Context: Farm groups have ended the protests against the three agricultural laws. In this article we discuss how Setback for reforms in agriculture hinder the overall status of marginal and small farmers.
Key Points

• The decision to repeal Farm laws announced by Prime Minister & subsequent repeal of the farm laws in the winter session of the Parliament, is indeed a sad news from the point of view of the 86% small & marginal farmers in the country, who are at the receiving end in the present system of APMCs, or what are popularly called Mandis.
• Obviously, it was the political compulsion which possibly forced the Central Government to shelve the much-touted reforms in agriculture, which had the potential to transform the rural economy, besides giving boost to the incomes of small& marginal farmers, who had been neglected so far, by the successive governments.

Key Reason behind shrinking incomes of small& marginal farmers

• The Green Revolution policies have benefitted only those who grow wheat, rice, and sugar and in limited regions. These policies offered heavily subsidised inputs and an assured market and price for their products.
• For the majority of the farmers growing other crops and dependent on the monopolistic licensed marketing system, it has been a case of diminishing returns. For instance, according to the data released by the statistics office, farm income growth for (2013-2019), the all-India average earning per household stood at Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000.
• By repealing the laws, the government has missed a big opportunity to introduce meaningful reform in Indian agriculture to increase farm incomes.

Why repealing farm laws is a setback for reforms?

• Price support schemes were introduced as a solution to increase farm incomes. However, this proved of limited value and have imposed heavy burdens on government finances.
• Now, several states have started recognising that farmers urgently need marketing freedom to obtain better prices for their products and amended their marketing laws.
• Had the farm laws been passed, it would have enabled this process on an all-India scale. However, such reforms will now have to wait.

Road Ahead

• First, the government should engage with farmers from across the country to find feasible ways to increase farm incomes.
• Second, increasing the ambit of MSP could permanently damage the prospects of reform in the agriculture sector and must be avoided.

Context: Recently, India surpassed Brazil in food exports to the League of Arab States for the first time in 15 years as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade flows in 2020, according to data provided by the Arab-Brazil Chamber of Commerce.
Key Points

• The Arab world is among Brazil's most important trade partners, but its distance from those markets took its toll as the pandemic rattled global logistics.
• The US, Australia and the Netherlands were the top destinations of India's goods but those to China, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania declined. 
• Brazil accounted for 8.15% of the total agribusiness products imported by the 22 League members last year, whereas India captured 8.25% of that trade, ending Brazil's 15-year advantage, the data showed.

Key Reason

• Despite remaining competitive "from the farm gate in," Brazil lost ground to India and other exporters such as Turkey, the United States, France and Argentina amid a disruption of traditional shipping routes.
• Brazilian shipments to Saudi Arabia that once took 30 days could now take up to 60 days, according to the Chamber, whereas India's geographic advantages allow it to ship fruits, vegetables, sugar, grains and meat in as little as week.

India’s food export

• India’s export of processed food products has witnessed a growth of 26.51% in Rupee term during April-February (2020-21) as compared to the same period during the previous year (2019-20).
• Total value of the export of processed products was Rs. 43,798 crores during April-February 2021.

Government of India initiatives to promote food export
For boosting agricultural and processed food products exports, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) initiated a series of measures that include:

• Virtual buyer-seller meet
• Product promotion meeting
• Creation of products specific export promotion forums
• Ensuring market access through organizing exports promotion activities

Major processed food products exported from India include pulses, processed vegetables, processed fruits, and juices.

• Agriculture and Processed Foods Export Promotion Scheme: Financial assistance under this Scheme of APEDA for the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework was provided for infrastructure Development, Quality Development and Market Promotion.
• Export promotion of GI products: APEDA has taken initiative to promote exports of products which registered with Geographical Indications (GI) certification in India.
• Opening up market access &export promotion in international markets: APEDA has played an important role in opening up of new market for agricultural products in the recent past such as Canada, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Portugal, Indonesia, Iran etc.

About Arab league

• The Arab League, officially the League of Arab States, is a union of Arabic-speaking African and Asian countries.
• It includes Northern, Western & Eastern Africa and Western Asia.
• Administrative center: Cairo, Egypt
• Formed in: Cairo, 22 March 1945
• Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are founding members.

Aim

• To draw closer the relations between member states and co-ordinate collaboration between them.
• To safeguard their independence and sovereignty.
• To consider in a general way the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.
• Each member’s representative has one vote, irrespective of their country’s size.
• The council meets twice a year, in March and September.
• They may convene a special session at the request of two members.

Context: Virtual currencies created using blockchain technology have been the subject of great speculation and discussion in recent times.

• In this article we discuss, Before debating on whether to ban private cryptocurrency, it is prudent first to understand what cryptocurrencies are.

About Cryptocurrencies

• They are digital encrypted tokens that can be transferred between two parties without the need for a centralised regulator.
• The facilitators of the transaction work to verify a transaction individually and maintain a public ledger open for anyone to see.

No intrinsic value

• Cryptocurrencies are not ‘untraceable’ as most believe; in fact, it happens to be more traceable than currency notes due to the public ledger leaving a clear trail.
• In addition, when discussing the merits of cryptocurrencies, one must understand that it possesses no intrinsic value. 
• Stocks provide partial ownership of a firm that produces goods and services, bonds provide a steady source of income, and gold has inherent metal value. 
• Cryptocurrencies are non-productive assets that are merely traded because there is demand for it.

Ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had stated recently in a TV interview that “a lot of cryptos have value only because there is a greater fool out there willing to buy”.

• Cryptocurrencies are supernaturally similar to the tulip mania of 1636, when tulips were being traded for the sake of turning a profit. 
• Another essential point to note is that although theoretically there is a scarcity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, that does not mean anything in terms of economics because there needs to be a particular purpose that will sustain demand for the asset.

Some claim that Bitcoin and other private cryptocurrencies are a new revolution in currencies and the monetary system. 

• No central bank or government around the world would be interested in relinquishing power over the money supply. 
• Private cryptocurrencies being adopted as a legitimate currency in the nation will spell the end of regulation and economic intervention by the central bank.
• This is because central banks require the ability to manipulate the money supply to intervene during a crisis. 
• Private cryptocurrencies strip the central bank of this power, leaving the central bank effectively unable to set interest rates and control the money supply efficiently. In a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it would become challenging for monetary regulators to step in and aid a wounded economy.

Therefore, it is improbable for any notable government to favour and encourage private cryptocurrencies for these reasons. 

• Moreover, due to speculation, cryptocurrencies ensure that they can never act as a measure of the value of goods and services. For a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin to be accepted as a currency, it has to price goods. Bitcoin, an extremely volatile cryptocurrency (like its counterparts), cannot act as a currency in a stable economy.

Ban on cryptos

• Although a particular country can choose to ban private cryptocurrencies, that this does not mean anything to the asset as a whole is untrue. The significant advantage which cryptocurrencies pose, which is decentralisation, leads to its downfall.
• Any government with large enough pockets can decide to take down the cryptocurrency by destroying its monetary value. The incentive for miners and other participants to maintain the system is financial.
• If the price of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin were to drop to 0, it would be devastating. The act of a significant government announcing its intention to take down cryptocurrencies would leave a considerable dent in the price. Additionally, cryptocurrency mining takes up a substantial amount of a country’s resources which could be put to more productive uses.
• It is crucial for governments worldwide to decide on a course of action regarding this growing technology and equip themselves accordingly.
• The longer it takes for regulators to implement a plan, the greater there is to lose as the amount of money being channeled into the asset grows further. Unfortunately, all bubbles come to an abrupt end leaving many financially distraught.

Conclusion

• Those who invest in cryptocurrencies need to understand that they are speculating(to make a guess about something) rather than investing. It follows that while speculating, one takes comprehensive care to know what they are getting into. Therefore, it is vital that an individual does not stake their financial security upon this novel asset.

Context: Great Resignation’ crisis seems to be taking over India as more people quit jobs post-Covid.
Note: The Great Resignation is a phenomenon that describes record numbers of people leaving their jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

• The resignations appear to be a sequel to the supply chain crisis that we are facing. Disruption in labour, especially skilled labour, takes a long time to fix.

Key Trend

• Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index shows 62 percent of India’s workforce has the intention of switching jobs this year, compared to an average of 41 percent globally
• Over 3.4% of the US workforce to leave their jobs every month. Yes, the trend is real: companies like Amazon are losing more than a third of their workers each year, forcing employers to ramp up hiring like we have never seen before.
• Today more than 45% of employees now work remotely (25% full time), which means changing jobs is a simple as getting a new email address. 
• Only 11% of companies offer formal career programs for employees, so in many cases, the only opportunity to grow is by leaving. And wages, benefits, and working conditions are all a “work in process.”

What is 'The Great Resignation'?
The Great Resignation is an idea proposed by Professor Anthony Klotz of Texas A&M University that predicts a large number of people leaving their jobs after the COVID pandemic ends and life returns to "normal."

• Companies now have to navigate the ripple effects of the pandemic and re-evaluate how to retain talent.

Global companies revealed two trends

• Resignation rates are highest among mid-career employees.
• Resignation rates are highest in the technology and healthcare industries.

What's causing the Great Resignation?
Industries with low location and time independence:

• These are business models that are characterized by close proximity of location and time, which implies that providers and receivers of a product or service are at the same place at the same time. 
• These are businesses like dine in restaurants, ship cruises, sporting events, music concerts, passenger airlines, etc.
• All these business models suffer severely from such a crisis due to the nature of their business model which has cascading effects on workers, their participation, motivation, and wellbeing. 
• Services provided at a specific place, but where provider and receiver don’t need to be there at the same time have done slightly better. 

Virtual and remote work

• For white-collar workers, the pandemic afforded many new perks such as the ability to work from home, greater flexibility, a more balanced work-life balance – which were unheard of pre pandemic.
• During the pandemic, some of the most popular employers have announced that their workers never have to come back into the office regularly again, so it certainly will become an issue of employer attractiveness.

What does this mean for the future?

• You have to run your company as if every employee has one foot out the door. 
• It’s time to ramp up your Employee Experience program, focus managers on listening and supporting people, and seriously invest in career pathways and internal growth for your staff.

?Road Ahead

• The Great Resignation is not just an interesting trend from the pandemic. It’s a permanent and long-lasting change in our workforce. And it’s one that’s good for workers and wages, but will put many employers under stress.
• The Great Resignation is a big deal, but let’s use it to our advantage. As we enter 2022 it’s time to focus on your people strategy first. The rest of the business will be glad you did.

Context: Recently, 46 lakh unorganized workers have been registered under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan pension scheme.
About the Scheme

• Launched by: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Labour & Employment in 2019.
• Implementation through: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and CSC eGovernance Services India Limited (CSC SPV). 
• LIC is the Pension Fund Manager and responsible for Pension pay out. 

Aim

• To provide old age protection in the form of a monthly pension.
• To provide social security for Unorganised Workers.

Benefits

• Under this scheme, a minimum assured monthly pension of Rs 3000 will be provided to the unorganized workers after attaining the age of 60 years.
• If the subscriber dies, the spouse of the beneficiary shall be entitled to receive 50% of the pension as a family pension.
• It is Voluntary and Contributory Pension Scheme. In this, 50% prescribed age-specific contribution is made by the beneficiary and the matching contribution by the Central Government.

Eligibility

• Should be an unorganized worker (UW)
• Entry age between 18 and 40 years
• Monthly Income Rs 15000 or below

Should Not be

• Engaged in Organized Sector (membership of EPF/NPS/ESIC)
• An income taxpayer

Should be having

• Aadhar card
• Savings Bank Account / Jan Dhan account number with IFSC

Context: The top one per cent of the population in India owns more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021 while the bottom half earns just 13.1 per cent, said the World Inequality Report. 
About the Report

• This report was authored by Lucas Chancel, who is the co-director of World Inequality Lab.
• It was coordinated by famed French economist Thomas Piketty.

Key Findings of the report

• Report notes that, top 1 % of the India’s population owns more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021.
• The bottom half of the population earns just 13.1 per cent.
• It highlights that, economic reforms and liberalization that India has adopted, have mostly benefited the top 1 percent.
• Report identifies India as a poor and an unequal country, with an affluent elite.
• 1 percent richest people in India hold 22% of the total national income in 2021, while the top 10 % owns 57 per cent of the income.
• Average national income of the Indian adult population is Rs 204,200 in 2021, on the basis of purchasing power parity.
• However, report clarified that average national income of a country masks inequalities.

Income Gap

• When it comes to the BRICS nations, South Africa and Brazil have wider income inequalities than India. 
• The income gap between the 10 ten per cent and the bottom 50 per cent stood at one to 63 in South Africa and one to 29 in Brazil. In both China and Russia, it was one to 14.
• The ratio in the richest nation, the US, is 1 to 17.
• When it comes to the world, the richest ten of the global population currently take 52 per cent of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8.5 per cent of it
• In India: The income gap between top 10 percent and bottom 50 percent in India is 1 to 22 in 2021. The report noted India as one of the most unequal countries worldwide.

Inequality in British India

• Inequality in India has widened as compared to British rule. Report finds that, Indian income inequality was very high under British colonial rule, during 1858-1947. Top ten per cent of the population shared around 50 per cent of the national income.

Level of Gender inequalities

• These are very high. The female labour income share is equal to 18 per cent, significantly lower than the average in Asia, excluding China, at 21 per cent.
• "This value is one of the lowest in the world, slightly higher than the average share in West Asia at 15 per cent. The significant increase, eight percentage points, observed since 1990 has been insufficient to lift women’s labour income share to the regional average," the report said.

Level of Carbon inequality

• India is a low carbon emitter. The average per capita consumption of greenhouse gas is equal to just over 2 CO2e. These levels are typically comparable with carbon footprints in sub-Saharan African countries. The bottom 50 per cent consume one, the middle 40 per cent 2 and the top ten per cent, 9 CO2e/capita.
• A person in the bottom 50 per cent of the population in India is responsible for, on average, five times fewer emissions than the average person in the bottom 50 per cent in the European Union and 10 times fewer than the average person in the bottom 50 per cent in the US.

Context: There was a split in Rajya Sabha over a Bill on mandating 25% of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds used for restoration, management and maintenance of ancient monuments and archaeological sites.
What are CSR Funds?

• Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept, whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment.
• The companies integrate social and other useful concerns in their business operations for the betterment of the stakeholders.

CSR motivates companies to contribute socially, economically and environmentally by engaging in acts like

• Engaging members of local community
• By using Socially Responsible Investment (SRI)
• Develop an amicable relationship with employees and consumers
• Engage in actions which are protecting and sustaining the environment.

Need of CSR

CSR is responsible for generating goodwill to companies either directly or indirectly. These include

• Making employees more loyal and help companies retain them in the long run.
• Make companies more legitimate and help them in accessing a greater market share.
• Bolster the goodwill of companies amongst the general public and help in strengthening their brand value.
• Help in the stabilization of stock markets in both the short and long run.

Benefits of CSR

• CSR helps companies and their shareholders to help in the development of a country’s economy on a macro-level.
• The Standard of living gets better with the introduction of more amenities.
• Companies engage in large-scale capacity building due to which the society becomes more prosperous and wealthier.
• Creates a more balanced world and healthier environmental systems.

CSR Laws in India

• The Companies Act, 2013 made CSR a compulsory act.

Under Section 135 of the new act, CSR is compulsory for all companies- government or private or they meet any one or more of the following fiscal criterions

• The net worth of the company should be Rupees 500 crores or more.
• The annual turnover of the company should be Rupees 1000 crores or more.
• Annual net profits of the company should be at least Rupees 5 crores.

List of Permitted Activities under the CSR is included in Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013

Features of CSR Laws

• Money utilized for CSR purposes are to be included in the annual profit-loss report released by the company.
• The CSR rules will include subsidiary companies, holdings and other foreign corporate organizations, involved in business activities in India.

Context: A recent report by the New Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that Perform, Achieve, Trade (PAT) is not effective.

• The report attributed the inefficiency of the scheme to non-transparency, loose targets and overlooked deadlines.

About Perform, Achieve, Trade (PAT)

• The Perform, Achieve, Trade (PAT) scheme was established by the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.
• NMEEE is one of the eight national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) launched by the Government of India in the year 2008.
• The Union Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency were entrusted with the task of preparing the implementation plan for the NMEEE.

Working of the scheme

• PAT is a market-based compliance mechanism to accelerate improvements in energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries.
• The energy savings achieved by notified industries is converted into tradable instruments called Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts).
• The ESCerts after issuance by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency are traded at Power Exchanges.

What is PAT cycle?

• The government shortlists industries and restricts the amount of energy they can consume and defines a time limit of three years by when this restriction should be met as part of PAT.

These three years of time are called one PAT cycle.

• The industries are chosen after in-depth, sector-wise analysis by the government.
• Industries that participate in this scheme are called designated consumers (DC).
• Those that overachieve their targets are issued energy savings certificates (ESCerts) that can be traded with industries that have not achieved their targets.
• Non-achievers have to buy the ESCerts after the three years for compliance.

Various PAT cycles

PAT covered about 13 energy-intensive sectors

• Sectors included are thermal power plants (TPP), cement, aluminium, iron and steel, pulp and paper, fertilizer, chlor-alkali, petroleum refineries, petrochemicals, distribution companies, railways, textile and commercial buildings (hotels and airports)
• Announcements for six cycles since 2012 have been made so far.

Context: Recently, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority revoked a PVP (plant variety protection) certificate granted to PepsiCo India.

• PepsiCo India provoked outrage by suing Gujarati farmers for allegedly infringing patent rights by growing its registered potato variety.

What was the issue?
The certificate was revoked on multiple grounds. This included the following

• the grant of the certificate of registration had been based on incorrect information furnished by the applicant (Section 34 (a))
• the certificate had been granted to a person not eligible for protection (Section 34(b))
• the breeder did not provide the Registrar with such information, documents or material as required for registration (Section 34 (c))
• the grant of the certificate of registration was not in the public interest (Section 34 (h)) of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act 2021

In 2016, the Pepsico company registered the FL-2027 (or FC5 variety) variety of potatoes under the PPV & FR Act, 2001.

• The FC5 variety has 5 % lower moisture content than other varieties.
• With 80 % moisture content, this variety is considered more suitable for processing and therefore, for making snacks such as potato chips.
• The potato was grown by 12,000 farmers with whom the company had an exclusive contract to sell seeds and buy back their produce.
• However, farmers who were not part of its collaborative farming programme were also growing and selling the variety in Gujarat.
• In April 2019, PepsiCo filed rights infringement cases under the Act against nine farmers in the state.
• However, after protest it took the case back.

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001

• The Government of India enacted the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001 adopting sui generis system.
• Aim: To provide for the establishment of an effective system for the protection of plant varieties, rights of farmers and plant breeders.

Objectives

• To encourage the development of new varieties of plants.
• To protect the rights of farmers in respect of their contributions made in conserving, improving and making plant genetic resources for the development of new plant varieties.
• Stimulate investment for research and development both in public & private sector for the development new of plant varieties.
• Facilitate the growth of seed industry to ensure the availability of high-quality seeds and planting material to the farmers.

Rights under the Act
Breeders’ Rights

• Breeders will have exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export the protected variety.
• They can appoint agent/ licensee and may exercise for civil remedy in case of infringement of rights.

Researchers’ Rights

• Researcher can use any of the registered variety under the Act for conducting experiment or research.

Farmers' Rights

• A farmer who has developed a new variety is entitled for registration and protection as a breeder of a variety.
• A farmer can save, use, sow, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under the PPV & FR Act, 2001.
• Farmers are eligible for recognition and rewards for the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources of land races and wild relatives of economic plants.
• There is a provision for compensation to the farmers for non-performance of variety under Section 39 (2) of the Act, 2001.
• Registered seed must be sold with the full disclosure of their agronomic performance under recommended management conditions.
• When such seed is sold to farmers but fails to provide the expected performance the farmer is eligible to claim compensation from the breeder.

PPV& FRA Authority

• Ministry of Agriculture established the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority on 11 November, 2005.
• The chairperson is the Chief Executive of the authority.
• The Registrar General is the ex-officio member secretary of the authority.

General Functions of the Authority

• Registration of new plant varieties essentially derived varieties (EDV).
• Developing DUS (Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability) test guidelines for new plant species.
• Developing characterization and documentation of varieties registered.
• Compulsory cataloging facilities for all variety of plants.
• Documentation, indexing and cataloguing of farmers' varieties.
• Recognizing and rewarding farmers particularly tribal and rural community engaged in conservation and improvement.
• Preservation of plant genetic resources of economic plants and their wild relatives.
• Maintenance of the National Register of Plant Varieties.
• Maintenance of National Gene Bank.

Context: As per NITI report, Poverty ratio stands at 32.75% in rural areas against 8.81% in urban. In this article we discussed this trend with facts.
Statistical Base of the survey

• The report surveyed 175,946 households in urban areas and 425,563 households in rural parts.
• Taking a household as comprising five members, there were 874,730 people surveyed in urban areas and 2.22 million in rural areas that year.
• Note: There is no way to compare the multidimensional poverty ratio given in the report with earlier years since it was the first such report.

Earlier Committees

The earlier Tendulkar method of poverty showed the proportion of the poor in the rural population declined to 25.7 per cent from 33.8 per cent, while that in the urban population came down to 21.9 per cent from 29.8 per cent between 2009-10 and 2011-12. 

• The Tendulkar method took those spending less than Rs 33 a day in urban areas and Rs 27 a day in the rural areas as poor. This had triggered controversy.

The Rangarajan-led panel came up with another report. According to it, the poor constituted 30.9 per cent of the rural population during 2011-12 against 39.6 per cent during 2009-10.

• On the other hand, the urban poverty ratio fell to 29.5 per cent from 38.2 per cent over this period. The report took a person spending less than Rs 47 a day in cities and below Rs 32 a day in villages as poor.

This poverty line approach was abandoned by the NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission on January 1, 2015.

• The population of India stood at 1.31 billion in 2015, according to World Bank statistics. Of this, 67.22 per cent were in rural areas and the rest in urban parts.
• Extrapolating the multidimensional poverty as given by the NITI Aayog would mean that a bit over 288 million people in rural areas and close to 38 million in urban areas were poor in 2015.

Key Points

• Urban areas, by all accounts, have skimmed off the fruits of development at least during 2015-16, the year of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), on which the NITI Aayog’s multidimensional poverty report is based.
• While 25.01 per cent of the population was multidimensionally poor in the country, the poverty ratio was as high as 32.75 per cent in rural areas during that year. This was against 8.81 per cent of the population in urban areas.
• The pattern was the same in states and Union Territories in varying degrees -- a greater proportion of the poor in villages than in urban areas -- except for Delhi, which is predominantly a city state.
• The current report calculated the ratio on the multidimensional poverty index, which is based on three dimensions -- health, education, and standard of living -- with each having a weighting of one-third in the index. 
• These dimensions are further based on 12 segments -- nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.
• The Aayog has clarified the NHFS for 2015-16 preceded the full roll-out of flagship schemes of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

Context: Recently Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), an associate entity of Paytm, has received Scheduled Bank status from Reserve Bank of India.
Will bring more financial services

• The bank has been included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the approval will help it to bring more financial services and products
• It can now explore new business opportunities, including participation in government and other large corporations issued request for proposals, primary auctions, fixed-rate and variable rate repos, and reverse repos.
• Besides, it can participate in Marginal Standing Facility and will be eligible to partner in government-run financial inclusion schemes.
• The inclusion of Paytm Payments Bank in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, will help us innovate further and bring more financial services and products to the underserved and unserved population in India.
• The bank supports 33.3 crore Paytm Wallets and enables consumers to make payments at over 87,000 online merchants and 2.11 crore in-store merchants.

Payments Bank

• Based on the recommendations of the Nachiket Mor Committee, Payments Bank was set up to operate on a smaller scale with minimal credit risk.
• Aim: To advance financial inclusion by offering banking and financial services to the unbanked and underbanked areas
• They are registered under the Companies Act 2013.
• Governed by:  Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI Act, 1934, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

Features

• They are differentiated and not universal banks.
• These operate on a smaller scale.
• It needs to have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 100,00,00,000.
• Minimum initial contribution of the promoter to the Payment Bank to the paid-up equity capital shall at least be 40% for the first five years from the commencement of its business.

Activities that can be performed by Payment banks

• Payment banks can take deposits up to Rs. 2,00,000.
• It can accept demand deposits in the form of savings and current accounts.
• The money received as deposits can be invested in secure government securities only in the form of Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR).
• Payments banks will be permitted to make personal payments and receive cross border remittances on the current accounts.
• It can issue debit cards.

Activities that cannot be undertaken by Payment banks

• Payment banks cannot issue credit cards.
• It cannot accept time deposits or NRI deposits.
• It cannot issue loans.
• It cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial activities

Advantages

• Expansion of rural banking and financial inclusion.
• Expansion of the formal financial system.
• Effective alternative to commercial banks.
• Efficiently deals with low value, high volume transactions.
• Access to diversified services.

Challenges

• Lack of awareness among the masses to access these services.
• Lack of incentives for the agents to involve themselves in these activities.
• Lack of infrastructure and access to operational resources.
• Technological hurdles.

Context: Every October and November, parts of north India are engulfed by a dense fog. Farmers resort to the practice due to the limited time they have between the harvesting of kharif paddy and sowing of the rabi wheat.
About Stubble burning 

• It is the practice of intentionally setting fire to the straw stubble that remains after grains, such as rice and wheat, have been harvested.
• Farmers resort to the practice due to the limited time they have between the harvesting of kharif paddy and sowing of the rabi wheat. They find it cost-effective and quick. 

What are the drawbacks of this method?

• It is also one of the key causes for pollution in North Indiaspecially in winter season.
• It reduces soil fertilityin the long run.

Government initiatives to stop the stubble burning

• Policy measures: In 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare developed a National Policy for the Management of Crop Residue.
• Ban by NGT: In 2015, the National Green Tribunal banned stubble burning in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
• Weak enforcement: The enforcement of the ban has, however, been weak, largely due to inadequate political will.
• Legal measures: Stubble burning was considered an offence under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and in the Air and Pollution Control Act, 1981.

However, it has now been decriminalised as per a recent government announcement.

• The Central Scheme on Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue was introduced in 2018-19.
• Over 1.5 lakh crop residue management machineries have been supplied to farmers and custom hiring centres between 2018-19 to 2020-21.

How successful were the measures?

• As a result of these efforts, the number of crop residue burning events declined from 2016 to 2019.
• This year satellite data did show an almost 50 per cent decline in the number of stubble burning events in Punjab, Haryana and UP in October.
• However, after including burning events till November 21, the decline reduced to about 8 per cent.
• Experts suggest that the respite in October was temporary as the initial decline can be attributed to the delayed withdrawal of monsoon.
• It is thus evident that despite various government initiatives, substantial stubble burning continues in several states.

Suggestions

• Subsidise operational cost for crop residue management: To ease farmers’ financial burden, the government could consider subsidising operational costs along with providing farmers capital subsidy on crop residue management equipment.
• Ex-situ management of crop residue: Ex-situ management of crop residue can also be explored under the schemes covering products such as bales and pellets for biomass power generation and supplementary feedstock in coal-fired power plants.
• Awareness generation: Awareness generation and trust building exercises should be undertaken with the support of local civil society organisations.
• Adopt targeted and cluster-based approach: Stubble burning is fairly concentrated in regions within states. A targeted and cluster-based approach can be undertaken by identifying districts with a higher number of stubble burning incidents. Central and state government interventions can then be concentrated in these districts.
• Monitoring system: To make these interventions effective, there is a requirement for formulating a robust monitoring system at the local level to track the progress of different activities.

Road Ahead

• Dealing with the practice of stubble burning requires efforts on multiple levels. A combination of these measures can complement the existing initiatives to encourage farmers to adopt zero stubble burning practices.

Context: During a biodiversity impact assessment study, researchers have found an acute bladder snail called Physella acuta, from the Edappally canal in Kochi.

About Physella acuta

• It is a species of small, air-breathing freshwater snail. It is an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Physidae.

Physical Feature

• It is tiny snail with a striking, pellucid golden-yellow shell.
• Small in size, the snail can grow to 16 mm in height and 9 mm in width.
• The dead, vacant shell is brownish-yellow while that of the live individuals are translucent golden-yellow with a mottled appearance.

Habitat and Distribution

• Native to North America but is now found in all continents except Antarctica.
• This species lives in freshwater rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and swamps.
• It can survive well under temporary harsh conditions like extreme temperature and water pollution.
• The acute bladder snail is globally branded as highly invasive.
• It plays host to worms that can cause food-borne diseases and skin itches in humans.
• Its rapid growth rate, air-breathing capability, and tolerance to pollution makes it a potential competitor to native fauna.
• It also has an ability to quickly dominate new environments endanger native species, even causing serious economic loss.

What is an invasive species?

• An invasive species can be any kind of living organism that is not native to an ecosystem and causes harm.
• It can be an amphibian (like the cane toad), plant, insect, fish, fungus, bacteria, or even an organism’s seeds or eggs.
• They can harm the environment, the economy, or even human health.
• These species that grow and reproduce quickly, and spread aggressively, with potential to cause harm, hence given the label “invasive.”

Invasive species thrive in a new location because

• There are no predators that hunt them in the new location.
• They outcompete native species for food.

How are they spread?

• Invasive species are often introduced into new places accidentally.
• Ships carry aquatic organisms in their ballast water, while smaller boats may carry them on their propellers.
• Some invasive species are deliberately introduced for the purpose of pest control.
• Other invasive species descended from pets that escaped or were released into the wild.
• Higher average temperatures and changes in rain and snow patterns caused by climate change will enable some invasive plant species to move into new areas.

List of threats posed by them
The direct threats of invasive species include

• preying on native species
• outcompeting native species for food or other resources
• causing or carrying disease
• preventing native species from reproducing
• killing a native species' young.
• They can change the food web in an ecosystem by destroying or replacing native food sources.
• It may provide little to no food value for wildlife.
• They can also alter the abundance or diversity of species that are important habitat for native wildlife.

Context: Recently, the Karnataka Government has submitted its opposition to the Centre against the Kasturirangan Committee report as it can adversely affect the livelihood of people in the region. 

• The Kasturirangan committee report has proposed 37% of the total area of Western Ghats to be declared as Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA).

Reasons behind rejection by Karnataka
The Karnataka's Government is of the opinion that declaring Western Ghats as ESA would adversely affect the livelihood of people in the region by displacement of locals. 

• Hitherto conservation measures: Karnataka has the distinction of being one of the states with extensive forest cover and the government has taken care to protect the biodiversity of Western Ghats.
• Curb over development activities: The state believes that implementation of the report will halt the developmental activities in the region.
• Issues over satellite observations: The Kasturirangan report has been prepared based on the satellite images, but the ground reality is different.
• Adaptation by People: People of the region have adopted agriculture and horticultural activities in an eco-friendly manner.

About Eco-Sensitive Areas

• These type of areas are located within 10 kms around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• ESAs are notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under Environment Protection Act 1986.
• The basic aim is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimize the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas.?

Kasturirangan Committee Report

• The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), also known as the Gadgil Commission after its chairman Madhav Gadgil, was an environmental research commission.
• It was appointed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. The commission submitted the report in 2011.
• The WGEEP was succeeded by an eminent scientist K. Kasturirangan.

Key recommendations by the committee
(1) Declaration of Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA)

• The committee report proposes 37 per cent of the total area of Western Ghats, which is roughly 60,000 square km, to be declared as eco-sensitive area (ESA).
• Out of this, 20,668 sq km of the area falls in Karnataka (46.50%) covering 1,576 villages.

(2) Ban on various activities

• The report recommended a blanket ban on mining, quarrying, setting up of red category industries and thermal power projects.
• It also stated that the impact of infrastructural projects on the forest and wildlife should be studied before permission is given for these activities.

(3) Urging of UNESCO World Heritage tag

• It has sought for UNESCO Heritage tag as an opportunity to build global and domestic recognition of the enormous natural wealth that exists in the Western Ghats.
• The 39 sites are located across the Western Ghats and distributed across the states (Kerala 19), Karnataka (10), Tamil Nadu (6) and Maharashtra (4).

Significance of the recommendations

• There have been massive encroachments across the state forest areas and these have been done at the behest of political leaders.
• We are in the throes of extreme climate events, which are impacting nature and people.
• Hence it is prudent to conserve the fragile ecosystems as it costs less compared to the situation prone to calamities (with changes in the climate).

What will be the implications if the recommendations are not implemented?

• Climate change has grave repercussions for all of the globe and specially India, thus, it is prudent that governments accept these recommendations. 
• Otherwise, it can lead to not just an ecological loss but also an economical one, as the cost of conserving these ecosystems will be much lower than their restoration and rejuvenation. State governments should focus on long term benefits . 

Road Ahead

• Central Government can firstly focus on implementation of clauses that have wide acceptability and then engage in consultative process with all stakeholders on other recommendations of the report, that are cause of concern. 

Additional Information

About Westen ghats

• It is one of three global biodiversity hot spots in India (other two are The Himalayas and Indo-Burma Region). There are just 34 spots all over the world.
• Western Ghats get UNSECO World Heritage Site tag in year 2012.
• The entire Western Ghats (Sahyadri) extend from Dang on Maharashtra-Gujarat to near Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, along the western coast that is 7,953 sq km of area.
• Western Ghats are home to several rare as well as endemic species of birds, animals, insects, fish, amphibians and plants. There are over 5000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species and 179 amphibian species
• Northern Western Ghats are known for several species of endemic limbless amphibians (caecilians) and floral diversity plateaus, such as Kaas
• The floral vistas of Neela Kurunji in Kerala and Karvi in Maharashtra are a visual treat in monsoons after periodic intervals
• Several streams originating in Western Ghats are home to endemic species of hill stream fish
• The forests of the Western Ghats have a stabilizing effect on the climate, which induces heavy rains on the western slopes and the western coast and moderate rains on the eastern slopes
• The ports and creeks along the western coast, which are so crucial to the economy of the region and transportation, can be kept navigable and silt free, only if the forests on the Western Ghats are preserved
• The almost continuous forests along the crest and the base of the Western Ghats and the mangrove forests along the coast play a vital role in carbon sequestration and reduction of global warming
• The cluster of sites considered for nomination are the landscapes of Agasthyamalai, Periyar, Anamalai, Nilgiris, Upper Cauvery in Kodagu, Kudremukh and Sahyadri.

Context: Every year World Soil Day, celebrated on December 5, brings people’s attention to the importance of soil and its sustainable management. 

• Theme 2021: This year, the theme of World Soil Day 2021 is ‘Halt soil salinization, boost soil productivity’ with a motive to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being.

History

• The international observance was recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) in 2002 to aware people of the degrading condition of the soil, its impact and its prevention. 
• The Food and Agriculture Organization had supported the day to be celebrated as a global awareness-raising platform under the leadership of the Kingdom of Thailand and within the framework of the Global Soil Partnership.
• The FAO Conference, in June 2013, urged to adopt the World Soil Day at the 68th UN General Assembly. The Assembly finally designated December 5, 2014, as the first official World Soil Day.

Importance of this day

• The day aims to raise awareness about soil degradation. It’s a serious environmental problem, caused due to the decline in soil condition. 
• Industrialisation or poor management of agricultural land worsens the condition of the soil. 
• The day highlights the importance of soil for all terrestrial life. Soil degradation leads to erosion, loss of organic matter and decline in soil fertility.

Key Significance

• Soil degradation processes are usually caused due to soil salinization and sodification. 
• It’s a threat to the ecosystem and is recognized as one of the most important problems at a global level for agricultural production, food security and sustainability. 
• The day aims to spread awareness about the need of a healthy ecosystems.

Context: Due to the onslaught of cyclone Jawad in Odisha, the state government had ordered to keep the schools closed in 19 districts. Moreover Heavy rains lashed coastal Odisha as cyclonic storm Jawad weakened into depression.
About Cyclone Jawad

• Cyclone Jawad is a cyclonic storm formed out of a deep depression in Bay of Bengal.
• It has wreaked damage to states of Odisha and West Bengal.
• It is pronounced as ‘Jowad’, meaning generous or merciful in Arabic.
• It was named by Saudi Arabia.

What is a cyclone?

• A Cyclone is a system of winds rotating inwards at a high speed with the area of low pressure in the middle.

How are cyclones formed?

• Tropical cyclones form only over warm ocean waters near the equator.
• Warm moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface, causing an area of lower air pressure below.
• Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure pushes into the low-pressure area.  

Then this new “cool” air becomes warm and moist and rises, too.

• As the warm moist air rises and cools, it forms clouds.
• The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, fed by the ocean’s heat and water evaporating from the ocean surface.
• As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the centre. It is very calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure.  Higher pressure air from above flows down into the eye.

Weakening of Tropical cyclones

• Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land, because they are no longer being fed by the energy from the warm ocean waters.
• However, they often move far inland, causing mild to heavy rainfall and other damages caused by winds.

Context: Recently, Union Cabinet has approved the funding and implementation of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project at the 2020-21 price level.

About Ken Betwa Link Project

• The Ken-Betwa Link Project lies in Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• It is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers. 
• Under this project, water from the Ken river will be transferred to the Betwa river. 
• Both these rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna.

Development: Under Phase-I, one of the components — Daudhan dam complex and its appurtenances like Low Level Tunnel, High Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa link canal and Power houses — will be completed.

• While in the Phase-II, three components — Lower Orr dam, Bina complex project and Kotha barrage — will be constructed.

Required Clearances: Generally, 4-5 types of clearances are required for the interlinking of river projects. These are: 

• Techno-economic (given by the Central Water Commission); 
• Forest Clearance and Environmental clearance (Ministry of Environment & Forests); 
• Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Plan of Tribal Population (Ministry of Tribal Affairs) and 
• Wildlife clearance (Central Empowered Committee).

Affect the Panna tiger reserve: Out of the 6,017 ha of forest area coming under submergence of Daudhan dam of Ken Betwa Link Project, 4,206 ha of area lies within the core tiger habitat of Panna Tiger Reserve.

Utility of the Project

• Irrigation: The project is slated to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares annually, provide drinking water supply to 62 lakh people and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.
• Water supply: The project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved Bundelkhand region, spread across Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• Agricultural boost: The project is expected to boost socio-economic prosperity in the backward Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation.
• Addressing Rural Distress: It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region.

Key Benefits

• The project is expected to provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 MW of hydropower.
• The project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved region of Bundelkhand, especially in the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.
• It will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor for development in the country.

Key Hurdles

• Submergence of critical wildlife habitat: The project will partly submerge the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and affect the habitat of vultures and jackals.
• Clearance: After years of protests, it was finally cleared by the apex wildlife regulator, the National Board for Wildlife, in 2016.
• Water sharing disputes: Then UP and MP could not agree on how water would be shared, particularly in the non-monsoonal months.

Additional Information
National Perspective Plan (NNP)

• For water resources development it envisaging inter basin water transfer in the country.
• The NPP comprised two components: (i) Himalayan Rivers Development; and  (ii) Peninsular Rivers Development. 
• Based on the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 30 river links—16 under Peninsular component and 14 under Himalayan Component. 
• Later, the river linking idea was revived under the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. Ken Betwa Link Project is one of the 16 river linking projects under the Peninsular component.

Context: Decision-making on virtually all governance issues is disconnected from politics and the mobilisation of public opinion.
Disconnect between politics and policy

• The repeal of the farm laws is thus a notable instance of politics and policy coming together, although in conflict.
• The Opposition speaking in one voice in the Parliament helped, but the heavy lifting of organising in the villages and sustaining the protests was done by the farmers’ groups.
• This disconnect between politics and policy is not a recent development, though it manifests differently across political divides.

Policy-first lens and its implications: The liberal side has a policy-first lens but is unable to articulate its ideas in a manner which makes for good politics, repeatedly couching its ideas in a bureaucratic framework disconnected from political organisation.

• Bureaucracy is downstream from politics and this approach rather than curbing the state may have instead contributed to undermining the democratic process of political accountability since the political class is, by design, not central to the policy in the first place.

A politics-first approach: The right, on its side, has a politics-first lens but it derives its politics largely from its social agenda instead of issues of governance.

• The policy imperatives, if any, are ad hoc and appear to be driven by the demands of running the political apparatus instead of a clear governance agenda.
• Despite these differences, what is common across parties is the apolitical harnessing of the state as a disburser of different kinds of economic largesse, especially just before elections, as political parties cast about for simple ideas for easy mass communication.

Reasons for the breakdown of the process

• Weakly institutionalised nature of state and politics: Indian politics and the state are weakly institutionalised to begin with, which leads to an all-around fuzziness in the relationship between politics and policy.
• However, this is as much an effect as it is cause, with the direction of change towards greater deinstitutionalisation instead of the opposite.
• Lack of consensus-building: Another contributing factor is that traditional sites of consensus-building such as media, civil society, and political parties have developed pathologies which have rendered sustained consensus-building almost impossible. 
• Centralisation of power: The excessive centralisation of power in party platforms and the head of the government (state and national).
• This renders the individual elected representative extraneous to governance even in their own constituency, where their function is to provide representation and oversight.

Suggestion

• There’s too much at stake to allow such a state of affairs to continue.
• It is important to rescue public interest from partisanship and cut through at least some of the bad-faith crosstalk across partisan divides.
• Cross-cutting collaboration: There are many issues which lend themselves to cross-cutting collaboration outside of ideological affiliations.
• Need for reforms: Institutional reforms are required to create such a space but public-spirited individuals across political divides can lay the foundation for such collaboration through issue-based discipline, moderation and intellectual independence.

Road Ahead

• We need to address the disconnect between policy and politics to make the functioning of democracy more meaningful for us.

Context: Recently, Rajya Sabha passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 on Wednesday. Both the bills seek to curb unethical practices related to issues like sex selection and exploitation of surrogates.
Surrogacy Bill 2020

• The primary idea behind the bill is to prohibit commercial surrogacy, while only allowing altruistic surrogacy to take place. 
• Altruistic surrogacy is defined in the bill as surrogacy in which no money or remuneration except medical expenses are provided for the surrogate mother by the couple. 
• Surrogacy where the selling or buying of a human baby is involved is called commercial surrogacy and is banned in the country by way of this legislation.
• Aim to regulate in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics.

Objective

• To curb unethical practices in reproductive services as well as safeguard interest of women.
• To establish surrogacy Boards at national and state level.

Key Features

• It allows willing woman to become a surrogate mother.
• It prohibits commercial surrogacy.
• It means sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes.
• Insurance cover for a surrogate mother has been increased to 36 months from 16 months.
• It allows Indian woman who is a widow or divorcee between the age of 35 to 45 years to opt for surrogacy.
• It provides all the rights and privileges that are entitled to new born child.
• Sex selection is strictly prohibited.
• It keeps a regulatory check on exploitation of surrogate mothers and abandonment of surrogate child.
• No woman shall act as a surrogate mother more than once in her lifetime.
• A certificate from a registered medical practitioner shall be mandatory.

Criteria for Surrogatory Mother

• The woman in question must be ever married (married at least once in her life) and should have her own child. 
• She should be between 25 to 35 years of age and a close relative of the couple opting for surrogacy. 
• Any woman agreeing to be a surrogate, cannot be a surrogate more than once in her life and at the time she should be certified for medical and psychological fitness.
• The bill also mentions that written and informed consent of the surrogate mother is necessary ahead of the procedure for surrogacy and that the surrogate can withdraw her consent anytime before the implantation of the embryo. 
• The bill further restricts the couple opting for surrogacy from abandoning the child under any circumstances after his/her birth.

Criteria for Regulation of surrogacy clinics

• The legislation deals extensively with the regulation of surrogacy clinics in the country and restricts any surrogacy clinic from allowing commercial surrogacy. 
• The legislation also bans the surrogacy clinics from advertising in print and electronic media and conducting sex selection or determination procedures.
• Any surrogacy related procedure can be carried out only by registered surrogacy clinics and the application for registration of such clinics must be made before the Appropriate Authority as formulated under the bill.

National and State Surrogacy Boards

• The legislation entails the requirement for setting up of National and State Surrogacy Boards. 
• The National Surrogacy Board shall be headed by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and comprise of the Secretary of the Department, three women Members of Parliament and three members each from the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs amongst others.

The primary functions of the National Board will include 

• advising the Government on policy matters;
• reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the law;
• laying down the code of conduct and supervising the State Surrogacy Boards. 

Similarly, State Surrogacy Boards are also required to be set up in each state which will report to the Central Board and the Government while also reviewing the appropriate authorities in the State. 

• The appropriate authority is required to be appointed by the Central and State Governments within 90 days of the bill becoming an Act.

Offences and Punishment
The following acts are recognized as offences under the law and attract the corresponding punishment:-

• Undertaking or advertising commercial surrogacy Imprisonment extending to ten years and fine extending to Rupees ten lakhs
• Abandoning, disowning or exploiting the child born out of surrogacy - Imprisonment extending to ten years and fine extending to Rupees ten lakhs
• Exploiting the surrogate mother - Imprisonment extending to ten years and fine extending to Rupees ten lakhs
• Selling, importing or trading in human embryos or gametes for the purpose of surrogacy - Imprisonment extending to ten years and fine extending to Rupees ten lakhs
• Conducting sex selection - Imprisonment extending to ten years and fine extending to Rupees ten lakhs
• Any medical practitioner who commits any offence under the Act shall be punished with imprisonment extending upto five years and fine extending upto Rupees ten lakhs. 
• If a subsequent offence is reported by the same person, he shall be reported to the appropriate authority and the State Medical Council for the suspension of his registration for five years.
• Any couple who initiates commercial surrogacy shall be punished for the first offence with imprisonment upto five years and fine upto Rupees five lakhs and for any subsequent offence with imprisonment upto ten years and fine upto Rupees ten lakhs.
• All the offences mentioned under the legislation are non-bailable.

Additional Information
Surrogacy

• It is an arrangement in which a woman (the surrogate) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the intended parent/s).

In Vitro fertilization (IVF)

• It is a series of procedures used to help with fertility or prevent genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.
• It is the most effective form of assisted reproductive technology (ART).
• It involves retrieving eggs from a woman’s ovaries and fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory.

Context: With Omicron, South Africa implemented a rapid surveillance mechanism that provided early alerts. India has also responded by setting up screening centres, ICU beds, etc. Despite no alarms, the threat remains so, all cautions should be observed.
How the mortality data can help in accessing pandemic situations?

• Mortality data is important to guide patient care and the protection of the vulnerable population. 
• But it is found that data is limited due to inadequate access to antemortem testing and causes that are attributed to mortality.
• Hence, now it is being evaluated through the estimation of excess mortality. These estimates need reliable baselines, real-time data compilation and weekly updates. 
• For South Africa, the national population register has served as a useful database.
• For India, they are based on epidemiological models like month-wise death registrations. But they are hampered by uncertainty in baselines and delayed registrations. 
• As per data, the excess mortality was estimated to be 2.8 to 5.2 million. But National Covid-19 surveillance program estimated deaths to be 4,30,000. This ten-fold variation is clearly not helpful.

What do the recent developments signify?

• Many developments have created prospects of better estimates. The civil registration report for 2019 indicates high levels of registration completeness across India.
• Prompt release of registered death by some states in 2021 indicates the efficient mechanism for data compilation.

What steps can be further adopted?

• Capacity building: Local statistical capacity should be established at State registration offices for data quality evaluation, adjustments for data bias, and basic trend and forecast analysis.
• Release of data: CRS data for 2020 and provisional data reports for 2021 should be released soon.
• Standardize protocols: Standardize the data dissemination protocols by using a template for compilations of deaths tabulated by sex, broad age groups, a month of death occurrence, and district of usual residence. The CRS death reporting form should include all these details
• These updated counts and CRS list will help in pandemic surveillance and help monitor the mortality impact of the current and future epidemics.

Context: According to the new 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index launched by Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security the world remains unprepared for future epidemic and pandemic threats.

Key Findings

• Countries are unprepared for future pandemics and epidemics.
• The world's overall performance on the GHS Index score slipped to 38.9 (out of 100).
• India’s GHS Index score- 42 out of 100
• No country scored above 75.9.
• 65% countries had not published and implemented national public health emergency response plan.
• 73% countries did not have the ability to provide approval vaccines and antiviral drugs.
• 155 out of 195 countries have not allocated national funds within the last three years.
• 70% of countries show insufficient health capacity in clinics, hospitals, and community health centers.

Political and security risks have increased: A whopping 82 per cent of countries have low to moderate levels of public confidence in their government, according to the Index.

• The world’s performance on communicating the risk communication messages to people has also been very disappointing.
• Over 71 per cent of the countries did not identify how risk communication messages would reach populations and sectors with different communication needs related to language, location and media reach.

Global Health Security Index

• It is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security.
• Aim: to spur measurable changes in national health security.
• It measured the capacities of 195 countries to prepare for epidemics and pandemics.
• It has assessed countries across six categories, 37 indicators and 171 questions.

Categories

• Prevention of the emergence or release of pathogens.
• Early detection & reporting epidemics of potential international concern.
• Rapid response to and mitigation of the spread of an epidemic.
• Sufficient & robust health system to treat the sick & protect health workers.
• Commitments to improving national capacity, financing plans to address gaps, and adherence to global norms.
• Overall risk environment and country vulnerability to biological threats.
• Four of the six GHS Index categories have an average score below 40 out of 100.

Road Ahead

• Health emergencies demand a robust public health infrastructure with effective governance. But the trust in government, which has been a key factor associated with success in countries’ responses to COVID-19.

With a significant number of ineligible teachers occupying posts in state’s universities, the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission has decided to create a pool of qualified candidates to help institutions in recruitments.

Key Points:

• After screening of documents of 16 private universities, the commission found that nearly 10-15 per cent faculty members were ineligible for their respective posts. It was found that faculty members did not fulfil UGC norms and some universities had not informed the commission regarding NET or Ph.D exemption.
• During the screening of 12 universities earlier, 30-40% of the faculty was found ineligible. The erring institutions were told to replace ineligible faculty.
• Lack of permanent teaching cadre is another area of concern. It has been decided that a pool of qualified teachers passed out from state universities would be created to help institutions recruit teachers with Ph.D and NET qualification.
• There are complaints of irregularities in some colleges. A committee has been constituted for inspection.

Small LGP cylinders weighing 5 kg will soon be available at fair price shops in the state. The fair price shop owners have given consent, albeit with some riders, to sell LPG cylinders.

Key Points:

• The decision has been taken to increase the financial condition of the fair price shop owners and the convenience of consumers.
• The arrangement is voluntary and the shop/depot owners will be free to choose whether they want to sell LPG cylinders or not. “Also, the Department of Food and Civil Supplies will have no role in this arrangement. The understanding and arrangement will be entirely between the shop/depot owners and the oil companies and the distributors.
• Also, the interested shop/depot owners will need to fulfil the terms and conditions as mandated by oil marketing companies for the storage of flammable substances. 

The Anti-Money Laundering Cell (AMLC) has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Director General of Police at the Police Headquarters, Shimla. It will combat the organised crimes effectively.

Key Points:

• The cell had shared information of major organised crimes with the Enforcement Directorate.
• The Himachal Police had been targeting the mining mafia and dismantling its network.Three such cases under the Mines & Minerals Act from Una had been investigated and the criminal nexus of the accused had been dismembered, 

Context: On December 6, 2021, Russia President visited India to attend the 21st India – Russia summit with his counter part Indian PM. During his visit, India and Russia signed 28 agreements. Some of them were semi – confidential. Thus, the Ministry of External Affairs did not release all of its details.

• In this article we discuss about India-Russia Annual Summit 2021: Key Takeaways and how India and Russia share a longstanding and time-tested partnership and further development of this relationship has been a key pillar of India's foreign policy.

About the Summit

• It is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between India and Russia.
• The latest summit is an institution of a new “two plus two” mechanism bringing the foreign and defence ministers from both sides into a single forum.
• There is also speculation about a new 10-year defence pact between the two countries.
• Russia became the fourth nation, along with the US, Japan and Australia, with which India has such a joint structure in place.

Recent Cooperation in Defence: Currently, 65% of Indian armed forces equipment is of Russian origin and India continues to rely on Russia for spares.

• Despite strong US opposition, India procured the S-400 Triumf Missile from Russia.
• A deal worth over Rs 5,000 crore with Russia for the manufacture of AK 203 assault rifles is also in the pipeline.
• For now, India has escaped the US sanctions on the purchase of S-400 missiles, however, India’s deepening defence ties with Russia will continue to trouble the USA as well as China.

Discussions during the summit

• The leaders discussed on International North – South Transport Corridor and also about the Chennai – Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor (which is under proposal).
• Russia welcomed the “Delhi Declaration on Afghanistan”.
• India congratulated Russia on joining as an observer in NAM. And Russia congratulated India for its membership at the United Nations Security Council.

Economic Co-operation

• Bilateral trade has seen the two countries progressing from defence and energy to IT, pharmaceuticals, agro-industries, mineral and metallurgy, fertilizers, and infrastructure projects. 
• India-Russia trade was valued at the U.S.$10.11 billion in 2019–20, but is not a true reflection of the potential that can be harnessed.

Strategic partnership

• More importantly, the robust partnership between India and Russia has come out of the shackles of the Cold War inheritance. 
• A practical and result-oriented approach will pave the way for the most reliable partnership. 
• The Putin-Modi meeting in an atmosphere of unprecedented regional and global transformations can ensure not only a new lease of life but can also generate more vitality to this trustworthy camaraderie.
• India-Russia relations have withstood the test of time and the ever-shifting nature of national interests. 
• Relations between the two countries have deepened with time irrespective of the quagmire of realpolitik. This exceptional resilience is built on the firm foundation of strategic national interest and the synergy of geopolitics.
• In the post-Cold War era, India has emerged as an economic powerhouse and a key stakeholder in today’s global debate be it climate change, international trade, or the menace of terrorism. Russia with its global status and presence presents a win-win situation for deeper cooperation. 
• This relation between both countries has evolved with time, deepening the integration and widening the breadth of the relation.

Issues in India-Russia Ties

• India remains wary of the growing military partnership between Russia and China and their shared opposition to the Indo-Pacific framework.
• Despite political tensions, India’s China trade continues to grow, while its commercial ties with Russia are stagnant despite good political relations.
• The Russian business elites gravitate to Europe and China and the Indian corporations are focused on America and China.
• Russia considers the Quad as the ‘Asian NATO’ and has claimed military alliances in Asia as counterproductive.

Way Forward

Befriending the Best Friend: The structural constraints posed by the great power dynamic and vastly different appreciation of the regional security environment could be reduced if matters improve between Washington and Moscow.

• A less conflictual relationship between the two will be a huge relief for India.
• Also, the US-China quest for power or Russia’s deeping ties with China would have mattered less to India if its relations with China were more peaceful and stable.

Connecting with the Russian Far-East: Connectivity is another driver in the strategic partnership with underlying commercial advantages and overall economic development.

• Parallel to the multimodal International North-South Transport Corridor, the proposed Chennai–Vladivostok Maritime Corridor (CVMC) will sharpen India’s strategic intent in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region, with a naval presence securing its energy and trade shipments from the Russian Far East.
• The far-flung regions of Siberia, the Arctic and the Far East are home to one of the largest reserves of hydrocarbon, metallurgical coke, rare-earth and precious metals in the world.
• India and Russia can work with countries like Japan and Korea to promote joint investments for exploration in the Far East, the Arctic and Siberia.

Cooperation in the Energy Sector: The unknowns of climate change suggest that India should accelerate its energy transition from fossil fuel based to a renewable one.

• Russia, one of the key global players across the energy market, could emerge as an indispensable partner for such a transition.
• Fortunately, both countries have an extensive record of bilateral cooperation in the energy domain but undoubtedly more efforts are needed to expand the cooperation.

Leveraging Multilateral Institutions for Improving Relations: Promote mutually beneficial trilateral cooperation between Russia, China and India that could contribute towards the reduction of mistrust and suspicion between India and China.

• In this context, the SCO and RIC trilateral forum must be leveraged.

Conclusion

• Although India and Russia cannot do much about each other engaging with their rivals, Delhi and Moscow have no reason to be satisfied with the poor state of their commercial ties.
• To give a start to the revival of their ties, India and Russia shall focus on laying a clear path for expansive economic cooperation and generating a better understanding of each other’s imperatives on the Indo-Pacific.

Context: Recently, Rajya Sabha reserved its decision to allow the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Preamble to the Constitution.
About the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2021

• The Bill seeks to change the words in the Preamble “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity” to “EQUALITY of status and of opportunity to be born, to be fed, to be educated, to get a job and to be treated with dignity”.
• It also seeks to replace the word “socialist” with “equitable”.
• The Bill also proposes adding “access to information technology” and “happiness” as objectives.

Four important aspects can be ascertained from the above text of the preamble

• Source of authority of the constitution: It derives its authority from the people of India.
• Nature of Indian state: It declares India to be a sovereign, socialistic, secular democratic and republican polity.
• Objectives of the constitution: It specifies justice, liberty, equality and fraternity as the objectives.
• Date of adoption: Nov 26th, 1949.

Preamble as part of the constitution

• In the Berubari Union Case (1960), the Supreme Court opined that the Preamble was not part of the constitution.
• The above opinion was reversed in Keshavananda Bharati case in 1973; the SC held that Preamble is part of the constitution. This opinion was further clarified by the SC in LIC of India case (1995).

Though preamble is part of the constitution;

• It is a neither a source of power to legislature nor a prohibition upon the powers of legislature.
• It is a non-justiciable, that is , its provisions are not enforceable in any courts of law.

Preamble and its amendability

• In Keshavananda Bharati case, the court held that the basic elements or the fundamental features of the constitution as contained in the preamble cannot be altered by an amendment under article 368.
• The preamble has been amended only once. That is- 42nd constitutional amendment act, 1976 when three new terms were added- Socialist, secular and integrity.

About Private Member

• Any Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a minister is referred to as a private member.
• Its drafting is the responsibility of the member concerned. Its introduction in the House requires one month’s notice.
• The government bills\public bills can be introduced and discussed on any day, private member’s bills can be introduced and discussed only on Fridays.

Previous Private Bills

• The last time a private member’s bill was passed by both Houses was in 1970.
• It was the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968.

14 private member’s bills — five of which were introduced in Rajya Sabha — have become law so far. Some other private member bills that have become laws include-

• Proceedings of Legislature (Protection of Publication) Bill, 1956, in the Lok Sabha.
• The Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1964, introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 1967 introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

Significance

• The purpose of the private member’s bill is to draw the government’s attention to what individual MPs see as issues and gaps in the existing legal framework, which require legislative intervention. Thus it reflects the stand of the opposition party on public matters.

Context: Recently data related to human rights violations in states was provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Rajya sabha.

• Around 40% of human rights violation cases lodged annually by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the past three financial years till this 31st October (2021) were from Uttar Pradesh.
• International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the World Human Rights Day are observed every year from November 25 to December 10.

About human rights violation

• It is the disallowance of the freedom of thought and movement to which all humans legally have a right.
• While individuals can violate these rights, the leadership or government of civilization most often belittles marginalized persons.
• This, in turn, places these people in the cycle of poverty and oppression. Individuals who approach life with the attitude that not all human lives are of equal value then perpetuate this cycle.

Examples

• Forcibly evicting people from their homes (the right to adequate housing)
• Contaminating water, for example, with waste from State-owned facilities (the right to health)
• Failure to ensure a minimum wage sufficient for a decent living (rights at work)
• Failure to prevent starvation in all areas and communities in the country (freedom from hunger).

Current Scenario in India
Total Violations

• The total number of rights’ violation cases in India lodged by the NHRC reduced from 89,584 in 2018-19 to 76,628 in 2019-20 and to 74,968 in 2020-21.
• In 2021-22, till 31st October (2021), 64,170 cases were lodged.

Caste-based Discrimination and Violence

• According to a report released last year, crimes against Dalits increased by 6% from 2009 to 2018 with over 3.91 lakh atrocities being reported.

Communal and Ethnic Violence

• Many people were attacked by vigilante cow protection groups and many of those affected were minority groups.
• People from African countries faced racism and discrimination in India.

Freedom of Association

• The government cancelled the registration of several civil society organisations which specifically prevented them from getting foreign funding, even after the United Nations (UN) claimed it was not in accordance with international law.

Freedom of Expression

• Several people were arrested under sedition laws for expressing their dissent with government policy and several Indians were arrested for even posting comments on Facebook.

Violence against Women

• Recently released report National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5, points to rising instances of domestic and sexual violence against women in the state.
• It shows that married women, between the ages of 18-49, who have ever experienced spousal violence, has more than doubled from 20.6 in 2014-15 to 44.5%.

Children's Rights

• National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data reveals a total of 1,28,531 crimes against children were recorded in India last year (2020), implying that an average of 350 such cases were reported each day during the pandemic.

Key Suggestions

• The government and civil society groups need to gear up for a sustained campaign against this practice.
• Both law enforcement and awareness drives engaging traditional leaders, women’s groups, Panchayati Raj Institutions, frontline workers must be ensured in these areas.
• Building rationalistic thoughts and scientific temper should be a part of the curriculum at different levels of education.
• There is a need for a national law regarding witch-hunting practitioners and mob violence against targeted families.
• States need to build up on different strategies to address the underlying issues of witchcraft.
• The Integrated Child Development Services and Integrated Child Protection Scheme structure should be used to address cases related to violence during witch-hunts.

About World Human Rights Day

• Theme of 2021: “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now”.

Causes of Violence against Women

• Unequal and unjust socio-economic systems.
• Gender inequality
• Inadequate healthcare
• Lack of law enforcement
• Widespread illiteracy.

What is Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

• The UDHR is a document which acts as a global road map for freedom and equality, protecting the rights of every individual.
• It was adopted by United Nations on 10 December 1948.
• Its adoption recognised human rights to be the foundation for freedom, justice and peace.
• It has 30 rights and freedoms including the right to be free from torture, the right to freedom of expression, the right to education and the right to seek asylum.
• It includes civil and political rights such as the rights to life, liberty and privacy.
• It also includes economic, social and cultural rights such as the rights to social security, health and adequate housing.

Significance

• It provides various universal human rights standards, that must be promoted and protected in all countries.
• It continues to serve as a foundation for national and international laws and standards.

Context:  Recently, the Chief Justice of India proposed creation of a National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India (NJIAI).
Aout NJIAI

• The proposed NJIAI could work as a central agency with each State having its own State Judicial Infrastructure Authority, much like the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) model.
• NALSA was constituted to establish a nationwide uniform network for providing free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society.

NJIAI will take control of the budgeting and infrastructure development of subordinate courts in the country.

• The proposed NJIAI should be placed under the Supreme Court of India unlike NALSA which is serviced by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• It will not suggest any major policy change but will give complete freedom to HCs to come up with projects to strengthen ground-level courts.

Members

• In the NJIAI there could be a few High Court judges as members, and some central government officials because the centre must also know where the funds are being utilised.
• Similarly, in the State Judicial Infrastructure Authority, in addition to the Chief Justice of the respective High Court and a nominated judge, four to five district court judges and state government officials could be members.

Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
• Launched in: 1993-94
• Aim: To improve the physical infrastructure requirements of the courts as also the housing needs of judicial officers in the country to facilitate better justice delivery.

Budget and Expenditure

• Centre and the State Government ratio: 60:40
• For North East states, ratio is 90:10.

Suggestions for improving judicial infrastructure in India
The Department of Justice at the central level can coordinate with the State Law Departments on the following actions:

• Publish a detailed break-up of judicial budget and utilization annually in addition to information about utilization and unspent balances.
• Conceptualize a scheme for renovation and maintenance of older, existing court complexes, to align with Universal Design principles.
• Set up an infrastructure grievance redressal cell and designate an appropriate authority from the Registry within the court complexes.
• Prepare annual reports on infrastructure, based on requirements laid down by central government.
• Partner with stakeholders to generate public awareness around infrastructure and access to justice.
• Review existing surveys and develop a comprehensive questionnaire for assessing court infrastructure
• Generate public feedback on judicial infrastructure by raising critical issues, uploading photographs, filing complaints as evidence of poor facilities wherever possible.

Context: During the formulation of the Indian Constitution, it was proposed that any petition alleging violation of fundamental rights by the state should be decided judicially within a month.

• But as 2021 draws to a close, a look at the Supreme Court of India’s docket reveals a host of highly significant constitutional cases that were long-pending when the year began, and are now simply a year older without any sign of resolution around the corner.

Effect of judicial delay on both individual and the state

• While the violation of rights — whether through executive or legislative action — is relatively costless for the state, it is the individual, or individuals, who pay the price.

Making the Constitution effective: Consequently, a Constitution is entirely ineffective if a rights-violating status quo is allowed to exist and perpetuate for months, or even years, before it is finally resolved.

• This point, of course, is not limited to the violation of rights, but extends to all significant constitutional questions that arise in the course of controversial state action.

Missing the accountability: Issues around the federal structure, elections, and many others, all involve questions of power and accountability, and the longer that courts take to resolve such cases, the more we move from a realm of accountability to a realm of impunity.

• The longer such cases are left hanging without a decision, the greater the damage that is inflicted upon our constitutional democracy’s commitment to the rule of law.

Significant cases that are unresolved
1) Challenge to the dilution of Article 370

• There is the constitutional challenge to the Presidential Orders of August 5, 2019, that effectively diluted Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, controlled by the Centre.
• It raises the question of whether the Centre can take advantage of an Article 356 situation in a State — a time when no elected government and Assembly is in existence — to make permanent and irreversible alterations in the very structure of the State itself.
• Implications for federal structure: The answer will have important ramifications not just for Jammu and Kashmir but for the entire federal structure:
• India has a long history of the abuse of Article 356 to “get rid of” inconvenient State governments, and a further expansion of the power already enjoyed by the Centre will skew an already tilted federal scheme even further.
• Power of the Parliament to alter convert State into UT: The case also raises the question of whether, under the Constitution, the Union Legislature has the authority not simply to alter State boundaries (a power granted to it by Article 3 of the Constitution), but degrade a State into a Union Territory.
• If it turned out that the Union Legislature does have this power, it would essentially mean that India’s federal structure is entirely at the mercy of Parliament.

2) Constitutional challenge to the electoral bond scheme

• Opaque and structurally biased: The electoral bonds scheme authorises limitless, anonymous corporate donations to political parties, making election funding both entirely opaque to the people, as well as being structurally biased towards the party that is in power at the Centre.
• Impact on integrity and right of the citizens to informed vote: In numerous central and State election cycles in the last four years, thousands of crores of rupees have been spent in anonymous political donations, thus impacting not only the integrity of the election process but also the constitutional right of citizens to an informed vote.
• However, other than two interim orders, the Supreme Court has refused to accord a full hearing to the constitutional challenge.

3) Other significant cases

• Statutory basis of the CBI: As far back as 2013, the Gauhati High Court held that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was not established under any statutory authority. This verdict was immediately stayed when it was appealed to the Supreme Court, but in the intervening years, it has never been heard.
• Challenge to the CAA: More recently, constitutional challenges to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), filed in the immediate aftermath of the legislation’s enactment, remain unheard.
• Challenge to the UAPA: The challenges to the much-criticised Section 43(D)(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which makes the grant of bail effectively impossible, and is responsible for the years-long incarceration of several people.
• The challenge to Section 43(D)(5) is perhaps the case that most directly affects civil rights, as the section continues to be applied on a regular basis.

Implications of the delay

• Favouring one party: The Supreme Court’s inaction is not neutral, but rather, favours the beneficiaries of the status quo. In other words, by not deciding, the Court is in effect deciding — in favour of one party — but without a reasoned judgment that justifies its stance.
• Impact on accountability: Judicial evasion of this kind is also damaging for the accountability of the judiciary itself. The Court’s inaction plays as significant a role on the ground as does its action, there is no judgment — and no reasoning — that the public can engage with.
• Impact on the rule of law: For obvious reasons, this too has a serious impact on the rule of law.

Road Ahead

• It must be acknowledged that the responsibility for constituting benches and scheduling cases especially cases that are due to be heard by larger Benches rests solely with the Chief Justice of India (CJI). 
• While the three previous CJIs have been criticised for excessive deference to the executive, the current CJI has been on record stressing the importance of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. 
• One way of demonstrating that in action might be to hear — and decide — the important constitutional cases pending before the Court.

Context: Recently, Government has informed the Supreme Court that the appointment of Chairperson and Members of the 22nd Law Commission of India is under consideration.
Key Points

• The setting up of the 22nd Law Commission was constituted by the Government on February 21, 2020.
• However, no progress has been made in the appointments till date.
• The Government invoked the ‘doctrine of separation of power’, which says that one arm of governance should not encroach into that of another.

Issues over appointment

• The last chairman of the law commission was retired Supreme Court judge, Justice B.S. Chauhan, who completed his tenure on 31 August 2018.
• Subsequently, the Commission has not been reconstituted.
• In February 2020, the Government of India announced its intention to reconstitute the Commission with no visible progress.

About Law Commission

• Law Commission of India is a currently-defunct executive body established by an order of the Government of India.
• The Commission’s function is to research and advise the GoI on legal reform, and is composed of legal experts, and headed by a retired judge.
• The commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• The last chairman of the Commission retired in August 2018, and since then, it has not been reconstituted.

Colonial Background

• The first Law Commission was established during colonial rule in India, by the East India Company under the Charter Act of 1833.
• It was then presided by Lord Macaulay.
• After that, three more Commissions were established in pre-independent India.

Post-Independence functioning

• The first Law Commission of independent India was established in 1955 for a three-year term.
• Since then, twenty-one more Commissions have been established.

Major reforms undertaken

• The First Law Commission under Macaulay Itsuggested various enactments to the British Government, most of which were passed and enacted and are still in force in India.
• These include the Indian Penal Code (first submitted in 1837 but enacted in 1860 and still in force), Criminal Procedure Code (enacted in 1898, repealed and succeeded by the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973), etc.
• Thereafter three more Law Commissions were established which made a number of other recommendations the Indian Evidence Act (1872) and Indian Contract Act (1872), etc. being some of the significant ones.

Role in legal reforms

• The Law Commission has been a key to law reform in India.
• Its role has been both advisory and critical of the government’s policies
• In a number of decisions, the Supreme Court has referred to the work done by the commission and followed its recommendations.
• The Commission seeks to simplify procedures to curb delays and improve standards of justice.
• It also strives to promote an accountable and citizen-friendly government that is transparent and ensures the people’s right to information.

Context: Recently, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has completed 100 years.

About Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

• The PAC is the oldest parliamentary committee in Indian legislative affairs and has been crucial in upholding the principle of accountability as it exercises oversight of public expenditure.
• First set up in 1921 in the wake of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms.
• PAC is one of the three Financial Parliamentary committees, the other two are the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.
• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Members

The Public Accounts Committee consists of 22 members elected according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote: 

• Fifteen members elected by Lok Sabha every year from amongst its members.
• Seven members of Rajya Sabha elected by that House in like manner are associated with the Committee. 

Representation

• This system of election ensures that each Party/Group is represented on the Committee in proportion to its respective strength in the two Houses.

Process of Election

• In April, each year, a motion is moved in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs or Chairperson of the Committee, if in office, calling upon members of the House to elect from amongst themselves 15 members to the Public Accounts Committee. 

Appointment of Chairperson

• The Chairperson of the Committee is appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha elected to the Committee.
• As a convention, starting from the Public Accounts Committee of 1967-68, a member of the Committee belonging to the main opposition party/group in the House is appointed as the Chairperson of the Committee.

Minister not to be Member of Committee

• A Minister is not eligible to be elected as a member of the Committee and if a member, after election to the Committee, is appointed as a Minister, she/he ceases to be a member of the Committee from the date of such appointment.

Term of Office

• The term of office of members of the Committee does not exceed one year at a time.

Assistance by CAG

• The Committee is assisted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the examination of Accounts and Audit Reports.
• CAG has been described as a friend, philosopher, and guide to the PAC.

Constitution of Working Groups/Sub-Committees

• A number of Working Groups/Sub-Committees are constituted by the Chairperson from amongst the members of the Committee to facilitate the examination of the subjects selected by the Committee and for considering procedural matters. 
• A Sub-Committee may also be constituted for scrutiny of action taken by the Government on the recommendations contained in the previous Reports of the Committee.

Role & Functions

• Check on the government especially with respect to its expenditure bill.
• Examines the audit report of C&AG after it is laid in the Parliament.
• PAC promotes the basic principle that parliament embodies the will of the people by exercising check over the executive.
• Keeps a check on the money spent on any service during a financial year.
• It examines the accounts of State corporations, Trading concerns and Manufacturing projects.

Challenges

• PAC is not concerned with the question of policy in a broader sense. 
• PAC generally conducts a post-mortem examination of accounts, i.e., it shows the expenditure already incurred.
• It cannot intervene in the matters of day-to-day administration.
• It is not vested with the power of disallowance of expenditure by the departments.
• Its recommendations are advisory and not binding on the ministries.
• It is not an executive body and hence, cannot issue an order. Only the Parliament can take a final decision on its findings.

Conclusion

• Parliament has the central role in our democracy as the representative body that checks the work of the government. In order to fulfil its constitutional mandate, it is imperative that Parliament functions effectively. In that manner the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) plays a crucial role in ensuring the accountability of the government by creating a strong public opinion against the government.

Context: Recently, several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state, Greater Tipraland for indigenous communities in the region.

Demand for Greater Tipraland

• The Protestants are demanding a separate state of ‘Greater Tipraland’ for the indigenous communities of the north-eastern state.
• They want the Centre to carve out a separate state under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
• Greater Tipraland envisages a situation in which the entire Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) area will be a separate state.
• It also proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal communities living outside Tripura.

Among the 19 notified Scheduled Tribes in Tripura, Tripuris (aka Tipra and Tiprasas) are the largest.

• According to the 2011 census, there are at least 5.92 lakh Tripuris in the state, followed by Bru or Reang (1.88 lakh) and Jamatias (83,000).

What does the Constitution say?

• Article 2 of the Indian Constitution deals with the admission or establishment of new states.
• Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions, as it thinks fit,” it states.
• Article 3 comes into play in the case of “formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States” by the Parliament.

How did the demand originate?

• Accessed state: Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.
• Demographic changes: There is an anxiety among the indigenous communities in connection with the change in the demographics of the state due to the displacements from the erstwhile East Pakistan.
• Existential threats: From 63.77 per cent in 1881, the population of the tribals in Tripura was down to 31.80 per cent by 2011.
• Ethnic conflicts: In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km long boundary with Bangladesh.

What has been done to address the grievances of indigenous communities?

• The TTADC was formed under the sixth schedule to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal communities.
• The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical area.

Additional Facts
Autonomous District Council

• The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India allows for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions which have been given autonomy within their respective states.
• Most of these autonomous district councils are located in North East India but two are in Ladakh, a region administered by India as a union territory.
• Presently, 10 Autonomous Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are formed by virtue of the Sixth Schedule with the rest being formed as a result of other legislation.

Powers and competencies

Under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule, autonomous district councils can make laws, rules and regulations in the following areas:

• Land management; Forest management; Water resources; Agriculture and cultivation; Formation of village councils; Public health; Sanitation; Village and town level policing; Appointment of traditional chiefs and headmen; Inheritance of property; Marriage and divorce; Social customs; Money lending and trading; Mining and minerals; Judicial powers
• Autonomous district councils have powers to form courts to hear cases where both parties are members of Scheduled Tribes and the maximum sentence is less than 5 years in prison.

Taxation and revenue

• Autonomous district councils have powers to levy taxes, fees and tolls on; building and land, animals, vehicles, boats, entry of goods into the area, roads, ferries, bridges, employment and income and general taxes for the maintenance of schools and roads.

Context: Recently, the Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India. At the meeting, India signed many agreements with Russia. The meeting is significant as it was the first 2+2 meeting between the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries.
About Logistical exchange agreements

• They are designed so that partner countries can enjoy ease of access to use each other’s military facilities like ports, bases, and military installations.
• Such agreements save enormous time and also frees up the need for constant paperwork when one military obtains assistance on matters like refuelling, berthing, use of aviation infrastructure, etc.

RELOS Agreement with Russia

• RELOS agreement with Russia would grant “access to Russian naval port facilities in the Arctic”, thus enhancing “Indian Navy’s reach and operational experience in Polar waters”.

Need for RELOS

• Despite growing engagement with the US on military hardware and tech, Russia remains a partner with whom India has shared traditionally deep defence ties.
• Russia’s growing proximity to China and Pakistan has of late been seen as casting a shadow on the Moscow-New Delhi engagement.
• To that extent, RELOS will be an important step forward in the military sphere as it aims at fostering interoperability and sharing of logistics.
• The “long overdue” agreement was to have come up for signing in 2019 but that was put off pending finalisation of its terms.

Strategic significance of RELOS Agreement

• Naval Cooperation: It is usually the Indian Navy, the most outgoing force of the three services, that stands to benefit the most from a logistical exchange agreement.
• Interoperability: These impart enhanced operational turnaround and strengthened interoperability on the high seas.
• Military enhancements: Given the percentage of Russian military hardware in the Indian armed forces, the two sides can take advantage, through RELOS, of increased interoperability “in any hostile situation in the future”.
• Future defence purchases: India has acquired advanced defence systems from Russia, including fighter jets, and is looking to again obtain a nuclear-powered attack submarine on a long-term lease from Moscow.

Fulfilling Arctic aspirations of India

• Navigation: From a geostrategic point of view, it would give Indian Navy better access to northern sea routes and Russian ports in the Arctic, where India is looking to set up an Arctic station.
• Energy cooperation: Russia and India are also exploring enhanced energy cooperation in the Arctic region.
• Competing China: India’s presence in Arctic will act as a strategic counterweight to China’s strategic posturing with Beijing and Moscow sharing “synergy” in the Arctic.

Does India have similar arrangements with other Countries?

• India has logistical exchange agreements with six other countries, including Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, partners US (LEMOA), Japan and Australia.
• Singapore, France and South Korea are the other countries with which similar arrangements have been effected.
• India has become more comfortable in concluding such arrangements with other countries and is currently pursuing one with the UK while exploring arrangement with other partners like Vietnam.

Other defence trade between the two countries

• Russia continues to be among India’s biggest defence suppliers.
• The two sides are now looking to move from licence manufacture to joint research and co-development of defence equipment.
• Both nations have agreed for the manufacture of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles by a Joint Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd, at Korwa, Amethi, in UP.
• Russia has started deliveries of the S-400 Triumf long-range air defence systems to India. The first division will be delivered by the end of 2021.
• There are several other big such as procurement of 21 Mig-29s and 12 Su-30MKI fighters, Igla-S short-range air defence systems and the manufacture of 200 K-226T utility helicopters.

Future trajectory of the defence cooperation

Acknowledging Importance of Each Other: Russia will remain a key defense partner for India for decades to come.

• On the other hand, Russia and China are currently in a quasi-alliance setup. Russia repeatedly reiterates that it does not see itself as anybody’s junior partner. That’s why Russia wants India to act as a balancer.

Joint Military Production: The two countries have been discussing how they can cooperate in using India as a production base for exporting to third countries Russian-origin equipment and services.

• Timely supply of spares and support to the large inventory of Russian hardware in service with Indian military has been a major issue from India.
• To address this, Russia has made legislative changes allowing its companies to set up joint ventures in India to address it following an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed in 2019. This is in the process of being implemented.
• With increased competition from the U.S., France, Israel and others who have bagged major deals in recent years, Russia is also focusing on timely deliveries and lifetime support.

Road Ahead

• Russia will remain a key defence partner for India for decades to come. In line with India’s quest for self-sufficiency, such partnerships help curb the reliance of India over other countries. This will thereby curb India’s dependency in near future.

Context: Recently, Nagaland Cabinet has recommended that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 be repealed from the state after the incident in Mon district in which security forces gunned down 13 civilians.
About Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)

• AFSPA was originally promulgated by the British in response to the Quit India movement in 1942. 
• After Independence, India decided to retain the Act, which was first brought in as an ordinance and then notified as an Act in 1958.

Where is AFSPA currently invoked?

• AFSPA can be imposed by the Center or the Governor of a state on the state or parts of it after it is declared “disturbed’’ under Section 3 of AFSPA Act.
• The Act defines Disturbed as areas that are “disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary’.

What is a “disturbed area” and who has the power to declare it?

• A disturbed area is one which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA. An area can be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities. 
• The Central Government, or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area. 
• A suitable notification would have to be made in the Official Gazette. As per Section 3 , it can be invoked in places where “the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary”.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs would usually enforce this Act where necessary, but there have been exceptions where the Centre decided to forego its power and leave the decision to the State governments.

Which States are, or had come under this Act?

• It is effective in the whole of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding seven assembly constituencies of Imphal) and parts of Arunachal Pradesh. 
• The Centre revoked it in Meghalaya on April 1, 2018. 
• Earlier, the AFSPA was effective in a 20 km area along the Assam-Meghalaya border. 
• In Arunachal Pradesh, the impact of AFSPA was reduced to eight police stations instead of 16 police stations and in Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts bordering Assam.
• Tripura withdrew the AFSPA in 2015. Jammu and Kashmir too has a similar Act.

What are the powers granted by the AFSPA Act to armed forces?

The Act gives sweeping powers to the armed forces.

• Firstly, It allows them to ‘open fire’, even causing death, against any person in contravention to the law or carrying arms and ammunition.
• Secondly, It gives them powers to arrest individuals without warrants, on the basis of reasonable suspicion and also search premises without warrants.
• Thirdly, It also provides blanket immunity to security personnel involved in such operations. There can be no prosecution or legal proceedings against them without the prior approval of the Center.

What are the safety nets provided under the AFSPA Act?

• The Act gives powers to security forces to open fire. But this cannot be done without prior warning given to the suspect. 
• The Act further says that any suspects apprehended by security forces should be handed over to the local police station within 24 hours.
• Moreover, it also says that armed forces must act in cooperation with the district administration and not as an independent body.

Naga killings point to AFSPA pitfalls

• The AFSPA gives the armed forces the licence to kill. And when they carry out such shameful operations without keeping the local police in the loop, as has been the practice for long, it gives the message that the Centre just does not care about the peace process.

Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights vs Union of India- SC’s 1997 verdict laid down guidelines for use of AFSPA:

• The 1997 judgment of a Constitution Bench held that the power under Section 4(a) of the AFSPA to use deadly force should be employed only under “certain circumstances”.
• The court noted that the “power to cause death is relatable to maintenance of public order in a disturbed area and is to be exercised under definite circumstances”.
• These preconditions include a declaration by a high-level authority that an area is “disturbed”. The officer concerned decides to use deadly force on the opinion that it is “necessary” to maintain public order. But he has to give “due warning” first.
• The persons against whom the action was taken by the armed forces should have been “acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area”.

Context: In many public places in Hyderabad, there are signboards that read: ‘Big boss is watching you’. 

• Hyderabad city police is deploying lakhs of cameras connected in a real-time network managed by Hyderabad’s Command and Control Centre and can be used for facial recognition technology.
• In this article we discuss that to upkeep of law and order is paramount, the right to privacy and informed consent cannot be compromised.

Issue
Surveillance practices like data analytics, social media analysis capabilities and facial recognition are alleged to be an attempt to control citizens’ lives through technology.

• There have been protests in Hyderabad against surveillance and in support of the right to privacy, it was only after Amnesty International raised concerns that “extensive surveillance of Hyderabad is putting human rights at risk” that surveillance was brought to the fore.

How this Surveillance technology worked?

• In Hyderabad it largely follows a three-pronged approach: there is a wide web of CCTV cameras, facial recognition technology, and cordon and search operations. 

Need of this move

• To transform the Hyderabad City Police into a Global City Police. 
• To help achieve this aim, the public has been encouraged to install CCTV cameras and share footage when required. 
• Outcomes of this project include preventing crime and monitoring ‘high-risk areas’.

Problem associated with such technologies

• Under a cloud of the right to peaceful assembly as they can act as a tool of mass surveillance and pose a risk to disadvantaged communities.
• Two cases of the alleged violation of privacy by the police were reported recently. S.Q. Masood, an activist, said the police stopped him during the lockdown, instructed him to remove his mask and clicked photos of him. 
• Similarly, during a crackdown against ganja, the Telangana Prohibition and Excise Department teams checked the phones of people to verify if the word ‘ganja’ was used in their chats. 
• These incidents underscore crucial issues: the need for a data protection law and the concept of informed consent.

Issue with Cordon and search operations

• A fact-finding team from Hyderabad which probed cordon and search operations in some areas recently underscored the vulnerability of residents. 
• The team stated that cordon and search operations project such areas as “criminal areas”, target “lower rungs of society, and are an infringement of privacy”.

Road Ahead

• While upkeep of law and order is paramount, the right to privacy and informed consent cannot be compromised. They need to be protected by a law that defines the limits of use of citizen’s data by the state. 
• This Hyderabad model will motivate other state police departments and intelligence agencies to adopt similar measures throughout the country but the unequal power dynamic between security agencies and the common man who has no choice but to comply cannot be ignored.

Context: Recently, Niti Aayog and the Center for Science and Environment(CSE) has released a report titled “Waste-wise Cities: Best practices in municipal solid waste management”. The report is a comprehensive knowledge repository of how Indian cities are managing their solid waste. 

• Note: Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM) 2.0 was launched in September 2021. The mission focuses on source segregation, material reprocessing, and zero-landfills. 

Municipal Solid Waste

• It is estimated that urban India generates between 1.3 lakh to 1.5 lakh metric tons(MT) of municipal solid waste every day. This adds up to roughly 50 million MT per year. At current rates, this will jump to some 125 million MT a year by 2031. 

What are some best examples of cities in managing municipal solid waste?

• Indore: The city had a robust communications strategy to bring about behavioural change at the mass level. The aim was to motivate citizens to embrace segregation. This was followed by a robust monitoring system and enforcement through a series of by-laws. 
• Ambikapur (Chattisgarh): It adopted a zero-landfill model which ensures that maximum quantities of waste are subjected to scientific treatment and recycling measures and negligible waste is generated as residual solid waste or rejects, thereby minimizing the need to construct new landfills.
• Bengaluru: It employed several Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) solutions, including an RFID-based attendance system and geotagging of collection routes to monitor the waste management services.
• Pune: The city introduced the Red Dot campaign to manage sanitary waste. It is a one-of-its-kind initiative where citizens, workers and administration unanimously accepted their responsibility, making it a lesson for other cities in India. This was achieved through a well-planned mechanism of collection, channelisation and disposal.  

What are the key learnings from the practices adopted by cities in managing municipal solid waste?

• Firstly, Jan Andolan (Mass Movement) for Swachhta should be organized to understand the importance of source segregation and overall waste management operations.
• Secondly, Frontier technologies have to be used for converting waste to the highest form of energy.
• Thirdly, governance capabilities especially in the municipalities and other Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) should be strengthened to achieve zero waste cities.
• Fourthly, innovative models of circular economy in municipal waste management should be implemented.
• Lastly, advanced data management and technology like GIS tracking of waste transportation vehicles should be adopted.

Context: Recently, World Health Organisation has unveiled the third progress report on Global trans-fat elimination 2021.

• The report monitors global progress towards the 2023 target for global elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids.

Key highlights of the Report

• Elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids (TFA) can effectively reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Cardiovascular disease will make populations more resilient in future epidemics and pandemics.

Best Practice Policies

• Bangladesh, India, the Philippines and Ukraine became the first lower-middle-income countries to pass best-practice trans-fat elimination policies.
• In 2018, WHO called for the global elimination of industrially produced TFA by 2023.
• No low-income countries have adopted best-practice TFA policies to date.
• The best-practice policy came into effect in Brazil, European Union, Peru, Singapore and Turkey.

What are Trans Fats?

• Trans fats are a form of unsaturated fat associated with a number of negative health effects. 
• Artificial trans fat is created during hydrogenation, which converts liquid vegetable oils into semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil. 
• Trans fat can also be found naturally in meat and dairy.

Two types of trans fats

• There are two broad types of trans fats found in foods — naturally-occurring and artificial trans fats.
• Milk and meat products, for instance, have naturally-occurring trans fats. 

Artificial trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are generated in food items during an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.

• The artificial trans fats can be found in several food items, including doughnuts, cakes, biscuits, pizzas and cookies. Usually their presence is listed on food labels, expressed as trans fats per serving or as ‘partially hydrogenated oils’.

Rationale behind: Industrial trans fats are highly toxic compounds that can lead to several non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases.
Heart risks: Trans fats are associated with increased risk of heart attacks and death from coronary heart disease. 

• According to the American Heart Association (AHA), trans fats raise bad (LDL) cholesterol levels. 
• They also lower good (HDL) cholesterol levels. High LDL along with low HDL levels can cause cholesterol to build up in blood vessels, increasing the risk for heart disease and stroke.
• As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 5.4 lakh deaths take place each year globally because of intake of industrially produced trans fatty acids. 

Project REPLACE

• The WHO has also called for global elimination of trans fats by 2023. The WHO has also called for global elimination of trans fats by 2023.
• The REPLACE action package provides a strategic approach to eliminating industrially-produced trans-fat from national food supplies.

Major areas of action include

• Review dietary sources of industrially-produced trans-fat and the landscape for required policy change.
• Promote the replacement of industrially-produced trans-fat with healthier fats and oils.
• Legislate or enact regulatory actions to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fat.
• Assess and monitor trans-fat content in the food supply and changes in trans-fat consumption in the population.
• Create awareness of the negative health impact of trans fat among policy-makers, producers, suppliers, and the public.
• Enforce compliance with policies and regulations.

Context: Recently, Lancet has published a paper titled ‘The national suicide prevention strategy in India: Context and considerations for urgent action’.
Key highlights of paper

• India reports the highest number of suicide deaths in the world.
• The suicide rate among Indian girls and women continues to be twice the global rate.
• India’s contribution to global suicide deaths has increased from 27·3% in 1990 to 36·5% in 2019 among women and girls.
• Suicide accounts for most deaths in the 15–39 years age group compared with other causes of death.
• India is projected to fall short of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030 target of reducing the age-standardised suicide death rate(ASDR) by one third.
• The ratio of ASDR for men and boys to ASDR for women and girls in India was 1·3 in 2019.

Method of suicide

• Hanging is the most common method of suicide, followed by pesticides poisoning, medicine overdose, and self-immolation.

Causes of suicide

• Major: socioeconomic circumstances, interpersonal problems, social and cultural conflicts, alcoholism, unemployment, and poor health
• Other: absenteeism in school or college, physical and sexual abuse, intergenerational conflicts, academic competition, fear of academic failure, and parental pressures
• COVID-19 pandemic also increases the cases of suicide.

Key Suggestions

Measures by India in this regard

• The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 decriminalizes suicide, assuring adequate medical relief to those attempting it.
• The National Mental Health Programme and Health and Wellness Centres under the Ayushman Bharat Program are efforts to provide quality care at the primary health care level.
• Deaddiction centres and rehabilitation services are also available.
• A comprehensive suicide prevention strategy within the framework of the National Mental Health Policy of India 2014, with effective multisectoral collaboration is imperative.

The National Mental Health Policy of India, aimed to reduce suicide deaths and suicide attempts through various means such as:

• suicide prevention programmes,
• restricting access to the means of suicide(pesticides in particular),
• framing guidelines for responsible media reporting,
• training community leaders.

Context: Due to the Covid pandemic, Anganwadis were closed owing to lockdown. This article discusses the need to reopen the Anganwadis since they are the focal point for the execution of all ICDS health, nutrition, and early learning programmes.
About Anganwadi

• In Indian languages, the word anganwadi means “courtyard shelter.”
• They began in 1975 as part of the Indian government’s Integrated Child Development Services initiative to tackle child hunger and malnutrition.
• The AWW is supported by a part-time assistant, called an Anganwadi Helper (AWH)

Significance of Anganwadis

• Anganwadis are part of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and provide childcare, health and nutrition, education, supplemental nutrition, immunisation, health check-ups, and referral services to households, particularly those from low-income families.
• ICDS covers over 88 million children aged 0 to 6 years in India.
• Anganwadi workers were a key source of nutrition advice for families, according to IDinsight surveys.

Impacts of Anganwadis Closure

• Shutdown of Anganwadi services had a severe impact on service delivery and jeopardised a vital social security net.
• Even though anganwadis have reopened, their capacity to serve as childcare centres has been harmed.
• According to statistics from the National Family Health Service (NFHS)-5, less than 15% of five-year-olds attended any kind of pre-primary education in 2019-20.
• Home-schooling was indicated by 58 percent of women in our COVID-19 rural household surveys as the main cause of an increase in unpaid work.

Benefits of Reopening Anganwadis

• Anganwadis can help children reach their full potential by serving as platforms for early childhood education and nutrition support.
• Women’s time will be freed up, especially for economic activities, if younger children are sent to anganwadis.
• The National Education Policy, 2020, places anganwadis at the centre of the push to universalise access to early childhood care and education (ECCE).

Myriad challenges before Anganwadis

• Lack of Skill Set: Despite being the major source of nutrition advice, anganwadi staff may be lacking in technical skills.Knowledge of critical health behaviours such as complementary feeding and handwashing was poor among mothers listed as anganwadi workers.
• Lack of Resources: Anganwadi personnel frequently lack the resources or training necessary to deliver ECCE.
• Lack of Time: Administrative obligations consume a large amount of time, and fundamental services such as pre-school education suffer as a result.
• Lack of Infrastructure: Infrastructure is frequently lacking in anganwadis. According to NITI Aayog, only 59% of anganwadis had enough seating for children and employees, and more than half were unsanitary.
• Issues in Urban Areas: According to NFHS-4 statistics, the use of early childcare services at anganwadis in urban regions is just 28 percent, compared to 42 percent in rural areas.

Ways to increase the efficiency of Anganwadis

• Prioritize and assess initiatives that have a track record of effectiveness.
• Increase the number of home visits where volunteers interact with children and caregivers to enhance cognition, language, and dietary intake.
• Execute seamless cooperation among anganwadi staff to provide efforts surrounding home-based newborn and young child care.
• Improve anganwadi staff’ career incentives and compensation.
• Link Anganwadis and elementary schools to promote convergence, as well as the time of childcare at anganwadis would be extended.
• Reaching out to pregnant moms can enhance the chances that their children will receive ICDS programmes.

Road Ahead

• Anganwadis, the world’s biggest supplier of early childhood care, play a critical role in improving the lives of children in India. We need to spend more in anganwadis and use proven innovative approaches to enhance these results.

Additional Information
Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)

• ASHAs are an all-female cadre of community health workers constituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the National Rural Health Mission in 2006.
• ASHA is the first port of call for any health-related demands of deprived sections of the population, especially women and children.

The aim of the ASHA is to

• create awareness on health and its social determinants
• mobilize the community towards local health planning
• facilitate access to existing health services.

Auxiliary Nurse Midwife

• Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) is a female health worker who is based at a health sub-centre or Primary health centre. They are recognised as essential frontline workers under the National Rural Health Mission.
• The ANM cadre was created in the 1950s to focus on basic maternal health including midwifery and child health.
• Later, the ANMs became designated as multipurpose workers (MPW) and their responsibilities included family planning, immunisation, infectious disease prevention and care, in addition to maternal health and childbirth.