existent fireplace security certificates. Some amenities, like Delhi’s Child Care New Born Hospital, didn’t require a fireplace NOC beneath present legal guidelines. Unauthorized constructions have been typically regularized for a price, rising fireplace dangers. Gujarat’s Shrey Hospital and Patel Welfare Hospital have been cited for such practices. Authorities failed to watch compliance or act towards lapses, even after warnings or audits.
• Fires underscore the overburdened healthcare system and lack of preparedness throughout emergencies just like the pandemic. Many incidents occurred in government-run hospitals with insufficient infrastructure and oversight. Requires reforms, similar to requiring fireplace NOCs for all hospitals, stay unimplemented in locations like Delhi.
Do You Know:
• Hearth security in India is ruled by a complete framework of requirements and laws aimed toward stopping and mitigating fire-related incidents. The first pointers are encapsulated within the Nationwide Constructing Code (NBC) of India, complemented by numerous initiatives undertaken by the federal government to reinforce fireplace security throughout the nation.
• The NBC, printed by the Bureau of Indian Requirements (BIS), serves as a foundational doc offering pointers for the design, building, and upkeep of buildings to make sure security, together with fireplace security measures. Half IV of the NBC particularly addresses ‘Hearth and Life Security,’ outlining necessities similar to:
—Constructing Design and Supplies: Suggestions on the usage of fire-resistant supplies and building methods to stop the unfold of fireplace.
—Hearth Detection and Suppression Methods: Specs for putting in fireplace alarms, sprinkler methods, and different firefighting gear.
—Technique of Egress: Design standards for protected evacuation routes, together with the quantity and placement of exits, staircases, and signage.
• The most recent version, NBC 2016, incorporates trendy developments and classes discovered from previous incidents to reinforce fireplace security protocols.
• Recognizing the important significance of fireplace security, the Indian authorities has applied a number of measures:
—Mannequin Hearth Security Invoice 2019: Launched to ascertain a uniform authorized framework for fireplace security throughout states, this invoice emphasizes the upkeep and regulation of fireplace providers. Nevertheless, adoption has been inconsistent, with some states but to implement its provisions.
—Scheme for Enlargement and Modernization of Hearth Companies (2023-2026): Launched to strengthen state fireplace providers, this scheme focuses on upgrading infrastructure, procuring trendy gear, and enhancing coaching packages for firefighters.
—Hearth and Life Security Pointers (2020): Circulated by the Ministry of Well being, these pointers mandate third-party accreditation for fireplace security and the creation of Hearth Response Plans (FRP) in healthcare amenities to make sure preparedness towards fireplace hazards
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
In Our Opinion: Frequent fireplace tragedies communicate of felony abdications, disrespect for sanctity of human life
Assam Govt bans beef at eating places, gatherings
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Structure, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Coverage, Rights Points, and many others.
Essential Examination: Common Research II: Authorities insurance policies and interventions for improvement in numerous sectors and points arising out of their design and implementation.
What’s the continuing story: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma introduced a whole ban on the general public consumption of beef within the state — together with in eating places and group gatherings.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• What’s Assam Cattle Preservation (Modification) Act, 2021?
• Assam Cattle Preservation (Modification) Act, 2021-Know key provisions
• Talk about the implications of banning public beef consumption in Assam on non secular, cultural, and socio-political concord within the state.
• Analyse the socio-cultural influence of the Assam authorities’s beef ban on minority communities, referencing inhabitants demographics from the 2011 Census.
• Look at the position of political rhetoric and laws in shaping communal and electoral dynamics in Assam, with particular reference to the meat consumption debate.
• Consider the moral concerns concerned in balancing cultural sensitivities and particular person freedoms when legislating bans just like the prohibition of beef consumption.
• The consumption of beef and associated legal guidelines typically stir debates on private freedoms and spiritual sentiments. Critically look at how such legal guidelines stability particular person rights with group pursuits beneath the framework of the Indian Structure.
Key Takeaways:
• In keeping with the newest resolution, beef can’t be served in any accommodations, restaurant or group capabilities — whether or not non secular or in any other case. In keeping with the CM, provisions to this impact will probably be added to the prevailing Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 2021.
• The regulation in Assam at the moment bars the sale and buy of beef and beef merchandise in areas “predominantly inhabited by Hindu, Jain, Sikh and different non-beef consuming communities”, or “inside a radius of 5 km” of any temple or sattra (Vaishnavite monasteries).
• The Assam Cattle Preservation Act laws was initially meant to be relevant to all cattle (cows, bulls, bullocks, buffaloes). Earlier than it grew to become a regulation, buffaloes have been faraway from the definition. Whereas it prohibits slaughter of a cow beneath any circumstances, different cattle could be slaughtered topic to a “match for slaughter” certificates.
• In keeping with the 2011 Census, 34.22 p.c of Assam’s inhabitants are Muslim whereas 3.74 p.c are Christian.
Do You Know:
• Vaishnavism, significantly the Neo-Vaishnavism motion initiated by Srimanta Sankardeva within the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, has considerably influenced Assam’s cultural and spiritual panorama. This motion emphasised devotion to Lord Krishna and advocated for a society free from caste distinctions and sure ritualistic practices. The institution of sattras (Vaishnavite monasteries) grew to become central to this non secular and cultural renaissance.
• In modern instances, the affect of Vaishnavism is clear in legislative measures such because the Assam Cattle Preservation Act of 2021. This Act prohibits the slaughter and sale of beef in areas predominantly inhabited by non-beef-eating communities, together with Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, and inside a five-kilometer radius of temples or sattras. The inclusion of sattras on this laws underscores the enduring influence of Vaishnavism on societal norms and authorized frameworks in Assam.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
Defined: The political significance of Assam’s Sattras
Earlier 12 months UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
1.With regards to the well-known Sattriya dance, think about the next statements: (2014)
1. Sattriya is a mixture of music, dance and drama.
2. It’s a centuries-old residing custom of Vaishnavities of Assam.
3. It’s based mostly on classical Ragas and Talas of devotional songs composed by Tulsidas, Kabir and Mirabai.
Which of the statements given above is/are appropriate?
a) 1 solely
b) 1 and a pair of solely
c) 2 and three solely
d) 1, 2 and three
IN PARLIAMENT
Railways (Modification) Invoice a transfer to privatisation, says Opp
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Present occasions of nationwide and worldwide significance.
Essential Examination: Common Research III: Infrastructure: Power, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways and many others.
What’s the continuing story: Debating the Railways (Modification) Invoice 2024 within the Lok Sabha, Opposition members on Wednesday stated that the Invoice would have a detrimental influence on the autonomy of railways and that it will increase the potential for its privatisation.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• What’s the Railways (Modification) Invoice 2024?
• Analyse the potential implications of the Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024 on the autonomy and functioning of Indian Railways. Talk about whether or not these adjustments align with the targets of bettering effectivity and passenger facilities.
• The Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024 has sparked debates on potential privatization of the Indian Railways. Critically assess the professionals and cons of privatizing key sectors of public transportation like railways in a welfare-oriented state like India.
• The discontinuation of rail fare concessions for senior residents, journalists, and SC/ST/OBC college students has been criticized. Consider the social and financial influence of such selections, significantly within the context of inclusive improvement.
• Opposition members advised that an all-party session ought to have been carried out earlier than introducing the Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024. Talk about the significance of stakeholder session in drafting and passing vital legislative reforms.
• With rail accidents being a persistent concern, how can the federal government stability modernization, value discount, and security within the Indian Railways system? Present suggestions.
Key Takeaways:
• Transferring the Invoice, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Wednesday stated that the primary passenger rail service in India was began in 1853, and in 1890, the Railways Act was enacted. The Railway Board Act was handed in 1905. Now the federal government has determined to merge the Indian Railways Board Act, 1905 with the Railways Act, 1989 into the one unified regulation — the Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024.
• Congress MP Manoj Kumar stated that this Invoice, if handed, could have a detrimental influence on the autonomy of railways. This Invoice additionally will increase potential for privatisation, he stated.
• Collaborating within the day-long debate on the Invoice within the Lok Sabha, a number of opposition members, together with NK Premachandran of the RSP, demanded that the federal government resume providing rail fare concessions to senior residents.
Do You Know:
• The ‘Railways Act, 1989’ governs the functioning and administration of the Indian Railways, together with provisions for organising the Railways into zones for administrative comfort. The ‘Indian Railway Board Act, 1905’ established the Railway Board because the central authority to supervise Indian Railways. Underneath this Act, the central authorities might delegate its powers and capabilities regarding Railways to the Board.
• On August 9, 2024, the ‘Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024’ was launched within the Lok Sabha. This Invoice seeks to repeal the 1905 Act and combine its provisions associated to the Railway Board into the 1989 Act. In keeping with the Invoice’s Assertion of Objects and Causes, this transfer goals to streamline the authorized framework and remove the necessity to refer to 2 separate legal guidelines.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:The Railways (Modification) Invoice, 2024
Earlier 12 months UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
2.With regards to bio-toilets utilized by the Indian Railways, think about the next statements: (2015)
1. The decomposition of human waste within the bio bogs is initiated by a fungal inoculum.
2. Ammonia and water vapour are the one finish merchandise on this decomposition that are launched into the ambiance.
Which of the statements given above is/are appropriate?
(a) 1 solely
(b) 2 solely
(c) Each 1 and a pair of
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
EXPRESS NETWORK
Two male cheetahs launched again into the wild at Kuno
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Common points on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Local weather Change
Mains Examination: Common Research III: Conservation, environmental air pollution and degradation, environmental influence evaluation.
What’s the continuing story: Undertaking Cheetah, which noticed the introduction of the African sub-species of the wild cat in India, accomplished two years on September 17.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• Cheetah in India- Background
• Extinction of Cheetah from Indian Panorama-know the explanations
• Motion Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India-Vital Highlights
• What’s the Reintroduction of the cheetah in India plan?
• Map Work India-Kuno Palpur Nationwide Park (Madhya Pradesh)
• Talk about the importance of the Kuno Cheetah Reintroduction Undertaking in restoring India’s ecological heritage.
• Spotlight the challenges confronted in reintroducing a species to its pure habitat and measures taken to mitigate these challenges.
• Consider the position of worldwide collaborations and phased implementation within the success of wildlife reintroduction packages, utilizing the Kuno Cheetah Undertaking as a case research.
• Analyse the potential influence of co-predators like leopards on the reintroduction of cheetahs in Kuno Nationwide Park.
• Talk about how veterinary science, similar to prophylactic vaccinations, performs a important position in wildlife conservation tasks. Illustrate with examples from the Kuno Cheetah Reintroduction Undertaking.
• “Wildlife conservation can act as a catalyst for eco-tourism and native improvement.” Critically look at this assertion within the context of the Kuno Nationwide Park and the Cheetah Undertaking.
Key Takeaways:
• The bold venture has two overarching targets. First, to ascertain a secure, breeding inhabitants of cheetahs in central India. Two, to make use of cheetahs as an umbrella species to revive open pure ecosystems similar to scrubs, savannahs, grasslands, and degraded forests.
• A deficit within the prey base is without doubt one of the largest challenges going through the venture. The venture’s newest annual report has discovered that the density of chital, the first prey for cheetahs (and leopards), has declined from 23.43 animals per sq km in 2021 to 17.5 animals per sq km in 2024. The present inhabitants of chital in Kuno Nationwide Park is about 6,700.
• The leopard inhabitants would want about 23,600 prey animals and cheetahs about 3,120 prey animals, yearly. “With the present inhabitants of chital (6700), and different prey (about 100 ungulates), there’s a large deficit of prey in Kuno Nationwide Park,” Undertaking Cheetah’s annual report stated.
• The report has prescribed fast intervention by means of prey augmentation at Kuno in addition to Gandhi Sagar, the subsequent house for cheetah translocation. In keeping with Chellam, this displays poorly on the venture administration on condition that in 2022, Kuno was particularly chosen as a consequence of its prey density. “What has occurred to drastically change the bottom state of affairs in such a brief time frame?”, he requested.
• Experiences from the venture up to now have proven that the free-ranging cheetahs typically ventured far and huge, typically crossing state boundaries or coming into human habitats. An evaluation of their actions utilizing radio collars confirmed that Veera travelled a distance of 5.82 km every day, whereas Pawan travelled 4.75 km every day, on common. Veera typically ventured into territorial forests outdoors the nationwide park. These insights have introduced into highlight the interstate panorama conservation plans.
Do You Know:
• Cheetahs are among the many oldest of the large cat species, with its ancestors going again about 8.5 million years. It’s listed as “weak” by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Pink Checklist of Threatened Species. Two subspecies, the Asiatic cheetah and the Northwest African cheetah, are listed as “critically endangered”.
• Undertaking Cheetah started with the intercontinental translocation of African cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa to the Kuno Nationwide Park in Madhya Pradesh. This translocation occurred in two batches of eight after which 12 cheetahs.
• These cheetahs have been initially stored in soft-release bomas, small enclosures contained in the nationwide park to get them tailored to the native surroundings. Though confined to an space of roughly 1 sq km, the cheetahs hunted stay prey inside these bomas. Whereas some cheetahs have been later launched within the wild, they have been later introduced again into the enclosures. Mating throughout the translocated cohort of cheetahs led to the start of 17 cubs.
• Of the 20 translocated cheetahs, eight (40 per cent) have died as a consequence of quite a lot of causes, from assaults throughout mating to septicaemia brought on by tick infestation beneath the cheetahs’ radio collars. Of the 17 cubs, 5 (29 per cent) have additionally perished. As of at this time, 24 cheetahs (12 adults and cubs every) survive.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
The 360° UPSC Debate: Undertaking Cheetah — Is it problematic, or is it too early to evaluate?
Earlier 12 months UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
3.Take into account the next: (2012)
1. Black-necked crane
2. Cheetah
3. Flying squirrel
4. Snow leopard
Which of the above are naturally present in India?
(a) 1, 2 and three solely
(b) 1, 3 and 4 solely
(c) 2 and 4 solely
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Underneath layers of soil, 80 sandstone pillars and a slice of Patna’s Mauryan-era previous
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Historical past of India
Essential Examination: Common Research I: Indian tradition will cowl the salient points of Artwork Kinds, literature and Structure from historical to trendy instances.
What’s the continuing story: Over the previous couple of days, an oblong patch of open floor on the Mauryan archaeological website of Kumhrar, a little bit over 5 km from the Patna railway station, has come alive with engineers and employees drawing circles on the bottom with white powder.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• Map Work-Kumhrar Website
• Talk about the importance of the 80-pillar corridor at Kumhrar in understanding the architectural and cultural legacy of the Mauryan Empire.
• Critically look at the challenges confronted by the Archaeological Survey of India in conserving historical heritage websites like Kumhrar. Counsel measures to handle these challenges.
• The reopening of the Kumhrar website is predicted to spice up tourism within the area. Analyze the potential advantages and challenges of selling archaeological tourism in India.
• Look at the position of Pataliputra as a political and spiritual centre through the Mauryan Empire, with particular reference to the third Buddhist Council.
• Consider the position of recent expertise in preserving archaeological websites, citing the instance of Kumhrar and the measures taken by the ASI.
• Talk about the executive construction of the Mauryan Empire and its significance within the evolution of governance in historical India.
• Analyse the financial insurance policies of the Mauryan Empire with a concentrate on commerce, taxation, and infrastructure improvement.
• Clarify the contributions of the Mauryan Empire to Indian artwork and structure, with particular reference to the Ashokan pillars and stupas.
Key Takeaways:
• In 2004-2005, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had lined up the world with soil after the rising water desk submerged the pillar stumps. Now, 20 years later, the ASI has determined to uncover the pillars which can be a key a part of the proof linking Pataliputra, the seat of the Mauryan empire, to present-day Patna.
• Historians imagine that it was right here, on this open-air corridor, with its 80 pillars standing on a wood flooring and holding up a wood ceiling, that Emperor Ashoka, who dominated between 268 and 280 BCE, referred to as a decisive assembly of the third Buddhist Council to unify the faction-ridden Buddhist sangha.
• Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary, historian and former director of the Patna-based Okay P Jayaswal Analysis Institute that performed a key position in excavating the pillars within the Sixties, stated, “Although historians haven’t been conclusive concerning the actual time of building of the 80-pillar corridor, it certainly belongs to the Mauryan interval (321-185 BCE). King Ashoka is claimed to have referred to as the third Buddhist Council right here. Its reopening will certainly evoke curiosity world wide and additional set up and affirm the significance of Pataliputra because the seat of energy of the good Mauryan empire.”
Do You Know:
• Chandragupta Maurya’s personal achievements too, have been very vital. He was the architect of an empire that managed the plains of each the Indus and the Ganga, and which stretched till the japanese and western oceans. With Pataliputra at its imperial centre, the Mauryan Empire for the primary time unified most of South Asia.
• Chandragupta laid the foundations of an intensive and environment friendly system of centralised administration and tax-collection that fashioned the bases of his empire. Commerce and agriculture have been reformed and controlled with the constructing of infrastructure and standardisation of weights and measures, and provisions have been made for a big standing military.
• Chandragupta’s political mentor and chief adviser was Chanakya, also referred to as Kautilya and Vishnugupta, to whom is attributed the legendary Arthashastra, the pioneering Indian treatise on political science, statecraft, army technique, and economic system.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
Alexander and Chandragupta Maurya: A brief historical past of conflict, empire, and greatness
Observe UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
4. The third Buddhist Council, believed to have been held on the Kumhrar website, was convened by which ruler?
(a) Chandragupta Maurya
(b) Bindusara
(c) Ashoka
(d) Samudragupta
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
Don’t panic on inhabitants
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Financial and Social Growth-Sustainable Growth, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, and many others.
Essential Examination: Common Research I: inhabitants and related points
What’s the continuing story: Amitabh Kundu Writes: Demographic parameters have historically been thought of as secure — not like socioeconomic indicators, they alter solely in the long term. The narrative of the demographic dragon consuming up all the advantages of improvement as a consequence of uncontrolled fertility has, nonetheless, modified inside a decade into considerations that labour scarcity may decelerate financial progress.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• Talk about the socioeconomic implications of reaching below-replacement fertility charges in India. Spotlight the challenges and potential options for balancing inhabitants progress and financial improvement.
• Analyse the position of interstate migration in addressing regional labour shortages in India. What coverage measures are required to facilitate labour mobility and cut back administrative limitations?
• Look at the considerations of southern states relating to political illustration and fund allocation within the context of inhabitants weightage. Counsel alternate approaches to handle these considerations.
• Critically consider the challenges posed by an ageing inhabitants in India. Counsel coverage measures to enhance healthcare, social safety, and employment for the aged.
• The demographic transition presents alternatives for rising ladies’s workforce participation. Talk about the limitations and methods for enhancing ladies’s position within the labour market in India.
• Examine India’s demographic traits with these of developed economies like Japan and South Korea. What classes can India be taught by way of managing ageing populations and labour shortages?
• Talk about how urbanization traits can have an effect on labour mobility and financial alternatives in India. What position does infrastructure play in making certain equitable improvement?
• The article highlights the necessity for talent improvement amongst semi-employed and casual employees. Counsel methods to combine this workforce into trendy manufacturing and repair sectors.
Key Takeaways:
• Demographic parameters are historically secure, altering over the long run. The narrative round uncontrolled fertility has shifted to considerations about labour shortages doubtlessly decelerating financial progress. India’s inhabitants is projected to cross 1.6 billion by 2060, making elevated fertility politically contentious.
• RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s advocacy for 3 or extra youngsters per couple, drawing parallels with developed economies, is taken into account problematic for India. Rising fertility via political exhortations is unlikely to work, significantly in states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab, the place the TFR has fallen beneath 1.9.
• Labour shortages as a consequence of demographic transition could be addressed via interstate migration and focused talent improvement. Simplifying migration procedures and eradicating limitations to interstate labour mobility, significantly these imposed throughout COVID-19, is crucial. Improved working and residing situations for migrants can guarantee balanced labour availability throughout areas.
• Fertility disparities throughout communities are diminishing. The TFR for Muslims, whereas increased than different teams, has seen a fast decline. Instructional, social, and financial insurance policies may obtain parity in TFR amongst Muslims, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes with different communities inside 20 years.
• Southern states face challenges in political illustration and monetary devolution as a consequence of declining inhabitants shares. Various strategies specializing in administrative effectivity as an alternative of inhabitants ought to be proposed to make sure honest illustration.
• A pointy fertility decline and resultant labour shortages are unlikely within the close to future. TFR in Kerala has marginally elevated, and different states are stabilizing across the alternative stage. Some districts will stay above alternative TFR till 2036.Labour shortages could be addressed via short- and long-term labour mobility mechanisms.
• Girls’s work participation charges stay beneath these of most creating economies. Demographic transitions can open up alternatives for talent improvement and elevated workforce participation amongst ladies.
• A major section of India’s workforce is caught in low-productivity, casual actions. Financial progress in trendy manufacturing and tertiary actions can facilitate a shift to extra productive employment. The labour market stress can catalyse talent improvement amongst semi-employed and home-based employees.
Do You Know:
• Inhabitants points are beneath dialogue once more with reviews suggesting the potential for the Census being carried out subsequent yr. The delimitation train for Parliamentary seats is more likely to be carried out thereafter. The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, presumably involved concerning the possible discount in representatives from their states to Parliament, have gone to the extent of claiming that they might advise their individuals to have extra youngsters.
• Inhabitants performs an essential position in figuring out the movement of assets from the Centre to the states. The Finance Fee, arrange as soon as in 5 years, decides the extent of the movement of assets and in addition how they’re distributed amongst states. In deciding the allocation to states, inhabitants is one criterion.
• One other essential response could be to hunt accelerated financial progress within the states which have lagged behind. A number of efforts are at the moment been made on this respect — the aspirational district initiative, as an example.
• Allow us to briefly take a look at India’s inhabitants state of affairs. Its inhabitants is predicted to peak at about 170 crore round 2070 and decline thereafter. Inhabitants progress is usually measured by the overall fertility fee (TFR) which is the variety of youngsters a girl would have if she adopted the present fertility sample. India, as an entire, has reached a TFR of two, slightly below the alternative fertility fee of two.1 which implies that a mom would get replaced by a daughter. Practically two-thirds of the inhabitants resides in states which have alternative or decrease fertility fee, whereas a couple of third reside in states which have increased than replacement-level fertility.
• TFR varies significantly amongst Indian states — from a low of 1.5 to three.0 based on NFHS 5. There are two methods to scale back this divergence — improve TFR within the states the place it’s low and/or cut back TFR within the states the place it’s excessive. Any effort to lift the fertility fee of low TFR states is unwise. India, as a rustic, is overpopulated.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
Why scrutiny of decrease fertility charges isn’t the reply to the delimitation disaster
Observe UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
5. Which parameter is highlighted as inflicting drawback for southern states in fund allocation by the Finance Fee?
(a) Literacy charges
(b) Inhabitants weightage
(c) Industrial output
(d) Agricultural productiveness
EXPLAINED
Windfall features tax on oil put to relaxation: the transfer and its significance
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Financial and Social Growth
Essential Examination: Common Research III: Indian Economic system and points regarding planning, mobilization, of assets, progress, improvement and employment.
What’s the continuing story: The federal government on Monday (December 2) withdrew the windfall features tax on home manufacturing of crude oil and export of diesel, petrol, and aviation turbine gas (ATF), scrapping the levy that was launched 30 months in the past amid a surge within the costs of crude oil and key fuels within the worldwide market within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• What was the windfall features tax and why was it imposed?
• Talk about the rationale behind the introduction of the windfall features tax in India and analyse the explanations for its withdrawal?
• Look at the influence of world power crises, such because the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on India’s power insurance policies. How ought to India stability its power safety with the necessity for predictable taxation regimes?
• Analyse the contribution of windfall features tax to India’s fiscal income. Was it an efficient instrument for income technology, and what options could possibly be explored?
• Clarify how worldwide occasions, such because the surge in crude oil costs, affect home coverage selections. Present examples from the windfall features tax regime in India.
Key Takeaways:
• The nation’s oil trade was understood to have been towards the windfall tax regime even when it was launched. These towards the tax argued that it restricted profitability of publicly listed corporations, and created an surroundings that discouraged efforts to extend oil manufacturing in a rustic that is determined by imports to satisfy over 85 per cent of its oil wants. The frequent evaluation of the levies, it was argued, made the taxation unpredictable.
• The scrapping of the windfall features tax might not have any notable influence on the financials of home oil producers like Oil and Pure Gasoline Company (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL), and main gas exporters like Reliance Industries (RIL) and Nayara Power (NEL). It does, nonetheless, have worth as a sign of dependable and predictable taxation.
—It additionally indicators that the Indian authorities is now assured within the view {that a} hard-to-manage surge in oil and gas costs and provide shocks are unlikely going ahead.
Do You Know:
• “Windfall features tax” was a time period used to explain cesses beneath the ambit of central excise imposed on gas exports and home crude oil manufacturing, to tax super-normal income of gas exporters and oil producers.
• In case of home crude oil and ATF exports, the windfall features tax was within the type of Particular Further Excise Responsibility (SAED), whereas on diesel and petrol, it was a mixture of SAED and Further Excise Responsibility (AED), the latter also referred to as Street and Infrastructure Cess (RIC).
• The duties are reviewed each fortnight based mostly on the motion in margins on fuels within the worldwide market and world crude oil costs. Within the first revision itself, the levy on petrol was diminished to nil and was not hiked since.
• These levies have been first imposed on July 1, 2022, because of the surge in world oil and gas costs within the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As the value of crude oil produced in India is benchmarked to worldwide costs, home oil costs additionally went via the roof.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
Windfall tax on diesel, ATF gas exports slashed once more: How do present charges examine with preliminary ranges?
Akal Takht and the SAD
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Present occasions of nationwide and worldwide significance.
Essential Examination: Common Research I: Indian tradition will cowl the salient points of Artwork Kinds, literature and Structure from historical to trendy instances.
What’s the continuing story: President of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sukhbir Singh Badal was shot at on Wednesday on the entrance to the Golden Temple the place he was on guard responsibility.
Badal, who was on a wheelchair along with his fractured proper foot in a forged when the attacker approached him, was not damage.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• When and why was the Akal Takht established?
• How did the Akal Takht perform after the passing of the tenth and final Guru, Guru Gobind Singh?
• How is the Jathedar (head) of the Akal Takht appointed?
• How does the Akal Takht hand out non secular punishment?
• What’s the relationship between the Shiromani Akali Dal (which Sukhbir Singh Badal leads), and the SGPC (which appoints the Akal Takht Jathedar)?
• How has SAD management over the SGPC impacted its relationship with the Akal Takht Jathedar?
Key Takeaways:
• The previous Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab has been awarded non secular punishment by the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, for the alleged misrule of the SAD authorities from 2007 to 2017.
• Different members of the then Cupboard are additionally performing atonement on the order of the Akal Takht by cleansing loos and utensils, and many others.
• As the pinnacle of the very best seat of temporal energy of the Sikhs, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the supreme temporal and spiritual authority of the Sikhs, and the ultimate phrase on the affairs of the group.
• The Jathedar have to be baptised, possess deep information of Sikh historical past and scriptures, and ought to be free from ethical shortcomings.
• Any one who identifies as a Sikh could be summoned to the Akal Takht, tried, and sentenced. Dr Sarabjinder Singh, Dean, Guru Nanak Dev College and Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open College, stated that the Akal Takht’s justice applies solely to those that voluntarily undergo its authority.
Do You Know:
• The Akal Takht, which faces the Harmandir Sahib within the Golden Temple advanced, was established by the sixth Sikh grasp Guru Hargobind in 1606 following the execution of his father, Guru Arjan Dev, by the Mughals.
• In keeping with Sikh Research scholar Amarjit Singh of Guru Nanak Dev College, Amritsar, Guru Hargobind used this platform for governance, and is believed to have issued the primary directive (Hukamnama) from right here, urging Sikh congregations to contribute horses and weapons to the Panth.
• The Guru is claimed to have requested two swords, symbolising miri (temporal energy) and piri (spirituality). The sword representing miri was barely shorter, indicating the primacy of non secular authority over temporal energy.
• The Akal Takht was additionally a logo and illustration of the Sikh defiance of Mughal authority. Historian Joginder Singh, a former professor at Guru Nanak Dev College, who has written extensively on Sikh historical past, famous that the 12-foot-high platform of the Akal Takht symbolised a problem to the Mughal authorities in Agra (and later Delhi), the place Emperor Jahangir (1605-27), on whose order Guru
Arjan Dev was executed, sat on an 11-foot-high throne, and forbade anybody else from doing so.
• The Akal Takht grew to become the point of interest for Sikhs through the troublesome interval following the execution of Banda Singh Bahadur, the overall of the Khalsa military, in 1716, Prof Amarjit Singh stated.
• Because the Sikhs confronted huge persecution from the Mughal state, members of the group would collect on the Akal Takht on Baisakhi and Diwali for Sarbat Khalsa assemblies the place essential selections could be made.
• The custom of the Sarbat Khalsa continued, and one of many final assemblies was convened by Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1801-39), the founding father of the Sikh empire, in 1805 to deliberate on supporting the Maratha prince of Indore, Jaswant Rao Holkar, towards the British.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
The story of an hour, that includes Sukhbir Badal the guard at Golden Temple
Manufacturing cap, chemical substances ban: Why world plastic treaty talks collapsed
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Present occasions of nationwide and worldwide significance.
Essential Examination: Common Research II: Bilateral, regional and world groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s pursuits.
What’s the continuing story: The week-long world talks in Busan, South Korea, on curbing plastic air pollution ended Sunday in failure to undertake a remaining legally binding treaty as nations couldn’t attain an settlement on methods to regulate plastic manufacturing.
Key Factors to Ponder:
• Why did the talks fail?
• What does the treaty’s draft textual content say?
• What was India’s stance?
Key Takeaways:
• The principle dispute was relating to the demand for manufacturing cap objectives within the remaining treaty together with clear language on the elimination of sure plastic chemical substances and merchandise. This demand was primarily pushed by a coalition of greater than 100 nations which incorporates African nations, Latin American nations and many of the European Union.
• Nevertheless, a coalition of “like-minded nations” together with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, and Iran opposed the inclusion of provisions on plastic manufacturing cuts, arguing they have been past the mandate of the 2022 decision to finish plastic air pollution.
• The draft textual content mirrored each factors of consensus and competition. Factors of consensus included proposing a ban on open dumping and open burning for sustainable waste administration. The draft textual content additionally supplied clear definitions of plastic and plastic merchandise, but it surely didn’t mirror definitions of contentious points similar to microplastics, nano plastics, main plastic polymers, and recycling.
• Regardless of a pushback from the Arab group of nations led by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the draft textual content included choices to incorporate a aim to scale back plastic after the treaty is finalised. References to single-use plastics and short-lived plastics have been additionally included.
Do You Know:
• India’s stance and interventions centred on points such because the various duties of nations in addressing plastic air pollution, protecting in focus the suitable to improvement of nations and the necessity for the supply of technical and monetary help to handle plastic waste. It additionally burdened that the scope of the treaty ought to be well-defined to not overlap with present multilateral environmental agreements.
• India outlined its stance within the opening plenary. Its delegation stated any legally binding treaty should recognise the necessity for assist to creating nations via finance and expertise switch. On the outset it made clear it didn’t assist any articles on “provide”, referring to the discussions surrounding curbing manufacturing. India stated the sustainable stage of manufacturing at a world or nationwide stage was not well-defined and should grow to be a way for imposing a cap on the manufacturing of merchandise, chemical substances, or main polymers.
Different Vital Articles Masking the identical matter:
Why the world wants a world plastic treaty
Earlier 12 months UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
6. In India, ‘lengthen producer accountability’ was launched as an essential characteristic through which of the next? (2019)
(a) The Bio-medical Waste (Administration and Dealing with) Guidelines, 1998
(b) The Recycled Plastic (Manufacturing and Utilization) Guidelines, 1999
(c) The e-Waste (Administration and Dealing with) Guidelines, 2011
(d) The Meals Security and Customary Laws, 2011
ECONOMY
Will Reserve Financial institution go for a CRR reduce?
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Financial and Social Growth
Essential Examination: Common Research III: Indian Economic system and points regarding planning, mobilization, of assets, progress, improvement and employment.
What’s the continuing story: The Reserve Financial institution of India’s three-day financial coverage evaluation began on Wednesday (December 4). Though there appears to be a broad consensus that the repo fee — the speed at which RBI lends to different banks — is more likely to stay unchanged at 6.5 per cent, there’s an expectation that the central financial institution might announce a reduce within the money reserve ratio (CRR).
Key Factors to Ponder:
• What’s Money Reserve Ratio?
• Will RBI announce a reduce in CRR on December 6?
• What would be the influence of a CRR reduce?
• When did the RBI final cut back the CRR?
Key Takeaways:
• The CRR is the proportion of a financial institution’s whole deposits that it’s required to keep up in liquid money with the RBI as a reserve. The CRR share is decided by the RBI sometimes. At current, it’s mounted at 4.5 per cent. Banks don’t get any curiosity on this quantity.
• Whereas the RBI’s Financial Coverage Committee (MPC) decides on the repo fee and coverage stance, the accountability of liquidity measures lies solely with the RBI.
• The RBI might cut back the CRR both by 25 foundation factors (bps) or 50 bps, analysts stated. One foundation level is one-hundredth of a share level. This is able to be the primary reduce within the CRR in additional than 4.5 years.
• The RBI has been promoting {dollars} within the foreign exchange market to test the rupee volatility brought on as a consequence of continued International Portfolio Buyers (FPI) promoting and strengthening of the US greenback.
• Since October 1, the rupee has depreciated almost 1 per cent towards the greenback. The nation’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen by almost $45 billion between October 4 and November 22, on account of RBI’s intervention within the foreign exchange market to stabilise the rupee.
Do You Know:
• If RBI decides to chop the CRR by 50 bps, it might release Rs 1.10 lakh crore to Rs 1.2 lakh crore of financial institution liquidity parked with the RBI. In case of a 25 bps discount, Rs 55 crore to Rs 60 crore of further funds will probably be accessible with banks.
• The excess liquidity can be utilized by banks for lending, which might assist spur financial progress.
• The Reserve Financial institution had final reduce the CRR in March 2020 throughout Covid. It diminished the CRR from 4 per on March 28, 2020, after protecting it unchanged at 3 per cent for the earlier seven years. Since March 2020, the CRR has been raised thrice. It was final modified to 4.5 per cent on Could 21, 2022.
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On a regular basis Economics: What’s the RBI’s MPC, and what does it do?
Earlier Yea UPSC Prelims Query Masking related theme:
7. Which of the next statements is/are appropriate relating to the Financial Coverage Committee (MPC)? (2017)
1. It decides the RBI’s benchmark rates of interest.
2. It’s a 12-member physique together with the Governor of RBI and is reconstituted yearly.
3. It capabilities beneath the chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister.
Choose the right reply utilizing the code given beneath:
(a) 1 solely
(b) 1 and a pair of solely
(c) 3 solely
(d) 2 and three solely
|
PRELIMS ANSWER KEY |
| 1. (b) 2. (d) 3. (b) 4. (C) 5. (b) 6. (C) 7.(a) |
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