India-Nepal Relations, Air Pollution, Non-market economy and more

Explained

The India-Nepal Border issue

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: GS-II: India and its neighbourhood relations.

What’s the ongoing story- Nepal’s cabinet last week decided to put a map on its Rs 100 currency note showing certain areas administered by India in Uttarakhand as part of its territory, provoking External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to say that such “unilateral measures” by Kathmandu would not change the reality on the ground.

Prerequisites: 

— Read about the Treaty of Sugauli? 

— India-Nepal Bilateral relations-know the historical background

— Map work: Location of Kali River, Limpiadhura, Lipulekh, Kalapani, Indian states bordering Nepal, China-Nepal border. 

Key takeaways: 

— The territorial dispute is about a 372-sq-km area that includes Limpiadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani at the India-Nepal-China trijunction in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. Nepal has claimed for long that these areas belong to it both historically and evidently.

— The map was adopted by consensus in Nepal’s Parliament four years ago. Unlike 2020, when the new map was adopted by Parliament, there is no visible consensus on putting the map on the currency note. The UML and Prachanda’s CPN (Maoist Centre) are together in the ruling coalition, but the Nepali Congress, the main opposition and largest party in Parliament, is yet to make a statement on this issue.

— The Prime Ministers of India and Nepal have agreed to have the boundary issue examined and settled through diplomatic channels. 

— The Treaty of Sugauli at the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16 resulted in Nepal losing a chunk of territory to the East India Company. Article 5 of the treaty took away the jurisdiction of Nepal’s rulers over the land to the east of the Kali River.

— The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal in 2014 gave rise to hopes of a resolution of all contentious issues. He and his Nepali counterpart, Sushil Prasad Koirala, agreed to set up a boundary working group for speedy settlement of the border issue in Kalapani and Susta, a 145-sq-km area that had fallen on the Indian side after the River Gandak changed course.

— Nepal sorted out its boundary issues with China in the early 1960s through bilateral meetings of the boundary commission. Nepal’s former Prime Minister Kirtinidhi Bista had once quoted his Chinese counterpart Chou En-lai as saying that border issues, if left unresolved, turn into problems for the future generations that are difficult to address.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the present status of India-Nepal Bilateral relations?

— What is the India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950?

— How is China’s political influence in Nepal harming Indian interests?

— What is India’s Neighbourhood First Policy?

— What are the areas of cooperation and conflict between India and Nepal?

Post Read Question:

Consider the following pairs: (2016)

	Community sometimes mentioned in the news	In the affairs of
1.	Kurd	Bangladesh
2.	Madhesi	Nepal
3.	Rohingya	Myanmar

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3

(d) 3 only

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

India, Nepal ink several agreements as Jaishankar holds ‘productive’ talks

Do marriages need to be registered? What happens if they aren’t?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-I: Society

What’s the ongoing story- The Supreme Court last week ruled that despite an official marriage certificate, a Hindu couple before the Court had “never acquired the status of husband and wife.” The reason: the couple’s marriage was registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) even before they performed the wedding rituals. The SC ruled that the couple who had filed divorce cases need not get a divorce because they were never married in the first place.

Prerequisites: 

— What is bigamy?

— What is the purpose of the Hindu Marriage Act?

— What is the registration of marriage?

Key takeaways: 

— Solemnizing a marriage simply refers to the performance of an official marriage ceremony, with appropriate rituals.

— Marriage in India is largely governed through a gamut of personal laws, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA).

— These personal laws are essentially practices ordained by religion, with each religion having its own set of ‘requirements’ for a marriage — a marriage is ‘valid’ when these requirements are met.

— Registration of a marriage after it is solemnized as per rituals is different from a registered marriage.

— Commonly used terms like ‘court marriage’ or ‘registered marriage’ refer to a non-religious or civil marriage under the SMA, a secular law. A marriage ‘performed’ under this law is essentially a solemnization in ‘court’ (a registrar’s office) without any rituals. 

— However, marriages under personal laws (such as HMA) become ‘valid’ only after the performance of rituals prescribed by religion. A marriage without any rituals is only valid under the SMA.

—  States have their own laws, and in some states like Karnataka and Delhi, registration of a marriage is mandatory.

— In law, there exists a general presumption of marriage when a man and woman have cohabited continuously even if there is no direct evidence of marriage.

— A certificate of a marriage registration is useful for various official purposes where either spouses need to declare that they are married. For instance, applying for a spousal visa or joint medical insurance.

For Your Information: 

— A Bill proposing to increase the age of marriage for women, and ensuring harmony in the age limit across religions, was introduced in Lok Sabha and then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

— The Special Marriage Act of 1954 (SMA) was passed by the Parliament on October 9, 1954. It governs a civil marriage where the state sanctions the marriage rather than the religion.

— Issues of personal law such as marriage, divorce, and adoption are governed by religious laws that are codified. These laws, such as the Muslim Marriage Act, 1954, and the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, require either spouse to convert to the religion of the other before marriage.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the minimum age of men and women for marriage in India?

— What is the legal implication of enforcing the age of marriage?

— What are ‘sapinda’ marriages’?

— Issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

Post Read Question:

Marriage and divorce come under which list of the Indian Constitution?

(a) Union List

(b) State List

(c) Concurrent List

(d) Reserved List

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Explained: Personal laws in marriage

What are incestuous ‘sapinda’ marriages, and why has Delhi High Court reaffirmed the ban on them?

Why Vietnam wants us to change its ‘non-market economy’ status

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: International Relations and Economy

What’s the ongoing story- Vietnam has been pushing the President Joe Biden administration to quickly change its “non-market economy” classification to “market economy”, in a bid to avoid high taxes imposed by the US on the goods imported from the Southeastern country.

Prerequisites: 

— What are anti-dumping duties?

Key takeaways: 

— The US designates a country as a non-market economy based on several factors.

— These are: if the country’s currency is convertible; if wage rates are determined by free bargaining between labour and management; if joint ventures or other foreign investment are allowed; whether the means of production are owned by the state; and if the state controls the allocation of resources and price and output decisions. Other factors like human rights are also considered.

— The non-market economy label allows the US to impose “anti-dumping” duties on goods imported from designated countries.

— Vietnam has argued that in recent years it has implemented enough economic reforms that should get its name off the non-market economies list. The country does meet a number of criteria for the status to be changed.

— The change in status will also help Vietnam get rid of the anti-dumping duties, making its products more competitive in the US market.

— The level of anti-dumping duties is determined by relying on a third country, for instance, Bangladesh, which is a market economy…

—  The association in the US has cited Vietnam’s restrictions on land ownership, the country’s weak labour laws, and lower shrimp duties that would hurt its members, to make the case for not changing Vietnam’s status.

Points to Ponder: 

— How anti-dumping duties are determined?

— What are Rules of Origin in the international trade?

— What is the status of India and Vietnam bilateral trade?

— What is India’s status according to the International Trade Administration?

Post Read Question:

Which of the following countries are not in the list of non-market economies of the USA administration?

(a) Vietnam

(b) China

(c) Moldova

(d) Sri Lanka

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

India must strengthen ties with Vietnam

The Editorial Page

From home to workplace

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Issues relating to development and Economy

What’s the ongoing story-  Farzana Afridi writes: A new government will soon be taking up the challenge of making India viksit by 2047. With women lagging behind on several parameters of well-being in the country today, empowering them economically lies at the heart of the challenge we face in transforming India into a developed country.

Prerequisites: 

— What is the labour force participation (LFP)?

— What is the Production Linked Investment (PLI)?

— What is the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme?

— What is the Inflation Reduction Rate of the Biden Administration?

Key takeaways: 

— “What key policies can the new government adopt to propel us towards gender parity in socio-economic outcomes?”

— “First, according to the ILO and World Bank estimates, India’s overall employment rate has historically been around 50 per cent of the working-age population. Amongst the main reasons for the significantly lower labour force participation (LFP) rate in India, is women’s low LFP (currently around 25 per cent).

— “According to World Bank estimates, Increasing women’s LFP to 50 per cent of labour force will bring India closer to 8 per cent GDP growth rates and a five-trillion dollar economy by 2030.”

— “Second, a key marker of a developed country is a dominant formal sector. The underlying challenge is to provide high-quality, relevant and affordable skilling to the masses, and women in particular.  Improving physical access, easing financial support and improving employer matches after skill training are some of the key areas that require interventions.”

— “Evidence also suggests that women have worse employment outcomes even if they are skill-trained, relative to men. Career counselling, job placement cells embedded in training institutes and harnessing alumni networks to activate women “role models” and mentors for female trainees, may be effective tools to redress this gender imbalance.”

— Third, as India urbanises at a rapid pace, we need cities that welcome, accommodate and enable women’s mobility.”

— “Urgent policy focus is required for planning urban infrastructure, transportation and public safety with a gender lens. With rapid demographic shifts and population ageing, a high-quality, subsidised urban care infrastructure will not only release women from care work but also create new jobs for them in this sector.”

— “what measures must be adopted to push women out of their homes and the drudgery of domestic work?– adopt clean technology that reduces women’s time at home.”

For Your Information: 

—  “According to The Department of Economic Affairs’ ‘Indian Economy — A Review’ (2024), in rural areas, the FLFPR has increased to 41.5 percent in 2022-23 from 24.6 percent in 2017-18, whereas in urban areas, it has gone up to 25.4 percent from 20.4 percent during the same period.”

— “As history has shown, women are empowered when they step out of their homes and enter market work only when their education levels rise and “good” jobs appear. Improving the value of investments in women’s human capital, and at a low cost, is our best bet for engendering gender parity and creating a “developed” society.”

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the government schemes related to women’s empowerment?

— What are the historical reasons for gender gap parity?

— What are the various international indices on gender inequality? 

Post Read Question:

Prelims

Which of the following gives ‘Global Gender Gap Index’ ranking to the countries of the world? (2017)

(a) World Economic Forum

(b) UN Human Rights Council

(c) UN Women

(d) World Health Organization

Mains

Highlight the significance and challenges of  Female Labour Force Participation (FLFP) in becoming Vikshi Bharat by 2047.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Indian women are working more. Here’s why

State of employment in India: What a new report says about youths and women, concerns and caution

The Ideas Page

Not a blacklisting method

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance,  Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Rights Issues. 

Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story- Pratik Datta writes- “The Bombay High Court recently quashed a provision of a central government office memorandum that enabled public sector banks to request issuance of look out circulars (LoCs) against wilful defaulters. In Viraj Chetan Shah v Union of India, the court held that this provision violated the fundamental right to life (Article 21) as well as the fundamental right to equality (Article 14).”

Prerequisites: 

— What does the term “look-out circular” mean, and when can it be issued?

— Who is a wilful defaulter?

— What are Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution?

— Read about the RBI, SEBI, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Central Vigilance Commission, etc. 

Key takeaways: 

— The wilful defaulter concept is unique to the Indian financial sector. Commercial lenders like banks and NBFCs have legal powers to classify certain defaulted borrowers as wilful defaulters. Once designated as such, serious penal consequences follow.

— The wilful defaulter designation is akin to blacklisting a borrower, its promoters and directors from credit and equity markets. The RBI prohibits its regulated lenders from extending additional facilities as well as any credit facility for floating new ventures to a wilful defaulter. Similarly, 

— SEBI prohibits a company from launching an Initial Public Offer (IPO) if such company or any of its promoters or directors is a wilful defaulter. SEBI also prohibits a listed company from issuing equity shares, convertible as well as non-convertible securities, if any of its promoters or directors is classified as a wilful defaulter.

—  A wilful defaulter is also prohibited from submitting a resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. These implications make it critical that appropriate procedural safeguards are in place while designating a person as a wilful defaulter.

— Recently, the Bombay High Court in Milind Patel v Union Bank of India added to the evolving jurisprudence on this subject. It held that a lender must follow natural justice and allow a borrower access to all relevant investigation material before designating him as a “wilful defaulter”. The court imported the jurisprudence on the law of inspection from securities law as laid down by the Supreme Court in T. Takano v SEBI. 

—  It is hard to overlook the fundamental difference between a SEBI enforcement proceeding and a wilful defaulter designation proceeding. While the former is carried out by a statutory regulator which is expected to comply with natural justice and has the institutional capacity to do so, the wilful defaulter designation under RBI regulations is done by commercial lenders themselves.

— This regulatory construct is legally problematic. A lender is a party to the credit contract and may not be an impartial arbiter in a wilful defaulter designation proceeding. By making the lender the sole judge of wilful default, the regulations compromise a cardinal principle of natural justice — nemo judex in causa sua, that is, no one can be a judge of his own cause.

— The Bombay High Court decision in Milind Patel is a timely reminder that the current institutional arrangement for wilful defaulter designation is deeply problematic. While the court has provided a working solution by mandating commercial banks to follow natural justice principles, the larger question for policymakers is whether the wilful defaulter concept itself has outlived its utility.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the prohibitions imposed on the willful defaulter?

— What do you understand by the term “natural justice”?

— What is the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018?

— What is the role of the RBI in the Indian banking sector?

— What is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016?

Post Read Question:

What steps has the Indian government taken against fugitive economic offenders? Explain who qualifies as a fugitive economic offender?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Why High Court said banks can’t stop debtors from going abroad

Roti, kapda, makaan, good air

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination:  General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Mains Examination: GS-III: Environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story- Abhijit Chatterjee writes- “It is heartening that environmental, climate change, and air pollution issues have featured in the 2024 Lok Sabha manifestos of most top political parties. But is it among the top priorities or guarantees for parties or candidates? This brings us to another question: Will we ever witness actual improvement in air quality without it becoming a people’s movement or a political issue?”

Prerequisites: 

— What is the air pollution? What is the status of air pollution in India?

— What is the Air Quality Index (AQI)?

— What is the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)?

Key takeaways: 

— “According to a 2019 study, the yearly deaths attributable to air pollution translate to an economic loss of Rs 2.7 lakh crore, that is, around 1.36 per cent of the country’s GDP. Another recent survey has revealed that the Indian GDP would have been 4.5 per cent higher if air pollution had grown 50 per cent slower each year.”

— “American economist and Nobel Prize recipient Simon Smith Kuznets made a graphical representation in 1971 of the relationship between economic development and environmental degradation. He showed that as economic development proceeds, environmental degradation keeps increasing and reaches a maximum. After a “level” of economic development (per capita income), economic growth leads to environmental improvement.”

— “For air pollution to become a mainstream issue, it has to become a political agenda. For it to become a political agenda, it has to find its place in page-one news and prime-time discussions regularly. But for that to happen, people will have to truly start caring about air pollution and the danger it poses to our lives and the lives of those who will inhabit this planet after us.”

— “It is the job of academicians, scientific communities, experts, scholars, and bureaucrats alongside local governmental bodies to make common Indians realise that clean air is also a fundamental right like clean water, health, food, shelter, etc.”

— “In addition to core research and scientific activities, a significant portion of the fund should be allocated for on-ground activities aimed at pollution reduction.”

— “Every ward under the municipalities or municipal corporations and every village under the blocks should be thoroughly scrutinised by the respective local bodies to find out the pollution source in the vicinity as well as the scope for air quality improvement. This information should then be disseminated to the people who are residents of the area. This information should then be disseminated to the people who are residents of the area.”

— “There should be specific plans to identify open areas favourable for the ventilation of air — and hence the pollutants — open water bodies, green cover for every ward in a city, and all of them should immediately be marked as green zones and restored. These measures will ensure that air pollution, as an issue, directly connects to every single individual in these microenvironments.”

— “Regular outreach or public awareness programmes should be conducted at the municipality or block level, and facilitated by local experts, academicians, and teachers. These initiatives must aim to disseminate knowledge about environmental pollution and provide guidance on both actions to take and actions to avoid.’’

— The demand for clean air needs to be spread to far-flung corners of the country through mass movements.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the effects of air pollution in India?

— What are the government initiatives to control air pollution?

— What is the Graded Response Action Plan or GRAP?

Post Read Question:

Which of the statements given below is not true with reference to AQI?

(a) It was launched by the central government in 2014 as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign.

(b) It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.

(c) When AQI is in the ‘very poor’ category Stage 1 of GRAP is activated.

(d) There are six categories of AQI.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

National Clean Air Programme: Centre aims at 40 percent reduction in particulate matter by 2026

UPSC Essentials | One word a day : AQI, the air pollution yardstick

Economy

Global economic trade ties are fast resembling the initial era of Cold War, says IMF’s Gita Gopinath

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy

What’s the ongoing story- As economies reevaluate their trading partners based on economic and national security concerns following disruptions such as Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global economic ties are changing in ways not seen since the end of the Cold War, First Deputy Managing Director at International Monetary Fund (IMF) Gita Gopinath has said.

Prerequisites: 

— What is protectionism in trade?

— What was the Cold war?

— What is Foreign Exchange (FX) Reserve?

Key takeaways: 

— Gopinath said that there has been a marked increase in gold purchases by central banks during 2022-23 driven by concerns about sanctions risk especially by China bloc countries.

— “This suggests that gold purchases by some central banks may have been driven by concerns about sanctions risk. This is consistent with a recent IMF study confirming that FX reserve managers tend to increase gold holdings to hedge against economic uncertainty and geopolitical including sanctions risk.”

— “The recalibration of trade relations, is also reshaping currency composition of trade finance, especially for China-leaning countries.”

— “In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India had also launched a framework to trade in domestic currency and India ever since has been pushing for trade in domestic currency. In December 2023, India made its first-ever payment in rupees for crude oil purchased from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).”

— Gopinath compared current trade fragmentation with that of the Cold War period stating that trade between the rival Western and Eastern blocs was significantly depressed during the Cold War, relative to trade within these blocs.

— Gopinath expressed her concern on the current situation because unlike the start of the Cold War when goods trade to GDP was 16 percent, now that ratio is 45 percent.

For Your Information: 

— India has signed a pact with UAE last year which included a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a framework to promote the use of local currencies (INR-AED) for cross-border transactions by Governors of the respective Central Banks.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is “vostro” account?

— What are the benefits and challenges of trading in domestic currency?

— What is the Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS)?

— How trade fragmentation is impacting India?

— What is the de-dollarisation of the international trade?

Post Read Question:

Convertibility of rupee implies (2015)

(a) being able to convert rupee notes into gold

(b) allowing the value of rupee to be fixed by market forces

(c) freely permitting the conversion of rupee to other currencies and vice versa

(d) developing an international market for currencies in India

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

How India and UAE are planning to promote use of local currencies for cross-border transactions

UPSC Ethics and Essay Snippet

‘Wordly Wise’ from The Editorial Page

“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life.”

-Plato

(Thought Process: What according to you is the biggest benefit of education in your life? What is the role of family, teachers, and educational institutions in shaping a person? How education has changed the face of humanity in different fields, for different section of society? How the quality of education determines the prosperity of a nation?)

In the name of Democracy

Written by M H Ilias

(Thought Process:  According to Giorgio Agamben, democracy is both a means of constituting the body politic and a technique of governing. In practice, democracy as a principle seldom overpowers the notion of democracy as an administrative practice. How do democracy as a principle and democracy as an administrative practice differ? Why are pluralism, diversity, and tolerance important attributes of democracy? How did B R Ambedkar and Gandhi view the role of democracy in Indian society? Is the constitutionalisation of democracy artificially cultivated or externally imposed? Are certain human values essential for democracy being disregarded in our politics? Alain Badiou describes democracy as the dominant “emblem” in a political society. How shpould the content and values of democracy should concern us as citizens? FYI the article become relevant not only for Essay and Ethics but also, for general understanding of concepts in polity.)