17 AUGUST 2023

Topic 1 : Operation Jericho

Context: The use of air power in Mizoram in 1966 has become a hot topic of discussion after Prime Minister mentioned it in the Lok Sabha while replying to the no confidence motion.
 

Key details:

• In 1966, a separatist movement led by Mizo National Front (MNF) was gathering steam in Mizoram, and then referred to as the Mizo Hills.
• The Centre had decided to station another Assam Rifles battalion in the Hills, in addition to the one Assam Rifles battalion and a few BSF companies already present.
• Incensed at this, the MNF leadership decided to launch ‘Operation Jericho’ to take control of Aizawl, the biggest town in the region, and then the entire Mizo hills.
• They overran Aizawl in a few days’ time.
• Operation Jericho had been described by a military writer as a “masterstroke” with “near complete military preparation”, amounting to an expression of confidence and clinical planning not witnessed hitherto fore in the Indian subcontinent.

Government’s response

• The Mizo rebels had besieged the HQs of 1 Assam Rifles, where the Deputy Commissioner had taken refuge, and released all prisoners from the local jail.
• There was widespread looting of arms and cash from the government treasury.
• Proclamations of independence were made and a demand raised for the Assam Rifles to surrender.
• In response, attempts were made to re-supply the Assam Rifles battalion with helicopters, but these were shot at by the Mizo rebels.
• As the Army struggled to dislodge the rebels, the Air Force was called in.
• The air attack helped the Army regain control of vast areas that had been declared “independent”.
• By the end of the month, aided by the air operations, the army had regained control of Mizoram.Topic 2 : The Sulina Channel

Context: An alternative passage for Ukraine’s grain after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal is a new trade route, the Sulina Channel.

Key details:

• The Danube delta has provided Ukraine with an alternative passage for its grain after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal.
  • The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey, used to provide safe passage for cargo ships carrying grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.
• The new trade route is the Sulina Channel – a 63 km long distributary of the Danube, connecting major Ukrainian ports on the river to the Black Sea, lying completely within the borders of Romania, a NATO member.
• Ukraine, often called the “breadbasket of Europe”, is among the world’s biggest grain exporters, with its economy heavily dependent on agricultural exports.

About the channel:

• The Danube river:
  • The Danube, Europe’s second longest river, has historically been crucial for the movement of freight.
  • Near Tulcea, Romania, some 80 km from the sea, the river begins to spread out into its delta which has three major channels – Chilia, Sulina and St George.
• Of these, the Sulina Channel, which has been dredged and straightened, is the only one deep and wide enough for freight transport.
• This makes it a sort of a riverine ‘expressway’ – crucial for transport of goods from inland to the Black Sea.
• Problems:
  • Russia as of now has desisted from attacking NATO-controlled territories, but continued targeting of Ukrainian ports and grain facilities on the Danube can be crippling.
  • Ukraine has historically not used the Danube for grain exports, relying instead on its rail network and Black Sea ports.
    • This has meant that the capacity of Ukrainian ports to handle the volume of grain suddenly coming their way is fairly limited.
  • Given the sheer traffic on the Channel, has been congestion at its mouth.
    • Boats are having to wait for days before they can enter the Channel, causing major delays in shipping.

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Topic 3 : Bilateral Naval Maritime Partnership Exercise

Context: Indian Navy Participates In Bilateral Naval Maritime Partnership Exercise With UAE Navy

Key details:

• Two Indian Naval Ships INS Visakhapatnam and INS Trikan will participate in a bilateral Naval Maritime Partnership Exercise with the UAE Navy.
  • INS Visakhapatnam is one of the largest operational Destroyer in Indian Navy and is a completely indigenous warship made by the Mazagaon Docks Limited.
  • NS Trikand is an advance stealth frigate commissioned in 2013.
    • The ship is a contemporary warship with state of the art technology incorporated in every facet of its design to make her stable, stealthier, fast and formidable.
• Aim:
  • to enhance the interoperability and synergy between the two navies by cross training on tactics, techniques and procedures while developing stronger professional bonds.
  • to jointly tackle the common challenges of piracy, smuggling, human trafficking,
  • enhance maritime security and undertake joint Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief operations.

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Topic 4 : Government’s plan on merging Environmental organisations

Context: The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a notification quietly walking back on its move to establish integrated regional offices by merging offices of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), and thus bring them under the Ministry.
 

Key details:

• The idea for such reorganisation was announced during the COVID-19 lockdown.
• It came under criticism from activists that it would render key environmental organisationstoothless.
  • For example, in the existing structure, the NTCA can oppose a forest clearance for an infrastructure project for diverting Tiger Reserve areas.
  • The proposed merger would have rendered this difficult as the NTCA would have come under the Deputy Director General of Forests, who is in charge of the Integrated Regional Office and reports to the Ministry.
• The MoEFCC justified the merger for “ease of doing business”.
• The NTCA had opposed it, saying it could lead to administrative confusion, chaos, loss of independence, undue interference in decision making, loss of focus in discharging duties and responsibilities.

The new notification

• The same notification also proposes to reorganise existing regional offices, and this idea too has come under criticism because it does not appear to be based on any objective criteria.
  • For example, the Bengaluru regional office would have had jurisdiction over three States and a Union Territory with different geographic and ecological characteristics — Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, and Lakshadweep.
• The Indian government announced a plan to merge Project Tiger and Project Elephant.
  • Concerns:
    • It risked undermining the autonomy of the NTCA.
    • It will also have implications for Project Elephant given that it does not have any legal backing at present.
    • Tiger Reserves are recognised under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 but Elephant Reserves are not.
    • Decision to merge the two projects was taken without discussion in the wildlife division of the MoEFCC.

Way forward:

• There is a need for disintegrated and dedicated efforts across the board, including to strengthen environmental monitoring functions.
• In recent years, the role and functions of regional offices of the Ministry have been widened both to process environmental approvals and monitor compliance of legally mandated safeguards during project construction, operation, and closures.
• As a result, such widened roles require additional funding and infrastructural support, but it remains unclear if such support has been provided.
• There is a need for an internal mechanism to review whether the offices are able to prioritise their actions in such a way that they don’t disproportionately favour any regulatory outcomes, while upholding environmental protection without compromising social justice.Topic 5 : Bihar’s caste-based survey and the legal challenges

Context: The Supreme Court is set to hear on August 18, petitions challenging the Patna High Court (HC)’s verdict upholding the Bihar government’s ongoing caste survey.
 

What is the ‘caste-based survey’?

• The Bihar State government launched a two-phase caste survey in Bihar, stating that detailed information on socio-economic conditions would help create better government policies for disadvantaged groups.
• The survey is estimated to collect the socio-economic data for a population of 12.70 crore in the 38 districts of Bihar.
• The State was in the middle of the second phase, when the survey was halted due to a stay order from the HC.
• However, a recent HC verdict dismissed all petitions opposing the move, and the government resumed work on the second phase of the survey.
• In the second phase, data related to castes, sub-castes, and religions of all people is to be collected.

Need for a caste census

• The Census conducted at the beginning of every decade does not record any caste data other than for those listed as Scheduled Castes (SCs).
• In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
• Despite this ambiguity, the Union government has categorically ruled out conducting a socio-economic caste census, saying it is unfeasible, administratively difficult and cumbersome.
• Excluding any castes other than the SCs and Scheduled Tribes was a conscious policy decision adopted since the 1951 Census, and that there was a policy of official discouragement of caste.
• The Union government in 2011 had undertaken a survey of castes through the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011.
• However, the collected raw data of nearly 130 crore Indians was never made public due to flaws in the data.
   

Why is it being challenged?

• The petitions in the Supreme Court contend that the State’s order notifying the survey is unconstitutional since only the Centre is exclusively authorised to conduct a census under the Constitution.
• They also point out that the State Government does not have any independent power to appoint District Magistrates and local authorities for collating data, without a notification under Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948 by the Centre.
• The HC verdict has also been assailed on the ground that it violates the Puttaswamy judgment as it permits the collection of personal data by the State under an executive order.
• However, the HC had observed that the State is competent to frame a policy for better administration and that the policy is not arbitrary.
• It also dismissed concerns about right of privacy of those surveyed by referring to the triple-test requirements in the Puttasamy judgment.

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Topic 6 : PM e-Bus Seva Scheme

Context: The union cabinet approved ‘PM-eBus Sewa’ for augmenting city bus operation under which 10,000 e-buses will be deployed across cities in the country.

Key  details:

• ₹57,613 crores will be spent on this.
• Around 10,000 new electric buses will be provided across the country.
• Out of ₹57,613 crores, ₹20,000 crores will be provided by the Central government.
• The scheme will cover cities with 3 lakhs and above population.
• Under this scheme, city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model will be done.
• This scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.
• Infrastructure will be upgraded in 181 cities under the Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.

Key features:

• Reaching the Unreached:
  • The scheme will cover cities of Three lakh and above population as per census 2011 including all the Capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States.
  • Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organized bus service.
• Direct Employment Generation:
  • The scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation. 
• The Scheme has two segments:
  • Segment A – Augmenting the City bus services:(169 cities)
    • The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
    • Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
  • Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities)
    • The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
• Support for Operation:
  • Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators. 
  • The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.
• Boost to E-Mobility:
  • The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure.
  • Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.
  • The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.
• This scheme shall also bring in economies of scale for procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses.
• Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission.
• Modal shift due to increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to GHG reduction.Topic 7 : The new non-poor

Context: Prime Minister of India said in his Independence Day address that in the first five-year term of his government, 13.5 crore of poor people have broken free from the chains of poverty and entered the new middle class.
 

Key details:

• The 13.5-crore number cited by the PM appears in the second National Multidimensional Poverty Index report that was published by Niti Aayog recently.
• The 2023 edition of the index uses data from the latest round of the National Family Health Survey (2019-21), and captures changes in multidimensional poverty between the survey periods of NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21).
• The poverty headcount ratio, that is, the proportion of multi-dimensionally poor in the country, fell from around 25% to just under 15% between the two rounds of NFHS.
• In absolute terms, this implies that 135 million (or 13.5 crore) Indians escaped multidimensional poverty in this period.  

About Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

• The national MPI measures deprivations across the three dimensions of:
  • health and nutrition:
    • Within health, it tracks three variables:
      • nutrition,
      • child and adolescent mortality, and
      • maternal health.  
  • Education:
    • In education, it tracks two variables:
      • years of schooling, and
      • school attendance.
  • standard of living:
    • In standard of living, it tracks seven variables such as sanitation, drinking water, bank account, etc.
• The index is based on the methodology used by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to construct the Global MPI.
  • OPHI and UNDP are technical partners in the formulation of the national index.
• But India’s MPI is not exactly the same as the Global MPI.
  • For instance, India’s MPI has 12 variables, while the Global MPI has 10.
  • The two additional variables in India’s MPI are maternal health and bank account.

How does this reduction in poverty (13.5 crore in the period between the two NFHS rounds) compare with India’s past record?

• This is a multidimensional poverty index and, as such, is not comparable to India’s traditional and official way of estimating poverty.
• The Global MPI 2023 report states that 415 million people in India moved out of poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.
• The Global MPI pegs India’s poverty ratio at 16.4% as against 14.96% in Niti Aayog’s MPI.
  • This difference is on account of the two additional metrics, and some differences in definitions.

How has poverty been estimated in India traditionally?

• From the time of Dadabhai Naoroji’s 1901 book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, poverty has been estimated using a monetary measure.
• The idea has been to arrive at an amount of money that is considered necessary to either eat a subsistence diet (Naoroji’s approach) or to achieve a minimum standard of living.
• Since data on income was difficult to collect, India used regular (five-yearly) consumption expenditure surveys (which showed how much people were spending on consumption).

• Based on this data, several expert committees — led by D T Lakdawala (1993), Suresh Tendulkar (2009), and C Rangarajan (2014) — drew a “poverty line”.
  • The line is the level of consumption expenditure (stated in rupees) that divides those who are poor from those who are not.
• India’s last official poverty statistics are from 2011.
• The data have not been updated because the government junked the consumption expenditure survey of 2017-18.
• That survey showed a decline in rural consumption and, as such, pointed to an increase in abject poverty.

Impact on India’s middle class

• There is no official definition of the middle class in India.
• It is difficult to say whether those who escape poverty necessarily join the middle class, or to what extent.
• Estimates of India’s middle class provided by private research organisations peg the middle class at income levels that are considerably higher than those of the people who are coming out of poverty.
• In a report, ‘The rise of India’s middle class’, People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE) divided all households into four categories:
  • Destitutes,
  • Aspirers,
  • Middle Class and
  • Rich.
• According to PRICE’s survey, as of 2021, out of a population of 1,416 million:
  • 196 million Indians were categorised as ‘Destitutes’,
  • 432 million were the ‘Middle Class’, and
  • 732 million were ‘Aspirers’.
• Households which are classified as Middle Class have an annual income in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 30 lakh (at 2020-21 prices).
• Destitute households were those with an annual income less than Rs 1.25 lakh.Topic 8 : Eris variant of Covid

Context: There is a new COVID variant: EG.5, also known as Eris.
 

Key details:

• The WHO has classified the EG.5 as a Variant of Interest (VOI).
• For now, it is not a Variant of Concern (VOC), which is one step worse that a Variant of Interest.
  • Variants of Concern are those whose characteristics have a significant influence on the spread of the virus because of higher rates of contagion and rising infection rates, or an increase in severe cases of the illness and COVID mortality rates.
• EG.5 is one of three variants on the WHO’s watchlist:
  • The other two are XBB.1.5, which is largely circulating in Europe and the Americas, and XBB.1.16, which is predominant in Asia.
• The WHO classified EG.5 as a VOI due to rising infection rates attributed to the variant, the fact that it spreads fast and its ability of  immune escape.Topic 9 : Centre and WHO to launch Global Initiative on Digital Health

Context: India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), will launch the Global Initiative on Digital Health as part of the ongoing G-20 summit in Gandhinagar.

Key details:

• The first such global initiative is aimed at data convergence, interface of health platforms and investments in the digital health space around the globe.
• The summit is working on bringing in the crucial interim medical countermeasure (MCM), which is a ‘network of networks approach’.
• The global digital platform would include:
  • an investment tracker,
  • an ask tracker (to understand who needs what kind of products and services) and
  • a library of existing digital health platforms.
• The initiative had found funding from global partners.