Context: Recently, Union Education Minister while addressing the valedictory session of Kala Utsav 2020 stated that Kala Utsav has realized the vision of Prime Minister of India by giving the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ the right direction and shape.
About About Kala Utsav 2020:

• Kala Utsav 2020 was launched online on 10 January 2021 through a digital platform. A total of 35 teams have participated in Kala Utsav 2020, from different states, union territories, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti schools where 576 students demonstrated their talent. 
• Out of these participants, 287 girls and 289 boys participated in Kala Utsav 2020 including four divyang participants. The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education and National Council of Educational Research and Training have done commendable work.
• Due to their tireless hard work, Kala Utsav 2020 has been successful, even in the circumstances of COVID-19.
• In the competitions of Kala Utsav 2020 organised from 11 to 22 January 2021, a total of nine art forms, namely— 1. Classical singing 2. Traditional folk song 3. Classical instruments 4. Traditional/folk instruments 5. Classical dance 6. Folk dance 7. Visual Arts (Two-dimensional) 8.Visual Arts (Three-dimensional) 9. Local games-toys are included. Earlier there were only four art forms in Kala Utsav, now another five art forms have been added in it.

Ministry Involved: Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Ministry of Education (MoE) to promote arts in education.

• This programme was initiated under Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), which has now been merged with other schemes under ‘Samagra Shiksha – an integrated scheme for school education’.
• Aim: Kala Utsav aims at nurturing and showcasing the artistic talent of school students at the secondary stage in the country.
• District/State/National Level Utsav is structured as an art festival which includes performances and display of exhibits.

In Accordance with NCF 2005

• In the context of education of Arts (Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts and Crafts), the initiative is guided by the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework 2005 (NCF-2005).

Importance

• Introduction of Indigenous Toys and Games segment in Kala Utsav 2020 supported the ‘Vocal for Local’ initiative.
• It is in sync with the recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 which emphasises the promotion of arts and culture through education.
• It complements the Samagra Shiksha Scheme by enhancing aesthetics and artistic experiences for secondary-level students, which play a major role in creating awareness of India’s rich cultural heritage and its vibrant diversity in line with ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'.
• It enhances the students' reasoning, comprehensibility, problem solving, cognitive and decisive abilities, which are helpful in the all-round development of the student.

Context: China still remains the largest source of critical imports for India, from mobile phone components to pharmaceutical ingredients.  

• India is working on a multipronged strategy to reduce this reliance, which is a bigger concern than the imbalance in trade. 

Trade dependency

• At present, India exports plenty of raw materials and intermediate products from China.
• India also imports finished products and key intermediates like active pharmaceutical ingredients are also from China. If China were to stop the APIs for penicillin, we would not be able to produce it in this country.
• In terms of capital goods, Indian manufacturing sector is very much dependent on supplies from China, machineries being the prime among them. Electrical machinery, semiconductor driven machinery etc. are examples.
• Fertilizers, which is crucial for our economy and food security comes from China.
• Plenty of limited value consumer goods, have flooded the Indian market to a large extent. 
• If India and China’s trade stops, China would only have 3% of its and not even 1% of its imports at stake. But India on the other hand will lose 5% of exports and 14% of imports.

What should be done? 

• India needs to come up with a multipronged strategy to reduce this dependence, ranging from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to boost domestic manufacturing. 
• India’s foreign missions should also focus to find alternatives to China, and make use of free trade agreements (FTAs) with other trading partners.
• COVID 19 has accelerated this process. India shared with its foreign missions lists of items critically dependent on China, following which the missions linked up with suppliers in their countries.
• China still remained the biggest source of India’s imports, but imports last year fell 10.8%, the lowest since 016. Two-way trade in 2020 reached $87.6 billion, down by 5.6%, while the trade deficit declined to a five year low of $45.8 billion.
• Although India had made improvements in Ease of Doing Business, offering attractive terms to foreign investors, it attracted little investments. 
• We should now analyse the pattern of FDI inflows into China and India and make improvements accordingly. 
• The policies should look at every dimension to address the varied factors that go into making attracting investments work. 

Context: Inequalities in access to bare necessities like drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and housing conditions continue to exist between urban and rural India despite “widespread” improvements in each of these aspects, the Economic Survey for 2020-21 has shown, using a newly constructed “Bare Necessities Index” (BNI). 

Reason behind its Use

• The index attempts to carry forward the ‘Thalinomics’ exercise in the last Economic Survey, which calculated the average Indian’s access to a plate of food. The survey also correlated the BNI to child mortality and school enrolment data to show the link to health and education outcomes.
• Access to household toilets, piped water, and a reduction in air pollution due to the use of clean cooking fuel have an outsize impact on child health. Studies also showed that girls were more likely to go to school if they had access to toilets, and do not need to spend time hauling water for their families every day.

Bare Necessities Index(BNI): This index is a means of assessing equity in economic development among states and regions in India. It uses the basic needs approach.

• Indicators: This index uses 26 indicators on five dimensions of basic necessities— water, sanitation, housing, micro-environment, and other facilities.
• Data Collection: The index has been created for all states based on data collected by the National Statistical Office(NSO) in 2012 and 2018.
• Range: The index classifies areas on three levels of access — high, medium, low — to bare necessities. The index has a range of 0 to 1 where 1 represents the best access to the basic necessities.

Key Findings

Richer vs Poorer States: The Poorer States have reduced the gap with rich States in providing access to the basics of daily life — housing, water, power, sanitation, cooking gas.

• Inter-State disparity in access to the basic necessities has declined in 2018, when compared to 2012.
• In 2012, only Delhi and Goa had a BNI score of over 0.7 for both urban and rural households. In 2018, nine states and Union Territories — Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Sikkim, and Mizoram — logged a score of more than 0.7.

Performance of States: States such as Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat top the index.  While eastern Indian States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tripura have occupied the lowest positions.

• States which showed significant improvement include Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

Richer vs Poorer Households: The access to basic necessities has improved significantly for the poorest households when compared to the richest households.

• The gap between Rural and Urban India: There is still a gap between urban and rural India as well as among income groups in access to basic necessities.

Suggestions

• There should be effective targeting of the government schemes for the poorer population in both urban or rural areas.
• As civic amenities in urban areas are also provided by local self government, there must be effective convergence in scheme implementation at the Centre-state and local levels, the Survey said.

“For this purpose, a BNI based on large annual household survey data can be constructed using suitable indicators and methodology at district level for all/targeted districts to assess the progress on access to bare necessities

Road Ahead

• “Bare Necessities Index” (BNI) is a good way to ensure equal access to bare necessities across sectors across states and across the country. As far as what to expect from the budget is concerned it looks like the allocation will be increased in the social sector schemes say like healthcare seems like it will get its due finally but we need to have a special focus or special attention on public health multiplicity of schemes has to be addressed at some point of time because there are over 250 schemes which are very-2 similar so this needs to be integrated, we need to see better synergy between the Centre and States and also the schemes need to be futuristic keeping in mind that the idea of bare necessities has changed over the years and will change for the next generation as well.

Context: A Single Security Market Code, consolidating the provisions of SEBI Act, 1992, Depositories Act, 1996, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and Government Securities Act, 2007 is being set up by the Government.

• Government has announced the setting up of a Single Security Market Code.
• Coverage: It will consolidate the provisions of SEBI Act,1992, Depositories Act, 1996, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act,1956, and Government Securities Act,2007.

Impact: This move will improve the ease of doing business in the country’s financial markets. Moreover, it will cut down compliances cost and do away with friction between various stakeholders.
Benefits of this Unified Code

• Improve ease of doing business in the country’s financial markets.
• Cut down compliances.
• Reduce cost and do away with friction between various stakeholders.

Other recommendations to be incorporated in the Unified Code

• A Permanent Institutional Framework will be set up

Purposes

• For instilling confidence among participants in the corporate bond market during times of stress
• To generally enhance secondary market liquidity

Functions

• Purchase investment-grade debt securities both in stressed and normal times
• help in the development of the bond market.

Challenges

• Modus Operandi is yet not revealed

Benefits

• It will deepen the bond market.
• It will help build positive sentiments for debt mutual funds particularly credit funds 
• These securities saw an excess outflow last year because of poor liquidity in few corporate papers.
• It will reduce the volatility in secondary market yields of relatively lower-rated bonds in the AA and A category.

A system of regulated Gold Exchanges

• For setting up a commodity market ecosystem with arrangements including vaulting, assaying and logistics in addition to warehousing:
• SEBI will be notified as the regulator and the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority will be strengthened.
• Investor Charter: It will define the Investor’s rights for all financial products and provide them with protection.
• Introduction of certain dispute resolution mechanisms 
• Reduction of the limitation period to 3 years should help in bringing certainty to taxpayers.

About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• Established in 1992
• Set up as per provisions of the SEBI Act, 1992 (Statutory Regulatory Body).

Functions

• To regulate the Indian capital markets.
• monitors and regulates the securities market 
• protects the interests of the investors by enforcing certain rules and regulations

Capital Market

• A capital market is an organized market in which both individuals and business entities buy and sell debt and equity securities. 
• Examples of highly organized capital markets are the National Stock Exchange (NSE), American Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange.
• Capital markets help channelise surplus funds from savers to institutions which then invest them into productive use. 
• Generally, this market trades mostly in long-term securities.

The capital market consists of 

• Primary market: deals with trade of new issues of stocks and other securities
• Secondary market: deals with the exchange of existing or previously-issued securities.
• Another important division in the capital market is made on the basis of the nature of security traded, i.e. stock market and bond market.

Context: The Government has proposed a scheme of Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) to enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments, boost employment generation and exports.

About MITRA parks

• In a move to make the country’s textile sector a manufacturing and export hub, and create global export champions, India will set up seven textile parks over three years under the scheme of mega investment textile parks which was announced in Budget FY22.
• The parks to be setup over 1,000 acres of land with world class infrastructure, and plug-and-play facilities, will be addition to the more-than Rs. 10,000 crore production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for technical textiles and manmade fibre.
• The textiles ministry has proposed to develop seven Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) parks as part of a plan to double the industry size to $300 billion by 2025-26 aimed to position India as a fully integrated, globally competitive manufacturing and exporting hub.
• The parks are targeted to have uninterrupted water and power supply, common utilities and research and development labs.
• Similar parks already exist in China, Vietnam and Ethiopia where the entire textiles value chain is covered.
• India has already sanctioned 59 textile parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), of which 22 have been completed. However, their slow progress due to delays in obtaining land and other statutory clearances from state governments and tardy fund mobilisation, have prompted the government to develop MITRA parks.

Context: Recently, the Union Minister of Education has provided information on the Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness Campaign (KAPILA).
About KAPILA Campaign

• It is an intellectual property literacy campaign for creating patent awareness.

The objectives of the scheme include

• Creating awareness regarding Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Higher Education Institutions(HEIs);
• Enabling of IP protection of inventions originating from faculty and students of HEIs;
• Development of Credit Course on IPR;
• Training program on IPR for faculty and students of HEIs; and
• Sensitization and development of vibrant IP filing system

Under this campaign, students pursuing education in higher educational institutions will get information about the correct system of application process for patenting their invention and they will be aware of their rights.

Need for KAPILA Campaign

• The government has insisted upon that it is necessary not only to invent for the self-sufficiency of the country, but also to patent the inventions.
• India has a proud history of Nalanda and Takshila Universities and patent of inventions will lead India towards Self-Reliance.
• The recognition of international standards of copyright protection and incentives for intellectual property have helped India jump eight places to 36th position on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index 2018.

Additional Information
International Intellectual Property (IIP) Index

• The index analyses the IP climate in 53 global economies.
• It is released by US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center.
• The US, the UK, Sweden, France and Germany remained the top five economies on the intellectual property index in 2019 retaining their spots from 2018.
• India’s slipped to 40th position on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index in 2019.

Context: Recently, the Company Law Committee (CLC) has recommended that 12 offences under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act 2008 be decriminalised and that LLPs be allowed to issue Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to raise funds with the aim of improving ease of doing business for LLP firms.
Key Objective

• With the object of unleashing the entrepreneurial spirits of our youth and to remove the fear of criminal prosecutions for non- substantive minor and procedural omissions and commissions in the normal course of their business transactions, the Government of India in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) decided to initiate the process of decriminalization of compoundable offences under the limited liability partnership (LLP) Act, 2008, for greater ease of doing business for law abiding LLPs.
• The Government treats Honest and Ethical Corporate entrepreneurs as wealth creators and nation builders. 
• The objective of the De-criminalization exercise is to remove criminality of offences from business laws where no malafide intentions are involved. 
• In furtherance of the said objective, an exercise was undertaken to identify those provisions of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, violations of which do not result in injury to public interest but are presently criminal in nature with fine as well as punishment after conviction being provided for in the Act.

Principles adopted for Decriminalization of Compoundable Offences

• Principle 1: Offences that relate to minor/ less serious compliance issues, involving predominantly objective determinations, are proposed to be shifted to the In-house Adjudication Mechanism (IAM) framework instead of being treated as criminal offences.
• Principle 2: Offences that are more appropriate to be dealt with under other laws, are proposed to be omitted from the LLP Act, 2008.
• Principle 3: For non-Compoundable offences that are very serious violations entailing an element of fraud, intent to deceive and caused injury to public interest or non- compliance of order of statutory authorities impinging on effective regulation, Status Quo would be maintained.

In all, twelve (12) offences are proposed to be decriminalized and one (1) provision (Section 73) entailing criminal liability is proposed to be omitted. The 12 de-criminalized offences would then get shifted to IAM thereby de-clogging the criminal courts from routine cases.

Key Points
Company Law Committees (CLC’s) Recommendations
Decriminalisation of Offences

• Several offences related to timely filings, including annual reports and filings on changes in partnership status of the LLP, not related to fraud have been recommended for decriminalisation.
• While none of these provisions recommended for decriminalisation currently have prison terms as a possible punishment, the committee has recommended that companies be required to pay penalties for non-compliance, instead of fines which are imposed after a partner or the LLP is found guilty of misconduct by a court.

Risk Involved in Imposing Fines

• The Committee has noted that there is a risk of a convicted person being disqualified or becoming ineligible for various posts in the case of fines imposed by courts, which would not be the case for penalties imposed by an appropriate authority.

Authority to Levy Penalties

• The Registrar of Companies (ROC) would have the authority to levy penalties for any contravention of provisions of the LLP Act.
• ROC appointed under Section 609 of the Companies Act covering the various States and Union Territories are vested with the primary duty of registering companies and LLPs floated in the respective states and the Union Territories.

Permission to Issue NCDs

• LLPs which are currently not allowed to issue debt securities should be permitted to issue NCDs to facilitate raising of capital and financing operations.

Beneficiaries

• The move is likely to benefit startups and small firms in sectors which require heavy capital investment.

About Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

• It is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities.
• In an LLP, each partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence.
• The LLP can continue its existence irrespective of changes in partners. It is capable of entering into contracts and holding property in its own name.
• The LLP is a separate legal entity, is liable to the full extent of its assets but liability of the partners is limited to their agreed contribution in the LLP.

LLP vs Traditional Partnership Firm

• Under “traditional partnership firm”, every partner is liable, jointly with all the other partners and also severally for all acts of the firm done while he is a partner.
• Under LLP structure, liability of the partner is limited to his agreed contribution. Thus, individual partners are shielded from joint liability created by another partner’s wrongful acts or misconduct.

LLP vs a Company

• The internal governance structure of a company is regulated by statute (i.e. Companies Act, 2013) whereas for an LLP it would be by a contractual agreement between partners.
• The management-ownership divide inherent in a company is not there in a limited liability partnership.
• LLP will have more flexibility as compared to a company.
• LLP will have lesser compliance requirements as compared to a company.

Non-Convertible Debentures

• Debentures are long-term financial instruments that are issued by companies to borrow money.
• Some debentures have a feature of convertibility into shares after a certain point of time at the discretion of the debenture holder.
• The debentures which cannot be converted into shares are called non-convertible debentures (or NCDs).

There are two types of NCDs-secured and unsecured.

• Secured: A secured NCD is backed by the assets of the company. If the company fails to pay the obligation, the investor holding the debenture can claim that through liquidation of those assets.
• Unsecured: Contrary to secured NCD, there is no backing in unsecured NCDs if the company defaults.

Context: Aside from presenting Union Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tabled the 15th Finance Commission (XVFC) report in Lok Sabha.

• The Fifteenth Finance Commission's ToR(Terms of Reference) was unique and wide-ranging in many ways. 
• The Commission highlight its report on vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants, disaster management grant, incentives for States in many areas such as power sector, adoption of DBT, solid waste management etc.
• The Commission also highlight on whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up and if so how such a mechanism could be operationalized.
• The Commission was asked to recommend performance incentives for States in many areas like power sector, adoption of DBT, solid waste management etc.

About the Report

• This report has been organised in four volumes. Volume I and II, as in the past, contain the main report and the accompanying annexes. 
• Volume III is devoted to the Union Government and examines key departments in greater depth, with the medium-term challenges and the road map ahead. 
• Volume IV is entirely devoted to states.

Vertical devolution

• In order to maintain predictability and stability of resources, especially during the pandemic, XVFC has recommended maintaining the vertical devolution at 41 per cent – the same as in our report for 2020-21. 
• It is at the same level of 42 per cent of the divisible pool as recommended by FC-XIV. 
• However, it has made the required adjustment of about 1 per cent due to the changed status of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into the new Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
• In XVFC’s assessment, gross tax revenues for 5-year period is expected to be 135.2 lakh crore. Out of that, Divisible pool (after deducting cesses and surcharges & cost of collection) is estimated to be 103 lakh crore.
• States’ share at 41 per cent of divisible pool comes to 42.2 lakh crore for 2021-26 period.
• Including total grants of Rs. 10.33 lakh crore (details later) and tax devolution of Rs. 42.2 lakh crore, aggregate transfers to States is estimated to remain at around 50.9 per cent of the divisible pool during 2021-26 period.
• Total XVFC transfers (devolution + grants) constitutes about 34 per cent of estimated Gross Revenue Receipts of the Union leaving adequate fiscal space for the Union to meet its resource requirements and spending obligations on national development priorities.

Horizontal devolution
On horizontal devolution, while XVFC agreed that the Census 2011 population data better represents the present need of States, to be fair to, as well as reward, the States which have done better on the demographic front, XVFC has assigned a 12.5 per cent weight to the demographic performance criterion.
XVFC has re-introduced tax effort criterion to reward fiscal performance.

Local Governments

• Urban local bodies have been categorised into two groups, based on population, and different norms have been used for flow of grants to each, based on their specific needs and aspirations. Basic grants are proposed only for cities/towns having a population of less than a million. For Million-Plus cities, 100 per cent of the grants are performance-linked through the Million-Plus Cities Challenge Fund (MCF).

Health

• XVFC has recommend that health spending by States should be increased to more than 8 per cent of their budget by 2022.
• Given the inter-State disparity in the availability of medical doctors, it is essential to constitute an All India Medical and Health Service as is envisaged under Section 2A of the All-India Services Act, 1951.

Performance incentives and grants

• XVFC has recommended grants of Rs. 4,800 crore (Rs. 1,200 crore each year) from 2022-23 to 2025-26 for incentivising the States to enhance educational outcomes.
• XVFC has recommended Rs. 6,143 crore for online learning and development of professional courses (medical and engineering) in regional languages (matribhasha) for higher education in India.

XVFC has recommended that Rs. 45,000 crore be kept as performance-based incentive for all the States for carrying out agricultural reforms

• for amending their land-related laws on the lines of NITI Aayog’s model law
• incentive-based grants to States that maintain and augment groundwater stock.
• growth in agricultural exports
• production of oilseeds, pulses and wood and wood-based products

Defence and Internal Security

• Keeping in view the extant strategic requirements for national defence in the global context, XVFC has, in its approach, re-calibrated the relative shares of Union and States in gross revenue receipts. This will enable the Union to set aside resources for the special funding mechanism that XVFC has proposed.
• The Union Government may constitute in the Public Account of India, a dedicated non-lapsable fund, Modernisation Fund for Defence and Internal Security (MFDIS).

Disaster Risk Management

• Mitigation Funds should be set up at both the national and State levels, in line with the provisions of the Disaster Management Act. 
• The Mitigation Fund should be used for those local level and community-based interventions which reduce risks and promote environment-friendly settlements and livelihood practices.
• XVFC has recommended six earmarked allocations for certain priority areas, namely, two under the NDRF (Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services and Resettlement of Displaced People affected by Erosion) and four under the NDMF (Catalytic Assistance to Twelve Most Drought-prone States, Managing Seismic and Landslide Risks in Ten Hill States, Reducing the Risk of Urban Flooding in Seven Most Populous Cities and Mitigation Measures to Prevent Erosion).

Fiscal consolidation

• Provided range for fiscal deficit and debt path of both the Union and States.
• Additional borrowing room to States based on performance in power sector reforms.
• A threshold amount of annual appropriation should be fixed below which the funding for a CSS may be stopped. Below the stipulated threshold, the administrating department should justify the need for the continuation of the scheme. As the life cycle of ongoing schemes has been made co-terminus with the cycle of Finance Commissions, the third-party evaluation of all CSSs should be completed within a stipulated timeframe. The flow of monitoring information should be regular and should include credible information on output and outcome indicators.
• In view of the uncertainty that prevails at the stage that XVFC have done its analysis, as well as the contemporary realities and challenges, we recognise that the FRBM Act needs a major restructuring and recommend that the time-table for defining and achieving debt sustainability may be examined by a High-powered Inter-governmental Group. 
• This High-powered Group can craft the new FRBM framework and oversee its implementation. It is important that the Union and State Governments amend their FRBM Acts, based on the recommendations of the Group, so as to ensure that their legislations are consistent with the fiscal sustainability framework put in place. 
• This High-powered Inter-Governmental Group could also be tasked to oversee the implementation of the 15th Finance Commission’s diverse recommendations.
• State Governments may explore formation of independent public debt management cells which will chart their borrowing programme efficiently.

Context: The Budget proposals for 2021-22 rest on 6 pillars. These are namely Health and Wellbeing; Physical & Financial Capital, and Infrastructure; Inclusive Development for Aspirational India; Reinvigorating Human Capital; Innovation and R&D and Minimum Government and Maximum Governance.

• Laying a vision for AatmaNirbhar Bharat, she said this is an expression of 130 crore Indians who have full confidence in their capabilities and skills.
• This Budget proposals will further strengthen the Sankalp of Nation First, Doubling Farmer’s Income, Strong Infrastructure, Healthy India, Good Governance, Opportunities for youth, Education for All, Women Empowerment, and Inclusive Development among others.
• Additionally, also on the path to fast-implementation are the 13 promises of Budget 2015-16-which were to materialize during the AmrutMahotsav of 2022, on the 75th year of our Independence. They too resonate with this vision of AatmaNirbharta.

Key Highlights

• The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament today, which is the first budget of this new decade and also a digital one in the backdrop of unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.
• This was the first paperless budget. The Finance Minister read out the document from a Made-in-India tablet. 
• The Union Budget 2020-21 was focused on the centre's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision. It did not propose any changes in personal income tax slabs.
• The Budget 2021 has proposed several new schemes and announcements including the launch of  PM Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, Mission Poshan 2.0, Urban Jal Jeevan Mission, Urban Swacch Bharat Mission, Voluntary Vehicle Scrapping Policy, National Railway Plan, National Hydrogen Mission, First Digital Census,  Investor Charter and first central university in Leh.

Summary of the Budget

1) Health and Wellbeing

• There is substantial increase in investment in Health Infrastructure and the Budget outlay for Health and Wellbeing is Rs 2,23,846 crore in BE 2021-22 as against this year’s BE of Rs 94,452 crore, an increase of 137 percentage.

PM AatmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana: The Finance Minister announced that a new centrally sponsored scheme, PM AatmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, will be launched with an outlay of about Rs 64, 180 crore over 6 years.

• This will develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care Health Systems, strengthen existing national institutions, and create new institutions, to cater to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. This will be in addition to the National Health Mission.

The main interventions under the scheme are:

• Support for 17,788 rural and 11,024 urban Health and Wellness Centers
• Setting up integrated public health labs in all districts and 3382 block public health units in 11 states;
• Establishing critical care hospital blocks in 602 districts and 12 central institutions;
• Strengthening of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), its 5 regional branches and 20 metropolitan health surveillance units;
• Expansion of the Integrated Health Information Portal to all States/UTs to connect all public health labs;
• Operationalisation of 17 new Public Health Units and strengthening of 33 existing Public Health Units at Points of Entry, that is at 32 Airports, 11 Seaports and 7 land crossings;
• Setting up of 15 Health Emergency Operation Centers and 2 mobile hospitals; and
• Setting up of a national institution for One Health, a Regional Research Platform for WHO South East Asia Region, 9 Bio-Safety Level III laboratories and 4 regional National Institutes for Virology.

Vaccines

• Provision of  Rs 35,000 crore made for Covid-19 vaccine in BE 2021-22.
• The Pneumococcal Vaccine, a Made in India product, presently limited to only 5 states, will be rolled out across the country aimed at averting 50,000 child deaths annually.

Mission Poshan 2.0: On Nutrition front

• To strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome, Government will merge the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and the PoshanAbhiyan and launch the Mission Poshan 2.0. Government will adopt an intensified strategy to improve nutritional outcomes across 112 Aspirational Districts.

JalJeevan Mission (Urban): Universal Coverage of Water Supply and Swachch Bharat Mission

• The Finance Minister announced that the  JalJeevan Mission (Urban), will be launched for universal water supply in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections, as well as liquid waste management in 500 AMRUT cities. It will be implemented over 5 years, with an outlay of Rs. 2,87,000 crore.
• Moreover, the  Urban Swachh Bharat Mission will be implemented with a total financial allocation of  Rs 1,41,678 crore over a period of 5 years from 2021-2026. Also to tackle the burgeoning problem of air pollution, government proposed to provide an amount of Rs. 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres with a million-plus population in this budget.

Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy

• A voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles was also announced.
• This will help in encouraging fuel-efficient, environment friendly vehicles, thereby reducing vehicular pollution and oil import bill.
• Fitness tests have been proposed in automated fitness centres after 20 years in case of personal vehicles, and after 15 years in case of commercial vehicles

2) Physical and Financial Capital and Infrastructure

AatmaNirbhar Bharat-Production Linked Incentive Scheme

• Finance Minister said that for a USD 5 trillion economy, our manufacturing sector has to grow in double digits on a sustained basis. Our manufacturing companies need to become an integral part of global supply chains, possess core competence and cutting-edge technology.
• To achieve all of the above, PLI schemes to create manufacturing global champions for an AatmaNirbhar Bharat have been announced for 13 sectors. 
• For this, the government has committed nearly Rs.1.97 lakh crore in the next 5 years starting FY 2021-22. This initiative will help bring scale and size in key sectors, create and nurture global champions and provide jobs to our youth. 

Textiles

• Similarly, to enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments and boost employment generation, a scheme of Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) will be launched in addition to the PLI scheme.
• This will create world class infrastructure with plug and play facilities to enable create global champions in exports. 7 Textile Parks will be established over 3 years.

Infrastructure

• The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) which the Finance Minister announced in December 2019 is the first-of-its-kind, whole-of-government exercise ever undertaken. The NIP was launched with 6835 projects; the project pipeline has now expanded to 7,400 projects. Around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore under some key infrastructure Ministries have been completed.

Infrastructure financing - Development Financial Institution (DFI)

• Dwelling on the infrastructure sector, we needs long term debt financing. A professionally managed Development Financial Institution is necessary to act as a provider, enabler and catalyst for infrastructure financing. Accordingly, a Bill to set up a DFI will be introduced. Government has provided a sum of Rs 20,000 crore to capitalise this institution and the ambition is to have a lending portfolio of at least Rs 5 lakh crore for this DFI in three years time.

Asset Monetisation

• Monetizing operating public infrastructure assets is a very important financing option for new infrastructure construction. A “National Monetization Pipeline” of potential Brownfield infrastructure assets will be launched. 
• An Asset Monetization dashboard will also be created for tracking the progress and to provide visibility to investors. Some important measures in the direction of monetisation are:

National Highways Authority of India and PGCIL each have sponsored one InvIT that will attract international and domestic institutional investors. Five operational roads with an estimated enterprise value of Rs 5,000 crore are being transferred to the NHAIInvIT.  Similarily, transmission assets of a value of Rs 7,000 crore will be transferred to the PGCIL InvIT.

• Railways will monetize Dedicated Freight Corridor assets for operations and maintenance, after commissioning.
• The next lot of Airports will be monetised for operations and management concession.

Other core infrastructure assets that will be rolled out under the Asset Monetization Programme are: (i) NHAI Operational Toll Roads (ii) Transmission Assets of PGCIL (iii) Oil and Gas Pipelines of GAIL, IOCL and HPCL (iv) AAI Airports in Tier II and III cities, (v) Other Railway Infrastructure Assets (vi) Warehousing Assets of CPSEs such as Central Warehousing Corporation and NAFED among others and (vii) Sports Stadiums.

Roads and Highways Infrastructure

• Finance Minister announced that more than 13,000 km length of roads, at a cost of Rs 3.3 lakh crore, has already been awarded under the Rs. 5.35 lakh crore Bharatmala Pariyojana project of which 3,800 kms have been constructed. By March 2022, Government would be awarding another 8,500 kms and complete an additional 11,000 kms of national highway corridors. To further augment road infrastructure, more economic corridors are also being planned. She also provided an enhanced outlay of Rs. 1,18,101 lakh crore for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, of which Rs.1,08,230 crore is for capital, the highest ever.

Railway Infrastructure

• Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India – 2030. The Plan is to create a ‘future ready’ Railway system by 2030. Bringing down the logistic costs for our industry is at the core of our strategy to enable ‘Make in India’. It is expected that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC will be commissioned by June 2022.

For Passenger convenience and safety the following measures are proposed

• Introduction of aesthetically designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes to give a better travel experience to passengers. 
• The safety measures undertaken in the past few years have borne results. To further strengthen this effort, high density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways will be provided with an indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train collision due to human error.
• Budget also provided a record sum of Rs. 1,10,055 crore, for Railways of which Rs. 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure.

Urban Infrastructure

• Government will work towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through expansion of metro rail network and augmentation of city bus service. A new scheme will be launched at a cost of Rs. 18,000 crore to support augmentation of public bus transport services.
• A total of 702 km of conventional metro is operational and another 1,016 km of metro and RRTS is under construction in 27 cities. Two new technologies i.e., ‘MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ will be deployed to provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience, convenience and safety in Tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities. 

Power Infrastructure

• The past 6 years have seen a number of reforms and achievements in the power sector with the addition of 139 Giga Watts of installed capacity, connecting an additional 2.8 crore households and addition of  1.41 lakh circuit km of transmission lines.
• Expressing a serious concern over the viability of Distribution Companies, the Finance Minister proposed to launch a revamped reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme with an outlay of Rs. 3,05,984 crore  over 5 years. The scheme will provide assistance to DISCOMS for Infrastructure creation including pre-paid smart metering and feeder separation, upgradation of systems, etc., tied to financial improvements.

Ports, Shipping, Waterways

• Major Ports will be moving from managing their operational services on their own to a model where a private partner will manage it for them.  For the purpose the budget proposes to offer  more than Rs. 2,000 crore by Major Ports on Public Private Partnership mode in FY21-22.
• A scheme to promote flagging of merchant ships in India will be launched by providing subsidy support to Indian shipping companies in global tenders floated by Ministries and CPSEs. An amount of Rs. 1624 crore will be provided over 5 years. This initiative will enable greater training and employment opportunities for Indian seafarers besides enhancing Indian companies share in global shipping.

Petroleum & Natural Gas

The government has kept fuel supplies running across the country without interruption during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Taking note of the crucial nature of this sector in people’s lives, the following key initiatives are being announced:

• Ujjwala Scheme which has benefited 8 crore households will be extended to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries.
• Government will add 100 more districts in next 3 years to the City Gas Distribution network. 
• A gas pipeline project will be taken up in Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
• An independent Gas Transport System Operator will be set up for facilitation and coordination of booking of common carrier capacity in all-natural gas pipelines on a non-discriminatory open access basis.

Financial Capital

• The Finance Minister proposed to consolidate the provisions of SEBI Act, 1992, Depositories Act, 1996, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and Government Securities Act, 2007 into a rationalized single Securities Markets Code.  The Government would support the development of a world class Fin-Tech hub at the GIFT-IFSC.

Increasing FDI in Insurance Sector

• She also proposed to amend the Insurance Act, 1938 to increase the permissible FDI limit from 49% to 74% and allow foreign ownership and control with safeguards. Under the new structure, the majority of Directors on the Board and key management persons would be resident Indians, with at least 50% of Directors being Independent Directors, and specified percentage of profits being retained as general reserve.

Disinvestment and Strategic Sale

• In spite of COVID-19, Government has kept working towards strategic disinvestment.  The Finance Minister said a number of transactions namely BPCL, Air India, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation of India, IDBI Bank, BEML, Pawan Hans, NeelachalIspat Nigam limited among others would be completed in 2021-22. Other than IDBI Bank, Government propose to take up the privatization of two Public Sector Banks and one General Insurance company in the year 2021-22. 
• In 2021-22, Government would also bring the IPO of LIC for which the requisite amendments will be made in this Session itself. 
• In a very important announcement, the Finance Minister said that in the AtmaNirbhar Package, she had announced to come out with a policy of strategic disinvestment of public sector enterprises and said that the Government has approved the said policy. The policy provides a clear roadmap for disinvestment in all non-strategic and strategic sectors.  Government has kept four areas that are strategic where bare minimum CPSEs will be maintained and rest privatized. In the non-strategic sectors, CPSEs will be privatised, otherwise shall be closed. She said that to fast forward the disinvestment policy,  NITI Aayog will work out on the next list of Central Public Sector companies that would be taken up for strategic disinvestment. Government has estimated Rs. 1,75,000 crore as receipts from disinvestment in BE 2020-21 .

3) Inclusive Development for Aspirational India
Under the pillar of Inclusive Development for Aspirational India, the Finance Minister announced to cover Agriculture and Allied sectors, farmers’ welfare and rural India, migrant workers and labour, and financial inclusion.
Agriculture

• Dwelling on agriculture, she said that the Government is committed to the welfare of farmers.  The MSP regime has undergone a sea change to assure price that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities. The procurement has also continued to increase at a steady pace.  This has resulted in increase in payment to farmers substantially.
• In case of wheat, the total amount paid to farmers in 2013-2014 was Rs. 33,874 crore. In 2019-2020 it was Rs. 62,802 crore, and even better, in 2020-2021, this amount, paid to farmers, was Rs. 75,060 crore.  The number of wheat growing farmers that were benefitted increased in 2020-21 to 43.36 lakhs as compared to 35.57 lakhs in 2019-20.
• For paddy, the amount paid in 2013-14 was Rs. 63,928 crore. In 2019-2020, this increased to Rs.1,41,930 crore. Even better, in 2020-2021, this is further estimated to increase to Rs. 172,752 crore.  The farmers benefitted increased from 1.24 crore in 2019-20 to 1.54 crore in 2020-21.
• In the same vein, in case of pulses, the amount paid in 2013-2014 was ` 236 crore. In 2019-20 it increased to Rs. 8,285 crore. Now, in 2020-2021, it is at Rs.10,530 crore, a more than 40 times increase from 2013-14.
• The receipts to cotton farmers have seen a stupendous increase from Rs. 90 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 25,974 crore (as on 27th January 2021). 
• Early this year, Honourable Prime Minister had launched SWAMITVA Scheme. Under this, a record of rights is being given to property owners in villages. Up till now, about 1.80 lakh property-owners in 1,241 villages have been provided cards and the Finance Minister proposed during FY21-22 to extend this to cover all states/UTs.
• To provide adequate credit to our farmers, Government has enhanced the agricultural credit target to Rs. 16.5 lakh crore in FY22. Similarly, the allocation to the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund increased from Rs. 30,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore. The Micro Irrigation Fund, with a corpus of Rs.5,000 crore has been created under NABARD will be doubled.
• In an important announcement to boost value addition in agriculture and allied products and their exports, the scope of ‘Operation Green Scheme’ that is presently applicable to tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, will be enlarged to include 22 perishable products.
• Around 1.68 crore farmers are registered and Rs. 1.14 lakh crore of trade value has been carried out through e-NAMs. Keeping in view the transparency and competitiveness that e-NAM has brought into the agricultural market, 1,000 more mandis will be integrated with e-NAM. The Agriculture Infrastructure Funds would be made available to APMCs for augmenting their infrastructure facilities.

Fisheries

• Finance Minister proposed substantial investments in the development of modern fishing harbours and fish landing centres. To start with, 5 major fishing harbours – Kochi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Petuaghat – will be developed as hubs of economic activity.

Migrant Workers and Labourers

• Government has launched the One Nation One Ration Card scheme through which beneficiaries can claim their rations anywhere in the country. One Nation One Ration Card plan is under implementation by 32 states and UTs, reaching about 69 crore beneficiaries – that’s a total of 86% beneficiaries covered. The remaining 4 states and UTs will be integrated in the next few months. 

Government proposes to conclude a process that began 20 years ago, with the implementation of the 4 labour codes.

• For the first time globally, social security benefits will extend to gig and platform workers. Minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers, and they will all be covered by the Employees State Insurance Corporation. Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in the night-shifts with adequate protection. At the same time, compliance burden on employers will be reduced with single registration and licensing, and online returns.

Financial Inclusion

• To further facilitate credit flow under the scheme of Stand Up India for SCs, STs, and women, the  Finance Minister proposed to reduce the margin money requirement from 25% to 15%, and to also include loans for activities allied to agriculture. Moreover, a number of steps were taken to support the MSME sector and in this Budget, Government has provided Rs. 15,700 crore to this sector – more than double of this year’s BE.

4) Reinvigorating Human Capital

• The Finance Minister said that the National Education Policy (NEP) announced recently has had good reception, while adding that more than 15,000 schools will be qualitatively strengthened to include all components of the National Education Policy.  She also announced that 100 new Sainik Schools will be set up in partnership with NGOs/private schools/states. She also proposed to set up a Higher Education Commission of India, as an umbrella body having 4 separate vehicles for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding. For accessible higher education in Ladakh, Government proposed to set up a Central University in Leh.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare

• Government has set a target of establishing 750 Eklavya model residential schools in  tribal areas.
• Similarly, under the revamped Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, the Central Assistance was enhanced and allocated  Rs. 35,219 crore for 6 years till 2025-2026, to benefit 4 crore SC students.

Skilling

• An initiative is underway, in partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to benchmark skill qualifications, assessment, and certification, accompanied by the deployment of certified workforce. The Government also has a collaborative Training Inter Training Programme (TITP) between India and Japan to facilitate transfer of Japanese industrial and vocational skills, technique, and knowledge and the same would be taken forward with many more countries.

5) Innovation and R&D

• The Finance Minister said that in her Budget Speech of July 2019, She had announced the National Research Foundation and added that the NRF outlay will be of Rs. 50,000 crore, over 5 years. It will ensure that the overall research ecosystem of the country is strengthened with focus on identified national-priority thrust areas.
• Government will undertake a new initiative – National Language Translation Mission (NTLM). This will enable the wealth of governance-and-policy related knowledge on the Internet being made available in major Indian languages.
• The New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space will execute the PSLV-CS51 launch, carrying the Amazonia Satellite from Brazil, along with a few smaller Indian satellites.
• As part of the Gaganyaan mission activities, four Indian astronauts are being trained on Generic Space Flight aspects, in Russia. The first unmanned launch is slated for December 2021.

6) Minimum Government, Maximum Governance

• Dwelling on the last of the six pillars of the Budget, the Finance Minister proposed to take a number of steps to bring reforms in Tribunals in the last few years for speedy delivery of justice and proposes to take further measures to rationalised the functioning of Tribunals. Government has introduced the National Commission for Allied Healthcare Professionals Bill in Parliament, with a view to ensure transparent and efficient regulation of the 56 allied healthcare professions. She also announced that the forthcoming Census could be the first digital census in the history of India and for this monumental and milestone-marking task,  Rs. 3,768 crore allocated  in the year 2021-2022.
• On Fiscal position, she underlined that the pandemic’s impact on the economy resulted in a weak revenue inflow. Once the health situation stabilised, and the lockdown was being slowly lifted, Government spending was ramped up so as to revive domestic demand.
• The Finance Minister said  fiscal deficit in RE 2020-21 is pegged at 9.5% of GDP and it has been funded through Government borrowings, multilateral borrowings, Small Saving Funds and short term borrowings. The fiscal deficit in BE 2021-2022 is estimated to be 6.8% of GDP. The gross borrowing from the market for the next year would be around 12 lakh crore.
• Smt Sitharaman announced that the Government plan to continue the path of fiscal consolidation, and intend to reach a fiscal deficit level below 4.5% of GDP by 2025-2026 with a fairly steady decline over the period. “We hope to achieve the consolidation by first, increasing the buoyancy of tax revenue through improved compliance, and secondly, by increased receipts from monetisation of assets, including Public Sector Enterprises and land”, she said.

In accordance with the views of the 15th Finance Commission, Government is allowing a normal ceiling of net borrowing for the states at 4% of GSDP for the year 2021-2022.

• The FRBM Act mandates fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP to be achieved by 31st March 2020-2021. The effect of this year’s unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances has necessitated the submission of a deviation statement under Sections 4 (5) and 7 (3) (b) of the FRBM Act which the Finance Minister  laid on the Table of the House as part of the FRBM Documents.
• On 9th December 2020, the 15th Finance Commission submitted its final report, covering the period 2021-2026 to the Rashtrapatiji. The Government has laid the Commission’s report, along with the explanatory memorandum retaining the vertical shares of the states at 41%.  On the Commission’s recommendation, the Budget provided  Rs. 1,18,452 crore  as revenue deficit grant to 17 states in 2021-22. 

DIRECT TAX PROPOSALS

• The Finance Minister provided relief to senior citizens in filing of income tax returns, reduced time limit for income tax proceedings announced setting up of the Dispute Resolution Committee, faceless ITAT, relaxation to NRIs, increase in exemption limit from audit and relief for dividend income. 
• She also announced steps to attract foreign investment into infrastructure, relief to affordable housing and rental housing, tax incentives to IFSC, relief to small charitable trusts, and steps for incentivizing Start-ups in the country. 
• Our tax system has to be transparent, efficient and should promote investment and employment in the country.  The Minister said that at the same time, it should put minimum burden on our tax payers.  She said that a series of reforms had been introduced by the Government for the benefit of tax payers and economy, including slashing of corporate tax rate, abolition of dividend distribution tax, and increasing of rebate for small tax payers. 
• In the year 2020, the income tax return filers saw a dramatic increase to 6.48 crore from 3.31 crore in 2014.
• The Budget seeks to reduce compliance burden on senior citizens who are of 75 years of age and above.  Such senior citizens having only pension and interest income will be exempted from filing their income tax return. The paying Bank will deduct the necessary tax on their income. The Budget proposes to notify rules for removing the hardship of non-Resident Indians returning to India on the issue of their accrued incomes in their foreign retirement account.  The Budget proposes to make dividend payment to REIT/InvIT exempt from TDS. 

For Foreign Portfolio Investors, the Budget proposes deduction of tax on dividend income at lower treaty rate.  The Budget provides that advanced tax liability on dividend income shall arise only after the declaration or payment of dividend.  The Minister said that this was being done as the amount of dividend income cannot be estimated correctly by the shareholders for paying advance tax. 

The Finance Minister proposed to extend the eligibility period for claim of additional deduction for interest of Rs. 1.5 lakh paid for loan taken for purchase of an affordable house to 31st March, 2022.  In order to increase the supply of affordable houses, she also announced extension of eligibility period for claiming tax holiday for affordable housing projects by one more year to 31st March, 2022.  For promoting supply of affordable rental housing for the migrant workers, the Minister announced a new tax exemption for the notified affordable rental housing projects. 

• In order to incentivize start ups in the country,there is extension in the eligibility for claiming tax holiday for start ups by one more year till 31st March, 2022.  In order to incentivize funding of start ups, she proposed extending the Capital Gains exemption for investment in start ups by one more year till 31st March, 2022. 
• The Finance Minister said that delay in deposit of the contribution of employees towards various welfare funds results in permanent loss of interest/income for the employees.  In order to ensure timely deposit of employee’s contribution to these funds by the employers, she announced that late deposit of employee’s contribution shall never be allowed as deduction to the employer. 

In order to reduce compliance burden, the Budget provides reduction in the time-limit for reopening of income tax proceeding for three years from the present six years.  In serious tax evasion cases, where there is evidence of concealment of income of Rs. 50 lakh or more in a year, the assessment can be reopened upto 10 years but only after the approval of the Principal Chief Commissioner. 

• Stating the resolve of the Government to reduce litigation in the taxation system, the Finance Minister said that the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Scheme announced by the Government has been received well.  Until 30th January, 2021, over one lakh ten thousand tax payers have opted to settle tax dispute of over Rs. 85  thousand crores under the Scheme.  To further reduce litigation of small tax payers, she proposed to constitute a Dispute Resolution Committee. 
• Anyone with a taxable income upto Rs. 50 lakh and disputed income upto Rs. 10 lakh shall be eligible to approach the Committee.  She also announced setting up of National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tibunal Centre. 

To incentivize digital transaction and to reduce the compliance burden of the person who is carrying almost all of the transactions digitally, the Budget proposes to increase the limit for tax audit for persons who are undertaking 95 per cent of their transaction digitally from Rs. 5 Crore to Rs. 10 Crore.

• To attract foreign investment into infrastructure sector, the Budget proposes to relax certain conditions relating to prohibition on private funding, restriction on commercial activities and direct investment in infrastructure.  In order to allow funding of infrastructure by issue of zero coupon bonds, the Budget proposes to make notified infrastructure debt funds eligible to raise funds by issuing tax efficient zero coupon bonds. 
• In order to promote International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City, the Budget proposes more tax incentives. 
• The Budget proposes that details of capital gains from listed securities, dividend income and interest from banks, post office etc. will also be pre-filled to ease filing of returns.  Details of salary income, tax payment, TDS etc already come pre-filled in returns. 
• In order to reduce compliance burden on the small charitable trust running educational institutions and hospitals, the Budget proposes to increase the limit on annual receipts for these trusts from present Rs.1 Crore to Rs. 5 Crore for non-applicability of various compliances. 

INDIRECT TAX PROPOSALS

• On the issue of Indirect Tax proposals: The capacity of GSTN system has been announced.  Deep analytics and artificial intelligence have been deployed to identity tax evaders and fake billers, launching special drives against them.  The Finance Minister assured the House that every possible measure shall be taken to smoothen the GST further and remove anomalies such as the inverted duty structure.
• With respect to the custom duty policy:  Twin objectives of promoting domestic manufacturing and helping India get on to global value change and export better. She said that the thrust now has to be on easy access to raw materials and exports of value added products.  
• Need to rationalize duty on raw material inputs: Stressing on the need to rationalize duty on raw material inputs to man-made textile, the Finance Minister announced bringing nylon chain on par with polyester and other man-made fibers. Announcing uniform deduction of the BCD rates on Caprolactam, nylon chips and nylon fiber and yarn to 5 per cent, the Minister said this will help the textile industry, MSMEs and exports too.  She also announced calibration of customs duty rate on chemical to encourage domestic value addition and to remove inversions.  The Minister also announced rationalization of custom duty on gold and silver.
• The Finance Minister said that a phased manufacturing plan for solar cells and solar panels will be notified to build up domestic capacity.  She announced raising duty on solar inverter from 5 per cent to 20 percent and on solar lanterns from 5 per cent to 15 per cent. 
• The Finance Minister in her Budget speech said that there is immense potential in manufacturing heavy capital equipment domestically and the rate structure will be comprehensively reviewed in due course.  However, she announced revision in duty rates on certain items immediately including tunnel boring machine and certain auto parts. 
• For MSME: The Budget proposes certain changes to benefit MSMEs which include increasing duty on steel screws, plastic builder wares and prawn feed. It also provide for rationalizing exemption on import of duty free items as an incentives to exporters of garments leather and handicraft items.  It also provides withdrawing exemption on imports of certain kind of leather and raising custom duty on finished synthetic gem stones. 
• To benefit farmers, the Finance Minister announced raising custom duty on cotton, raw silk and silk yarn.  

Regarding rationalization of procedures and easing of compliance: the Finance Minister proposed certain changes in the provisions relating to ADD and CVD levies.  She also said that to complete customs investigation, definite time-lines are being prescribed.  The Minister said that the Turant Custom Initiative rolled out in 2020 has helped in putting a check of misuse of FTAs.       

Context: Recently, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs proposed reforms for small companies and MSMEs to strengthen Start up ecosystem, while presenting Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament.

1) Decriminalisation of the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008

• The Finance Minister proposed to take up decriminalisation of the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008 on similar lines of the decriminalising of the procedural and technical compoundable offences under the Companies Act, 2013, which is now complete.

2) Revision in 'Small Companies' definition

• Finance Minister proposed to revise the definition under the Companies Act, 2013 for Small Companies by increasing their thresholds for Paid up capital from “not exceeding Rs 50 lakh” to “not exceeding Rs 2 crore” and turnover from “not exceeding Rs 2 crore” to “not exceeding Rs 20 crore”.
• This will benefit more than two lakh companies in easing their compliance requirements.

3) Proposed easing of rules in 'One Person Companies' for Start-Ups, Innovators

• As a further measure which directly benefits Start-ups and Innovators, the Finance Minister proposed to incentivize the incorporation of One Person Companies (OPCs) by allowing OPCs to grow without any restrictions on paid up capital and turnover, allowing their conversion into any other type of company at any time, reducing the residency limit for an Indian citizen to set up an OPC from 182 days to 120 days and also allow Non Resident Indians (NRIs) to incorporate OPCs in India.

4) Strengthening of NCLT framework for faster debt resolution

• To ensure faster resolution of cases, the Finance Minister stated that NCLT framework will be strengthened, e-Courts system shall be implemented and alternate methods of debt resolution and special framework for MSMEs shall be introduced.

5) Launch of new MCA21 Version 3.0

• During the coming fiscal 2021-22, the Finance Minister said the Government will launch a data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning driven MCA21 Version 3.0. This Version of MCA 3.0 will have additional modules for e-scrutiny, e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management.

Context: A group of women weavers from Tharu tribe in the northern buffer of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh are weaving their dreams on looms to churn out magnificent colourful carpets (cotton durries) and an array of grass-woven products.
Key Points

• Under the banner of Tharu Hath Karga Gharelu Udyog – a Self Help Group (SHG) of these tribal women from Lakhimpur Khiri district in Uttar Pradesh have recorded a significant increase in revenues from sale of cotton carpets and handmade wares made of locally available Munj grass such as baskets for chapati, planters, fruit baskets, jewellery containers, table mat, paper weight, coasters, etc.
• Timely technological intervention and funding support from the Science for Equity, Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division of the Central Department of Science & Technology (DST) under the Union Science and Technology Ministry has come as a boon for the SHG, scaling up the production and ensure quality.
• Due to technological interventions, a group of women weavers in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve belonging to the Tharu Hath KargaGharelu Udyog have recorded significant increase in revenue from sale of their wares in 2020.
• Tharu Hath KargaGharelu Udyog is a Self-Help Group (SHG) based in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh.
• Funding support was provided under TARA Scheme of Science for Equity, Empowerment & Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science & Technology (DST).

About the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

• It is a protected area in Uttar Pradesh that stretches mainly across the Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich districts and comprises the Dudhwa National Park, Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It shares the north-eastern boundary with Nepal.
• The area is a vast alluvial floodplain traversed by numerous rivers and streams flowing in south-easterly direction.
• In 1987, the Dudhwa National Park and the Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary were brought under the purview of the ‘Project Tiger’ as Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary was added in the year 2000.
• The protected area is home for tigers, leopards, Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, Swamp deer, rhinoceros, elephants, cheetal, hog deer, barking deer, sambar, wild boar and hispid hare.

About Technological Advancement for Rural Areas (TARA) Scheme

• It is implemented by the Science for Equity, Empowerment & Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India.
• The scheme provides long term Core Support to Science and Technology (S&T) based NGOs to promote and nurture them as “S&T Incubators”/“Active Field Laboratories” in rural and other disadvantaged areas to work and provide technological solutions and effective delivery of technologies for livelihood generation & societal benefits.
• It focuses on innovation, long-term action, replicability and enterprise models, shift to non-farm and service sectors, etc.
• If a project is approved, core funding is provided for five to ten years which may be extended to 15 years.

Context: The Economic Survey recently noted that the central government’s afforestation scheme, Green India Mission (GIM), was able to only achieve 2.8 per cent of its plantation target.

Green India Mission (GIM)

• Launched by: Ministry of Environment and Forests in 2015 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
• It is one of the eight missions launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• It is based on India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• Under it, India has a target to sequester 2.523 billion tonnes of carbon by 2020-30.
• Implementation period: 10 Years

Aim

• Enhancing carbon sinks in sustainably managed forests and other ecosystems;
• Adaptation of vulnerable species/ecosystems to the changing climate; and
• Adaptation of forest dependant local communities in the face of climatic variability

Objective

• Increased forest/tree cover on 5 m ha of forest/non-forest lands and improved quality of forest cover on another 5 m ha (a total of 10 m ha)
• Improved ecosystem services including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration as a result of treatment of 10 m ha.
• Increased forest-based livelihood income for 3 million forest dependent households
• Enhanced annual CO2 sequestration of 50-60 million tonnes by 2020

Key Achievements

• As of March 2020, plantation under the scheme was undertaken only over 0.14 m ha land.
• Under the various schemes of the Central Government the afforestation activities were taken up over 8.49 m ha area from 2015-16 to 2019-20 inclusive of 0.14 m ha under this mission.

Critiques

• According to the report titled Performance of the National Action Plan on Climate Change of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change:
• During 2017-18, the scheme was allocated with grossly insufficient funds as committed liability for 2015-16 and 2016-17 which is much more than the budget allocated.
• It missed its targets by 34% in both 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years.
• The green covers each year was less than its targeted area.
• Afforestation was only aimed at increasing tree count without considering the soil and weather conditions.
• rees like eucalyptus were planted which make environmental problems worse rather than solving it.
• Planting of unsuitable trees lead to drought and prevent biodiversity in the region.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced the establishment of a Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management (CWCM), on the occasion of the World Wetland Day.

• It is India’s first Centre for Wetland Conservation and Management and will be established in Chennai.
• It will be established as a part of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM).
• The year 2021 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, in Ramsar, Iran, celebrated annually as World Wetlands Day.

Importance of the management centre

• Wetland Conservation and Management (WCM) would serve as a knowledge hub and enable exchange between State/ UT Wetland Authorities, wetland users, managers, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners.
• The Centre will address specific research needs and knowledge gaps and will aid in the application of integrated approaches for conservation, management and wise use of the wetlands.
• The Centre will help in building partnership and networks with relevant national and international agencies.
• The Centre would also assist the national and State/ UT Governments in the design and implementation of policy and regulatory frameworks, management planning, monitoring and targeted research for its conservation.

What are Wetlands?

• A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail.
• The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil.
• They include mangroves, peatlands and marshes, rivers and lakes, deltas, floodplains and flooded forests, rice-fields, and even coral reefs.
• Wetlands exist in every country and in every climatic zone, from the polar regions to the tropics, and from high altitudes to dry regions.

Wetlands in India

• Natural wetlands in India constitute the high-altitude Himalayan lakes, wetlands in the flood plains of the major river systems, saline and temporary wetlands, coastal wetlands, mangrove swamps, coral reefs, marine wetlands etc.
• The man-made wetlands include those resulting from the needs of irrigation, water supply, electricity, fisheries and flood control, etc., contributing substantially to the faunal and floral diversity.
• It has been estimated that freshwater wetlands support 20 percent of the known range of biodiversity in India.
• Gujarat ranks first with a total wetland area of about 23 percent.
• Followed by Gujarat is Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
• Lakshadweep ranks first in terms of percentage extent of the total state geographic area.

Wetland types

• The major area of India is occupied by the river and stream wetlands (34.46%), followed by the reservoirs (16.26%), tanks/ponds (8.6%) and lakes/ponds (4.78%).
• Inland natural wetlands accounted for 43.4% of the total area, while Coastal-Natural wetlands account for 24.27 percent.
• Under the National Conservation Programme (NWCP), a total of 115 wetlands has been identified in 24 States and 2 Union territories of the country for conservation and management.

Significance of Wetlands

• Wetlands are vital for human survival.
• They provide the water and productivity upon which countless species of plants and animals depend for survival.
• They are indispensable for the countless benefits or “ecosystem services” such as water for irrigation, fisheries, non-timber forest products, water supply and recreation.
• The major services include carbon sequestration, flood control, groundwater recharge, nutrient removal, toxics retention and biodiversity maintenance.
• Agriculture and allied sectors: Wetlands such as tanks, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs have long been providing multiple-use water services which include water for irrigation, domestic needs, ground-water recharge, etc.
• Around 61 percent of fish production in the country is from inland water bodies and it is also the second largest aquaculture farmed fish producer in the world.

Carbon sequestration: Swamps, mangroves, peat lands, mires and marshes play an important role in carbon cycle.

• Wetland soils may contain as much as 200 times more carbon than its vegetation.
• Mangroves are able to sequester about 1.5 metric tonne of carbon per hectare per year.
• Pollution abatement: Wetlands act as a sink for contaminants in many agricultural and urban landscapes.

Flood control: Wetlands help to lessen the impacts of flooding by absorbing water and reducing the speed at which flood water flows.

• Further, during periods of flooding, they trap suspended solids and nutrient load.

Tourism: Wetlands such as coral reefs, beaches, reservoirs, lakes and rivers are considered to be a significant part of the tourism experience in the country.

• Cultural significance: Wetlands especially lakes and ponds (e.g., Pushkar lake in Rajasthan and Ramappa lake in Telangana) are intrinsically linked to the local culture.

Threat to Wetlands

• The global assessment of IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) identified wetlands as the most threatened ecosystem. 

Possible Impacts
On Biodiversity and Climate Change

• As per UNESCO, any threat to wetlands  impacts 40% of the world’s plant and animal species that are dependent on wetlands. 
• 30% of land-based carbon finds its storage in peatlands. So it poses a high degree of vulnerability.

On Livelihoods

• Close to a billion people are dependent upon wetlands for their livelihoods purpose.
• Wetlands provide $47 trillion in essential services annually.

Ramsar Convention

• Ramsar convention is a global treaty focusing on management and protection of important wetlands.
• Signed in 1971.
• India is among 170 signatory countries that agreed to pay attention and initiate needful actions towards conservation of wetlands.
• Globally, so far over 2300 wetlands have been identified as Ramsar sites.

Montreux Record

• It is maintained as a part of the Ramsar List.
• It is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
• Two wetlands from India, namely Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur) feature in the Montreux record.

Context: Recently, Union Ministers jointly launch Unified Portal of Gobardhan to promote Gobardhan scheme and track real time progress.

About Gobardhan Scheme

• The Gobardhan Scheme (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources – DHAN) was launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• It is being implemented as part of the Swachch Bharat Mission (Gramin).
• The scheme is aimed at managing cattle and biodegradable waste and also help augment farmers’ incomes.
• The GOBAR-DHAN scheme, with its focus on keeping villages clean, increasing the income of rural households, and generation of energy from cattle waste, is an important element of the ODF-plus strategy of the Swachch Bharat Mission.
• The scheme aims to support villages in effectively managing their cattle and biodegradable waste.
• The Gobardhan scheme was launched in early 2018 to manage the prevailing issues of bio-waste in villages including cattle waste and converting them into biogas and organic manure to improve the lives of villagers by providing economic and resource benefits to farmers and households.
• The newly launched portal will ensure close coordination with stakeholder Departments/Ministries for smooth implementation of Biogas schemes/initiatives and its real time tracking.

Benefits of the scheme

• Helpful for the country as India is home to the highest cattle population in the world, close to 300 million in number, with a daily output of 3 million tonnes of dung.
• Encourage farmers to consider dung and other waste not just as a waste but as a source of income.
• Benefits to the rural people. It will be easier to keep the village clean and sanitized, livestock health will improve and farm yields will increase.
• Increase self-reliance in energy utilized for cooking and lighting.
• Provides a stable fuel supply in the market for oil companies and accessible credit in the market through government schemes and banks for entrepreneurs.

Context: Tropical cyclones across the globe, except Atlantic hurricanes, are moving closer to land in recent decades, a new study found.

Key Points

• Tropical cyclones generally have been moving westward by about 30 kilometres per decade since 1982, putting them closer to land and making them more dangerous, a study published in Science said.
• Each decade since the 1980s, an additional two cyclones have come within 200 kilometres of land, the study said.

Ominous trends

• Researchers do not quite know why this is happening, but it adds to other ominous trends in cyclone activity.
• Past studies have found that the most intense storms are getting stronger and storms in general are getting wetter, shifting poleward, moving slower and are keeping their power longer after hitting land.
• But while the new study found storms are getting closer to land, researchers still haven’t seen a significant increase in landfalls, which “is still a puzzle,” said study lead author Shuai Wang, a cyclone scientist at Imperial College in London.

About Tropical cyclones or hurricanes

• Location: They use warm, moist air as fuel and therefore form over warm ocean waters near the equator.

Mechanism

• When the warm, moist air rises upward from the surface of the ocean, it creates an area of low air pressure below. 
• As the warm and moist air continues to rise, the surrounding air will keep entering the area of low air pressure. 
• After this, the air from the surrounding areas, which has higher pressure, enters this space, eventually rising when it becomes warm and moist too.
• Ultimately, when the warm air rises and cools off, the water in the air forms clouds.
• As such storm systems rotate faster and faster, an eye forms in the center.
• And this corresponding system of clouds and winds continues to grow and spin, fuelled by the ocean’s heat and the water that evaporates from its surface.

Direction

• Those that form south of the equator spin clockwise because of the rotation of the Earth on its axis.
• Storms that form towards the north of the equator rotate counter-clockwise. 

No difference between a hurricane and a tropical storm

• Depending on where they occur, hurricanes may be called typhoons or cyclones. 
• As per NASA, the scientific name for all these kinds of storms is tropical cyclones. 
• The tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean or the eastern Pacific Ocean are called hurricanes.
• On the other hand, tropical cyclones that form in the Northwest Pacific are called typhoons.

Atlantic zone

• It's mysterious that, unlike other areas, the Atlantic hurricane basin didn’t show any significant westward shift, but that could be because the Atlantic hurricane zone is more closely surrounded by continents, Wang said.
• The busiest tropical cyclone basin is in the western Pacific, where there are the most landfalls and the shift westward is twice as big as the global average.
• Wang and his colleagues are still trying to figure out why this westward shift is happening. Storms generally move east to west because of trade winds in the tropics, so a greater westward shift usually puts them closer to where the land is, Wang said.
• Storms that form just west of land, such as in the Pacific off the California and Mexican coasts, are usually moving away from land already, so this shift doesn’t spare more land.
• Changes in atmospheric currents that steer storms tend to be pushing cyclones farther west, but why is still an open question, Wang said.
• He said it could be only partly explained by some natural long-term climate cycles.

Other factors

• Other shifts in atmospheric patterns have been connected to human-caused climate change and that’s a possible factor in the shift but not something researchers can prove yet, he said.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel said the study is plausible, especially since scientists have already seen a shift of storms more toward the north and south poles, but it raises questions that require follow up, especially why no corresponding increase in landfalls has been found.

Context: A group of researchers, including NASA scientists, has created a new way to assess how the changes in forests over the past two decades impacted carbon concentrations in the atmosphere.
Need

• Forests around the world serve as carbon sinks: They absorbed around 15.6 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere each year between 2001 and 2019. At the same time, deforestation, fires, among other disturbances released 8.1 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
• The study accentuated the lack of uniformity in data on global carbon estimates. The data varies between countries, but scientists expressed hope that the new method will help arrive at better data sets.

Key Findings

• Scientists have devised a new method to better understand the role of various forest types in the global carbon cycle. 
• They found that tropical forest absorbed more carbon than other forest types and released more carbon into the atmosphere due to deforestation and degradation.
• According to the research, the method tapped into numerous sources, including ground, airborne and satellite data, to create the “first consistent global framework for estimating the carbon flux specifically for forests".

NASA’s Carbon Monitoring Systems Biomass Pilot is expected to further improve understanding of carbon removal rates across forest landscapes. It comprises:

• Satellite and field data to improve estimates of vegetation and carbon stocks
• NASA’s ICESat-2
• Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), a laser-equipped instrument aboard the International Space Station that records the three-dimensional structures of the world’s temperate and tropical forests

Road Ahead

• The new approach, according to scientists, also helped identify the forest types that have higher uncertainties.  The framework could help countries reduce carbon emissions for which accurate and current data is needed.

Context: Sri Lanka has offered India another undertaking to develop the West Container Terminal (WCT) at the same facility on a Public Private Partnership model along with Japan.
About the project

• The plan was to develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) as an investment project with 51 per cent ownership held by the Sri Lanka government and 49 per cent as investment by the Adani Group and other stakeholders.
• The agreement was signed by the previous regime in 2019 for India and Japan at Colombo.
• The project is facing the threat of nationwide agitations against port privatisation and the Sri Lanka govt has cancelled the agreement.

What was the agreement?

• The ECT deal was important as between 60 and 70 percent of transshipment that takes place through it is India-linked.
• As per the agreement, India and Japan would have 49 percent ownership of the ECT. Whereas Sri Lanka would have a 51% stake.
• A 40-year loan at an interest rate of 0.1% from Japan was expected to fund the development of the ECT.

What went wrong?

• India-Sri Lanka relations are cordial in general. But India’s involvement in the civil wars of Sri Lanka still affects India’s interest there.
• Colombo Port Trade Union has strongly opposed the 49% stake of India and Japan. They are demanding 100% ownership of Sri Lanka of the ports,
• Big projects by India have always faced opposition in Sri Lanka. Due to this, India brought Japan in at least two of the projects listed in the MoU.
• But the relationship between Japan and Sri Lanka has also changed over the years, because of Colombo’s closeness to China. Therefore, including Japan in the project didn’t prove to be fruitful.
• The protests ended after the announcement of the Sri Lanka government. Now, the ECT would be developed and operated as a “wholly-owned container terminal of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

Significance of the project

• The ECT project was considered important for India, mainly for security reasons as the China Merchants Port Holdings Company holds 85 per cent stake in the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), which is near the ECT.
• According to estimates, over 70 per cent of business at Colombo port is from ships in transit to the Indian coast, making it important for Sri Lanka, too.
• The Adani Group is also building a transhipment port at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, which is being developed primarily to wean away India-bound trans-shipment traffic from Colombo.

India- Sri Lanka relationship

• The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2,500 years old.
• Both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction.
• The nearly three-decade long armed conflict between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE came to an end in May 2009.
• During the course of the conflict, India supported the right of the Government of Sri Lanka to act against terrorist forces.

Political Relations

• India's consistent position is in favour of a negotiated political settlement, which is acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and which is consistent with democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights.

Commercial Relations

• Sri Lanka is one of India’s largest trading partner in SAARC.
• According to Sri Lankan Customs, bilateral trade in 2018 amounted to US $ 4.93 billion.
• Exports from India to Sri Lanka in 2018 were US$ 4.16billion, while exports from Sri Lanka to India are US$ 767 million.
• India is one of the largest investors in Sri Lanka with cumulative investments of around USD 1.239 billion.

Development Cooperation

• India’s overall commitment stands close to US$ 3 billion, out of which around US$ 560 million are purely in grants.
• The Indian Housing Project, with an initial commitment to build 50,000 houses for the war affected as well as the estate workers in the plantation areas, is Government of India’s flagship project of developmental assistance to Sri Lanka.

Cultural relations

• The Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo actively promotes awareness of Indian culture by offering classes in Indian music, dance, Hindi and Yoga.
• On 21 June 2015 the First International Day of Yoga was celebrated at the iconic ocean side promenade Galle Face Green.

Human resource development

• India now offers about 710 scholarship slots annually to Sri Lankan students, including study in Sri Lanka and in India.

Context: The NITI Aayog’s ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island – Vision Document’, proposing to set up a megacity in the Little Andaman Island.

Key Points

• The plan envisages sustainable and holistic development of the 680 sq km, Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group.
• The plan proposes the building of a new greenfield coastal city in the island, that will be developed as a free trade zone.

The plan proposes three development zones

• Zone 1, planned along the east coast of Little Andaman, will be the financial district and medi city and will include an aerocity, and a tourism and hospital district.
• Zone 2, spread over pristine forest, will house the leisure zone, will have a film city, a residential district and a tourism SEZ.
• Zone 3, again spread over pristine forest zone will be a nature zone, further categorised into three districts: an exclusive forest resort, a nature healing district and a nature retreat, all on the western coast. The nature resort complex is to have theme resorts, floating/underwater resorts, beach hotels, and high-end residential villas.
• Necessary infrastructure like an international airport, Greenfield ring road, mass rapid transit network, jetty has also been proposed.

Significance of the proposal

• The proposal aims to leverage the strategic location and natural features of the island to ensure development in the islands.
• The location of the island and its development would augur well for India’s stand in the Indian Ocean region, which it considers as its zone of influence. The document envisages developing the islands into “veritable jewels for the country”.
• The Greenfield city could compete with the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong and emerge as an alternative for business establishments. This augurs well for the Indian economy.
• The infrastructural development could aid employment generation in the region. This could stimulate the development process in the entire Andaman and Nicobar chain of islands.

‘Blocks’ to development

• There are certain factors that could act as impediments in the proposal to develop Little Andaman.

Lack of connectivity

• Lack of good connectivity with the Indian mainland and global cities.

Fragile biodiversity of the region

• Fragile biodiversity and natural ecosystems in the islands.
• 95% of Little Andaman is covered in forest, a large part of it the pristine evergreen type. Some 640 sq km of the island is Reserve Forest under the Indian Forest Act.

Supreme Court notifications

• Supreme Court notifications pose an impediment to development in environmentally-vulnerable areas.

Concerns

Impact on the indigenous tribes of the island

• There is a notable presence of indigenous tribes on the island. Nearly 450 sq km of the island area is protected as the Onge Tribal Reserve.
• The vision suggests the relocation of the tribals to other parts of the island if the need arises. The development process could therefore lead to their displacement and have an impact on their welfare.

Environmental impact

• The plan has raised an alarm among conservationists. The regional forest department too has raised serious concerns over the ecological impact of the project considering the ecological fragility of the region.
• The vision needs around 35% of the island land area and the plan suggests de-reserving 32% of the reserved forest and de-notifying 138 sq km or 31% of the tribal reserve.
• The large diversion of forest land would lead to large scale deforestation and would hence have an adverse impact on the various wild animals that inhabit the area.
• More than 2 million trees stand in the forest land sought for these projects.
• The western coast is one of the most important nesting sites of the globally endangered Giant Leatherback sea turtle.

Lack of environmental impact assessment

• The plan has no inventorisation of forests and ecological wealth and no details of any environment impact assessment. This would handicap the ability to correctly assess the impact of the plan.

Geological vulnerability

• The vision document fails to consider the geological vulnerability of the place, which was amongst the worst-affected in the earthquake-tsunami combination in 2004.

Road Ahead

• The island serves as a unique and rare socio-ecological-historical complex of high importance and this needs to be factored in while planning the development of the island.

Context: Dams and reservoirs are believed to secure our water needs for the future. However, data and studies show that they can threaten our water security.
Issues

• Of the over 5,200 large dams built so far, about 1,100 large dams have already reached 50 years of age and some are older than 120 years. The number of such dams will increase to 4,400 by 2050.
• The situation with hundreds of thousands of medium and minor dams is even more precarious as their shelf life is even lower than that of large dams.
• As dams age, soil replaces the water in the reservoirs. Therefore, the storage capacity cannot be claimed to be the same as it was in the 1900s and 1950s.
• To make matters worse, studies show that the design of many of our reservoirs is flawed.
• Siltation rate in India’s iconic Bhakra dam is 139.86% higher than originally assumed. At this rate the Bhakra dam is now expected to function for merely 47 years, virtually halved from the original estimate of 88 years.
• Almost every scholarly study on reservoir sedimentation shows that Indian reservoirs are designed with a poor understanding of sedimentation science.
• The designs underestimate the rate of siltation and overestimate live storage capacity

Consequences

• When soil replaces the water in reservoirs, supply gets choked. The cropped area begins receiving less and less water as time progresses.
• The net sown water area either shrinks in size or depends on rains or groundwater, which is over-exploited.
• Crop yield gets affected severely and disrupts the farmer’s income.
• The farmer’s income may get reduced as water is one of the crucial factors for crop yield along with credit, crop insurance and investment.
• It is important to note that no plan on climate change adaptation will succeed with sediment-packed dams.
• The flawed siltation rates reinforce the argument that the designed flood cushion may have already depleted substantially due to which floods have become more frequent downstream of dams.
• The flooding of Bharuch in 2020, Kerala in 2018 and Chennai in 2015 are a few examples attributed to downstream releases from reservoirs.

Road Ahead

• The nation will eventually be unable to find sufficient water in the 21st century to feed the rising population by 2050, grow abundant crops, create sustainable cities, or ensure growth. Therefore, it is imperative for all stakeholders to come together to address this situation urgently.

Context: During the fiscal 2021-22, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will launch data analytics driven MCA21 Version 3.0. 

• This Version will have additional modules for e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management. 
• MCA21 system is the first Mission Mode e-Governance project of Government of India.

About this Project

• MCA21 V3 Project is a technology-driven forward looking project, envisioned to strengthen enforcement, promote Ease of Doing Business, enhance user experience, facilitate seamless integration and data exchange among Regulators. 
• The project will have Micro-services architecture with high scalability and capabilities for advanced analytics.
• Aligned with global best practices and aided by emerging technologies such as AI and ML, MCA21 V3 is envisioned to transform the corporate regulatory environment in India. 
• Additionally, MCA21 V3 will have a cognitive chat bot enabled helpdesk, mobile apps, interactive user dashboards, enhanced user experience using UI/UX technologies, and seamless data dissemination through APIs.  

The key components of MCA21 to be launched during Fiscal Year 2021-22 are:

• e-Scrutiny: MCA is in process of setting up a Central Scrutiny Cell which will scrutinise certain Straight Through Process (STP) Forms filed by the corporates on the MCA21 registry and flag the companies for more in depth scrutiny.
• e-adjudication: E-adjudication module, has been conceptualised to manage the increased volume of adjudication proceedings by Registrar of Companies (RoC) and Regional Directors (RD) and will facilitate end to end digitisation of the process of adjudication, for the ease of users. It will provide a platform for conducting online hearings with stakeholders and end to end adjudication electronically.
• e-Consultation: To automate and enhance the current process of public consultation on proposed amendments and draft rules etc., e-consultation module of MCA21 v3 will provide an online platform wherein, proposed amendments/draft legislations will be posted on MCA’s website for external users/ comments and suggestions pertaining to the same in a structured digital format. Further, the system will also facilitate AI driven sentiment analysis, consolidation and categorization of stakeholders’ inputs and creation of reports on the basis thereof, for reference of MCA.

Additional Information
Compliance Management System (CMS)

• CMS will assist MCA in identifying non-compliant companies/LLPs, issuing e-notices to the said defaulting companies/LLPs, generating alerts for internal users of MCA. 
• CMS will serve as a technology platform/solution for conducting rule based compliance checks and undertaking enforcement drives of MCA wherein e-notices will be issued by MCA for effective administration of corporates.

MCA Lab

• As part of MCA21 V3, a MCA LAB is being set up, which will consist of corporate law experts. 
• The primary function of MCA Lab will be to evaluate the effectiveness of Compliance Management System, e-consultation module, enforcement module, etc. and suggest enhancements to the same on an on-going basis. 
• The Lab will help MCA in ensuring the correctness of results produced by these key modules in view of the dynamic corporate ecosystem.

Context: Recently, The Supreme Court has decided to examine a plea to transfer to itself cases pending in the Delhi and Rajasthan High Courts to declare a “uniform minimum age for Men and Women” for marriage.

• Various laws state that the minimum age for getting married should be 18 for women and 21 for men.

Need for increasing marriage age

• Early marriage thwarts women’s access to social life, civic associations, peer relations, education, work opportunities, skill development and rightful health.

Early marriages deny women of their rights of

• Attaining sexual reproductive and general health
• Emotional, physical, and mental maturity.

The early marriage in the long run of life is an exposure during the fertile years, depriving women of possessing rightful standard adulthood.

• Early pregnancy is highly probable in the case of under-age marriage, which increases the under-nourishment risk in young mothers.
• Younger mothers are twice more exposed to the undernourishment than the mothers at 25 or above.
• Early pregnancy in women can affect the country’s fertility rate and public health.
• Family disputes and divorces happen in early marriages.

Advantages of Increasing marriage age

• Will help to make sure that girls are not pushed into marriage early.
• Promotes fundamental principles of gender equality, gender justice, and dignity of women.
• An equal marriage age would brush away the presumptions that women mature at a younger age compared to men, prevails universally in the Indian society, triggering the underage marriages.
• The shift in the age to 21 could provide legal protection to women who are forced to give consent until they are 21, as the under-age marriages are regarded void.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, treats underage marriages as valid, but voidable.

• The raised age limit would give women opportunities to grow physically and mentally by investing their time in education, work, skill development, and advancement of social skills.

Disadvantages of increasing Marriageable Age for Girls

• It, has and will, become a tool for parental control on girls aged between 21 or less (Currently, only 18 or less) and for punishment of boys or men whom girls choose as their husbands.
• Increase the age of marriage to 21 years would mean that girls will have no say in their personal matters until they are 21.
• Despite the various strict laws prohibiting underage marriages, the number of such marriages in India is vast. So, merely, increasing marriageable age for girls will not stop underage marriages.

Key Facts

Article 139A of the constitution allows the transfer of certain cases

• Where cases involving the same or substantially the same questions of law are pending before the Supreme Court and one or more High Courts or before two or more High Courts.
• The Supreme Court may transfer any case, appeal or other proceedings pending before any High Court to any other High Court, if it deems it expedient so to do for the ends of justice.

Context: Recently, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has said the three-language policy is not applicable to offices of the Union government.

• The Ministry gave this response to a question filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on the recent CRPF event at Bhadravati in Shivamogga district, where the plaques unveiled to mark the foundation stone-laying ceremony were only in English and Hindi.

Background

• Official languages Act, 1963 provided the use of English in addition to Hindi for the official work at centre & for communication between the centre and non Hindi states would continue as long as non-Hindi states wanted it.
• Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.
• Article 344(1) provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution.
• Article 351 provides for the spread of the Hindi language to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India.
• It was first incorporated in the National Education Policy 1968 by the Indira Gandhi government.
• In Hindi-speaking states: English, Hindi, and a modern Indian language.
• Non-Hindi speaking states: English, Hindi, and one Indian language.
• The three-language formula sought to serve three functions namely, accommodating group identity, affirming national unity, and increasing administrative efficiency.
• In 1968, the three-language formula was implemented across the country, barring Tamil Nadu that adopted a two-language policy.
• Kannada activists and Opposition leaders, including former Chief Ministers H.D. Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah, said Kannada was ignored at the programme.
• Hundreds of people took to social media to criticise the Centre. Union Home Ministry has defended its stand citing the rules- “as per the provision of the Official Language Act, 1963, and the Official Language Rules, 1976, the provision of bilingual policy is applicable in the offices of the Central government.

Additional Information

• In the draft NEP 2020 a paragraph suggested that under the three-language formula, teaching/learning Hindi will be mandatory in those states where the language is not usually spoken. 
• Following protests by non-Hindi speaking states like Tamil Nadu, the Centre dropped the reference to mandatory learning of Hindi.
• The new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recommends that all students will learn three languages in their school under the 'formula'. At least two of the three languages should be native to India.
• For example: If a student in Mumbai is learning Marathi and English, he/she will have to choose to learn another Indian language.
• The choice of languages learnt will depend on the state and the students. 
• However, it is mandatory for at least two of the three languages to be native to the country – one of which is most likely to be the local/regional language.

Context: Recently, United Kingdom announced that it will apply to join the Pacific free trade area, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Key Points

• The step is taken one year after Britain left the European Union following more than forty years of membership.
• It will be the first new country to join the CPTPP.

Significance

• New partnership would bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain.
• It shows the ambition to do business on the best terms all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade.

About Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

• It is a free trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim nations: Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
• Aim: To remove trade barriers in the Asia-Pacific region in a bid to counter China's growing economic influence.
• The agreement is currently in force among 7 countries: Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam. 
• For others (Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru), it will enter into force 60 days after they have ratified the agreement.

Background

• CPTPP evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which never entered into force due to the withdrawal of the United States.
• In January 2018, participants agreed to suspend 22 items from the original TPP agreement. It was subsequently signed in March 2018, in Chile.

Significance

• It helps in creating jobs, strengthen economic relations and boost trade among important trading partners. 
• It will form a trading bloc representing 500 million consumers and 13.5% of global GDP, providing countries with preferential access to key markets in Asia and Latin America.
• It covers virtually all aspects of trade and investment.
• It establishes rules that help create a consistent, transparent and fair environment to do business in CPTPP markets.
• It covers key issues like technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs administration, transparency and state-owned enterprises.

Context: The World Economic Forum(WEF) has released the 16th edition of the Global Risk Report, 2021.

• Report findings are based on the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS). GRPS was undertaken by more than 650 members of leadership communities of WEF (World Economic Forum).
• Aim: To highlight the risks and consequences of widening inequalities and increasing societal fragmentation,  due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021 and over the next decade.

Key highlights

• Top Risk by Impact: The risk posed by infectious diseases has been ranked as no. 1 on the list of risks, while in 2020 was listed at 10th place. 
• Impact of Covid-19: The immediate human and economic cost of COVID-19 is huge. It threatens to scale back years of progress on reducing global poverty and inequality. It will also damage social cohesion and global cooperation. 
• Climate concerns: Despite the impact of COVID-19, climate-related matters make up the bulk of this year’s risk list. The report has described these threats as an existential threat to humanity.  
• Widening digital gaps: Digitalization which was accelerated by the pandemic is widening the digital gap between individuals and across countries. Thereby it is aggravating existing inequalities, polarization, and regulatory uncertainties. 
• Intensifying pressures on businesses: Businesses under increasing pressures from inward-looking national agendas, greater market concentration, and popular scrutiny and volatility. 

Recommendations: According to the report, response to COVID-19 offers four governance opportunities to strengthen the overall resilience of countries, businesses, and the international community: 

• Formulating analytical frameworks that take a holistic and systems-based view of risk impacts. 
• Investing in high-profile risk champions to encourage national leadership and international cooperation. 
• Improving risk communications and combating misinformation. 
• Exploring new forms of public-private partnership on risk preparedness. 

World Economic Forum

• Earlier in October 2020, the World Economic Forum released The Future of Jobs Report, 2020. According to the report, the COVID-19 will disrupt more than eighty-five million jobs by 2025.

Context: Recently, Myanmar’s Election Commission rejected allegations by the military that fraud played a significant role in determining the outcome of elections, in which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the majority of seats.

• The Myanmar military has taken over the country by declaring a year-long state of emergency on suspect of fraud in the recent elections, won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party sweeping 80% votes in the country.

Key Points

• Tensions were rising between the Army and the National League for Democracy (NLD) since the latter swept the polls.
• Myanmar’s powerful military chief had raised doubts about the election results even before the polls were held.
• NLD swept the polls by winning almost 80% of the vote.
• The USDP did not accept the result. The military backed the USDP’s allegations of fraud, without offering any evidence.
• However, Myanmar’s Election Commission rejected allegations by the military.
• Hours before the new Parliament was to convene, the Generals moved into action. They detained State Counsellor Suu Kyi, President and other top leaders; declared a state of emergency for a year; and took power in their hands.
• Now, Myanmar, which started a fragile transition to democracy 10 years ago after decades of military dictatorship, is back in the hands of the Generals.

Background

• The political climate in the junta-led Myanmar started changing around 2010.
• In 2008, the military had written a new Constitution that made sure the Generals’ interests would be protected even if there is a transition.
• Than Shwe, who had been ruling the country since 1992, shook up the power structure, promoted young soldiers who were loyal to him and conducted elections under the new Constitution.
• The NLD, which had not recognised the Constitution, boycotted the 2010 election, which the USDP won.
• In the next five years, the Army loosened its grip on the government and society. Political prisoners, including Ms. Suu Kyi, were released. Media censorship was eased.
• Suu Kyi’s party also changed its earlier position and accepted the Constitution.
• The NLD won the 2015 election, and formed the government, raising hopes that the country is on its way to full transition to democracy.

Issues

• The 2008 Constitution has enough clauses to prevent transition into a democracy. According to the Constitution, the President must have military experience and he himself, his spouse or children “shall not be subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country”.
• Suu Kyi, whose two sons are British citizens, cannot become President.
• The Constitution also mandates that the Defence and Interior Ministries be controlled by the military.
• 25% of the total seats in Parliament (166 out of the 664-member house) are reserved for the military, giving it a veto over any move to change the Constitution.
• Even when the Army allowed power to be transferred to an elected government, it made sure that it would continue to drive defence and internal security policies, and that the USDP, its political vehicle, has an edge over other parties in elections with the reserved seats in Parliament.

What Army wants?

• The timing of the coup is self-explanatory. It unfolded hours before the new Parliament was scheduled to convene.
• The 2020 elections were held after the Army launched a brutal crackdown on Rohingya in Rakhine State, which forced over 7,00,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee Myanmar.
• The 2015 and 2020 election results showed the growing popularity of Ms. Suu Kyi and the unpopularity of the military.
• Tensions have been rising between the NLD and the military ever since the November 2020 election.

What’s next?

• The Army says it has declared the emergency as the NLD government failed to act on its complaints on voter fraud.
• The NLD has called for protests against the coup.
• But Ms. Suu Kyi’s popularity and an energised NLD that was in power for five years would be an impediment for them. And their own unpopularity, a burden.

Global Reaction

• The U.S. has reacted harshly.
• India has expressed deep concerns.
• It is apparent that the Generals won’t face any heat from Beijing. This means, they could circumvent pressure from the U.S., even economic sanctions, by moving closer to China, which is already making huge investments in Myanmar.

Implications on India

• A pro-China tilt in Myanmar’s foreign policy could erode Indian influence in Myanmar.
• India will have to deal with the fallout of crackdowns on pro-democracy activists, which could prompt a flight of refugees into India.

Role of India

• Need to push for the restoration of democracy at the earliest.
• Must not ignore the humanitarian concerns and democratic commitments.

Context: Recently, experts recommended employing new tools such as Gene editing and Nanotechnology-based solutions in the Agriculture sector.
Need

• The need for new breeding technologies is essential if global crop production is to double by 2050 to meet the rising food demand. 
• Yield increases of 2.4% per year are required to meet the demand without putting more land under cultivation. 
• The annual production of cereals would need to go up by 50% to about three billion tonnes to provide for the 2050 population demand.
• Genome-edited crops had the potential to lower chemical fertilizer and pesticide use, reduce post-harvest losses while at the same time producing climate-resilient, nutrient-dense, and higher-yield crops.
• Nanotechnology is an emerging field of Indian agriculture.
• The use of nanotechnology for enhanced crop productivity can be a locally viable strategy for farmers, especially in exigencies.

What is  Gene editing?

• Gene/genome editing refers to technology that permits to change an organism’s DNA. 
• These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.
• Its applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops etc. 
• CRISPR technology is one of the tools used in gene editing. 
• Genomic editing is more accurate, faster, and less expensive compared to genetic modification.

Use Nanotechnology in Agriculture

• Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things which is about 1 to 100 nanometers.
• It can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.
• Nanotechnology in agriculture includes specific applications like nano fertilizers, nano pesticides, and targeted use of inputs to increase the productivity without decontamination of soil and water etc.
• Steps Taken: In 2007, the government launched a 5-year program called Nano Science and Technology Mission (NSTM) for research and promotion.
• Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture released ‘Guidelines for Evaluation of Nano-based Agri-input and food products in India’.

CRISPR technology

• The CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and was developed in the year 2012.
• CRISPRs are specialized stretches of DNA.
• The protein Cas9 (or “CRISPR-associated”) is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA. 
• It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function.
• CRISPR-Cas9 technology was set to revolutionise medicine — in the treatment of diseases such as sickle cell anaemia, for instance — and agriculture.
• The CRISPR-Cas9 tool has already contributed to significant gains in crop resilience, altering their genetic code to better withstand drought and pests.
• The technology has also led to innovative cancer treatments and many experts hope that it may help in curing the inherited diseases. 

Context: Recently, Stardust 1.0 has been launched from USA, which became the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel.

About Stardust 1.0

• Stardust 1.0 is a launch vehicle to launch small satellites called cubesats into space.
• It is 20 feet tall and has a mass of around 250 kg.
• The rocket can carry a maximum payload mass of 8 kg.
• It is powered by bio-derived fuels.
• It is relatively cheaper than traditional rocket fuels and less toxic for the environment.
• The rocket is manufactured by an aerospace company called blueshift.

About Biofuels

• Biofuel is any fuel that is derived from biomass i.e., plant or algae material or animal waste.
• These biomasses can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels.
• It is a renewable source of energy as feed stocks can be replenished readily.
• It is a cost-effective and environmentally benign alternative to petroleum and other fossil fuels.

Types of Biofuel

First generation biofuels: Produced from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology.

• Examples: Bio alcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bio ethers, Biogas, Syngas.

Second generation biofuels: Produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood).

• Examples: Biohydrogen, bio methanol.

Third generation biofuels: Produced from micro-organisms like algae.
Govt. initiatives on promoting biofuel
National Policy on Biofuels, 2018

• It envisages a strategic role for biofuels in the Indian Energy basket.
• Its aim is to achieve energy security of the country with a target of reducing import dependence i.e. usage of fossil fuels by 10% from 2014-15 levels by the year 2022.

First Generation Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme, 2003

• EBP progamme was started to empower Oil Marketing Companies to procure ethanol from domestic sources.
• Nodal ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• Objective: Sale of 5% ethanol blended Petrol.

Aim

• Reducing import dependency
• Conserving foreign exchange
• Reducing carbon emissions
• Provide boost to agriculture sector

Pradhan Mantri Jaiv lndhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran (PM JI-VAN) Yojana, 2019

• Aim: To incentivize 2G Ethanol sector and support this industry by creating a suitable ecosystem for setting up commercial projects and increasing Research & Development.

Promoting the use of Compressed Biogas (CBG)

• CBG is purified and compressed biogas generated in large biogas plant.
• It is also called as BioCNG as it is similar to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) but offers better calorific value.
• It is produced through a process of anaerobic decomposition from various waste/ biomass sources such as Agriculture residue, Cattle dung, Sugarcane press mud & spent wash of distilleries.
• It can be stored under pressure in gas cylinders for easy distribution.

Sustainable Alternative to Affordable Transport (SATAT) initiative

• In 2018, SATAT was launched by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas in association with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
• Aim: Setting up of Compressed Bio-Gas production plants and make it available in the market for use in automotive fuels by inviting Expression of Interest from potential entrepreneurs.
• Target: Production of 15 million metric tonnes (MMT) of CBG by 2023.

Key facts
Stardust Gen. 2

• It is a low-Earth orbit (LEO) vehicle.
• It is designed to fly a maximum payload of 30 kg.

New Shephard

• The rocket system is meant to take tourists to space.
• It offers flights to space over 100 km above Earth and accommodation for payloads.

Context: Recently, an alternative Smart Wall has been proposed to replace the physical and armed patrolling with advanced surveillance technology at the USA-Mexico border.

Key Points

• The Mexico–US barrier also known as the border wall is a series of vertical barriers along the border intended to reduce illegal immigration to the US.
• Biden’s decision was confirmed, however, that an alternative has been offered — a ‘smart’ wall that replaces the physical and armed patrolling with advanced surveillance tech is the proposed future of border security now.

What is the Smart Wall?

• The ‘smart wall’ technology could solve border security issues without the need for a physical barrier.
• The wall would use sensors, radars, and surveillance technology to detect and track border break-ins, and technology capable of performing the most difficult tasks dedicated to border security.
• The complete system of a virtual wall would consist of a radar satellite, computer-equipped border-control vehicles, control sensors and underground sensors.
• Along with surveillance towers and cameras, thermal imaging would be used, which would help in the detection of objects.
• The system would even be capable of distinguishing between animals, humans, and vehicles, and then sending updates to handheld mobile devices of the patrol agents.

Not a new concept

• The concept is not new and the novelty of it cannot be directly associated with Biden.
• Interestingly, the U.S.-Mexico border wall proposed by Donald Trump envisaged this concept.
• A technology firm was sought to be hired by the Trump administration, and it was indicated that artificial intelligence shall be used at a novel scale to complement the steel barrier (border wall).

Feasibility for India

• A question that now arises is whether such a project can be undertaken to secure Indian borders.
• India has been struggling with the problem of terrorists and smugglers infiltrating into the country and efforts are ongoing to secure our borders and curb cross-border infiltration.
• Therefore, it is proposed that it is high time we start envisaging the use of technology to help India secure its borders.

Smart Fencing in India

• Two pilot projects covering about 71 Kms on Indo-Pakistan Border (10 Kms) and Indo-Bangladesh Border (61 Kms) of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) have been completed.
• CIBMS involves deployment of a range of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies — thermal imagers, infra-red and laser-based intruder alarms, aerostats for aerial surveillance, unattended ground sensors that can help detect intrusion bids, radars, sonar systems to secure riverine borders, fibre-optic sensors and a command and control system that shall receive data from all surveillance devices in real time.
• BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique) under CIBMS on Indo- Bangladesh border in Dhubri district of Assam is also being used.

Various challenges

• A critical factor that must be considered to enable the usage of such a system along Indian borders is that the terrain in the region is rugged, and, furthermore, not even clearly defined.
• Hence, erecting fences, walls or any physical structures is extremely difficult.
• A “smart” wall, however, makes use of systems that would be designed in such a way that they can operate even in rugged areas.
• Imperatively, in the US various other benefits, such as cost-effectiveness, less damage to the environment, fewer land seizures, and speedier deployment are being noted.
• This gives the concept an edge over traditional borders.

Benefits that Indian can reap

• Notably, such a system, even if not feasible for our long boundaries, may still be deployed to enhance critical security establishments of the country and complement the already-existing physical fencing and walls.
• This can no doubt secure the major infiltration areas.

Road Ahead

• The attack on the Pathankot Airbase highlighted that often, it may become difficult to secure establishments due to their vast size.
• Further, it is imperative for Indian armed forces to be well-equipped and simultaneously have the latest technological advantage over its enemies.
• Experts must explore this idea to effectively counter the problem of cross-border infiltration.
• Is it unfathomable to deploy a security system that clubs technology with traditional set-ups due to terrain and other problematic factors? This is a question for Digital India to answer.

Context: Recently, the Centre has extended the tenure of The Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Background

• OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
• In September 2020, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reopened the legal debate on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations.
• The debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among the over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this 27% reservation.

What is sub-categorisation of OBCs?

• The argument for sub-categorisation or creating categories within OBCs for reservation is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.
• The Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is headed by Justice G Rohini.

Terms of References for OBC Sub-Categorisation
It was originally set up with three terms of reference, but the fourth term of reference was recently added by the Cabinet. The terms of reference are:

• To examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List;
• To work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs;
• To take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories
• To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.

Extent of OBC recruitment in central jobs
As per the report submitted to the NCBC by the Department of Personnel and Training in July 2020, OBC representation is:

• 16.51 % in group-A central government services,
• 13.38 % in group-B,
• 21.25 % in group-C (excluding safai karmacharis) and
• 17.72 % in group-C (safai karmacharis).

It was observed that a number of posts reserved for OBCs were being filled by people of general category as OBC candidates were declared “NFS” (None Found Suitable).

Reservation in India

• It is a system of affirmative action that provides representation for historically and currently disadvantaged groups in Indian society w.r.t to education, employment and politics. 
• Under Articles 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution, it allows the government to set quotas to ensure any "socially and educationally backward classes of citizens" is properly represented in public life. 
• It is intended to realize the promise of equality enshrined in the Preamble of our Constitution.
• Article 15(4) allows the state to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
• Article 16(4) allows the state to make special provisions for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
• The Indira Sawhney Case recognized socially and economically backward classes as a category and recognized the validity of the 27 percent reservation. 
• It laid down a 50 percent limit on reservations and observed that economic, social and educational criteria were needed to define backward classes.

Current Reservation System

• Scheduled Castes (SCs) - 15%
• Scheduled Tribes (STs) - 7.5%
• Other Backward Classes (OBCs) - 27%
• Economic Weaker Sections (EWS) - 10% 

Context: Matua community are staging protest over delaying an announcement about implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019.

• They have been demanding citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

About Matua community

• Matuas are a community of Schedule Caste Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh, spread in several parts of North 24-Parganas and Nadia districts and some parts in north Bengal.
• They entered West Bengal after Partition and after the formation of Bangladesh.
• They live on either side of the Bengal border.

About Matua Mahasangha

• The Matua Mahasangha was formed by Harichand Thakur in East Bengal in the 1860s.
• It is a religious movement and a sect of folk Hinduism, following Vaishnavism.
• They don’t follow Chaturvarna system of Hinduism.
• They believe in Swayam-Dikshiti.
• They belong to the Namasudras family, Political representation of Matua community
• Matua community constitute the second largest SC population of West Bengal with around 17% of the state’s electorate.
• They can influence the election results in directly 40-45 and indirectly 30 of the 294 Assembly seats of West Bengal.
• They have currently at least six parliamentary seats representation.

Issues of Matuas related to citizenship

• The Matuas were demanding an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 2003, whose provisions made it difficult for refugees to get citizenship.
• With an amendment in Citizenship Act in 2019, they are given hope to get the citizenship of India.
• But the implementation of CAA is lacked with clarity, which is upsetting the Matuas community.

Context: Recently, the government has provided that the beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) have crossed 1.75 crores.

Need for PMMVY

• In India, every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anemic and an undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby.
• India has been performing poorly with respect to maternal and child nutrition despite the consistent efforts undertaken by the government in this sector.
• It was accounted that only 21% of the pregnant women attain full ante-natal checkups and 37 out of every 1000 infants born died within the first year of birth in 2018.

About Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)

• It is a Maternity Benefit Programme which is implemented in all the districts of the country.
• Under PMMVY, a cash incentive of Rs.5000 is provided directly to the Bank / Post Office Account of Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for first living child of the family.
• The cash incentive is given to all the eligible women who are above 19 years in age in three instalments -first, second and third i.e. for Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively.
• In the case of a miscarriage or still birth, a beneficiary would be eligible to claim the remaining instalment(s) for a future pregnancy.
• It is implemented using the platform of Anganwadi Services scheme of Umbrella ICDS under Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• It is implemented through a centrally deployed Web Based MIS Software application and the focal point of implementation would be the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) and ASHA/ ANM workers.

Targeted Beneficiaries of PMMVY

• All pregnant women and lactating mothers excluding the ones who are in regular employment with the Central/State Government or Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law.
• All eligible pregnant women and lactating mothers who have their pregnancy on or after January 01, 2017 for the first child in the family.

Significance of PMMVY

• The objective of the PMMVY scheme is to give compensation to the loss of wages for working women and also to ensure that they can take proper rest.
• The eligible beneficiaries would receive the incentive given under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) for Institutional delivery.
• The incentive received under JSY would be accounted towards maternity benefits so that on an average a woman gets Rs 6000.
• The PMMVY-CAS application is interoperable with UIDAI and Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for authentication of unique beneficiaries and their Bank Accounts.
• The Scheme is 100 percent Local Government Directory (LGD) compliant with a uniform master data of all villages/towns/cities throughout the Country on one platform, i.e. PMMVY-CAS.

Challenges to PMMVY

• Slow process since its launch: The implementation of the scheme was expected to be slow on account of the initial measures that needed to be taken while executing it.
• Delay in verification process: The scheme consumed a lot of time specifically with regards to creating a list of recipients, getting the details verified under Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and sharing information with the central government’s public finance management system.
• Lack of interest and motivation in beneficiaries: Only 2.1 lakh were found to be registered as per the official data of government and only 10,000 women received the benefits of the scheme in 2018.
• Delay in disbursement of payments: The government is dependent on the working schedule of commercial banks, post offices and cooperative/rural banks for the disbursement of payments.
• The delays in schedule and loopholes act as major challenges to the government’s implementing the scheme effectively.

Context: World Leprosy Day takes place on the last Sunday of January* worldwide. On World Leprosy Day we raise public awareness of leprosy, including the medical and social implications of the disease and the rights of persons affected. Social media campaigns, community parades, school programming, and cultural events are held around the world in the weeks leading up to World Leprosy Day.

Significance of Leprosy Day

• In India, in the year 2021, the day is being observed on January 30, which is also remembered as the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation.

About Leprosy

• Leprosy is also known as Hansen’s disease.
• It is known to occur at all ages ranging from early infancy to very old age.
• It is curable and early treatment averts most disabilities.

Causes

• It is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a rod-shaped bacillus that is an obligate intracellular (only grows inside of certain human and animal cells) bacterium.

Transmission

• The infection is spread from person to person by nasal secretions or droplets.
• Leprosy is rarely transmitted from chimpanzees, mangabey monkeys, and nine-banded armadillos to humans.

Effects

• The disease develops slowly (from six months to 40 years) and results in skin lesions and deformities.
• It most often affects the cooler places on the body (for example, eyes, nose, earlobes, hands, feet, and testicles).
• The disease is similar to tuberculosis, because it produces inflammatory nodules (granulomas) in the skin and nerves over time.

Leprosy in India

• In 2014, India had the largest number of latest leprosy cases globally.
• India, has reported a decreasing number of new cases for the past years, by nearly 15,000 cases (135,485 in 2016 to 120,334 in 2017–2018) and reduction in new paediatric cases, to less than 10,000 (9227 in 2018).
• Although, a serious hurdle is that the social stigma related to leprosy as well as lots of persons affected by leprosy still be outcast from society.
• The Law Commission has prepared a model draft legislation, titled “Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons affected by leprosy (EDPAL) Bill, 2015”.
• This draft law contains principles of equal protection that must be provided to all persons affected by leprosy or members of their family.

Challenges to tackle Leprosy in India

Operational

• Human resources capacity and motivation
• Programme management capacity and poor infrastructure
• Referral services and linkages
• Coordination and establishment of partnerships
• Empowerment of various stakeholders

Technical

• Continued occurrence of new cases
• Quality of care
• No Early detection of cases
• Poor Laboratory services

Social/economical/cultural

• Difficulty of integrating persons affected by leprosy and their acceptance in the community
• Low knowledge of the population about the disease - changing health-seeking behaviour
• Access to health-care services/leprosy services

Government efforts to eradicate Leprosy

1) National Leprosy Elimination Project

• Early detection through active surveillance by the trained health workers.
• Regular treatment of cases by providing Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) at fixed in or centres a nearby village of moderate to low endemic areas/district.

2) SPARSH Leprosy Awareness Campaign:

• In order to reduce stigma and discrimination, the Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign (SLAC) was launched on 30th January, 2017.

3) National Leprosy Eradication Programme 2019

• Aims at reducing the disease burden, prevention of disability and to improve awareness among the mass about Leprosy and its curability.

Context: The overall objective of the “NaiRoshni” scheme is to embolden the minority women to move out of the confines of their homes and community and assume leadership roles in society

About “NAI ROSHNI SCHEME”

• “NaiRoshni”, a scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women is being implemented across India with an aim to empower and instill confidence in women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels. 
• This includes empowerment of the trainee women so that they become independent and confident members of the society. 
• The overall objective of the scheme is to embolden the minority women to move out of the confines of their homes and community and assume leadership roles in society. 
• The scheme provides for six days training programme followed by handholding for a period of one year. 

The training is provided on various pre-designed Training modules covering issues relating to women viz.

• Leadership of Women through participation in decision making;
• Educational Programmes for women, Health and Hygiene;
• Legal rights of women, Financial Literacy, Digital Literacy, Swachh Bharat, Life Skills, and Advocacy for Social and Behaviourial change. 

Implemention: The Scheme is being implemented through Non-Governmental Organisations empanelled under the  NaiRoshni Scheme as per scheme guidelines in force.
Nai Roshni Scheme Target Group

• Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Zoroastrian (Parsi) and Jain women notified under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 come under the target group.
• However, to further increase the strength of the mosaic of plurality in society and bring about solidarity and unity through their own efforts to improve their lot, the scheme permits a mix of women from non-minority communities not exceeding 25% of a project proposal.
• Efforts should be made by the organization so that a representative mix of women comes up from SCs/STs/OBCs. Also, women with disabilities and other communities are included within this 25% group.

Additional Information

• While NaiRoshni scheme targets women beneficiaries specifically, other schemes of the Ministry also lay lot of emphasis on minority women. 
• In SeekhoAurKamao (Learn & Earn) Scheme, 33% of the total beneficiaries are women.
• Similarly in NaiManzilscheme , 30% of the total beneficiaries are women. These schemes help in economic empowerment of the Minority women.

For More: https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/NTI3MAEEQQVVEEQQVV/Schemes-for-Minorities-Social-Issues-IAS

Context: The Government has been implementing the National Family Planning Program which provides voluntary and informed choices to the beneficiaries through a target free approach with the objective of checking population increase in the country.

• A National Population Policy has been formulated in the year 2000 with the long-term objective of attaining population stabilisation by 2045.

Various initiatives have been taken under the National Family Planning Program providing broad range of services mentioned as follows:

• New Contraceptive Choices: The current contraceptive basket comprising of Condoms, combined oral contraceptive pills, emergency contraceptive pills, Intrauterine contraceptive uterine device (IUCD) and sterilization has been expanded with inclusion of two new contraceptives- Injectable contraceptive (Antara programme) and Centchroman (Chhaya)
• Post-partum Intrauterine contraceptive device(PPIUCD) incentive scheme under which PPIUCD services are provided post delivery.
• Compensation scheme for sterilization acceptors which provides compensation for loss of wages to the beneficiary and also to the service provider and team for conducting sterilisation. 
• National Family Planning Indemnity Scheme (NFPIS) under which clients are compensated in the eventualities of death, complication and failure following sterilization operations. 
• Family Planning Logistics Management Information System (FP-LMIS): dedicated software has been launched to ensure smooth forecasting, procurement and distribution of family planning commodities across all the levels of health facilities.
• Mission ParivarVikas: Mission ParivarVikas has been introduced for substantially increasing access to contraceptives and family planning services in seven high focus states having TFR of more than 3 namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam..
• Scheme for Home Delivery of contraceptives by ASHAs at doorstep of beneficiaries has been taken up.
• Scheme for provision of Pregnancy Testing Kits in the drug kits of ASHA for use in communities.

The National Family Planning Programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is working closely with the states and UTs to provide technical support and guidance under overall tenets of the National Population Policy 2000 and oversees its implementation.

The following schemes provide for involvement of private partnerships for provisioning of Family Planning services

• Accreditation/ Empanelment of private facilities/providers: The private facilities/providers are accredited/ empanelled through State/District Quality Indemnity sub committee for provision of free sterilization services. The accredited facilities are also provided indemnity coverage.
• Clinical Outreach Teams (COT) Scheme provides for family planning services through mobile teams from accredited organizations in far-flung, underserved and geographically difficult areas in the seven Mission ParivarVikas States namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam.

Context: The Centre is on track to push the 2021 Census to 2022 on account of the country’s continuing preoccupation with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Census

• Population Census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, to all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a country. As such, the census provides a snapshot of the country’s population and housing at a given point of time.
• The census provides information on size, distribution and socio-economic, demographic and other characteristics of the country’s population. The data collected through the census are used for administration, planning and policy making as well as management and evaluation of various programmes by the government, NGOs, researchers, commercial and private enterprises, etc.

Key Points

• The Census exercise was to have been conducted in two phases — House Listing and Housing Census from April to September 2020 and Population Enumeration from February 9 to February 28, 2021.
• The first phase of the Census and the updating of the National Population Register (NPR) were initially to be rolled out in some States on April 1, 2020, but were postponed due to the pandemic. 
• The plan to shift the census is on account of the pandemic.
• The government has been fully occupied in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. First, it was the measures taken to deal with the pandemic and now the massive vaccination programme under way across the country.

Census of India

• The decennial Census of India has been conducted 15 times, as of 2011.
• While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881.
• Post 1949, it has been conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
• All the censuses since 1951 were conducted under the 1948 Census of India Act. The last census was held in 2011, whilst the next will be held in 2021.

Context: Recently, UNICEF Office of Research and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has published a new report, titled “COVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom”.

• According to the Report More than 39 billion school meals missed during COVID-19 pandemic.
• The UN WEP has been supporting governments to adapt their school meals programs during school closures.

Key Findings of the Report

• More than 39 billion in-school meals were missed globally due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• About 24 million schoolchildren are at a risk of dropping out of school due to the pandemic, which would reverse global progress made on school enrollment.
• The coverage of essential nutrition services such as feeding in schools, supplementing micronutrients, promoting nutrition, etc. dropped overall 30% in low- and middle-income countries.

The largest number of beneficiaries (in million) of school-feeding programmes are in:

• India (100)
• Brazil (48)
• China (44)
• South Africa (9)
• Nigeria (9)

Importance of schools

• Schools play an important role in the direct provision of health and nutrition services in the first 8,000 days of a child’s life that are critical for their development.
• The loss of education caused by school closures can impact the health and nutrition of children in the long term.
• Evidence from India and Ghana show that food insecurity during childhood reduced reading and numeracy scores as well as short-term memory.

Suggestion

• Identify and reach out to vulnerable children in the first 8,000 days who are at greatest risk of deteriorating nutrition outcomes due to suspension of school feeding programmes.
• Household assessment and data collection at the household level is a necessary first step to minimizing these effects through interventions with school-aged children.
• Prioritize reopening schools and take all possible measures to reopen safely as school-based targeting and delivery of nutrition are more cost effective and substantial benefits in education and health outcomes.
• Adapt traditional school feeding programmes as take-home rations or cash transfers when schools are closed, so that the children who need it most continue to receive this vital source of support and food.
• Leverage the power of school feeding programmes to encourage children, especially girls and the vulnerable, to return to school post-crisis.
• The school feeding programmes can increase enrolment and attendance.
• Countries can redesign the existing programme with the quality of diets and food-fortification options post COVID-19 crisis.

Context: Budget 2021 has recognised a core component of urbanisation with a clear focus on the expansion of Metro Rail and bus services through central funding.
Transportation and economic development

• Comfortable, safe and affordable commuting has well-recognised multiplier effects for the economy.
• It has benefits, more generally for public health.
• However, COVID-19 has had the perverse effect of driving people away to the safety of the personal car and two-wheeler bubbles.
• When the pandemic is under control, more people will return to clean and green mass mobility.

Provisions in the Union Budget 2021-22 to improve public transport

• Finance Minister’s announcement of Central funding for the Kochi, Chennai and Bengaluru Metro projects gives these big cities greater certainty that they can meet targets.
• The impact of the proposed Rs18,000 crore plan to augment public bus transport using a PPP model that will enable private sector players to finance, acquire, operate and maintain over 20,000 buses is, however, uncertain.
• As per the NITI Aayog data, India’s ratio of buses to population is a low 1.2 per 1,000 people.
• It is 8.6 in Thailand and 6.5 in South Africa.
• Nevertheless, states like Karnataka are well ahead of the national average.
• Licensed private urban bus services remain a politically sensitive topic in many States, where State monopolies coexist with unregulated paratransit.
• It will take a major effort to convince them that a bus renaissance is a good post-pandemic recovery strategy.
• The amended Motor Vehicles Act has provisions for the Centre to take the lead here.

Challenges

• Census 2011 showed that the number of Census Towns, which are urban for census purposes but not named urban local bodies, grew tremendously over a decade.
• They lack access to funding, infrastructure and capacity to meet the needs of large populations even now.
• The challenge of urbanisation goes beyond standalone interventions such as Metro and bus system grants.
• State governments, which retain effective control over urban development rather than city administrations, have failed to operationalise the umbrella authorities to regulate transport.
• Common mobility cards that would help citizens use bus, train and feeder networks seamlessly were largely in pilot project mode even before the pandemic.
• There is valid criticism that the existing paradigm is one of “exclusionary urbanisation”, which makes Metro and bus services expensive for the majority, particularly for those forced to live in the suburbs due to housing costs, and sometimes making the per kilometre cost of using a two-wheeler more attractive.

Road Ahead

• Enhanced ambition requires the Centre to work with State governments to integrate key areas with its transport vision.
• Affordable inner-city housing, including rental projects, access to civic services and health care, and enhanced sustainability, greenery and walkability are needed.
• All these are covered by Central budgetary schemes for cities. Only integration can bring about inclusive urbanisation.