Daily Prelims Notes 9 November 2022

November 9, 2022
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

9 November 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Why a strong rupee is good

Subject: Economy

Context:

India has moved to the fifth largest economy in dollar terms, despite the rupee depreciation.

Details:

India’s trade deficit is perennially negative and therefore the rupee will be weak

What if the rupee appreciates—What if the rupee was trading at ₹60 to the dollar and not at ₹80+?

The reduction in the import bill of oil.
Fall in fuel price-If the price benefit is passed on to the consumer it will cause reduction in the price of fuel.
Fall in inflation-The high fuel cost has a cascading inflationary effect on the entire economy, and that can be moderated.
Rise in the purchasing power of money-due to fall in inflation, saved money can be used in the consumption of other goods.
Reduction in exports.
Capital inflows-If the rupee is expected to strengthen, then immediately dollars start to flow into the country fast as no one wants to lose with lower exchange rates at a future date.
- Note- Here expected appreciation in the future will cause capital inflows in the present. However, a current appreciation will cause capital outflows as no one wants to lose with lower exchange rates if rupee appreciates.

Concept:

Currency appreciation refers to the increase in value of one currency relative to another in the forex markets.
The value of a currency is not measured in absolute terms. It is always measured relative to the currency being measured against it.
Appreciation is directly linked to demand and supply.
- If the value appreciates (or goes up), demand for the currency also rises or supply falls.
Effects of Currency Appreciation
- Export costs rise– If the Indian rupee appreciates to the US $, foreigners will find Indian goods more expensive because they have to spend more for those goods in the US $. That means that with the higher price, the number of Indian goods being exported will likely drop. This eventually leads to a reduction in gross domestic product (GDP).
- Cheaper imports-If Indian goods become more expensive on the foreign market, foreign goods or imports will become cheaper in India. That translates to a benefit of lower prices, leading to lower overall inflation due to lower imported inflation.
- Rise in current account deficit- as import rises and export falls.
- Monetary policy– It is possible that an appreciation in the exchange rate may make the Central Bank more willing to cut interest rates.
  - An appreciation reduces inflationary pressure so interest rates can be lower.

The relationship between balance of payments and exchange rates under a floating-rate exchange system will be driven by the supply and demand for the country’s currency and all transactions taking place with other countries.

Suppose there is surplus in the balance of payments-It means money inflows are greater than the money outflows due to the net positive international transactions leading to appreciation of domestic currency.
Example-Let initial exchange rate be Rs. 40 = $1. An increase in demand for India’s exportables means an increase in the demand for Indian rupee relative to the demand of the US$ and decrease in the supply of the Indian rupee relative to the supply of the US$ . Consequently, the dollar depreciates while the Indian rupee appreciates.

Can artificial appreciation of rupee help solving the present rupee value crisis?

Yes!! Only if following measures are accompanied:

Clear signal that there is a plan to strengthen the rupee-If the rupee is expected to strengthen, then immediately dollars start to flow into the country fast as no one wants to lose with lower exchange rates at a future date.
Reduction in oil consumption and wasteful imports.
Encourage non-dollar sources of oil.
Launch a PM Build-India-Bonds-that offer decent returns to encourage capital inflows.

2. Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

Subject: Economy

Context:

Govt moves to set up fodder-centric farmer producer organisations.

Details:

The government has designated the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as the implementing agency, setting a target of 100 such FPOs in 2022-23.
It will be set up under the scheme of formation and promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
It aims to form and promote FPOs–primarily fodder centric, and animal husbandry activities as a secondary activity (fodder plus model).
The idea of setting up fodder-centric FPOs was first mooted by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in 2020, with the aim to address the fodder deficit situation in the country.
- The high fodder inflation has a direct impact on rural livelihoods.

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)

It was founded in 1965 to replace exploitation with empowerment, tradition with modernity, stagnation with growth, transforming dairying into an instrument for the development of India’s rural people.
The National Dairy Development Board, initially registered as a society under the Societies Act 1860, was merged with the erstwhile Indian Dairy Corporation, a company formed and registered under the Companies Act 1956, by the NDDB Act 1987, with effect from 12 October, 1987.
The NDDB is an institute of national importance established by an act of the Indian Parliament and thus is a statutory body.
National Dairy Development Board located at– Anand, Gujarat (HQ)
It is under the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
It was founded by Dr Verghese Kurien, often called ‘India’s milkman’.
It was set up to replicate the success of Amul to the whole of India.
NDDB was created to boost, finance and support producer-owned and controlled organisations in the dairy industry.
Its activities and programmes are aimed at augmenting farmer-owned institutions and it also supports national policies that are inclined towards the growth of such organisations.
Its major success is Operation Flood-which ran from 1970 to 1996 (26 years) and transformed India into the largest producer of milk in the world. This is also called the White Revolution.
The Board has integrated more than 1 lakh dairy cooperatives in the ‘Anand Pattern’.
- Under this, the village-level society is linked to the state dairy federation in a three-tier structure.
The NDDB also implementing the National Dairy Plan (NDP)
NDDB’s subsidiaries include Mother Dairy, Indian Immunologicals Ltd., Hyderabad (IIL), Indian Dairy Machinery Company Ltd, Anand (IDMC) and NDDB Dairy Services.

What are Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) ?

It is a type of Producer Organization (PO) where the members are farmers.
- A Producer Organization (PO) is a legal entity formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen. A PO can be a producer company, a cooperative society or any other legal form which provides for sharing of profits/benefits among the members. In some forms like producer companies, institutions of primary producers can also become members of PO.
FPOs are voluntary organizations controlled by their farmer-members who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions.
They are open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.
FPOs operatives provide education and training for their farmer-members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so that they can contribute effectively to the development of their FPOs.

Government’s Effort For Promotion of FPO

Since 2011, it has intensively promoted FPOs under the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), NABARD, state governments and NGOs.
The ongoing support for FPOs is mainly in the form of
- Equity Grant Scheme–The Scheme is operated by the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC). It aims to extend support to the equity base of Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) by providing matching equity grants up to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh in two tranches.
- Credit Guarantee Scheme-The scheme provides risk cover to banks that advance collateral-free loans to FPCs up to Rs 1 crore. Only about 1% of registered producer companies have been able to avail the benefits.
Central Sector Scheme of Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs-The scheme was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs till 2027-28. The scheme is being implemented by the SFAC, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), NABARD, NAFED among others.
- While adopting a cluster-based approach, the formation of FPOs will be focussed on “One District One Product” for the development of product specialization.

3. Electoral bonds

Subject: Polity

Context:

Ahead of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the Finance Ministry has authorised the State Bank of India to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches from November 9-15 this year.

Details:

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)has amended the Electoral Bond Scheme 2018 to empower the Centre to specify an additional ‘15 days’ period where the bonds would be available for purchase in the year of general elections to legislative assembly of States and union territories with legislature.

The Electoral Bond Scheme

Launched in 2018 to bring about transparency in electoral funding in India.
Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer instruments used to donate money anonymously to political parties.
- A bearer instrument does not carry any information about the buyer or payee and the holder of the instrument (which is the political party) is presumed to be its owner.
- Electoral bonds are money instruments like promissory notes and do not bear the name of the donor and are, in effect, anonymous.
Donors can purchase and subsequently donate the bonds to their political party of choice, which the party can then cash through its verified account within 15 days.
There is no limit on the number of bonds an individual or company can purchase.
SBI deposits bonds that a political party hasn’t cashed within 15 days into the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
Such bonds, which are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore, can be bought from authorised branches of the State Bank of India by a KYC-compliant account holder.
There is no limit on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase.
How does it work?
- As such, a donor is required to pay the amount — say Rs 10 lakh — via a cheque or a digital mechanism (cash is not allowed) to the authorised SBI branch.
- The donor can then give this bond (just one, if the denomination chosen is Rs 10 lakh, or 10, if the denomination is Rs 1 lakh) to the party or parties of their choice.
- Every party registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and having secured at least one per cent of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election has been allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.
- The political parties can choose to encash such bonds within 15 days of receiving them only through the allotted account and fund their electoral expenses.
- On the face of it, the process ensures that the name of the donor remains anonymous.
  - Individuals, groups of individuals, NGOs, corporates, religious and other trusts are permitted to donate via electoral bonds without disclosing their details.
  - An amendment to the Finance Act 2017, the Union government has exempted political parties from disclosing donations received through electoral bonds. In other words, they don’t have to disclose details of those contributing by way of electoral bonds in their contribution reports filed mandatorily with the Election Commission every year.
    - Before the introduction of electoral bonds, political parties had to disclose details of all its donors, who have donated more than Rs 20,000.
  - It is to be noted that the electoral bonds provide no details to the citizens i.e. anonymity does not apply to the government of the day, which can always access the donor details by demanding the data from the State Bank of India (SBI).
- Purchase period-
  - by any person for a period of ten days (to be specified by the Centre) each in the months of January, April, July and October.
  - additional 30 days specified by the Centre in the year of general elections to the Lok Sabha.
  - Now given additional 15 days specified by the Centre in the year of general elections to legislative assembly of States and union territories with legislature.
- Important feature- amendments in 2017 enabled corporates to make contributions to the political parties without any limits and with full anonymity.
  - Corporates were also exempted from disclosing the names of the recipients in their balance sheets.

Note-

Government amendment to the Companies Act 2013 such that no companies are required to give details of political contributions in their annual profit and loss accounts.
Before the electoral bonds scheme was announced, there was a cap on how much a company could donate to a political party–7.5 per cent of the average net profits of a company in the preceding three years. However, the government amended the Companies Act to remove this limit post introduction of the electoral bonds.
Section 13A of Income Tax Act, as amended in 2017, states that no cash donation exceeding Rs 2,000 shall be received by a political party.
- Section 13A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 confers tax exemption to political parties for income from house property, income by way of voluntary contributions, income from capital gains and income from other sources.
- Only income under the head ‘salaries and income from business or profession’ are chargeable to tax in the hands of political parties in India.
Amended Section 29C of the Representative of People Act requires political parties to only declare details of donations made by cheque or any other banking route in excess of Rs 20,000. This essentially means that parties need not declare donations received by cheque/draft/electronic clearance, between Rs 2,000 and Rs 20,000.
Amendment to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA), allowing foreign companies with subsidiaries in India to fund Indian political parties.

Other modes of donation- Political parties can also receive cash donations of less than ₹2,000 from anonymous sources through cheque or by digital mode, in addition to electoral bonds.

4. Why Centre has restricted use of a herbicide in demand among farmers

Subject: Environment

Context-

The Union Agriculture Ministry has restricted the use of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide. This comes even as the Supreme Court is about to take up a plea seeking a ban on all herbicide-tolerant crops, including transgenic hybrid mustard and cotton.

What is glyphosate?

It is a herbicide used to kill weeds — undesirable plants that compete with crops for nutrients, water and sunlight.
Since weeds basically grow at the expense of crops, farmers remove them manually or spray herbicides.
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that can control a wide range of weeds, whether broadleaf or grassy.
It is also non-selective, killing most plants.
When applied to their leaves, it inhibits the production of a protein named ‘5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS)’.
This enzyme, produced only by plants and microorganisms, synthesises aromatic amino acids that are necessary for their growth.

Use in India

There are nine glyphosate-based formulations containing different concentrations of the chemical registered for use under the Insecticides Act, 1968 .
These are approved largely for weed control in tea gardens and non-crop areas such as railway tracks or playgrounds.
Farmers also apply glyphosate on irrigation channels and bunds to clear these of weeds, making it easier for water to flow and to walk through them.
Weeds growing on bunds are hosts for fungi, such as those causing sheath blight disease in rice.
The chemical cannot ordinarily distinguish between crop and weed.
Hence, it can be used in tea or rubber plantations, but not in fields where the crops and weeds are at almost the same level.

What exactly has the government now done?

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, on October 21, issued a notification stating that “the use of glyphosate involves health hazards and risk to human beings and animals”.
It has not been banned and only “restricted” its use.
The spraying of glyphosate and its derivatives shall henceforth only be permitted through “pest control operators”.

Why has this been done-

Glyphosate application has increased only with the advent of genetic modification (GM) or transgenic technology.
In this case, it has involved incorporating a ‘cp4-epsps’ gene, isolated from a soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, into crop plants such as cotton, maize and soybean.
This alien gene codes for a protein that does not allow glyphosate to bind with the EPSPS enzyme.
These GM crops can “tolerate” the spraying of the herbicide, which then kills only the weeds.

Government’s failed attempt to curb illegal cultivation of HT cotton-

Neither the Centre nor state governments have succeeded in stopping the cultivation of illegal HT cotton.
The fact that their seeds (1.5 to 2 packets are sown on every acre) are selling at a premium is proof of farmers themselves wanting them.
As manual weeding is costly and there is non-availability of labours when required so farmers are preferring planting HT cotton and spraying glyphosate.
Having failed to curb the illegal sales of seed, the Centre is cutting the access of farmers to glyphosate and allowing its use only through pest control operators.
GEAC is further set to take a call on approving glyphosate-tolerant Bt cotton, whose illegal cultivation is rampant.

The extent of use of GM crops globally-

In 2019 alone, some 81.5 million hectares were planted worldwide with herbicide-tolerant (HT) GM crops.
The global glyphosate market is annually worth $9.3 billion, with over 45 per cent of use on account of GM crops.

GM crops market in India-

In India, the only GM crop officially under commercial cultivation today is Bt cotton.
This has two alien genes (‘cry1Ac’ and ‘cry2Ab’) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, that code for proteins toxic to the American bollworm, spotted bollworm and tobacco caterpillar insect pests.
In the 2022 Kharif planting season, about 39 million Bt cotton packets — each containing 450 gm of seeds — were sold at a notified maximum retail price of Rs 810/packet.
But industry estimates suggest sales of an additional 5 million packets of “illegal” GM cotton seeds at prices ranging from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,350/packet.
These seeds harbour both insect-resistance and HT traits, coming from the two Bt genes and the glyphosate-tolerant ‘cp4-epsps’ gene.

How valid are the health concerns over glyphosate?

The World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in March 2015, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
- But this was based on evidence for cancer in experimental animals from “pure” glyphosate, as opposed to that in humans from real-world exposures through diluted formulations.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, on the other hand, has held that there are “no risks of concern to human health from current uses of glyphosate” and “no evidence” of it causing cancer.
- Its findings are based on “a significantly more extensive and relevant dataset than the IARC’s”.
The European Chemicals Agency has also concluded that classifying glyphosate as a carcinogenic, mutagenic (causing DNA changes) or reprotoxic substance is not justified.
- The Union Environment Ministry’s Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), on October 18, recommended the commercial release of Delhi University’s GM hybrid mustard.
This crop can also tolerate the spraying of glufosinate ammonium, a non-selective herbicide similar to glyphosate.

5. India’s first private launch vehicle all set for its maiden flight

Subject: Science and Technology

Context-

India’s first privately developed launch vehicle – Hyderabad-based Skyroot’s Vikram-S – is all set to make its maiden flight from the country’s only spaceport in Sriharikota between November 12 and 16.

Skyroot aerospace-

A private start-up in the Space sector was co-founded by — C. Pawan Kumar (IIT-Kharagpur, 2012 batch) and Naga Bharath D. (IIT-Madras, 2012 batch).

Mission Prarambh and the Vikram-S rocket-

The mission named ‘Prarambh’ will see Vikram-S carry three customer satellites in a sub-orbital flight.
The Vikram-S rocket is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle which will carry three customer payloads and help test and validate technologies in the Vikram series space launch vehicles.
The mission will help the company test its systems in space.
The company is designing three Vikram rockets that will use various solid and cryogenic fuels to carry between 290 kg and 560 kg payloads to sun-synchronous polar orbits.
In comparison, India’s workhorse PSLV can carry up to 1,750kg to such an orbit while the newly-developed small satellite launch vehicle – meant for carrying smaller commercial satellites – can carry up to 300 kg to sun-synchronous orbit.

What is a sub-orbital flight-

Sub-orbital flight, just like the ones undertaken by Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, are those vehicles which are travelling slower than orbital velocity – meaning it is fast enough to reach outer space but not fast enough to stay in an orbit around the Earth.

Other private sector participation in the Space sector-

Although Skyroot will be the first private company to launch its rocket, others are not far behind.
Agnikul Cosmos, whose semi-cryogenic Agnilet engine was test-fired for 15 seconds on Tuesday at Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) vertical testing facility at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Thiruvananthapuram.
ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV) are also likely to be manufactured and operated by private players soon.
As for private satellite missions, ISRO’s heaviest launch vehicle Mark III launched 36 One Web satellites (India’s Bharti is a stakeholder).
The space agency will be launching another fleet of 36 satellites for the company as well.
Other than that, the space agency has also launched at least four satellites made by students.

India’s Space sector-

The Indian Space Sector has been globally recognised for building cost-effective satellites and taking foreign satellites to space.
Currently, India constitutes 2-3% of the global space economy and is expected to enhance its share to more than 10% by 2030.
As part of India’s commitment to the Geneva Conference on Disarmament, the country continues to advocate peaceful and civilian use of outer space and oppose any weaponization of space capabilities or programs.

SAMVAD Program:

To encourage and nurture space research among young minds, ISRO launched its Student Outreach Program called SAMVAD at its Bengaluru facility.

Current Challenges Related to the Space sector in India-

The government plays the dual role of regulator and commercial executor, which has led to significant bottlenecks in the participation of the private sector.
Also, due to this the private sector remains concerned about sharing its intellectual property with the government.
If no regulatory framework is put in place, rising commercialisation will lead to monopolisation in the future.
As outer space expeditions increase, more space debris will accumulate.
- Space Debris can also lead to ozone depletion.
Compared to other countries, the Chinese space industry has grown rapidly.
- It has successfully launched its own navigation system, BeiDou.
- It is very likely that China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) members will contribute to or join the Chinese space sector, solidifying China’s global position.

6. COP27: Non-state actors can’t destroy the environment, yet claim to be net zero, says report

Subject: Environment

Context-

Non-state actors investing in new fossil fuel supply or engaging in deforestation and other environmentally destructive activities cannot claim to be net zero, according to a new report launched November 8, 2022, at Sharm El-Sheikh.

About the report-

The document titled Integrity Matters: Net Zero Commitments By Businesses, Financial Institutions, Cities and Regions.
The document, launched by a High-level Expert Group at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, lists 10 recommendations for non-state actors.
These non-state actors include businesses, financial institutions, cities and regions.
The recommendations can help bring integrity, transparency and accountability to such actors’ net zero ambitions.
UNSC established the High-level Expert Group at COP26 in Glasgow to address credibility issues with net zero pledges and commitments from these entities.
The report called for a task force on net zero regulations on the net zero path.

Non-State actors-

A non-state actor (NSA) are organizations and/or individuals that are not affiliated with, directed by, or funded by any government.
The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely.
For example, among NSAs are non-profit organizations, labor unions, non-governmental organizations, banks, corporations, media organizations, business magnates, people’s liberation movements, lobby groups, religious groups, aid agencies, and violent non-state actors such as paramilitary forces.

The role played by Non-state actors-

The non-state actors have a crucial role in keeping the net zero goal alive.
They will either help scale the ambition and action we need to ensure a sustainable planet, or else they strongly increase the likelihood of failure.
The path towards net zero by non-state actors should align with science.
The recommendations listed in the report also apply to smaller non-state actors as they have an important role to play.
These actors need support and assistance to follow the listed recommendations.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) provide 50 per cent of employment.
It is risky if SMEs do not have the financing and technical ability to reduce emissions
It is also critical to include a just transition plan in the path towards net zero.

A few recommendations to the Non-state actors are-

Non-state actors must also make their progress public with verified information.
This should be compared with other counterparts to ensure that climate accounting is honest and transparent.
Non-state actors purchasing cheap credits rather than immediately cutting their own emissions across their value chain is a red flag.
By 2025, businesses, financial institutions, cities and regions must ensure that their operations and supply chains don’t contribute to deforestation, peatland loss and the destruction of the remaining natural ecosystems.
Entities should not lobby to undermine ambitious government climate policies directly or through trade associations or other bodies.

What is Net-Zero Target?

It is referred to as carbon neutrality, which does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
Rather, it is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by the absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
Further, absorption of the emissions can be increased by creating more carbon sinks such as forests.
While the removal of gases from the atmosphere requires futuristic technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
More than 70 countries have promised to become Net Zero by the middle of the century i.e., by 2050.
India has promised to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070 at the conference of parties-26(COP) summit.

7. COP27: Drought-struck nations join hands to combat water woes

Subjects: Environment

International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA)-

The IDRA was first announced by Spain at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2022, to be officially launched at the UNFCCC.
Spain and Senegal led 30 countries and 20 organisations to launch the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) on November 7 at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) at Sharm El-Sheikh.
The alliance will help each other to be better prepared for future droughts.
The alliance will also collaborate with other platforms, including the initiative launched by the United Nations Secretary-General and the World Meteorological Organization to achieve universal coverage of early warning systems and regional initiatives to reap the maximum benefits of working together on drought resilience.

Mission and commitments of the IDRA-

The mission of the alliance is to give political impetus to make the land’s resilience to drought and climate change a reality by 2030.
The group also pledged to drive change in how the world tackles the growing drought risks: Moving from emergency response to building long-term resilience.
Political commitments include a five million Euro (Rs 40.76 crore) seed fund by Spain, to support the alliance’s work and mobilise more resources.
President of Kenya William Ruto made a commitment to plant five billion trees in the next five years and 10 billion trees in 10 years.

Significance of the alliance-

The alliance is significant as there is no global convention for land, other than UNCCD, which mostly focuses on desertification.
The alliance is now being seen as a ‘specific solution’ for the United Nations to the impacts of climate change.
The coming together of the 30-country alliance is an effective grouping to make drought resilience a priority in national development and share technology and expertise with each other.

Increasing severity of Drought across the globe-

Drought represents the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world.
It ranks among the greatest threats to sustainable development, especially in developing countries, but increasingly so in developed nations too.
Recent episodes have shown that droughts events are increased by nearly a third since 2000.
Droughts have increased in frequency by 29 per cent since 2000, with around 55 million people affected every year, according to the latest Drought in Numbers report compiled by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Drought-generated economic losses from 1998 to 2017 were about $124 billion (Rs 1,011.57 crore) across the world, not to mention the cost of human suffering and lives.

The 2022 droughts in Europe, the United States, Australia, Chile, the Horn and southern Africa, showed that no country or region is immune to their impacts.

8. Mother tongue survey of India

Context:

Recently the Ministry of Home Affairs has completed the Mother Tongue Survey of India with field videography of the country’s 576 languages.

What is Mother Tongue Survey of India:

The Mother Tongue Survey of India is a project that “surveys the mother tongues, which are returned consistently across two and more Censu decades.
It also documents the linguistic features of the selected languages.
The NIC and the National Film Development Corporation will document the linguistic data of the surveyed mother tongues in audio video files.
Video-graphed speech data of mother tongues will also be uploaded on the NIC survey for archiving purposes.

What is status of mother tongue in India:

As per an analysis of 2011 linguistic census data in 2018, more than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongues.
The category “mother tongue” is a designation provided by the respondent, but it need not be identical with the actual linguistic medium.
After subjecting the 19,569 returns to linguistic scrutiny, edit and rationalisation, they were grouped into 121 mother tongues.
According to the 2011 linguistic census, Hindi is the most widely spoken mother tongue, with 8 crore people or 43.6 percent of the population declaring it as the mother tongue.
The next highest is Bengali as mother tongue for 7 crore individuals, and accounting for 8 percent of the population

What is the status of Mother tongue in the education of children:

The new National Curriculum Framework for the foundational stages of education, has recommended that mother tongue should be the primary medium of instruction in schools for children up to eight years of age.
The new NCF, which deals with pre-school and classes I-II, emphasises the virtues of the mother tongue as the primary medium of instruction, saying that by the time children join pre-school, they acquire significant competence in the “home language”.
According to the NCF, evidence from research confirms the importance of teaching children in their mother tongue during the foundational years and beyond.
NCF also states that since children learn concepts most rapidly and deeply in their home language, the primary medium of instruction would optimally be the child’s mother tongue in the Foundational Stage.

9. 16 Indian sailors held hostage in Equatorial Guinea

Subject: Geography

Context:

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s help in facilitating the release of 16 Indian seafarer held hostage In the central African country of Equatorial Guinea

What is the issue:

A Norwegian vessel, ‘MV Heroic Idun’, was stopped by a naval ship of Equatorial

Guinea in international waters on 12 August and been held unlawfully 16 Indians who are among 26 sailors aboard ‘MV Heroic Idun

Where is Equatorial Guinea:

Equatorial Guinea is a small country on the west coast of Africa.
It is bounded by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the east and south.
It consists of two parts, an insular and a mainland region.
The insular region consists of the islands of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón, a small volcanic island which is the only part of the country south of the equator
Equatorial Guinea is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language.
The capital Malabo is located on Bioko Island.

10. PM Narendra Modi unveils logo, theme, site of G-20 presidency

Subject: International Relations

Context:

India has unveiled the logo, theme and website for its presidency of the G20, which reflects the country’s message and overarching priorities to the world.
India will assume the presidency of the powerful G20 grouping from the current chair, Indonesia, on December 1, and hold the post for a year.

More about the logo:

The G20 logo created with the four colors of India’s national flag, comprises earth sitting atop a lotus.
The seven petals in the logo signify the seven seas and the coming together of seven continents at G20 India 2023.
The theme- ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, and One Future’ reflects India’s pro-planet approach to life and from this and derives the theme of G20 India 2023

What is G20 Summit:

G-20 was a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 individual countries and the European Union.
It was established in 1999 and was elevated to a forum of Heads of Government in 2008 to effectively respond to the global financial crisis of 2008.
G-20 is a forum, not a legislative body and its agreements and decisions have no legal impact, but they do influence countries’ policies and global cooperation..
The G20 membership accounts for
- Two-thirds of the world’s population,
- 85% of global gross domestic product,
- 80% of global investment
- 75% of global trade.
- Contribute 79% of the world carbon emissions
G20 does not have any permanent secretariat or headquarters.
The G20 Summit is formally known as the “Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy”.

How G20 works:

Since the G20 has no permanent secretariat.The agenda and work are coordinated by representatives of the G20 countries, known as ‘Sherpas’.
The presidency of the G20 rotates every year among members, and the country holding the presidency, together with the previous and next presidency-holder, forms the ‘Troika’.
Troika ensures continuity of the G20 agenda.
During India’s presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil will form the troika.
This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies.

11. Why are consensual and non-exploitative sexual acts also coming under the radar of the POCSO Act and IPC?

Subject: Polity

POCSO Act was enacted by the Parliament in 2012 to prevent children aged less than 18 from offences like sexual harassment, sexual assault, and child pornography. Its full form is the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The Act was passed in 2012 under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. To make the punishment for child abuse more stringent, the government notified the POCSO Act rules, 2020 which enabled the implementation of amendments to the Act.

Under the POCSO Act, 2012, and under several provisions of the IPC, whoever commits a penetrative sexual assault on a child — anyone below 18 years of age — can be “imprisoned for a term which is not less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to [a] fine.” Even if the girl is 16 years old, she is considered a “child” under the POCSO Act and hence her consent does not matter, and any sexual intercourse is treated as rape, thus opening it up to stringent punishment.

POCSO: a case study

In 2021, in the Vijaylakshmi vs State Rep case, the Madras High Court, while dismissing a POCSO case, said the definition of ‘child’ under Section 2(d) of the POCSO Act can be redefined as 16 instead of 18. “Any consensual sex after the age of 16 or bodily contact or allied acts can be excluded from the rigorous provisions of the POCSO Act.” The court suggested that the age difference in consensual relationships should not be more than five years. This, it said, will ensure that a girl of an impressionable age is not taken advantage of by “a person who is much older.”

A parliamentary committee is looking into the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which seeks to increase the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 years. Rights activists feel instead of helping the community, raising the age may force vulnerable women to remain under the yoke of family and social pressures.

Salient Features of POCSO Act 2012

The POCSO Act 2012 has some distinct features which make it important and relevant. They are discussed below:

The act defines children as any individual aged below 18 years of age. The problem of gender exclusion in the previous acts was ignored here altogether as this act is gender-neutral in its stance.
There are multiple forms and acts of sexual abuse defined under this act that is not just limited to pornography, harassment, or penetrative/non-penetrative offenses.
These acts would be considered ‘aggravated’ if the child is mentally ill and/or the perpetrator comes from a position of authority and/or trust like a family member, doctor, teacher, etc.
The prevention of ‘re-victimization’ of the child within the judicial system is of utmost importance as this act allows a policeman to act under the role of a child protector throughout the investigation.
The process of investigation is to be made as child-friendly as possible, and justice to be served promptly within a year front the reporting of the incident.
The setting up of ‘Special Courts’ has been done under this act which will exclusively deal with such offenses with the sensibility and sensitivity they need.
The central government is given the authority to make rules under the 45th section of the act.
The State Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) and the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) have been given the authority to monitor the implementation of the act’s provisions. Both of these authorities are statutory in nature.
The POCSO Act will override instances of inconsistencies with other provisions according to section 42A.
The act makes the reporting of a sexual offense mandatory. Misuse of these laws with the purpose of defamation of the person is punishable.

What are the Related Constitutional Provisions?

The Constitution guarantees to every child the right to live with dignity (Article 21), the right to personal liberty (Article 21), the right to privacy (Article 21), the right to equality (Article 14) and/or the right against discrimination (Article 15), the right against exploitation (Article 23 & 24).
Right to free and compulsory elementary education for all children in the 6–14-year age group (Article 21 A)
The Directive Principles of State Policy, and in particular Article 39(f), cast an obligation on the State to ensure that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.

12. What is NOTA?

Subject : Polity

Context: At least 14.79 per cent of the total voters who had exercised their franchise in the Andheri (East) Assembly by poll in Mumbai chose the None of The Above (NOTA) option, as per the data analysed on Sunday.

Concept:

None Of the Above (NOTA) is a ballot option designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system.
It was introduced in India following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India judgment. Thus, India became the 14th country to institute negative voting.
However, NOTA in India does not provide for a ‘right to reject’.
The candidate with the maximum votes wins the election irrespective of the number of NOTA votes polled.

Why have NOTA if there’s ‘no electoral value’?

NOTA gives people dissatisfied with contesting candidates an opportunity to express their
This, in turn, increases the chances of more people turning up to cast their votes, even if they do not support any candidate, and decreases the count of bogus votes.
Also, the Supreme Court has observed that negative voting could bring about “a systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates”.

NOTA in Rajya Sabha:

The Supreme Court, in 2018, held that the NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.
The court held that making NOTA applicable in Rajya Sabha elections is contrary to Article 80(4) of the constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment in PUCL v Union of India (2013).
It is because NOTA defeats the fairness in indirect elections, it ignores the role of an elector in such an election and destroys democratic values and encourages malpractices like defection and corruption.

13. Defence agent Sanjay Bhandari’s extradition cleared by a London court

Subject: International Relations

Context: A London court on Monday ordered extradition of businessman Sanjay Bhandari to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering.

About extradition

Extradition is the legal process to transfer person from one country to another who requires him/her to deal with for crimes of which they have been accused or convicted and are justifiable in the Courts of the other State.
In India it is governed under the Indian Extradition Act, 1962. This is for both extraditing of persons to India and from India to foreign countries.
The Consular, Passport & Visa (CPV) Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India is the Central/Nodal Authority that administers the Extradition Act and it processes incoming and outgoing Extradition Requests.
The basis of extradition is treaty between two countries.
In the absence of a treaty, a country can still make a request, which the other country will decide in accordance with its laws.

Procedure of extradition

Information about the fugitive criminals is shared with the country of extradition through Interpol (in India CBI has an Interpol wing who does it for request from other countries), who passes to the police departments of that country.
The information is passed to the immigration authorities.
Post this action can be initiated for the extradition.
In between the alleged criminal can utilize the appeal procedure against the extradition in country from where extradition is supposed to be done.

Most treaties generally follow at least five principles:

Extradition applies only to offences stipulated as extraditable
The offences must be covered under the national laws of both countries
The requested country must be satisfied of a prima facie case
The person must be tried only for the offence specified in extradition
There must be a fair trial.

An alleged offender may not be extradited to the requesting state in the following cases:

No treaty – In absence of a treaty, States are not obligated to extradite aliens/nationals.
No treaty crime – Extradition is generally limited to crimes identified in the treaty which may vary in relation to one State from another, as provided by the treaty.
Military and Political Offences – Extradition may be denied for purely military and political offences. Terrorist offences and violent crimes are excluded from the definition of political offences for the purposes of extradition treaties.
Want of Dual Criminality – Dual criminality exists when conduct constituting the offence amounts to a criminal offence in both India and the foreign country.
Procedural considerations – Extradition may be denied when due procedure as required by the Extradition Act of 1962 is not followed.