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Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 3,00,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine and backed a plan to annex parts of the country, hinting to the West he was prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia.
It was Russia’s first such mobilisation since the Second World War and signified the biggest escalation of the Ukraine war since Moscow’s February 24 invasion.
It followed mounting casualties and battlefield setbacks for Russian forces, who have been driven from areas they had captured in northeast Ukraine in a counter-offensive this month and are bogged down in the south.
In an address to the Russian nation, Mr. Putin said: “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will use all available means to protect our people --this is not a bluff”. Russia had “lots of weapons to reply”, he said.
Ukraine and its Western allies responded by saying the move showed Russia’s campaign in Ukraine was failing. The allies pledged further support for President VolodymyrZelenskiy’s government.
Russia’s Defence Minister said the partial mobilisation would see 3,00,000 reservists with previous military experience called up.
Mr. Putin said the partial mobilisation of its 2 million-strong military reservists was to defend Russia and its territories. The West did not want peace in Ukraine, he said.
He accused Washington, London and Brussels of pushing Kyiv to “transfer military operations to our territory”. Ukraine has sporadically struck targets inside Russia throughout the conflict, using long-range weapons supplied by the West.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of endangering the plant in the fighting. Russia said a large-caliber shell had damaged a technical water pipe at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops.
Mr. Putin also accused officials of NATO countries of making statements about “the possibility and admissibility of using weapons of mass destruction against Russia --nuclear weapons”.
Mr. Putin restated his aim was to “liberate” the Donbas, Ukraine’s industrial heartland, and said most people there did not want to return to what he called the “yoke” of Ukraine.
In an apparently coordinated move, pro-Russian regional leaders on Tuesday announced referendums for September 23-27 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces, representing around 15% of Ukrainian territory.
Russia already considers Luhansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas region that Moscow partially occupied in 2014, to be independent states. Ukraine and the West consider all parts of Ukraine held by Russian forces to be illegally occupied.
South
Karnataka passes anti conversion Bill (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2022, (popularly called the anti-conversion Bill) by voice vote amid walkout by Opposition Congress members.
The Legislative Council passed the Bill on September 15. With its passage in the Assembly, both the Houses of the Karnataka legislature have passed the Bill, which will now await the Governor’s assent.
The Bill was first passed in the Legislative Assembly during the winter session in Belagavi in December 2021. But it was not cleared in the Council last year. An Ordinance was promulgated on May 17, 2022, which the law will now replace.
Home Minister AragaJnanendra said the Right to Freedom of Religion is guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution, subject to public order, morality and health and to other provisions of part III of the Constitution.
By virtue of these guaranteed fundamental rights, all persons are free to profess, practice, and propagate any religion of their choice.
He said in Rev. Stanislaus Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa (1977), the Supreme Court had held that the “right to propagate” under Article 25 did not include the right to convert another person.
Defending the controversial Bill, the Home Minister claimed that in recent years the State had noticed many instances of conversion by means of “allurement”, “coercion”, “force”, “fraudulent means” and also “mass conversion”.
These instances caused disturbance of public order in the State. At present, no legislation is in existence in the State to prevent such instances which cause disturbance to public order and to punish persons indulged in such acts.
The Law Commission of Karnataka, after studying various laws on the subject and considering the situation in the State in its 30th report, has made recommendations to the government to enact a suitable law on the subject. Mr. Jnanendra said the Bill only spoke about forced conversion and not against any religion.
U.T. Khader, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Congress, said the Bill was “’unconstitutional and politically motivated”. The Bill would not stand before the court of law.
ISRO successfully tests hybrid propulsion system, to aid future technologies (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that it has successfully demonstrated a hybrid propulsion system that uses a solid fuel and liquid oxidiser.
The hybrid motor was tested at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, on Tuesday evening. The hybrid system is more efficient, ''greener'' and safer to handle and paves the way for new propulsion technologies for future missions, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) which tested it with support from the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), said.
In the ground-based test, the flight equivalent 30 kN hybrid motor used Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)-based aluminised solid fuel and liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidiser. The test was performed for 15 seconds on a 300-mm sounding rocket motor.
Conventional HTPB-based solid propellant motors used in rockets use ammonium perchlorate as oxidiser. In rocket engines, oxidisers supply the oxygen needed for combustion.
While both HTPB and LOX are green, the cryogenic LOX is safer to handle. And unlike conventional solid motors, the hybrid technology permits restarting and throttling capabilities on the motor. The use of liquids facilitates throttling and control over the flow rate of LOX, the VSSC said.
The technology demonstration paves the way for hybrid propulsion-based sounding rockets and an exciting platform for vertical landing experiments for spent-stage recovery.
As part of perfecting the technology, ISRO will try it out on a sounding rocket launch in future.
Editorial
The ambit of fraternity and the wages of oblivion (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Constitution)
‘These principles of liberty equality and fraternity are not to be treated as separate items in a trinity. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy,’ said B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly, in 1949.
It is often forgotten that ‘fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation’ is, along with Justice, Liberty and Equality, among the basic values inscribed in the Preamble of the Constitution of India whose first line asserts, ‘We, the People of India’ have solemnly resolved to ‘secure’ to all the citizens of India.
B.R. Ambedkar provided its rationale with remarkable foresight: ‘We must begin by acknowledging the fact there is a complete absence of two things in Indian society. One of these is equality’ and as a result of it we would enter into ‘a life of contradictions’ on January 26, 1950.
However, practical adherence to this commitment was given shape only by the Forty-Second Amendment (1976) in Article 51A (e) on Fundamental Duties.
It makes it the duty of every citizen of India ‘to promote harmony and the spirit of common among all the people of India, transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities.
Significantly, the responsibility for bringing this about does not rest with the state but seems to be the responsibility of the individual citizen. We, therefore, need to comprehend the meaning and relevance of this pious wish. How has it become a political principle of relevance?
A poet summed it up neatly: Unkajoaqeedahai who ahl-e-sayaaasatjaanen; Merapaighammohabbathai, jahaantakpahunche (The politicians’ creed, the politicians know/ (Mine is the message of love, be it heard afar)
The idea of fraternity is based on the view that people have responsibilities to each other. It was defined after the French Revolution in the following terms: ‘Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you; do constantly to others the good which you would wish to receive from them.’
The vagueness of the definition suggests that, despite its place in the revolutionary slogan, the idea of fraternity was not clearly understood. It is generally seen as an emotion rather than a principle.
In the Indian context however, as understood and articulated by B.R. Ambedkar, there is a sense of the imperative in the emotion.
This is reflected in the wording of this section of the Preamble where the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation both necessitate this emotion, and thereby lend a sense of urgency to it. It thus becomes an essential ingredient of citizenship that can be evaded or neglected at the cost of the concept itself.
Opinion
A risky new status quo (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India and China appear to be mending fences, gingerly. Relations have been icy since China launched multiple incursions across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in mid-2020.
After years of inconclusive military talks and halting “disengagement” from sites of confrontation, the rivals made inching progress last week.
They completed disengagement in an area known as Patrolling Point 15 (PP15), pulling troops back to create a demilitarised buffer zone, and their leaders met in person at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand.
The tentative conciliatory steps between two nuclear-armed rivals are important; but they also carry risks, especially for India.
Despite the latest round of disengagement, the LAC remains deeply unsettled. Observers have pointed out that the buffer zones produced by the crisis inhibit India’s ability to patrol its own territory.
And India and China have tacitly agreed to postpone settlement at two other confrontation sites, including a particularly tactically valuable area known as Depsang.
The buffer zones and Depsang’s status both suit China’s objectives because they limit India’s military activities near the LAC, which analysts judge had partly motivated China’s initial incursions in 2020.
Similarly, the military threat on the border is not only undiminished, but has actually grown over the course of the crisis. The reinforcements that each side deployed since 2020 have not returned to garrison.
Even if future rounds of talks continue “disengagement and de-escalation,” and reduce those forces, returning to the status quo ante is now impossible.
Both sides have raced to build permanent military infrastructure near the border, to help them surge forces to the border. Unsurprisingly, China seems to have outpaced India in building these roads, helipads, and communications nodes.
China still claims Arunachal Pradesh as its own, and just as it has pressed its maritime claims once its growing capabilities permit, its military build-up may portend increasing pressure in coming years.
Even without a deliberate attack, the increasing capabilities and mobility on both sides of the border means that a crisis can more quickly escalate to a large military stand-off anywhere on the LAC, and possibly even trigger a conflict.
As vexatious as the tactical picture may be on the border, the strategic implications are more dire. For over two years, the land border has become the overwhelming priority in India’s military competition with China.
India has reassigned one of three originally Pakistan-facing Strike Corps to the China front. It has deployed its newest artillery, fighter jets, and drones to the China border.
Explainer
Rules for identifying criminals (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
On September 19, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the rules governing The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.
The Act was passed in March by the Parliament. Until rules are notified, an Act cannot be implemented or come into force.
The legislation would enable police and central investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris scan of arrested persons.
The Act seeks to repeal the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, which is over 100-years-old. The old Act’s scope was limited to capturing of finger impression, foot-print impressions and photographs of convicted prisoners and certain category of arrested and non-convicted persons on the orders of a Magistrate.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the bill when it was introduced in Parliament said that new ‘‘measurement’’ techniques being used in advanced countries are giving credible and reliable results and are recognised world over.
It said that the 1920 Act does not provide for taking these body measurements as many of the techniques and technologies had not been developed then.
The Act empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give measurements, which till now was reserved for convicts and those involved in heinous crimes.
It also enables the police upto the rank of a Head Constable to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements.
As per the rules, “measurements” include finger-impressions, palm-print, footprint, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures, handwriting or any other examination referred to in Section 53 or Section 53A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974). Though it has not been specified, analysis of biological samples could also include DNA profiling.
When the Bill was debated in Parliament in March this year, the Opposition members termed it “unconstitutional” and an attack on privacy as it allowed the record of samples of even political detainees.
However, the rules notified on September 19 state that samples of those detained under preventive Sections such as 107, 108, 109, 110, 144, 145 and 151 of the CrPC shall not be taken unless such person is charged or arrested in connection with any other offence punishable under any other law.
It can also be taken if a person has been ordered to give security for his good behaviour for maintaining peace under Section 117 of the said Code for a proceeding under the said Sections.The rules do not mention the procedure to be adopted for convicted persons.
Shrinkflation (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Shrink inflation is when a product downsizes its quantity while keeping the price the same. For example, reducing the scoops of ice cream in a container or reducing the number of chips in a packet would count as shrinkflation.
In other words, shrinkflation occurs when goods shrink in size but consumers pay the same price. It occurs when manufacturers downsize products to offset higher production costs but keep retail prices same.
The effects of inflation on consumers' daily lives are numerous. Rent, food, gas, and other living expenses are some of the ways inflation negatively impacts consumers.
Shrinkflation deceives consumers into believing that the brands they buy are not affected by inflation, since container and vessel sizes are reduced by very small amounts, saving manufacturers more money in the long run.
From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers worldwide are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices.
Shrinkflation occurs when materials or ingredients used to make products become more expensive and when there is intense competition in the market.
As a result, instead of raising prices, they might just give you less of the product so as to maintain their profit margins. Companies think that they can keep profits rolling in by keeping the change under the radar — all while the consumer is unaware.
Shrinkflation can occur in different ways. It’s not just the weight that will be compromised as it is not uncommon for companies to look for alternative options.
If consumers are aware that the quantity is constantly declining, they would switch or change brands. To prevent this, a product can reformulate or remove ingredients while maintaining its price.
For example, Cadbury Dairy Milk stopped using foil which it used to prevent chocolate from losing its quality and flavour in order to save expense.
Though downsizing products reduces costs for manufacturers, it is an unfair practice toward consumers. It can lead to a loss of trust if companies fail to properly communicate with them.
Shrinkflation can lead to customer frustration and deterioration of consumer sentiment towards a producer’s brand. However, it is quite common nowadays for producers to practise shrinkflation.
News
Bihar free of Naxal presence; the fight is in the last stages in Jharkhand, says CRPF chief (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
Kuldiep Singh, Director-General, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said that Bihar was free of left-wing extremism now and security forces have made inroads into areas in Jharkhand that were once inaccessible due to the presence of Maoists.
Mr. Singh said the fight was in its final stages, and the number of districts affected by violence stood at 39, down from 60 in 2010.
He said the number of most affected districts, accounting for 90% of the violent incidents, had reduced from 35 in 2015 to 25 in 2021. These districts are mostly in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.
Mr. Singh said that considerable success was achieved in 2022 in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as the CRPF launched Operation Octopus, Operation Double Bull, Operation Thunderstorm and Operation Chakarbandha in the three States. The operations led to the arrest or surrender of 592 Maoists.
Barring stray elements or extortionists, we can say that Bihar is completely free of Naxals. In Jharkhand too, we reached the top of the BudhaPahar area for the first time on September 5.
This was an area under the control of the Maoists so far, we have established a security camp there and road construction has also started,” Mr. Singh said at a press conference.
He said that in Chakarbandha in Bihar, an area of 8x7 km had been cleared of Maoist presence and in the BudhaPahararea, around 4x3 km had been cleared. A helicopter landed in BudhaPahar for the first time in September.
The officer said that since 2019, a unique policy has been adopted against Maoists and in the past four years, the Union Home Ministry had provided ₹4,000 crore to the CRPF to purchase the latest weapons and equipment. The CRPF was one of the largest Central armed police forces deployed in the affected States.
Mr. Singh said that in all, 20 forward operating bases or security camps have been established in Jharkhand and 11 bases had come up only in the past six months.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, “For the first time, permanent camps of security forces have been established by successfully evacuating Maoists from the inaccessible areas of BudhaPahar, Chakrabandha and Bhimabandh.”
The Minister said the Ministry’s “zero tolerance” to terrorism and left-wing extremism would continue, and the fight would intensify.
Mr. Singh said Maoists were using improvised grenade launchers to target security camps in Chhattisgarh. “The grenade launchers are assembled locally in a factory. The camps were attacked 28 times by the launchers this year.
With ₹19,500¬ crore PLI plan, sun shines on solar cell units (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Union Cabinet cleared a ₹19,500-crore scheme to incentivise manufacturing of domestic solar cell modules to reduce the industry’s reliance on China-made panels. This is a follow-up to ₹4,500-crore tranche that was cleared in November 2020.
Bidders for projects would be given performance-linked incentives (PLI) to set up and run manufacturing facilities that will span the entire production cycle of modules from making the polysilicon cells, ingots, wafers and panels to assembling modules that are used to produce electricity.
The PLI will be disbursed to firms after they set up their manufacturing units and the money disbursed over five years.
Officials from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the nodal body charged with administering the programme, estimate manufacturing capacity worth 65,000 MW of fully and partially integrated, solar PV modules to be installed over five years.
The bulk of the allocation, of nearly ₹12,000 crore, is to incentivise the setting up of integrated manufacturing facilities because there is no installed capacity in India to manufacture polysilicone and wafers (the raw material for solar panels).
This would bring in a direct investment of around ₹94,000 crore, directly employ about 1,95,000 and indirectly around 7,80,000 persons. It would save India close to ₹1.37 trillion in imports, they estimated.
India has committed, as part of its international climate commitments, to a target of installing 5,00,000 MW of electricity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030 and this translates to 2,80,000 – 3,00,000 MW from solar electricity alone. We would need nearly 30-35 GW (I GW = 1,000 MW) of modules. With these schemes we expect to have 70-80 GW of capacity which would take care of our domestic requirements as well as exports.
The much-awaited Cabinet approval of ₹19,500 crore towards the solar PV module production-linked incentive scheme is likely to go a long way in developing the supply chain for solar PV module manufacturing in India.
The PLI benefits coupled with State incentives under the industrial policies of the State government, concessional/ deferral duty schemes in customs [such as project import and manufacturing and other operations in bonded warehouse regulations], etc would help in improving the IRR of the project and make Indian-manufactured solar PV modules competitive in the market.
At international meet, a push for framework on farmers’ rights (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
On the second day of the governing body meeting of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), the issue of farmers’ rights remained the focal point of discussions.
The Union Agriculture Ministry said India stood for the creation of an option for implementation of farmers rights, and proposed that use of Global Information System (GIS) for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture needs capacity building among contracting parties.
The Centre said an expert group on farmers rights was constituted in 2017 with efforts taken by India and the country led the group as co-chair.
“India ensured discussion of the group even during pandemic and prepared a set of options and future process for implementing farmers rights in any country,” the release said.
India also pushed for the revival of enhancement of multilateral system as from 2019, all formal meetings of the ITPGRFA were suspended.
India along with Switzerland organised an informal meeting at UN-Geneva and prepared a document for the ninth meeting of the general body to deliberate. As a result, a Contact Group is constituted under the co-chairmanship of India to decide the future process.
India also called for capacity building to use the GIS on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. “India, as member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, proposed that use of GLIS needs capacity building among contracting parties.
It also mentioned that the country wants continued efforts towards conservation and sustainable use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
India, as member of Committee on Conservation and Sustainable Use, proposed joint programs with international and regional organisations/institutes to fulfil this agenda.India wants continued efforts towards sustainable use of plant genetic resources
Business
ADB pares India FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7%, from 7.5% (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pared its 2022-23 growth projection for India’s economy to 7% from 7.5% estimated in April, terming it a “modest downward revision” driven by higher-than-anticipated inflation and monetary tightening.
The Bank also raised its inflation forecast for India to 6.7% for this year, while widening its current account deficit (CAD) estimate to 3.8% of GDP.
The CAD is expected to drop to 2.1% of GDP in 2023-24 while inflation will moderate to 5.8% as demand pressures from strengthening economic activity are tamped down by easing supply bottlenecks, the Bank reckoned.
The first quarter growth of 13.5% reflected strong growth in services for India, but GDP growth forecasts were being revised downward as price pressures are expected to adversely impact domestic consumption, and sluggish global demand and elevated oil prices will likely be a drag on net exports.
In 2023-24, the ADB expects India to grow 7.2%.
India’s inflation, ADB said, has turned out to be more persistent than expected, and led to a sharp tightening in monetary policy, while eroding consumers’ purchasing power. “Sticky core inflation will adversely impact spending over the next two years if wages fail to adjust.
“Subsidised fertiliser and gas, the free food distribution programme, and the excise duty cuts will help offset some of the effects of high inflation on consumers, but the tax on packaged food products will likely be a burden on consumers already dealing with rising inflation.
China’s economy will record lesser growth than the rest of developing Asia for the first time in three decades, the Bank said in an update to its Asia Development Outlook (ADO), at 3.3% in 2022, from 5% forecast earlier, marred by lockdowns triggered by its zero-Covid strategy, property sector problems and weaker external demand.
For 2023, the Bank forecast growth of 4.5% for China compared to 4.8% previously projected, due to ‘deteriorating external demand continuing to dampen investment in manufacturing’.
The lower growth hopes for India along with a sharp contraction in Sri Lanka, ADB said, translate into slower growth for South Asia at 6.5% in 2022, from 7% projected earlier and 6.5% growth in calendar year 2023, compared to its previous estimate of 7.4%. India accounts for 80% of the region’s economy.
While growth will be lower, ADB expects inflation in South Asia to be pushed up by higher energy and food costs to 8.1% in 2022 and 7.4% in 2023.
It had earlier estimated inflation to be 6.5% in 2022 and 5.5% in 2023, and said the upward revisions mainly reflect surging global commodity prices accelerating inflation in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Cabinet approves uniform 50% support for chip, display units (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Union Cabinet approved modifications in the scheme for development of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem, with a uniform fiscal support of 50% project cost for all technology nodes for setting up of semiconductor fabrication units.
As per the government, the work on setting up of the first semiconductor facility is expected to commence soon.
“Given the niche technology and nature of compound semiconductors and advanced packaging, the modified programme will also provide fiscal support of 50% of Capital Expenditure in pari-passu mode for setting up of compound semiconductors / silicon photonics / sensors / Discrete semiconductors fabs and ATMP/OSAT [Assembly Testing Marking and Packaging/ Outsourced Assembly and Test].
The government added that the programme had attracted many global semiconductor players for setting up fabs in India and the modified programme would expedite investments in semiconductor and display manufacturing in India.
On the basis of discussions with potential investors, it is expected that work on setting up of the first semiconductor facility will commence soon.
It further said that the Advisory Committee, constituted to advise India Semiconductor Mission - the nodal agency for the programme, had unanimously recommended uniform support for all technology nodes of silicon semiconductor fabs / Silicon Photonics / Sensors / Discrete Semiconductor Fabs and ATMP/OSAT, and that it had been accepted by the government.
The technology nodes of 45nm and above have high demand, driven primarily by automotive, power and telecom applications. Moreover, this segment constitutes about 50% of the total semiconductor market.