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China remains a formidable challenge and has increased its presence not only along India’s land borders, but also in the maritime domain by leveraging anti-piracy operations to normalise its naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Speaking at a separate event, Army chief General Manoj Pande said there are still two friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that India and China need to move forward.
Admiral Kumar was speaking on the security challenges that India faces. He noted that China had maintained continuous presence in the IOR since 2008 using anti-piracy operations “as the reason”.
At any point we have anything between five to eight Chinese Navy units, be it warships or research vessels and a host of Chinese fishing vessels operating in the IOR. We keep a watch on them and see how they are undertaking their activities in the IOR.
China now had a base in Djibouti, and was also involved in the development of various ports in the IOR, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and many other countries.
Our capability plans and developments that we are looking at is not based on a nation, it is based upon our requirements to protect, preserve and promote our national interests.
That is how we structure our force and while structuring the force and developing the capability, these get factored and enable us to keep the Indian Ocean under surveillance.
It is our immediate aim to disengage from these friction points before we look at the next step of de-escalation, which will involve pullback by troops and tanks.
He said the lessons learnt were to maintain high level of operational preparedness at all times whatever be the situation and the importance of infrastructure development, especially along the northern borders.
We need to develop our grey zone capability, he said, while stating that in the past two years significant enhancement in our infrastructure had taken place, especially in eastern Ladakh, including habitat for 35,000 troops, induction of mechanised forces, covered accommodation for tanks and artillery systems, among others.
As part of the latest round of disengagement towards ending the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the two sides had undertaken pullback from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area last week. This leaves two more friction areas -- Depsang and Demchok.
On the experience with Russian equipment, Admiral Kumar said they were reliable and while there had been teething issues with some of the systems, they had received good support from Russia.
EWS quota does not erode rights of SCs, STs and OBCs: Centre (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The 10% quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society does not erode the rights of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes or the Other Backward Classes, Attorney-General of India K.K. Venugopal submitted before a Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit.
Mr. Venugopal, for the Centre, said the EWS quota was given independent of the already existing 50% reservation granted for the backward classes, that is, the scheduled communities and the OBCs.
The top law officer rejected arguments by petitioners that the exclusion of backward classes from the EWS quota amounted to discrimination.
So far as the SCs and STs are concerned, they have been loaded with benefits by way of affirmative actions. They are in a tremendous position as far as reservations are concerned.
As if to illustrate, the Attorney-General pointed to several Articles in the Constitution which provide backward classes with reservation in promotions, in panchayats, municipal bodies and legislative bodies.
Mr. Venugopal argued that the reservation for the backward classes, and now the EWS quota, should be considered by the court as “one single approach of the state intended for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society”.
The law officer said there were Supreme Court judgments of the past which had upheld state benefits solely based on the economic criterion.
Mr. Venugopal’s written submissions referred to how the top court had stood by the validity of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
This court had held that the 2009 Act seeks to remove all barriers, including financial and psychological barriers which a child belonging to the weaker section and disadvantaged group has to face while seeking admission and therefore upheld it under Article 21 of the Constitution. Furthermore, it held that earmarking of seats for children belonging to a specified category who face financial barriers in the matter of accessing education satisfies the test of classification in Article 14.
The State of Tamil Nadu, represented by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, agreed with the petitioners that the economic criterion alone cannot be the basis of reservation.
City
Govt. to spray bio decomposer solution over paddy fields to curb stubble burning, pollution (Page no. 2)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
To control stubble burning and reduce air pollution during winter, the Delhi government will spray a bio-decomposer free of cost over 5,000 acres of paddy fields in the city this year.
A bio-decomposer capsule, developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, turns into a solution through a week-long process, after which it decomposes straw and stubble into manure.
The Delhi government first used the solution in 2020 and then again in the following year. On both occasions, the government claimed to have achieved positive results.
To spray the bio-decomposer solution, Mr. Rai said, 21 teams have been formed, which include officials of the Agriculture and Revenue Departments.
The bio-decomposer will be sprayed for free by the government in all the Basmati and non-Basmati paddy farms in Delhi.
The bio-decomposer solution is one of the 15 focus points in the government’s Winter Action Plan, which will be released later this month. The Minister said this year the bio-decomposer has also been provided in the form of a powder and the government plans to use it on 1,000 acres on a trial basis.
Every winter air pollution spikes in the national capital and adjoining areas due to multiple reasons, including slow wind speed, bursting of firecrackers and pollution from stubble burning.
A list of emergency measures to control air pollution in Delhi-NCR, such as closing schools and stopping construction work, are undertaken each year during the winter months.
As per the latest Graded Response Action Plan, prepared by the Commission for Air Quality Management, emergency measures will now be implemented based on predictions on air quality, three days in advance.
Editorial
Positioning India in a chaotic world (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India’s foreign policy mandarins are all set to go into overdrive in the wake of new challenges. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting (September 15-16) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, was a test case for governments on how to deal with current conflicts and attempt new guidelines for the future.
Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi were Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the leaders of Pakistan and other SCO nations.
The special significance of this in-person SCO meeting lay in the fact that it was taking place when the world stood at the crossroads, in the wake of the Russia-Ukrainian conflict.
Mr. Xi’s initial remarks to Mr. Putin on the sidelines of the conference signalled the divided nature of the world today.
Even as the leaders emphasised the strengthening of their ties in defiance of the West, Mr. Xi’s remarks that ‘China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers, and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a world rocked by social turmoil’ were pregnant with many meanings.
Mr. Putin’s response further underlined the extent of global disruption taking place today, and the wide chasm that separated the two warring blocs.
India’s presence at the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO was significant, reflecting a desire to be a part of both blocs, without antagonising either.
The justification provided is that it represented a ‘new version’ of Non-alignment, viz., steering an independent course, despite open association with rival blocs.
At the meeting, Mr. Modi made certain significant observations which mirror India’s new version of Non-alignment. For instance, after refusing to take sides in the Ukrainian conflict for months, Mr. Modi told Mr. Putin that “this isn’t the era of war”, stressing instead that “it was one of democracy, dialogue and diplomacy”.
This has been interpreted as a mild rebuke of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On the other hand, in his formal opening remarks at the summit, Mr. Modi thanked both Russia and Ukraine for the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine, highlighting India’s posture of equidistance between the two countries.
The philosophical underpinning for this seems to be that ‘Nonalignment of the past’ had not succeeded, and a way had to be found for “multiple engagements of the future”. Mr. Modi’s presence at this SCO summit is possibly the earliest test case of this unfolding strategy, given that it is only recently that the United States and other western allies had complimented India for its participation in the Quad (Australia, Japan, India and the U.S.).
Whether India can make out a case for ‘mixing utopia with reality’ under the label of ‘multi alignment’ is yet to be seen, but it does provide grist to an idea being floated that this provides leeway for India to play a much bigger role in ‘managing conflict’.
Opinion
A blow for dignity (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 1/2, Social Issues /Health)
“There are many branches on the tree of life. There is no one way to be, and there is room for everyone to be who they are”- the Madras High Court observed in S Sushma vs. Commissioner of Police (2021).
This verdict prohibited conversion therapy in Tamil Nadu and the court suggested that action should be initiated against the professionals involving themselves in any form or method of conversion therapy, including withdrawal of licence to practice.
It was I (us), who has to set off on a journey of understanding them [LGBTQ+ community] and accepting them and shed our notions, and not they who have to turn themselves inside out to suit our notions of social morality and tradition.
The so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is a range of dangerous and discredited practices that falsely claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
The National Medical Commission, the apex regulatory body of medical professionals in India, has recently directed all State Medical Councils to ban conversion therapy and termed it a “professional misconduct” under the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002.
The Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality in its landmark judgment in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors vs. Union of India (2018).
It was a hard-earned fruit for the queer community in India. However, their struggle for the right to identify themselves as human beings with equal rights goes on.
The struggle now demands to eliminate the barbaric ‘conversion therapy’ which consists of diverse methods, ranging from counselling, correctional rape, exorcisms, forceful starving, electro-convulsion, shock therapy, lobotomy, marriage therapy, aversive stimulation and religious counselling etc.
It is practiced in many conversion therapy centres all over India ultimately leading to depression, anxiety, stress, suicidal tendencies and in many cases resulting in victims taking off their lives.
The earliest traces of conversion therapy was witnessed during the Nazi regime where homosexual prisoners were targeted and tortured by injecting high levels of testosterone into their bodies, resulting in their death.
Though no medical evidence proves that this practice is successful, this dangerous practice, which was initially restricted to converting gays and lesbians has now been extensively used to convert all classes of sexual minorities alike, regardless of scientific evidence that states that sexual orientation or gender identity is innate to an individual, something an individual is born with and has no control of and therefore cannot be subject to reversion.
Explainer
The lumpy skin disease (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Mumbai Police have ordered the prohibition of cattle transportation in the city to prevent the spread of the lumpy skin disease. This means cattle cannot be moved out of the place they are being raised or transported to marketplaces.
The order came into force on September 14 and will stay in place till October 13. The disease has killed 127 cattle in Maharashtra, having spread to 25 districts.
The contagious viral infection has spread in cattle in more than 10 States and Union Territories so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed last week that the Centre and States are working together to control the spread of the disease, which has emerged as a concern for the dairy sector.
Lumpy skin disease is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the genus capripoxvirus, a part of the poxviridae family (smallpox and monkeypox viruses are also a part of the same family).
The LSDV shares antigenic similarities with the sheeppox virus (SPPV) and the goatpox virus (GTPV) or is similar in the immune response to those viruses. It is not a zoonotic virus, meaning the disease cannot spread to humans.
It is a contagious vector-borne disease spread by vectors like mosquitoes, some biting flies, and ticks and usually affects host animals like cows and water buffaloes.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), infected animals shed the virus through oral and nasal secretions which may contaminate common feeding and water troughs.
Thus, the disease can either spread through direct contact with the vectors or through contaminated fodder and water. Studies have also shown that it can spread through animal semen during artificial insemination.
LSD affects the lymph nodes of the infected animal, causing the nodes to enlarge and appear like lumps on the skin, which is where it derives its name from. The cutaneous nodules, 2–5 cm in diameter, appear on the infected cattle’s head, neck, limbs, udder, genitalia, and perineum.
The nodules may later turn into ulcers and eventually develop scabs over the skin. The other symptoms include high fever, sharp drop in milk yield, discharge from the eyes and nose, salivation, loss of appetite, depression, damaged hides, emaciation (thinness or weakness) of animals, infertility and abortions.
The incubation period or the time between infection and symptoms is about 28 days according to the FAO, and 4 to 14 days according to some other estimates.
The morbidity of the disease varies between two to 45% and mortality or rate of date is less than 10%, however, the reported mortality of the current outbreak in India is up to 15%, particularly in cases being reported in the western part (Rajasthan) of the country.
The disease was first observed in Zambia in 1929, subsequently spreading to most African countries extensively, followed by West Asia, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia, and more recently spreading to South Asia and China in 2019.
As per the FAO, the LSD disease is currently endemic in several countries across Africa, parts of West Asia (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic), and Turkey.
The spread in South Asia first affected Bangladesh in July 2019 and then reached India in August that year, with initial cases being detected in Odisha and West Bengal.
News
Southwest monsoon begins early withdrawal in Rajasthan (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
India’s monsoon rainfall, already 7% more than what is normal, has started to withdraw, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) saying that the system had begun retreating from parts of southwest Rajasthan and Kutch.
The ‘normal’ or average date of withdrawal from southwest Rajasthan was September 17. The withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon was based on meteorological conditions such as anti-cyclonic circulation (dry air that is the opposite of a cyclone), the absence of rainfall in the last five days and water vapour imagery indicating dry weather conditions over the region.
The monsoon withdrawal is a long drawn process and extends into mid-October though the IMD considers September 30 to be the final day of monsoon rain over India. The rain after that is categorised as ‘post monsoon’ rainfall.
September rainfall so far has been 11% more than rainfall, following a trend in recent years that is seeing excess of rainfall in a month that marks the waning of the four-month monsoon.
Most of the rains however have been in the southern peninsula and central India, that has seen 29% and 33% more rain than what is usual for these regions in September.
India has so far recorded 7% more rain than what is normal for June 1 – September 20. The surplus is due to excess rain in central and south India.
The northwest, eastern and northeastern parts of the country have registered a deficit of 4-17% of their normal rainfall.
Despite excess rainfall, large parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Tripura and West Bengal have reported deficient rains, affecting the rice crop this kharif season.
M. Mohapatra, Director-General, IMD said last month that the rainfall average for the country as a whole was likely to be above normal, at approximately 109% of the long period average of 167.9 mm for September.
Business
Das flags issues with digital lending such as data privacy, rates (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor flagged concerns related to digital lending including a spate of complaints regarding usurious interest rates, unethical recovery practices and data privacy issues and emphasised the need for the FinTech industry to focus on governance, business conduct, regulatory compliance and risk mitigation to ensure that customers were protected even as their needs were served.
“The RBI has endeavoured to address these issues proactively and, as early as in June 2020, regulatory guidance was provided to our Regulated Entities,” Mr. Das told participants at the Global FinTech Fest in Mumbai.
This guidance, among other things, mandated that digital lending platforms disclose the names of the banks/ NBFCs upfront on whose behalf they were providing credit.
The regulatory guidelines aimed to balance customer protection and business conduct on the one hand and support innovation on the other, he observed.
While innovations are very much welcome, they must be responsible and should enhance the efficiency and resiliency of the financial system while benefitting the consumers.
He said robust internal product and service assurance frameworks, together with fair and transparent governance, would go a long way to safeguard the interest of customers and ensure long-term sustainability of the FinTech entities themselves.
The level of due-diligence and oversight exercised by the regulated entities on their outsourced activities needs to be strengthened further. This would help in proactive mitigation of risks at the incipient stage itself.
The need of the hour is to ensure assurance of safety after following a process of green-lighting (whitelisting) and due-diligence by the regulated entities,” the RBI chief observed, citing material concerns regarding the unbridled mushrooming of digital lending apps.
The RBI, in association with other relevant agencies, is taking steps to address this issue and take further steps as may be necessary.He said adequate attention must be placed by digital lending entities on governance and conduct issues.
At the end of the day, sustainability of any FinTech activity or business is about enhanced customer protection, better cybersecurity and resilience, managing financial integrity and strong data protection.
Assuring the FinTech community that the RBI would continue to encourage and support innovation, he said the regulator would expect the ecosystem to pay attention to governance, business conduct, regulatory compliance and risk mitigation frameworks.
RBI lifts PCA restrictions on Central Bank of India (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to take Central Bank of India out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) restrictions subject to certain conditions and continuous monitoring.
“The performance of the Central Bank of India, currently under the Prompt Corrective Action Framework (PCAF) of RBI, was reviewed by the Board for Financial Supervision,” the RBI said in a circular.
It was noted that as per the assessed figures of the bank for the year ended March 31, 2022, the bank is not in the breach of the PCA parameters.
The bank has provided a written commitment that it would comply with the norms of Minimum Regulatory Capital, Net NPA and Leverage ratio on an ongoing basis and has apprised the RBI of the structural and systemic improvements that it has put in place which would help the bank in continuing to meet these commitments.