Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

• Our growth needs deep analysis more than constant trumpeting

GS Paper 2

• The discrepancies in the latest AISHE report
• Spy In The Sky – China’s espionage balloons or espionage ships are part of an aggressive strategy that can target India too

GS Paper 3

• Certainly, uncertainty has declined – on world economy
• India’s just energy transition is more than a coal story
• Scientists’ take on the Union Budget 2023-24
• Hydropower projects in the Himalaya should be reconsidered given recent crisis
• The tax gambit – Government should not stop nudging people towards safe, long-term savings
• Bajra Boosters – Policies promoting millets will not work unless governments address farmers’ incentives
• Green growth push – New initiatives have long-term potential

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• Amorphous ice – With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ice
• Union Minister launches ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ as a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation
• Scientists use outer space particles to examine the fortress wall of Xi’an city: What are muons and how are they used to analyze large structures
• WHO publishes zero-draft of pandemic treaty: Equity, IPR take centre stage
• What could be the govt’s calculations behind the slashing of the MGNREGA budget
• Inaugural iCET dialogue will accelerate US’ strategic technology partnership with India: US NSA
• This Word Means: North star

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 1

Our growth needs deep analysis more than constant trumpeting

News– A close look at trends of economy in global comparison raises some questions

Why is there confusion about India’s growth numbers?

There is controversy over the revised series at 2011-12 prices. There is a widely held view that GDP numbers in the revised series are overestimated.

The data from the informal sector accounts for a larger share of Indian GDP is available only with a time leg. Consequently, trends from the formal sector are projected into the informal sector while making provisional GDP estimates. These are subsequently revised once data from the informal sector is available.

The public debates in India revolve around headline figures of CSO. The international practice in analysing growth data is to look at output loss/gain relative to trend growth rate.

What can be analysed from comparison of average growth rate of 2014-22 of India with other Asian economies?

The fastest growing economy over the past seven years  was neither China nor India. It was Bangladesh.

Global attention is focussed on China deceleration due to Xi Jinping policies. He privileges security over economic growth. However, growth deceleration over this period is more for India as compared to China.

There is talk of an economic crisis in Pakistan. However, its average growth rate during the past four years was more than India.

During this period, Bangladesh overtook India in per capita income. India’s neighbours to the east and west had better average economic growth over the last four years.

Output loss of 18.2% of GDP over the last four years in India is very high. This is a substantial loss. It is significantly higher than China and other South Asian neighbours.

What needs to be done by economic policymakers?

There is a need for assessment of  large output loss.

Corrections are required in the GDP numbers based on the 2011-12 series.

There is a need to assess the output loss that can not be recovered.

Trends of downward shifts need to be studied. True extent of long term damage will be known once the data on the informal sector is finalised.

Steps needed to reverse the growth trend should be finalised.

GS Paper 2

The discrepancies in the latest AISHE report

News– The All-India Survey on Higher Education 2020-21 report was released recently.

What is the basic difference of the current report with previous reports?

It had revised the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education retrospectively for the previous four years, by recalculating it based on population projections as per the 2011 Census. Previous reports had used projections based on the 2001 Census.

What are the discrepancies in the latest AISHE report?

A comparison of the population projections used in the AISHE 2020-21 report with the Census of India Report released in July 2020, shows variations.

There are sharp deviations in Tamil Nadu’s population projection used in the AISHE 2020-21 report between 2016 and 2020 and the population projection based on the CoI report.

The figures based on the CoI report show a gradual decline between 2016 and 2020. AISHE 2020-21 shows an increase for the first four years and a sharp drop in 2020.

In Himachal Pradesh, the projected population in the 18-23 age group for 2019 was revised upwards by 6% in the AISHE 2020-21 report compared to the AISHE 2019-20 report. However, the State’s GER for 2019 remained the same in both the reports.

Spy In The Sky – China’s espionage balloons or espionage ships are part of an aggressive strategy that can target India too

News: Recently, the US forces shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the US coast. There are reports that a second spy balloon is already flying over Central and South America. This has strained relations between the US and China and has larger implications for India-China relations.

Why Chinese espionage capabilities is a cause of worry for Global nations, particularly India?

a) The recent one wasn’t the first Chinese surveillance balloon to be detected but was the most sophisticated one. Hence, Chinese spy tech is getting increasingly sophisticated.

b) Last year’s docking of a Chinese spy ship masquerading as a research vessel at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port was another example of Beijing’s growing espionage capabilities.

c) Chinese definitions of government and civilian assets are superficial. For instance, the Chinese mentioned the balloon as a weather-monitoring device and the 2020 investigation revealed a Chinese technology firm was harvesting data on more than 10,000 influential individuals in India.

What should be done to address Chinese espionage capabilities?

a) All cooperation with Chinese civilian agencies and businesses needs to be seen with the security of the state, b) India needs to upgrade its hi-tech counter-espionage measures, and c) the Indian government is in urgent need to step up counter-intelligence cooperation with the US and other likeminded democracies to counter China’s plans.

GS Paper 3

Certainly, uncertainty has declined – on world economy

News– Over the past year, global macroeconomic stability has improved, which sets the stage for good growth from 2024.

What was the situation of the world economy one year ago?

The World economy was in trouble. The foundations of price stability were under question and central banks globally raised rates.

Sharp global tightening triggered difficulties for the world economy.

Russia attacked Ukraine. China followed the policy of zero Covid through repression.

What are the prospects of the global economy in current times and near future?

Inflation targeting regime of developed countries has worked well. Monetary tightening caused some trouble. Higher interest rates led to difficulties of cryptocurrencies, start-ups in India, and the price corrections in tech giants like Amazon and Google.

There is restoration of macroeconomic stability in the global economy. Supply chains have significantly corrected, assisted by China’s return to production.

The workforce in developed markets is getting back to work. By 2024, we can expect normal values of inflation, interest rates, and asset prices.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looked dangerous initially. The Russian success would have led to other wars, like Chinese attacks on Taiwan.

The radical uncertainty has subsided as the weakness of the Russian state has been revealed.  Russia’s failure in Ukraine has improved deterrence against future invasions by big powers.

President Xi Jinping has stepped back from aggressive behaviour and stepped away from the lockdowns that attempted zero covid. China’s vaccine nationalism has harmed the legitimacy of the regime.

Things are very difficult in China right now, but there are signs of restoration of normalcy. The Xi regime would continue to play the nationalism card in overcoming domestic unpopularity. But, the experience of Russia in Ukraine will shape its behaviour.

These three factors have helped calm financial markets. The volatility today is lower than last year. This restoration of macroeconomic stability can create conditions for a period of sustained growth starting from 2024.

What is the way forward for businesses in India?

It is more feasible to make business plans because things are looking stable now.

India has a workforce that is more tech-savvy. This is a good time for business building.

India’s just energy transition is more than a coal story

News– Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) is emerging as the key mechanism for multilateral financing by developed countries to support an energy transition in developing countries.

India is considered the next candidate for a JET-Partnership.

What are the issues with Just Energy Transition Partnership?

Energy transitions could give rise to intra-generational, intergenerational, and spatial equity concerns. Transitions affect fossil-dependent jobs, disrupt forms of future energy access.

It shrinks the State’s capacity to spend on welfare programmes. Thus, it increases the existing economic inequities between coal and other regions.

Existing JET-P deals pay limited attention to intra-generational inequity, such as job losses. Among the three JET-P deals signed so far, only South Africa’s deal mentions a ‘just’ component.

What are the difficulties faced by India in JET-P negotiations?

These have remained stalled over coal ‘phase-down’ and how to operationalise India’s just transition. The emphasis on coal phase-down disregards the crucial difference in energy transition between industrialised and emerging economies.

India’s transition requires significant simultaneous growth in energy demand. The Central Electricity Authority projects a near doubling of electricity demand by 2030. India cannot afford to put its development on hold while decarbonising.

What are the steps taken by India for clean energy?

India has set the goal of 450 GW renewable energy capacity addition and 43% RE purchase obligation by 2030. These targets are supported through complementary policy and legislative mandates like Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act and missions like National Green Hydrogen Mission.

Fiscal incentives through production-linked incentives are provided. Market mechanisms like the upcoming national carbon market supports these efforts.

What is the basic requirement for clean energy transition in India?

Accelerating the pace of Renewable Energy deployment is needed to match the pace of demand growth. In 2021-22, coal power served one-third of the new demand.

Meeting India’s 2030 target requires accelerating non-fossil capacity addition from 16 GW a year in 2022 to 75 GW a year by 2030.

What is the way forward to achieve it?

Shifting energy demand patterns– This is low hanging fruit. It will enable faster RE capacity addition.

Solarisation of agricultural electricity demand; electrification of diesel-powered MSMEs and decentralised RE for residential cooking and heating are some of the steps needed for shift in energy demand patterns.

Components of clean energy– Domestic manufacturing of clean energy components is critical to sustain JET, build energy self-sufficiency. Indian components are 20% costlier than Chinese components.

Giving preference to domestic components without addressing cost competitiveness may slow down the pace of deployment.

The way around this is to look for markets outside India as part of a JET-Partnership and to reduce the cost gap through economies of scale.

Optimal use of coal power– There is a need to have a relook at the current use of coal resources to enhance efficiencies until the period of phase-down. One option is to optimise use of coal-fired power plants closer to coal mining areas rather than based on energy demands.

This would enable coal to be used more efficiently because transportation of coal is more energy-intensive . It would also lead to cheaper power and indirectly reduce emissions due to more efficient use of coal.

The investment requirements for this transition are beyond the means of domestic capacity of developing countries. Any future JET-P deal must consider this broader framework for financing and supporting an energy transition.

India’s G-20 presidency is an opportunity at hand to negotiate a deal for itself while also shaping international cooperation on just energy transitions.

Scientists’ take on the Union Budget 2023-24

News: The article discusses how various science and tech organizations can play the role on the announcement made in the Budget 2023-24 and concerns associated with it.

How can different organizations help in the applications of measures announced in the Budget 2023-24?

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – CSIR has a presence on all focus areas of this year’s budget. For example, it plays an important role in green hydrogen research and development (R&D) under the National Hydrogen Mission.

It focuses on National Mission to eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission by 2047 announced in the budget.

It also has an ongoing AI programme to augment AI application in several areas. A new programme has been launched to promote innovation in pharmaceuticals.

Ministry of Science and Technology – The budget allocated ₹2,000 crore more to the Ministry of Science and Technology than the previous budget. This is an added advantage for the development in the field of science and tech.

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) – The budget focuses on green growth and biotechnology plays a major role in finding sustainable solutions for this.

DBT is developing a policy framework for ‘high-performance biomanufacturing’ to have world-class facilities and workforce in synthetic biology-based manufacturing practices.

It will bring improvements in healthcare’s S&T with a focus on ‘One Health’.

It will operationalise the Tuberculosis Genomic Surveillance for drug-resistance. It is also developing a programme to genetically characterise minor millets.

However, there are also issues with this year’s budget.

What are the issues with the budget?

The current level of S&T expenditure is inadequate if India wants to compete at the international level in knowledge generation. Only 0.36% of the budget has been allocated to the Ministry of S&T.

The budget for Departments of Biotechnology and of Scientific & Industrial Research have been reduced, adjusting for inflation. The budget for the Department of Space has also been cut by 8%. 

Moreover, the New Education Policy 2020 recommends increasing the education spending to 6% of GDP. However, education has only received 2.5% of this budget.

What can be the course of action?

The government needs to have better implementation procedure for the measures announced in the budget.

Along with those, there is also need to – a) push agritech, millet research to get nutritional benefits in the long run, b) open up select Indian Council of Medical Research labs for research to the public and private sector, c) support education and research on biomedical devices, pharma and AI interdisciplinary.

Hydropower projects in the Himalaya should be reconsidered given recent crisis

News: Joshimath land subsidence has raised concerns over the hydropower projects in Himalayas. This article discusses the impact and alternatives to hydropower.

What is a hydropower?

It is a renewable source of energy. It is often considered green energy because it generates electricity from the natural flow of water without releasing any emissions. It does not rely on fossil fuels.

However, it also brings concerns and threats to the environment, especially in the Himalayan region.

What are the concerns with the Hydropower projects?

Most countries in the Himalayan region, including India have built or are planning to build hydropower projects in the Himalaya. The Indian government has identified hydropower as a key renewable energy source.

However, the construction of the hydropower in Himalayas brings various concerns.

The concerns are – a) can bring conflicts over water resources in the region, b) can disrupt the flow of rivers, leading to changes in water temperature and chemistry, c) dams can also cause erosion, landslides, and sedimentation which can have a negative impact on the local environment, d) Dams also disrupt the migration patterns of fish and other aquatic species and impact the local wildlife, e) large-scale dams displace local communities, affecting their livelihoods and cultural heritage and impacting the overall well-being of the local population.

Therefore, it is beneficial to look for alternatives to hydropower projects.

What can be the alternative to hydropower?

Micro hydro is a small-scale hydroelectric power generation system that generates up to 100 kilowatts (kW) of electricity.

These systems use the energy of falling water to generate electricity. They can be used for various applications such as powering homes, businesses, and small communities.

They are less expensive to build and maintain than large hydroelectric dams and have a smaller environmental footprint.

They can be located even in inaccessible areas where it is difficult to transmit electricity from larger power stations and can provide a reliable source of energy to communities that are not connected to the grid.

They can be used to minimise the ecosystem’s negative impact and provide sustainable energy solutions. However, even they have some impact on the environment but the impacts are less when compared to large hydropower dams.

The tax gambit – Government should not stop nudging people towards safe, long-term savings

News: During the budget speech, the government introduced the new income tax system.

What is the new income tax system?

The new system was based on the thought that the individual is the best judge of his/her income.

What are the advantages of the new income tax system?

Why new income tax system’s idea of the individual is the best judge of his/her income is flawed?

Though, the statement is individually valid the lower income earners will not benefit a lot from the system. This is because, a) Lower income earners do not save enough to avail of the tax exemptions and end up paying higher rates, b) India’s low literacy and financial literacy levels will make taxpayers’ mix of consumption and savings complicated, c) Adult humans do not behave as rationally as economists and invest in inflation-beating investments, d) Financial products are routinely mis-sold to those not equipped to understand market nuances and the risks embedded, e) India’s retail participation in stocks may have risen in recent years, but not everyone can handle the risks of equity markets or avoid being tricked by influencer-operators.

Above all, there are no universal social security and health benefits in India. The old exemption-based regime helps guide families towards some level of prudent asset allocation to cope with life’s uncertainties.

What should be done to make the new income tax system comprehensive?

Before taking away the old tax regime the government must ensure adequate financial literacy efforts and crack down on unethical selling practices of stocks, insurance and other financial products. Further, if such a state is achieved then the government should revisit the idea of mandatory contributions to provident funds and pensions.

Bajra Boosters – Policies promoting millets will not work unless governments address farmers’ incentives

News: In the recent budget speech, Finance Minister praised millets as noble food and mentioned the government’s initiatives for the promotion of millets.

What are Millets?

Why promotion of millets deserves a special push?

The modern world is a slave to sugary foods: Glucose is a simple form of sugar. The faster food becomes sugar, the more appealing it is to consumers. Hence, rice and wheat succeeded faster. They have killed or diminished the lives of hundreds of millions of people by injecting them with too much sugar.

On the other hand, millets turn into glucose inside body slowly. This is also why they are considered healthy.

Millets, like rice and wheat, have a high ratio of carbohydrates. But they also have fibre. The amount of fibre present in millet slows the conversion of food into glucose.

Note: After the stomach converts food into glucose and releases it into the bloodstream, the pancreas release insulin, which sends glucose to the cells for energy, reducing the sugar level in the blood. But when a person releases a high amount of glucose into the bloodstream for several years, the cells begin to defy the hormone and do not absorb as much glucose as they are supposed to.

As a result, many destructive things occur. Organs marinate in high blood sugar for hours, which damages them; the excess sugar is eventually converted into fatty acids and stored in the fat cells of various body parts. 

How government is promoting millets?

-In 2013, the government launched a crop diversification programme to shift acreage away from paddy in the original Green Revolution regions, Punjab, Haryana and western UP. Later, the Haryana government even offered a cash subsidy of Rs 7,000/acre to shift cultivation to alternate crops.

What should be done to promote millets?

Inclusion of millets in Public Distribution System and MSP: The government has to guarantee a floor price for millets. This will disincentivise rice and wheat cultivation.

The world’s largest food security scheme covering about 800 million people is giving more attention to rice and wheat. This has to shift in favour of the promotion of millets.

Green growth push – New initiatives have long-term potential

News: The Union Budget has focussed on many green growth push initiatives that can lead to an environmentally conscious lifestyle.

What are the initiatives in the budget that focus on the green growth push?

Green growth has been listed among the seven priorities of the Budget for 2023-24.

The other initiatives include a) incentivising the use of green hydrogen and biofuels; b) conserving natural ecological safeguards like mangroves and wetlands; c) introducing concepts like green credit; and d) striving for an appreciable reduction in sources of pollution through measures like replacing polluting vehicles with non-polluting ones and chemical fertilisers with organic manures.

What is the rationale behind the announced green growth push initiatives in the Budget?

-The bulk of the Energy Transition Fund would be at the disposal of the oil-marketing companies to enable them to switch to new and renewable sources of energy.

-The allocation of funds for the National Green Hydrogen Mission is expected to make India a net exporter of green hydrogen.

What are the advantages of the government’s green growth push?

The government’s heavy expenses will be paid back sooner and have the potential to pay lasting dividends. For instance, in the solar-energy sector, the payback time in the case of alternative sources of energy is rapidly shrinking due to the constant inflow of cost-effective and more efficient technologies.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

Amorphous ice – With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ice

Source: The post is based on the article “With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ice” published in Indian Express on 6th February 2023.

What is the News?

Scientists have created a new type of ice called “medium-density amorphous ice”.

What is Amorphous Ice?

Amorphous ice consists of water molecules arranged in a disordered state, with no large-scale regularity to their orientations or positions. This kind of ice is most often found in space.

Almost all ice in the universe is amorphous and in a form called low-density amorphous ice. This forms when water condenses onto dust grains in space. Comets are amorphous ice as well.

How is Amorphous Ice different from Ordinary Ice?

Ordinary ice is crystalline in nature, with water molecules – two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, or H2O – arranged in a regular pattern. Amorphous ice’s water molecules are in a disorganized form resembling a liquid.

HAmorphous ice – With frigid innovation, scientists make a new form of ics medium-density amorphous ice created?

Researchers employed a process called ball milling to vigorously shake ordinary ice together with steel balls in a container cooled to minus-328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-200 degrees Celsius).

This yielded what they called “medium-density amorphous ice,” or MDA, which looked like a fine white powder.

Significance of this discovery: The key significance of the discovery of a new form of ice with a density similar to liquid water is that it could serve as an ideal model for understanding the properties of water without the complexities introduced by its fluid motion.

Union Minister launches ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ as a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation

Source: The post is based on the article “Union Minister launches ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’ as a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation” published in PIB on 4th February 2023.

What is the News?

The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched the ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’.

What is the Save Wetlands Campaign?

The Save Wetlands Campaign is structured on a “whole of society” approach for wetlands conservation, enabling affirmative actions for wetlands conservation at all levels of society.

This campaign over the next year will include sensitizing people of the value of wetlands, increasing the coverage of wetland mitras and building citizen partnerships for wetlands conservation.

What is Mission Sahbhagita?

It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2022.

Aim: To healthy and effectively manage the network of 75 wetlands of national and international significance.

What is World Wetlands Day?

World Wetlands Day is observed on 2nd February every year worldwide to commemorate the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance in 1971.

India has been a party to the Convention since 1982 and has so far declared 75 wetlands as Ramsar sites covering 23 states and Union Territories.

Theme for 2023: ‘Wetland Restoration’ which highlights the urgent need to prioritize wetland restoration.

Scientists use outer space particles to examine the fortress wall of Xi’an city: What are muons and how are they used to analyze large structures

Source: The post is based on the article “Scientists use outer space particles to examine the fortress wall of Xi’an city: What are muons and how are they used to analyze large structures” published in Indian Express on 5th February 2023.

What is the News?

As per a new study, researchers are examining the fortress wall of Xi’an, an ancient city in China, by using tiny outer space particles called muons that can penetrate hundreds of metres of stone surfaces.

What are Muons?

Muons are subatomic particles raining from space. They are created when the particles in Earth’s atmosphere collide with cosmic rays — clusters of high-energy particles that move through space at just below the speed of light. 

According to Scientific American magazine, about 10,000 muons reach every square metre of the Earth’s surface a minute.

Features: Muons resemble electrons but are 207 times as massive. Therefore, they are sometimes called “fat electrons”. 

Because muons are so heavy, they can travel through hundreds of metres of rock or other matter before getting absorbed or decaying into electrons and neutrinos. In comparison, electrons can penetrate through only a few centimetres. 

Muons are also highly unstable and exist for just 2.2 microseconds.

What is muon tomography or muography?

Muography is conceptually similar to X-ray but capable of scanning much larger and wider structures, owing to the penetration power of muons. 

As these high-energy particles are naturally produced and ubiquitous, all one needs to do is place a muon detector underneath, within or near the object of interest.

The detector then tracks the number of muons going through the object from different directions, to form a three-dimensional image. 

The image is then compared with a muon image of the “free sky”. This indicates how many muons have been blocked. The final picture is essentially a shadow of the object in the light of cosmic muons.

What are the uses of Muon Topography?

Muon tomography was first used in the 1960s, it has only recently gained widespread use among researchers, particularly in archaeology.

Apart from archaeology, muography has also found use in customs security, internal imaging of volcanoes and others. Around 2015, scientists used the technique to look inside the Fukushima nuclear reactors after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

WHO publishes zero-draft of pandemic treaty: Equity, IPR take centre stage

Source: The post is based on the article “WHO publishes zero-draft of pandemic treaty: Equity, IPR take centre stage” published in Down To Earth on 6th February 2023.

What is the News?

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) has published a ‘Zero-Draft’ of the Pandemic Treaty, aiming to bring in Global and National-Level Pandemic Preparedness.

Why was the zero-draft pandemic treaty prepared?

The zero-draft of the pandemic treaty was prepared based on recognising the catastrophic failure of the international community in showing solidarity and equity in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The draft recognizes common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities in pandemic prevention, preparedness, response and recovery of health systems as one of its guiding principles.

What are the key provisions of the treaty?

Definition of Pandemic: An outbreak is considered a pandemic when an infection spreads quickly globally — with high morbidity and mortality.

– Other factors are — infecting immunologically naive human populations, pushing health systems to their capacity and beyond, and triggering social and economic disruptions, where mitigation measures require coordinated efforts across the geographical spectrum. 

Intellectual Property Rights(IPR): The draft calls for intellectual property rights to be waived off during pandemics which advocates say would allow for wider access to life-saving drugs and vaccines more quickly.

Allocation of pandemic products to WHO: The draft proposes that 20% of pandemic-related products – vaccines, diagnostics, personal protective equipment and therapeutics – should be allocated to the WHO which will then ensure their equitable distribution.

– Half of these pandemic products allocated to WHO (10% of total global production) should be donated while the other half would be bought for an “accessible” price.

Constitution of a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing system (PABS): PABS is another key element of the draft. Under this, genomic sequences of all pathogens with pandemic potential — and the benefits that come with such information — are to be shared on an “equal footing” in the system. The information is to be shared on a publicly accessible platform and in a time-bound manner.

The draft calls for setting up WHO Global Pandemic Supply Chain and Logistics Network to ensure a better and fairer distribution of counter-measures as well as a global compensation scheme for vaccine injuries.

What could be the govt’s calculations behind the slashing of the MGNREGA budget

Source: The post is based on the articles “What could be the govt’s calculations behind the slashing of the MGNREGA budget” and “Budget 2023 is betting on recovery” published in Indian Express on 6th February 2023.

What is the News?

The Central Government has slashed the budget for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme to Rs 60,000 crore in 2023-24. This is the lowest since 2017-18.

Background

Over the last three years, India’s economy suffered massive disruptions 1) initially from the Covid-induced lockdowns and then 2) war in Ukraine that gave a shock to global commodity markets comparable to the oil and food price hikes of the 1970s and 2008-09.

The Government of India deployed two major social safety measures against these disruptions: The first was the public distribution system and the second was MGNREGA which generated an all-time-high 389 crore person-days of employment in 2020-21 and 363 crores in 2021-22. 

What is the rationale behind the reduction in funds for MGNREGA?

-According to the government, the Indian economy has fully emerged from the ravages of Covid and even adjusted to the disruptions of the Russia-Ukraine war. For instance, the opening chapter of this year’s economic survey is also titled “Recovery Complete”.

-The normalisation of economic activity means no need for special safety nets that helped protect the most vulnerable households from significant loss of income during the pandemic and after.

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What does the Economic Survey say about the MGNREGA Scheme?

The Economic Survey 2022-23 said that there has been a Year-on-Year (YoY) decline in monthly demand for MGNREGS.

The reason behind this is that the rural economy is normalizing due to strong agricultural growth and a swift bounce-back from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the assets created under MGNREGA have had a positive impact on agricultural productivity, production-related expenditure and income per household along with a negative association with migration and a fall in indebtedness, especially from non-institutional sources.

What are the concerns associated with the reduction in funds for MGNREGA?

However, the government did not have planned for a) a worsening of the war in Ukraine, b) a repeat of last year’s March temperature surge that decimated the rabi crop and a normal southwest monsoon.

Inaugural iCET dialogue will accelerate US’ strategic technology partnership with India: US NSA

Source: The post is based on the article “Inaugural iCET dialogue will accelerate US’ strategic technology partnership with India: US NSA” published in Economic Times on 2nd February 2023.

What is the News?

India’s National Security Advisor held talks with the US counterpart on the first dialogue on the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in the US.

What is the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies(iCET)?

The iCET initiative was launched by India and the US in May 2022.

Aim: To expand the India-US partnership for critical and emerging technologies– that will drive global growth, bolster both countries’ economic competitiveness, and protect shared national security interests.

Spearheaded by: The initiative is being run by the National Security Councils of both countries.

Areas of cooperation: The six areas for cooperation are scientific research and development; quantum and artificial intelligence, defense innovation, space, advanced telecom which would include things like 6G and semiconductors.

Significance of the initiative:

iCET will forge closer linkages between the government, academia and industry of the two countries. The objective is to provide cutting-edge technologies to the rest of the world which are affordable. 

The initiative is also seen as an alignment of strategic, commercial and scientific approaches in the field of technology. 

This Word Means: North star

Source: The post is based on the article “This Word Means: North star” published in Indian Express on 5th February 2023.

What is the News?

The Vice President has said that the Parliament is the “North Star” of democracy, a place of discussion and deliberation to realize the aspirations and dreams of the people.

What is a North Star?

The North Star is also known as Pole Star. It is a very bright star — around 2,500 times more luminous than the Sun.

It is part of the constellation Ursa Minor and is around 323 light years away from the Earth.

The North star is less than 1° away from the north celestial pole, almost in direct line with the Earth’s rotational axis.

It appears to sit motionless in the northern sky, with all the other stars appearing to rotate around it.

Significance: North Star position and brightness have allowed humans to use it for navigation since late antiquity.

The elevation of the star above the horizon gives the approximate latitude of the observer.

However, upon crossing the equator to the south, the North Star is lost over the horizon and hence stops being a useful navigational aid.