9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – July 1st, 2022

Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• Home and abroad: On PM Modi’s G-7 commitements and freedom of speech
• A road safety quartet and the road ahead
• The worrying slowdown in India’s fight against poverty
• Selfish rich inequality hypothesis: The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality
• On reproductive rights, India’s MTP and Surrogacy Acts don’t go far enough
• Amendment proposals for IT rules miss the main point
• Do not weaken the anti-defection law
• One recruit, one salary – Agnipath Scheme

GS Paper 3

• Growing reliance on MGNREGA in rural areas, elevated youth unemployment in urban areas, are worrying signals
• Don’t ignore the services sector
• About the ban on single-use plastics: Plastic Challenge
• GST: Five years stronger
• About NITI Aayog’s report on Gig and Platform workers: Platform economy

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• High-speed expendable aerial target Abhyas successfully tested off Odisha coast
• Vritika Research Internship
• INS SATPURA ARRIVES AT PEARL HARBOUR IN HAWAII TO PARTICIPATE IN RIMPAC-22
• PM participates in ‘Udyami Bharat’ programme
• Assessment of States/UTs based on implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan for the year 2020 declared
• Explained: What is ISRO’s ‘POEM’ platform?
• Explained: Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, whose statue is coming up at the Bengaluru airport?
• Green Hydrogen Is Critical to India’s Economic Development and Net-Zero Ambitions: Report

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

Home and abroad: On PM Modi’s G-7 commitements and freedom of speech

News: PM of India attended the G7 annual summit meeting in Germany along with other special invitees from Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal, and South Africa.

Most of the deliberations took aim at the twin challenges seen from Russia and China.

What economic initiatives were discussed?

G7 countries discussed the following economic initiatives:

– the launch of a $600 billion U.S.-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)

– commitments on fighting climate change

– funding renewable energy changes

– mitigating inflation

– managing the continued global crisis over the COVID-19 pandemic

What other issues were discussed at the meeting?

Challenges to the international order that emanate from Moscow’s war in Ukraine (including tightening sanctions, the impact on energy markets, and cybersecurity threats),

Beijing’s “expansive maritime claims”, rights violations, and unsustainable debt creation in lower income countries.

The G-7 countries issued separate statements on support for Ukraine, food security and a ‘Climate Club’.

In addition, the G-7 and special invitee “partner countries” issued a statement on “Resilient Democracies”, committing to free and fair elections, protecting freedom of expression, and gender empowerment.

What was India’s stand at the summit?

The Prime Minister of India made it clear that it is the developing world that needs the most support, including to weather the “knock-on” effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Government sought to distance itself from the PGII, pitched as a G-7 counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

India also made it evident that it had only signed on to the statements on “Resilient Democracies” and a “Just Energy Transition”, and not the many statements castigating Russia and China.

India also stayed away from President Putin and President Xi’s stringent criticism of the West.

Way forward

On the global stage, the G-7 outcomes mean New Delhi will have to continue to walk a tightrope between these two blocs that are growing more polarised and inimical towards each other.

A road safety quartet and the road ahead

News: In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area.

The persistently high annual death toll brings into question the country’s ability to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.6, which aims to halve the fatalities and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is holding a high-level meeting on Global Road Safety on June 30 and July 1, 2022 to review the progress and challenges.

What is the situation wrt road safety in India?

1,47,913 lives were lost to road traffic accidents in 2017 as per Ministry of Road Transport and Highways statistics.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figure for the same year is 1,50,093 road accident deaths.

Further, India’s data on road crash mortality are seen as an undercount, and the Global Burden of Disease report for 2017 estimates, based on verbal autopsy sources, that there were 2,18,876 deaths.

What are the new findings on road safety?

A new analytical series on road safety worldwide, published by The Lancet, proposes that India and other countries could cut accident-related deaths by 25 to 40%.

Globally, Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) bear the maximum burden of road fatalities and injuries, with high economic costs — an average of 3-5% of GDP — suffered by these countries in 2014.

What are the issues with road safety in India?

India amended its law on motor vehicles in 2019, but its implementation by State governments is not uniform or complete.

The focus of State governments, remains conventional, with an emphasis on user behaviour (drivers and other road users), education and uneven enforcement.

– Low emphasis is placed on structural change such as raising engineering standards for roads, signages, signals, training for scientific accident investigation, raising policing skills etc.

In India, speedy highway construction without reconciling fast and slow-moving traffic, presence of ramshackle vehicles, rampant wrong-side driving, and poor trauma care in non-urban centres contribute to high death and disability rates.

Major interventions in India, first suggested by the Sundar Committee (2007) and ordered by the Supreme Court in S. Rajasekaran vs Union of India have not made a dent in the problem of pedestrian deaths. The measures include setting up of an apex national body for road safety, and fixing decentralised responsibility at the district level.

– The Sundar Committee pointed out that India lacked a technically competent investigation arm that could determine the cause of accidents;

– the National Road Safety Board Rules, 2021, provide for the formation of technical working groups covering, among other things, crash investigation and forensics.

In the absence of scientific investigation, perceptions usually guide the fixing of liability.

The MV Act stipulates only a fine up to one lakh for failure to follow norms and stipulations by the designated authority, contractor, consultant or concessionaire, leading to death or disability. Also, there is little evidence that even this has been enforced after a public inquiry.

How can road safety be improved?

Using the Global Burden of Disease data, a statistical model was constructed to estimate the number of lives that could be saved with interventions in the respective areas for each country.

– An average of 20,554 lives could have been saved in India with a reduction in speeds, 5,683 with helmet interventions and 3,204 with seatbelts.

In addition, 17% of road traffic injury-related deaths in LMICs could be avoided if trauma care facilities improved.

What can be done to cut death and injury rates?

In the short term, slowing down traffic, particularly near habitations, segregating slower vehicles, enforcing seat belt and helmet use and cracking down on drunken drivers could produce measurable gains.

The worrying slowdown in India’s fight against poverty

Context: A new poverty estimate has been released by SBI Research.

What do the findings of the recent estimates suggest?

As per SBI Research, Poverty in India declined to 17.9% in 2020-21, compared with the last available official estimate of 21.9% in 2011-12.

These new estimates suggest an annual decline of 2.75 million in our number of poor during 2012-21, as against a drop of 20 million every year between 2004-05 and 2011-12.

The data confirms a sharp slowdown in India’s rate of poverty reduction by two other estimates by authors affiliated to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund released earlier this year.

Data indicating a slowdown in poverty reduction

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that economic conditions of most people at the bottom of the distribution have worsened.

PLFS Data

Per capita real income from PLFS surveys also shows a 1.1% decline per annum between 2018-19 and 2020-21. The PLFS also reports that the drop was largely due to weakening urban per capita incomes, which went down by 4.2% per year over that period.

– Consumption expenditure, from PLFS data, shows per capita monthly consumption declining at 0.12% per annum between the years 2018-19 to 2020-21. Once again, it was urban areas that saw a decline in per capita consumption, at 4% per annum, as against a rise in rural per capita consumption of an annual 3.7%.

– PLFS data also shows that the proportion of India’s population for whom per capita income was not sufficient to meet consumption expenditure was 26% in 2018-19, which increased to 29% in 2020-21.

Both agricultural as well as non-agricultural wages fell in the last year, with farm wages declining at an annual 2% and non-farm wages at 3.8%.

Urban income and consumption declines raise questions on claims of an economic revival.

What are the implications?

The decline in India’s trend of poverty reduction in the last decade is worrying.

But what is also a worry is the sharper decline in urban incomes, which has implications for a demand revival in the economy.

While it may have contributed to reduced inequality, it also poses a problem of sustaining economic growth.

Some of these trends could worsen in the wake of an inflationary spiral India is going through that will reduce real disposable incomes.

Way forward

Clarity on poverty may be unavailable until data on consumption expenditure is available.

However, the trends in evidence raise concerns on the rising vulnerability of people and sustainability of growth.

These require an immediate response, irrespective of our poverty debate.

Selfish rich inequality hypothesis: The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality

News: In recent days, a ‘Selfish Rich Inequality Hypothesis’ has been proposed based on an analysis of the Gallup World Poll of 2018. 

What is the selfish rich inequality hypothesis?

It says that, whether the rich are richer than the poor because they have been more selfish in life than the latter.  

What are the causes of this selfish rich inequality? 

The issues of selfishness, criminality and corruption aggravate inequality. In other words, the rich have become richer in those countries, where institutions are weak, rule of law is weak, bureaucracy is malfunctioning and corruption is rampant.  

In another way, in such countries, the rich have been involved in selfish grabbing  

What are the pieces of evidence in support of the selfish rich inequality hypothesis?

As per the study, the respondent who were more aged in nature firmly believed in this rich inequality hypothesis.  

In more affluent states, where higher income inequality prevails, more respondents believe in the inequality hypothesis.  

In the affluent states having a high incidence of crime (measured as the number of convictions per lakh of the population) in, most respondents corroborated the rich inequality hypothesis.  

The respondents in States which are more corrupt and display greater extreme inequality are more likely to believe in the corruption of the rich and thus corroborate the hypothesis in question. For example, most respondents believed that the rich get richer through illegal, grabbing activities (rich traders, for example, evade local taxes by bribing officials). 

In terms of the principal (voters)–agent (public institutions in a State including the State government, judiciary and the police) relationship. The relationship is determined by the overall state of political and economic environment conditions. If there is a lack of confidence in the agent, it is difficult to sustain growth, and maintain accountability and transparency. For example, minorities are prone to be more humiliated, assaulted and killed, and there would be allegations of promoting crony capitalism.  

Consequences of non-inclusive growth: If growth is not inclusive, it engenders resentment against the rich. Further, it builds a strong belief in the hypothesis in question. 

What should be done to avoid selfish rich inequality? 

In countries conforming to the selfish rich inequality, there is a broad agreement that inequality in their country is unfair and that the government should aim to reduce it.  There is a need to strengthen public institutions in India in the present context.

On reproductive rights, India’s MTP and Surrogacy Acts don’t go far enough

News: Recently, reproductive rights were overturned in the US through the Roe V. Wade judgment.  Bodily autonomy and reproductive rights must be viewed from legal, medical, and social lenses.   

What are the challenges associated with MTP Act?

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021: The act is in reality far from ideal.  

(1) It has been criticised for not taking a rights-based approach. It doesn’t give the pregnant person complete autonomy in ending the pregnancy. For example, a pregnancy can be terminated on certain conditions which include:- (a) Grave danger to the physical/mental health of the pregnant woman; (b) foetal abnormalities; (c) rape/coercion; and (d) contraceptive failure. 

(2) A woman’s right to choose to end the pregnancy even in the first few weeks is still not recognised in India. 

(3) Women have to undergo various systemic barriers. In fact, the final decision regarding termination of pregnancy is not decided by the pregnant person, but it is decided by one/two registered medical practitioners (RMP) or a medical board depending on the gestational period. 

(4) It uses the word “woman”, thereby leaving out pregnant transgender and non-binary persons who are biologically capable of bearing children.  

(5) Other significant issues are the lack of access to RMPs, affordability, and social stigma. These issues lead to unsafe abortions.  

(6) Further, abortion facilities are not provided in all public health centres, especially in rural India. And, abortion facilities in private medical centres are expensive. It is available only for those who have the resources like those belonging to the high class and persons having caste privilege. Therefore, most unmarried women end up resorting to unsafe abortions in illegal clinics or at home. 

(a) In India, the skewed sex ratio is proof that unsafe abortions and female foeticide are rampant. 

(b) According to the NFHS 2019-21, 27% of the abortions were carried out by the woman herself at home.  

(c) According to the UNs Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report 2022, around 8 women die each day in India due to unsafe abortions. About 67% of the abortions were classified as unsafe between 2007-2011. 

About the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act 2021 

(1) The Act has been alleged to be exclusionary in nature, disregards privacy, and also exploits women’s reproductive labour.  

(2) The act has been alleged to be disregarding privacy. It requires the intending couple to declare their infertility and reveals the identity of the surrogate, both of which violate the right to privacy and the landmark Puttaswamy judgment. 

(3) It strips the reproductive autonomy of LGBTQ+ persons and single, divorced, and widowed intending parents. Only a heterosexual married couple (with certain preconditions) can be the intending parents. Therefore, It can also be seen as a violation to the fundamental right to equality. 

(4) It allows only altruistic surrogacy, denying women compensation for their reproductive labour. It is also seen as a direct manifestation of the patriarchal mindset. 

What should be done?

Experts believe that there should be regulations instead of a complete ban on commercial surrogacy.  

The situation in India is far from perfect. Therefore, the gaps in both the MTP Act 2021 and the Surrogacy Act need to be fixed.  

The government should strive for inclusivity, complete bodily autonomy, and reproductive equity.  

Amendment proposals for IT rules miss the main point

News: Recently, the Bombay and Madras high courts, ordered to stay the operation of the inter-ministerial appellate body that was to operate under the 2021 IT Rules. The body aims to monitor digital news publications and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

The court observed that this oversight mechanism threatens media independence or “rob the media of its independence”. Now, the proposed amendment to the 2021 IT Rules to establish a body above social media platforms, which has a similar effect 

What are the proposed amendments to the IT Rules? 

A Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) will be set up. It will act as an oversight mechanism for grievance redressal officers, who were required to be appointed by social media platforms under the 2021 rules. 

The amendments also seek to impose additional obligations on social media platforms. They “shall cause” their users not to host, display, publish, etc. something they could not. However, so far, the platforms were only required to inform their users about the kind of content they could not publish etc. 

What are the issues associated with the proposed amendment?

The body will be able to decide what kind of speech stays up on the internet, what must be taken down, and what gets reinstated.  

The body will not have legislative backing as it will not be established by the statutory law of the Parliament. It will be established by the ministry through its own rules.  

In a democracy like India’s, the executive does not have the power to create bodies such as the GAC, which can impinge upon the citizens’ fundamental rights because there are little to no procedural safeguards built into the scheme of the rules. 

In addition to constitutionality issues, a GAC cannot operate at a very large scale in today’s information ecosystem. For example, A popular Indian social media platform reported that it received about 7mn user complaints in March 2022. Even if around 1% goes to the GAC, the panel may need to deal with at least tens of thousands of appeals per month.  

The mechanism works to act upon individual pieces of content. It will not solve the systemic issues. 

It raises the risk that if platforms fail to comply with the new obligation under the new directions, then the social media platforms may lose their intermediary protection under the IT Act. It ignores the jurisprudence on intermediary protections that have been recognized in the Supreme Court ruling, under the constitutional scheme of India. 

The amendment may lead to the loss of the social media platform’s intermediary protection if the platforms do not comply with the new obligation in the proposed amendment. It is extremely difficult to exercise complete control over the individual content.  

What should be done?

The present model which gives intermediary protection to platforms and asks the platforms to only respond to government orders or court directions for the removal of content is globally recognized. The SC of India has also upheld it in its Shreya Singhal judgement.  

The government must not only take the proposed amendments back but also repeal the 2021 IT Rules in their entirety and hold fresh consultations with civil society and other stakeholders with a view to put the people, not the government, first. 

Do not weaken the anti-defection law

News: The political crisis in Maharashtra again created the debate on anti-defection law. Further, the Supreme Court intervention gave undue advantage to the dissident legislators.

What is anti-defection law?

Supreme Court of India has described the anti-defection law as “constitutional correctives against a legislatively perceived political evil of unprincipled defections induced by the lure of office and monitory inducements”.

Initially, there were two exceptions provided in the schedule which would exempt a legislator from disqualification.

1) A split in their original political party resulted in the formation of a group of legislators. If the group consisted of one-third of such legislators of that party, they were exempted from disqualification.

This exception was deleted from the schedule through the Constitution Amendment Act of 2003 because of the frequent misuse of this provision.

2) ‘Merger’ can be invoked when the original political party of a legislator merges with another party and not less than two-thirds of its legislators agree to such a merger.

The ‘Merger’ exception contained in paragraph four of the schedule has been taken recourse to by a large number of legislators across States and even in Parliament to defect to the ruling party.

What are the judicial interventions on Anti-defection law-related issues?

Girish Chodankar vs The Speaker, Goa State Legislative the Bombay High Court held that the merger of two-thirds of Members of the Legislative Assembly is deemed to be the merger of the original party.

In Ravi S. Naik vs Union of India (1994), the Supreme Court clarified on voluntarily given up the membership of the party. The court had said, “an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up the membership of the party to which he belongs.”

In Kihoto Hollohan case (1993) the court held that judicial review cannot be available prior to the making of a decision by the Speaker nor at an interlocutory stage of the proceeding. Giving longer time to the dissidents to submit replies is contrary to this decision.

The law, though not perfect, is a serious attempt to strengthen the moral content of democracy. The nation expects better compliance of the law by the lawmakers. The anti-defection law needs to be strengthened and not weakened.

One recruit, one salary – Agnipath Scheme

News: Recently, the government of India introduced a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Agnipath.

What are the advantages of Agnipath Scheme?

From the 10th year onwards, Agnipath will yield 31,250 soldiers each year (25 per cent of 125,000) for extended service tenures.

The Agniveers will form a distinct rank in the military, different from any other existing ranks. The rank and file would be younger, fitter, more mentally robust and more technologically savvy, with the average age dropping from the current 32 years to a youthful 27.

To ease his transition into civilian life, the defence ministry will give each Agniveer a “Seva Nidhi” package at the end of the four-year engagement, amounting to a tax-free Rs 11-12 lakh.

What are the challenges associated with the Agnipath scheme?

The Agnipath Yojana should not be implemented at the cost of a unit’s combat effectiveness.

India, which is operationally committed around the year on two-and-a-half fronts — China, Pakistan and in Jammu & Kashmir — treating soldiers equally has always been a basic principle of combat leadership. The way human relationships will play out between the Agniveers and the existing full-time soldiers will create some challenges.

Every country that has implemented major military personnel and manpower reforms has done so with great deliberation and awareness of the high cost of failure. The scheme is announced even without a small-scale pilot project to validate the key assumptions and beliefs.

GS Paper 3

Growing reliance on MGNREGA in rural areas, elevated youth unemployment in urban areas, are worrying signals

Context: Employment scenario in India remains poor. This can be gauged by the data on work demanded and availed by households under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Worrying MGNREGS data

MGNREGS data: Number of households seeking employment under MGNREGS has increased gradually.

What does the MGNREGS data indicate?

MGNREGS data points to few possibilities:

First, that not enough productive jobs are being created in rural areas — 21 states and Union territories observed an increase in households availing work under the scheme.

Second, that the jobs that are being created aren’t remunerative enough, requiring households to supplement their incomes by working under the scheme. After all, inflation pinches the poor more.

Third, post the pandemic, households are trying to rebuild their emergency buffers.

What are some other indicators of lack of employment generation in India?

Protests against the Indian railways recruitment process, and against the government’s Agnipath scheme for recruitment for the armed forces,

Pressures from various castes to expand the scope of reservation

Attempts by state governments to reserve jobs for locals.

All of these factors reflect the failure, under the watch of successive governments, to absorb the millions of low and semi-skilled workers, who are entering the labour force each year, and those who are stuck in the low productivity agricultural sector.

Don’t ignore the services sector

News: India aspires to become a $5-trillion economy. It is predicated on the growth of its international trade to $2 trillion by 2030 which is equally contributed by the merchandise and services sector.  

About the Status of services and manufacturing sector

It comprises over 50% of the GDP, overriding the contribution of both agriculture and manufacturing.

The year 2021-22 was an astounding success as the manufacturing and merchandise exports had crossed the $400 billion rubicon. The services exports had exceeded $254 billion, which was an increase of over 20% year-on-year.  

India’s merchandise and manufacturing import were $600 billion versus our exports of over $400 billion. In contrast, India Services exports were over $100 billion more than its service imports. 

Further, around 50% and more of services exports are contributed by IT-ITES. The rest is contributed from management, legal, accounting, logistics, travel and tourism, education, healthcare, etc. 

What are the issues with the services sector?  

The services sector does not receive the recognition and encouragement in the form of incentives, just like the manufacturing and the merchandise sector.  

There is a perception that the service sector including IT sector has flourished due to minimum government intervention.  

Further, the service sector as a whole does not require any hand holding support of the government. 

Why does India need to focus on service exports?

This year, the deficit in merchandise exports-imports is widening with the impact of rising crude prices. 

There is a huge imbalance in the incentives offered between the merchandise export segment vs service export. For example, the MEIS (Merchandise Exports Incentive Scheme) provided more incentives than the SEIS (Services Exports Incentive Scheme), even during the Covid restrictions. 

These incentives serve to make businesses internationally competitive as well as recognise contributions made by service providers.  

What should be done to improve the service sector?

Services sectors beyond IT require careful nurturing, especially capex-intensive sectors like hospitality, healthcare and education. 

The government should aim to quadruple services exports over the next 7-8 years. There should be a strategic road map with the right sort of government intervention to achieve the goals.  

The government should focus on all other sectors (other than IT) to bring exponential growth to the table. For example, consider international tourism. 

In addition, the government should embark on a crash programme to enhance infrastructure. For example, PPP Models can be to build more airports and highways, to improve physical connectivity. 

It requires individual entrepreneurship to increase the hospitality quotient by adding more hotel rooms.  

The government should provide attractive incentives like direct taxation for green field projects in the services sectors, especially in the building of hotels, hospitals and universities. 

The government can bring the scheme for the services sector on lines of the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme, in areas like hospitality, education and health care. It will ensure capex investment. It will result in increased productivity and avenues for employment.  

India as a major economy, India’s reliance should be on multiple sectors including, manufacturing and services. 

About the ban on single-use plastics: Plastic Challenge

News: The GoI notified the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021 in August last year. It prohibits 20 single-use plastic items by 2022. 

About the rules 2021 

Various single-use plastic items will be banned from 1 July 2022, including ubiquitous plastic cutleries. 

However, plastic carry bags having a thickness of less than 120 microns will be banned from the end of December. 

Why is plastic a cause of concern? 

The CPCB had estimated that India generates around 9,200 metric tonnes of plastic waste daily. This is most likely a gross underestimation. 

Tonnes of plastic waste is dumped at landfills or out into the open oceans.  

They disintegrate into tiny microplastics and find their way into marine life or terrestrial animals.  

The microplastic eventually enters the human food chain, causing a lot of health problems  

Whether the nationwide single-use plastic ban beginning from today will be an effective counteraction?  

The scope of the ban is too small. Even the current efforts are unlikely to succeed in a meaningful way. 

The problem is that alternatives to everyday plastic items are far more expensive. For example, paper straws cost five times as much as plastic straws.  

The single-use plastic ban is likely to hurt small vendors and manufacturers disproportionately.  

At present, inflation levels are very high, therefore, the users might breach the ban.  

What should be done?

The government should work with the plastic industry to foster innovation and boost the production of compostable plastics.  

The GOI should support the creation of an entire waste management system around compostable plastics. It should start from labelling to setting up industrial composting units.  

GST: Five years stronger

News: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has completed its 5th year since its inception on 1 July 2017. Seventeen different laws were merged, and a single taxation system was brought in through the GST. It was first discussed in the report of the Kelkar Task Force on indirect taxes in 2003.

What are the challenges the GST regime had to tackle before it came into force?

Several countries moved to the GST regime long before India did in 2017. But, the mechanism of the GST Council itself is unique to India. This is because,

-The quasi-federal nature of Indian polity wherein both the Centre and the states enjoyed independent powers of taxation demanded a unique solution.

-States of different sizes and at different stages of development with their legacy tax systems had to be brought together under the GST.

-States were also at different stages in the use of technology for revenue collection.

-The states never had the power to levy service taxes. States have been asking from the very beginning for the power to levy service tax, and not simply [get] a share of it. With GST that has been brought in.

For example, Half of state domestic product is services. GST is giving additional powers to the state in terms of service tax.

What is the performance of GST in past five years?

The GST Council has played a crucial role in forging a national consensus on key issues related to the tax regime — rates, exemptions, business processes and movement of input tax credit (ITC) etc.

Over 63.9 lakh taxpayers migrated into the GST in July 2017. This number has more than doubled to over 1.38 crore taxpayers as of June 2022.

Since the launch of the system, a total of 292 crore e-way bills have been generated of which 42% are for the interstate transport of goods.

Since its inception, the administration of GST continues to be IT-based and fully automated. The creation of GSTN, a professionally managed technology company to run the platform was a step in the right direction.

Most of the litigation on GST matters has centred around issues such as ITC, powers available to the GST officers on aspects of enforcement such as issuing of summons, arrest of persons and the attachment of property for recoveries. Recently, in Mohit Minerals vs UoI case the Supreme Court has not set aside or altered the fundamental features of GST.

Overall, GST proved to be both consumer and assessee friendly. Indeed GST has made India a single market.

About NITI Aayog’s report on Gig and Platform workers: Platform economy

News: NITI Aayog has recently released a new policy brief titled “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy.”

What is “India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy” Report?

What are the challenges associated with the NITI Aayog report?

Issues with compensation and protections in work: This is particularly for those dependent on large and well-financed platforms. If the size of the workforce expands as projected as such issues will only increase. The report does not stressed these issues.

Not easy to transform gig work into formal work: The report asked the contractors and workers in the gig economy to transfer to the employer/employee roles in the formal sector. But straitjacket fitting of gig workers to employer/employee roles designed for the formal sector will not be a good idea.

Not easy to provide social security to gig workers: According to the recent data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), more than half the salaried employees covered by the survey do not have any kind of security.

Considering this situation, mandating social security for those in the gig and platform economy is not feasible.

What should be done to improve India’s gig economy?

Firstly, Given the rapidly changing nature of the gig employment landscape, the issues associated with the gig and platform workers need more debate and discussion to discover a consensus.

Secondly, the impact on growth-creating platforms and gig contractors should also be closely scrutinised before new mandates or entitlements are implemented.

Thirdly, the government ensure that social security benefits are available to salaried employees first, as has long been the mandate, before extending it further.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

High-speed expendable aerial target Abhyas successfully tested off Odisha coast

Source: The post is based on the article “High-speed expendable aerial target Abhyas successfully tested off Odisha coast” published in Indian Express on 30th June 2022

What is the News?

India has successfully tested the indigenously-designed Abhyas – a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target(HEAT) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), off the coast of Odisha.

What is Abhyas?

Source: Wikipedia

Designed and developed by: Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of DRDO

Purpose: It offers a realistic threat scenario for practice of weapon systems.Hence, it can be used as an aerial target for evaluation of various missile systems.

Features:

Firstly, it is powered by a gas turbine engine to sustain a long endurance flight at subsonic speed.

Secondly, it is equipped with a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)-based Inertial Navigation System (INS) for navigation along with the Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control.

Thirdly, the vehicle is programmed for fully autonomous flight and their check-out is done using a laptop-based Ground Control Station(GCS).

Lastly, the system is equipped with Radar Cross-Section(RCS) and infrared signatures which can be used to simulate a variety of aircraft for the practice of anti-aircraft warfare and also for the testing designed to target aerial targets.

Vritika Research Internship

Source: The post is based on the article “Vritika Research Internship” published in PIB on 30th June 2022.

What is the News?

The one-month-long Vritika Research Internship was concluded with the valedictory function organized by CSIR-NIScPR.

What is Vritika?

VRITIKA is the call for initiation and practice in science through the Training and Skill Internship.

Objective: To provide necessary knowledge on converting research data into an indexed publication and exposure to processing of research manuscripts from preparation to publication.

Funded by: Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB),Department of Science and Technology (DST) under Accelerate Vigyan scheme.

Eligibility: Masters and PhD (Science Stream) students enrolled in any Indian University or Institution can apply.

Implementation: The internships will primarily be facilitated by organizations/institutions/laboratories of national importance such as IITs, IISc, IISERs, NITs, CSIR, ICAR, ICMR etc.

INS SATPURA ARRIVES AT PEARL HARBOUR IN HAWAII TO PARTICIPATE IN RIMPAC-22

Source: The post is based on the article “INS SATPURA ARRIVES AT PEARL HARBOUR IN HAWAII TO PARTICIPATE IN RIMPAC-22” published in TOI on 28th June 2022

What is the News?

INS Satpura has entered Pearl Harbour in Hawaii Islands to participate in Rim of the Pacific(RIMPAC) exercise.

Note: INS Satpura is an indigenously designed and built 6000-tonne guided missile stealth frigate equipped to seek and destroy adversary in air, surface and underwater. 

What is Exercise RIMPAC? 

It is one of the largest biennial multilateral Naval Exercises led by the United States(US).It was first conducted in 1971.

Aim: To enhance interoperability and build trust among Navies of friendly foreign countries.

Theme for 2022: ‘capable, adaptive, partners.’

Participating Countries: 26 countries are participating in the exercise.India is one among these countries.

Note: India for the first time participated in the Exercise RIMPAC in 2014.

PM participates in ‘Udyami Bharat’ programme

Source: The post is based on the article “PM participates in ‘Udyami Bharat’ programme” published in PIB on 30th June 2022.

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has participated in the ‘Udyami Bharat’ programme.

During this, he launched several initiatives like 1) Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance (RAMP) scheme, 2) Capacity Building of First-Time MSME Exporters(CBFTE) scheme, and 3) new features of the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to ramp up the MSME sector. 

What is the Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance(RAMP) scheme?

Click Here to read about it

What is Capacity Building of First-Time MSME Exporters(CBFTE) scheme? 

Aim: To encourage MSMEs to offer products and services of international standards for the global market. 

This will enhance the participation of Indian MSMEs in the global value chain and help them realize their export potential.

What is the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)?

Click Here to read about it

New Features of PMEGP

Firstly, increase in the maximum project cost to Rs 50 lakhs (from Rs 25 lakhs) for the manufacturing sector and Rs 20 lakhs (from Rs 10 lakhs) in the service sector.

Secondly, the inclusion of applicants from Aspirational districts & Transgenders in the Special Category applicants for availing higher subsidies. 

Thirdly, handholding support is being provided to applicants/entrepreneurs through the engagement of banking, technical & marketing experts.

What is MSME Idea Hackathon,2022?

Aim: To promote and support the untapped creativity of individuals, promoting the adoption of the latest technologies and innovation among MSMEs.

The selected incubatee ideas will be provided funding support of up to Rs. 15 lakhs per approved idea.

Assessment of States/UTs based on implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan for the year 2020 declared

Source: The post is based on the article “Assessment of States/UTs based on implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan for the year 2020 declared” published in PIB on 30th June 2022

What is the News?

The Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs has announced the assessment of States/UTs under the Business Reforms Action Plan(BRAP) 2020.

What is the Business Reforms Action Plan(BRAP)?

Released by: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry since 2014.

Aim: To boost investor confidence, foster business-friendly climate and augment the Ease of Doing Business by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of assessing states based on their performance in the implementation of the Business Reforms Action Plan.

Parameters: It includes 301 reform points that cover 15 business regulatory areas such as access to Information, single window system, labour, environment, sectoral reforms and other reforms spanning across the lifecycle of a typical business.

– Sectoral reforms have been introduced for the first time in BRAP 2020 wherein 72 reforms were identified across 9 sectors namely: Trade license, Healthcare, Legal metrology, Cinema halls, Hospitality, Fire NOC, Telecom, Movie shooting and Tourism.

Categories: The report categorizes states into 1) Top achievers, 2) Achievers, 3) Aspires, and 4) Emerging business ecosystems as against the earlier practice of announcing ranks.

What are the key rankings of BRAP 2020?

Top Achievers: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

Achievers: Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Aspires: It includes seven states – Assam, Kerala, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

Emerging Business Ecosystems: There are 11 states and UTs including Delhi, Puducherry and Tripura in this category.

Observations made by the Finance Minister: The nature of reforms had undergone change since 1991. For instance, unlike the reforms of 1991 which were given to us for implementation, there is no compulsion now. The objective now is to see what will bring out improvement in systems and ensure better lives for us. Hence, an element of nudge has been brought into every layer of the government.

Note: Nudge policies gently steer people towards desirable behaviour even while preserving their liberty to choose.

Explained: What is ISRO’s ‘POEM’ platform?

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: What is ISRO’s ‘POEM’ platform?” published in Indian Express on 1st July 2022

What is the News?

Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) PSLV-C53 rocket has successfully placed three Singaporean satellites into orbit.

Besides placing these three Singaporean satellites in orbit, ISRO has also achieved the feat of successfully launching the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module or ‘POEM’.

What is POEM?

The PSLV Orbital Experimental Module is a platform that will help perform in-orbit experiments using the final and otherwise discarded stage of ISRO’s workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

What is PSLV and how was it used in PSLV-C53?

The PSLV is a four-stage rocket where the first three spent stages fall back into the ocean, and the final stage (PS4) — after launching the satellite into orbit — ends up as space junk.

However, in the PSLV-C53 mission, the spent final stage was utilized as a “stabilized platform” to perform experiments.

Note: This is the first time that the PS4 stage would orbit the earth as a stabilized platform.

How will ISRO keep POEM ‘alive and stable’ in orbit?

POEM has a dedicated Navigation Guidance and Control(NGC) system for attitude stabilization, which stands for controlling the orientation of any aerospace vehicle within permitted limits. The NGC will act as the platform’s brain to stabilize it with specified accuracy.

POEM will also derive its power from solar panels mounted around the PS4 tank and a Li-Ion battery. It will navigate using four sun sensors, a magnetometer, gyros & NavIC.

Has ISRO repurposed and used PS4 rocket junk earlier?

ISRO first demonstrated the capability of using PS4 as an orbital platform in 2019 with the PSLV-C44 mission that injected Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellites into their designated orbits. The fourth stage in that mission was kept alive as an orbital platform for space-based experiments.

Explained: Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, whose statue is coming up at the Bengaluru airport?

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained: Who was Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, whose statue is coming up at the Bengaluru airport?” published in PIB on 29th June 2022

What is the News?

A bronze statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda will be unveiled soon at the premises of the Kempegowda International Airport(KIA).

Who is Nadaprabhu Kempegowda?

Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is a 16th-century chieftain of the Vijayanagara empire.

Community: He belonged to the Vokkaliga community in south Karnataka.

Contributions: 

He is credited as the founder of Bengaluru City. It is said that he conceived the idea of a new city while hunting with his minister and later marked its territory by erecting towers in four corners of the proposed city.

He is also known to have developed around 1,000 lakes in the city to cater to drinking and agricultural needs.

One of his social reforms was to prohibit the custom of amputating the last two fingers of the left hand of unmarried women during “Bandi Devaru”, an important custom of Morasu Vokkaligas.

Green Hydrogen Is Critical to India’s Economic Development and Net-Zero Ambitions: Report

Source: The post is based on the article “Green Hydrogen Is Critical to India’s Economic Development and Net-Zero Ambitions: Report” published in PIB on 29th June 2022

What is the News?

NITI Aayog has released a report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India”.

What is Green Hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is hydrogen gas produced through the electrolysis of water — an energy intensive process for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen — using renewable power to achieve this.

The demand for Green Hydrogen

The report predicted that hydrogen demand in India could grow more than four-fold by 2050, representing almost 10% of global hydrogen demand. 

In the longer term, steel and heavy-duty trucking are likely to drive the majority of demand growth, accounting for almost 52% of total demand by 2050. 

Benefits of Adoption of Green Hydrogen

Adoption of green hydrogen will result in 3.6 giga tonnes of cumulative CO2 emissions reductions between 2020 and 2050.

Energy import savings from green hydrogen can range from $246 billion to $358 billion within the same period.

Beyond the financial savings, the energy security that green hydrogen provides will translate to less volatile price inputs for India’s industries as well as strengthen India’s foreign exchange situation in the long run. 

What are the recommendations given by the report to adopt Green Hydrogen?

Firstly, it has recommended tax breaks like reduction or exemption of GST and customs duties on green hydrogen production.

Secondly, facilitate investment through demand aggregation and dollar-based bidding for green hydrogen.

Thirdly, set up green hydrogen corridors in participation with states starting with three such corridors, and funding startups working in the space.

Fourthly, promote exports of green hydrogen and green hydrogen-embedded products through a global hydrogen alliance.

Fifthly, initiate green hydrogen standards and a labelling programme.

Note: In February 2022, the Centre notified the Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia Policy.