TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related GOVERNANCE 1. The status of the Smart Cities Mission 2. Making a case for decriminalisation C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. Going back to the foundation of the Republic ECONOMY 1. The NMP is hardly the panacea for growth in India INTERNAL SECURITY 1. Needed: repeal of AFSPA, not regret F. Prelims Facts 1. The truth about Zero Budget Natural Farming G. Tidbits 1. India votes against UN draft resolution on climate change 2. CJI bats for more women judges H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
1. The status of the Smart Cities Mission
Topic: Government Policies and Interventions and issues arising out of their Design and Implementation
Prelims: Smart Cities Mission – Provisions
Mains: Significance of urban development; Concerns with the implementation of the Smart Cities Mission
Smart Cities Mission:
- Smart Cities Mission was launched in 2015 and is operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. 100 cities have been selected to be developed as Smart Cities.
- The main objective of the Mission is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure, clean and sustainable environment and give a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of ‘smart solutions’. A major aspect of the scheme is the harnessing of technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes. It includes the use of integrated data, use of technology platforms for service delivery to citizens, and mainstreaming of urban development concepts.
- There is no standard definition or template of a smart city. Six fundamental principles on which the concept of Smart Cities is based are:
-
Image source: https://smartcities.gov.in/
- The Mission aims to drive economic growth and improve quality of life through comprehensive work on social, economic, physical and institutional pillars of the city. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development.
- In September 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) expanded the emphasis on climate-friendly infrastructure in smart cities through the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2.0 and a “Streets for People” plan that would put pedestrians and non-motorised road users at the centre of urban planning.
Know more about the Smart Cities Mission in the link.
Key features of smart cities:
Concerns:
- Many projects under the SCM remain incomplete beyond the original deadlines. This will lead to cost overruns.
- Under the scheme, the citizens’ aspirations were to be captured in the Smart City Proposals (SCPs). However, the preparation of smart city plans has lacked wide public discussion. Project finalisation has thus far only involved State governments, the bureaucracy and independent experts.
- There also have been criticisms regarding the poor planning and execution of the proposed projects. Some projects have been criticized for their environmental unsustainability. Ongoing smart city plans face the pressure of designing for climate change.
- There seems to be poor accountability in terms of timelines and deliverables from the scheme. The Smart City Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), constituted to implement, operate and monitor the projects and empowered to take decisions on Mission projects under the overall guidance of the State High Powered Steering Committees are not required to submit projects for approval to the Ministry. This effectively puts the onus on these entities to complete the work according to the deadlines, and the Centre does not bear responsibility for delays.
- A core factor of sustainability is inclusivity, which seems to be overlooked in the overall planning and execution of the proposed projects.
2. Making a case for decriminalisation
Topic: Government Policies and Interventions and issues arising out of their Design and Implementation
Prelims: NDPS Act – Provisions
Mains: Arguments for shifting from a punitive framework towards decriminalisation and rehabilitation
Context:
- The Central Government convened an inter-departmental meeting to re-evaluate the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act).
- Based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Centre is considering amending the NDPS Act to decriminalise the possession and consumption of small quantities of drugs.
Arguments in favour of amending the law:
- Despite stringent provisions in the NDPS Act, the number of people dependent on drugs has exponentially increased over the past few years. This can be considered as indicative of the ineffectiveness of the criminal deterrence policy.
- Under the NDPS Act, any person who consumes or possesses a narcotic substance can be sentenced to imprisonment and the imposition of fines.
- According to the ‘Magnitude of Substance Use in India’ report, as of 2019, there were about 6 crore drug users in India (from an earlier estimated 1.1 crore users in 2004).
- The amendment to the NDPS Act will shift the focus from punishments to a focus on public health. The amendment will allow substance use to be tackled as a public health concern. This will help promote alternative strategies such as de-addiction and rehabilitation.
- Many of the drug addicts in India require professional help to reduce their dependence on drugs.
- The criminalisation of drug usage by the NDPS Act has only enhanced societal stigma, isolation, and hindered access to treatment.
- Countries like Portugal which took a positive step of moving away from a punitive framework and towards the decriminalisation of possession or consumption of small quantities of drugs and emphasis on suitable rehabilitation have noticed positive outcomes. In recognition of the success of the Portuguese model, the UN and the WHO have advocated for nations to repeal punitive laws relating to the use and possession of drugs for personal use.
- Decriminalisation will also help reduce the burden on the Indian criminal justice system, currently clogged with cases involving small quantities of drugs.
- The move will also allow the State to focus its resources on the prosecution of persons involved in large-scale trafficking and manufacture of drugs.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Going back to the foundation of the Republic
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Mains: Liberal Constitutionalism in the Context of Indian Society
Context:
This article discusses the nature of the Indian Republic and Constitutionalism in today’s context.
Understanding of the Authority is Important:
- The most important contribution of the Constitution to Indian civic nationalism was that of representation centred on individuals.
- As legal scholar Madhav Khosla explains in his impressive book of legal history, India’s Founding Moment, the political apparatus of establishing a constitutional democracy in postcolonial India involved asking Indians to have a new understanding of authority. They would be liberated from British imperial despotism through submission to a new idea of Indianness that saw them as equal agents.
Liberal Constitutionalism and Indian Society:
- The founders of the republic chose to impose a liberal constitution upon a society that was not liberal.
- They saw the principles of liberal constitutionalism — the centrality of the state, non-communal political representation, and so on — as essential to Indian democracy.
- In keeping with contemporary liberal thought, they committed India to a common language of the rule of law, constructed a centralized state, but instituted a model of representation whose units were individuals rather than groups.
- This was an attempt to free Indians from their prevailing understanding of their place in society and to place citizens in a realm of individual agency and deliberation that was appropriate to self-rule.
Rights Granted by the Constitution:
- The Constitution granted representation not to one’s predetermined religious identity but to one’s individual expression of political agency. That was why the individual vote was so important.
- Democratic politics could not be reduced to the advocacy of pre-set interests.
- At the same time, the Constitution acknowledged group rights, such as
- the right of religious denominations to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes (Article 26(a)),
- the right of a ‘section of the citizens’ to conserve a distinct language, script or culture (Article 29(1)).
- There were also provisions to protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes (Article 19(5)) and a specific provision in Article 25 stating that a ‘heavy responsibility’ would be cast on the majority to see that minorities feel secure.
Constitutionalism in today’s context:
- Constitution makers explicitly rejected the notion of religion playing any role in citizenship, arguing that each individual voter exercised agency in the democratic project and should not be reduced to the pre-existing loyalties of religious affiliation.
- This was far removed from the assumptions that have animated the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the threat to introduce a National Register of Citizens.
Challenges in front of constitutionalism:
- The challenge lies in reconciling restrictions on state power with popular rule — to prevent temporary majorities from completely undoing what the Constitution has provided.
- The founders of the Indian republic held a conception of democracy that went beyond majority rule. They subordinated politics to law.
- The rights of Indian citizens could not ‘be taken away by any legislature merely because it happens to have a majority’.
Divided between two ideas
- This fundamental difference of opinion over religion continues to haunt our politics today.
- The nationalist movement was divided between two ideas; those held by those who saw the religious identity as the determinant of their nationhood, and those who believed in an inclusive India for everyone, irrespective of faith, where rights were guaranteed to individuals rather than to religious communities.
Conclusion:
India never accepted the logic that had partitioned the country: our freedom struggle was for all, and the newly independent India would also be for all.
1. The NMP is hardly the panacea for growth in India
Topic: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.
Mains: Critical Evaluation of the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) scheme.
Context:
This article examines the significance and concerns associated with the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
What is monetisation?
- In a monetisation transaction, the government essentially transfers income rights to private parties for a specific length of time in exchange for cash upfront, a revenue share, and a commitment to invest in the assets.
- The major structures used to monetize assets in the road and power sectors, for example, are real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs).
What is the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)?
- The NMP is intended to maximize the value of investments in brownfield public-sector assets by leveraging institutional and long-term financing.
- National Monetisation Pipeline is worth Rs 6 lakh crore.
- Read more on the National Monetisation Pipeline in the linked article.
Objectives of NMP:
- To extract the value of public-sector asset investments by leveraging private-sector resources and efficiencies.
- To release idle money from non-strategic/underperforming government-owned assets.
- To reinvest the proceeds in new infrastructure projects and asset augmentation, such as greenfield infrastructure building.
Significance of NMP:
- The NMP demonstrates that while the government may have constructed assets, the private sector may put them to better use.
- NMP assists in generating value from idle assets without the Centre permanently relinquishing control of public sector assets to private parties.
- The Centre has emphasized that the government will retain primary ownership of assets under the NMP.
- NMP funds will be utilized to build infrastructure as part of the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
- Private entities will utilize the asset for a specified period of time before returning it to the public authorities.
Other Government measures: – Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti National Master Plan
- The “Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti National Master Plan” for multi-modal connectivity was launched to synchronise the activities of 16 Ministries’ departments, including railroads and highways.
- It is primarily a digital platform for sharing information across various ministries and departments at the Union and State levels.
Challenges:
- Key challenges: Lack of identifiable revenue streams in various assets, level of capacity utilization in gas and petroleum pipeline networks, dispute resolution mechanism, regulated tariffs in power sector assets, and low interest among investors in national highways below four lanes.
- Structural Challenges: Slow pace of privatization in government companies and less-than-encouraging bids.
- Pricing Issues: High cost for the end-consumer, lack of identifiable revenue streams in various assets, dispute resolution, presence of regulated tariffs in certain sectors are some hurdles NMP needs to cross.
Essential steps
- To strengthen public sector businesses by completely revamping their corporate governance structure in order to enhance operational autonomy of governance practices.
- To revamp the performance monitoring system of central public sector enterprises to make them more transparent, objective and forward looking, based on sectoral indices/benchmarks.
- To boost domestic production in the steel sector, viz. inclusion of “speciality steel”, incentives under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme; etc.
Conclusion:
The goal of the NMP is to enable ‘Infrastructure Creation through Monetisation,’ in which the public and private sectors combine to offer socioeconomic growth and quality of life to the citizens of the country. More out-of-the-box policy initiatives are needed to rule out public asset monetisation schemes such as the NMP in future.
1. Needed: repeal of AFSPA, not regret
Topic: Challenges to internal security, Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security
Mains: Demands to repeal Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA Act)
Context:
The demand for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) is gathering momentum throughout the Northeast.
Know more about this issue here: CNA 7 Dec 2021
F. Prelims Facts
1. The truth about Zero Budget Natural Farming
- Zero-budget natural farming is a technique of farming that aims to bring down input costs by making farmers rely on natural inputs, shifting away from agricultural chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilisers.
- Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) was popularised by Subhash Palekar.
- ZBNF recommends the “four wheels”: Bijamrit, Jivamrit, Mulching and Waaphasa and three methods of insect and pest management: Agniastra, Brahmastra and Neemastra (all different preparations using cow urine, cow dung, tobacco, fruits, green chilli, garlic and neem).
- Bijamrit is the microbial coating of seeds with formulations of cow urine and cow dung.
- Jivamrit is the enhancement of soil microbes using an inoculum of cow dung, cow urine, and jaggery.
- Mulching is the covering of soil with crops or crop residues.
- Waaphasa is the building up of soil humus to increase soil aeration.
- ZBNF is both an economically and environmentally sustainable method of crop production.
G. Tidbits
1. India votes against UN draft resolution on climate change
- India voted against a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) linking climate to security and the proposal to bring climate talks to the Security Council.
- While India acknowledged the link between climate change and threat to international peace and security, it argued against the proposal to bring climate negotiations under the UNSC framework based on the following reasons.
- The shift of climate talks from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to the Security Council would adversely affect collective action on the climate action issue. Bringing climate talks to the Security Council would allow climate decisions to be taken without consensus or the involvement of most developing countries.
- Such a development would also go against the principle of “common but differentiated” responsibilities, a fundamental tenet of climate action.
2. CJI bats for more women judges
- Chief Justice of India has promised to take up with the Supreme Court Collegium the demand for more women judges in view of the under-representation of women in the higher judiciary.
- The inclusion of women as judges will substantially improve the justice delivery system as women can bring a different perspective to the law which will enrich the legal field.
Additional information:
- The Supreme Court currently has the highest number of women judges ever in its history.
- Justice B.V. Nagarathna recently recommended by the Collegium is poised to become the first woman Chief Justice of India.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements with regards to the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution:
- The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to safeguard the rights of the tribal population in these states.
- The Sixth Schedule establishes Tribal Advisory Councils in these states.
- The Sixth Schedule was originally intended for the predominantly tribal areas (tribal population over 90%) of undivided Assam, which was categorised as “excluded areas” under the Government of India Act, 1935 and was under the direct control of the Governor.
Which of these statements is/are correct?
- 1 & 2 only
- 2 & 3 only
- 1 & 3 only
- All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to safeguard the rights of the tribal population in these states. This special provision is provided under Article 244(2) and Article 275(1) of the Constitution.
- The Sixth Schedule was originally intended for the predominantly tribal areas (tribal population over 90%) of undivided Assam.
- The Sixth Schedule provides for the formation of autonomous district councils while the Fifth Schedule provides for Tribal Advisory Councils in the fifth schedule areas.
Q2. Consider the following statements with regards to Hypersonic technology:
- Hypersonic speeds refer to 3 or more times the Mach or speed of sound.
- Most hypersonic vehicles primarily use scramjet technology, which is a type of Air Breathing Propulsion System.
- DRDO has successfully flight-tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV), with a capability to travel at 6 times the speed of sound.
Choose the correct statements:
- 1 & 2 only
- 2 & 3 only
- 1 & 3 only
- All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- Hypersonic speeds refer to 5 or more times the Mach or speed of sound.
Q3. Who amongst the following was the Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas of the Constituent Assembly?
- Jawaharlal Nehru
- Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- Vallabhbhai Patel
- GV Mavlankar
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- The Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas was headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Q4. Consider the following statements with regards to the Draft Food Safety and Standards (Labelling And Display) Regulations:
- The front of all packaged food items will have to display the total number of calories, saturated and trans fats, salt, and added sugar content as well as the proportion of the daily energy needs fulfilled by the food item.
- FSSAI has changed the symbol of vegetarian food from a green circle to a green triangle to help colour blind people distinguish it from the brown circle denoting non-vegetarian food.
- If the total amounts of calories, fats, trans-fats, sugar, and sodium per serving exceed the stipulated limits, it would be indicated in red colour.
Choose the correct code:
- 1 & 2 only
- 2 & 3 only
- 1 & 3 only
- All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- The front of all packaged food items will have to display the total number of calories, saturated and trans fats, salt, and added sugar content as well as the proportion of the daily energy needs fulfilled by the food item. If the total amounts of calories, fats, trans-fats, sugar, and sodium per serving exceed the stipulated limits, it would be indicated in red colour.
- FSSAI has changed the symbol of vegetarian food from a green circle to a green triangle.
Q5. Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?
- Certificate of Deposit
- Commercial Paper
- Promissory Note
- Participatory Note
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- Participatory notes also referred to as P-Notes are financial instruments required by investors or hedge funds to invest in Indian securities without having to register with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Critically examine the National Monetisation Pipeline. Can it be the panacea for growth in India? (250 words; 15 marks) (GS Paper 3/Economy)
- Evaluate the status of the Smart Cities Mission. What is the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework? How far has the Smart Cities Mission progressed? (250 words; 15 marks)(GS Paper 2/Governance)
Read the previous CNA here.
CNA 15 Dec 2021:- Download PDF Here
Comments