© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
🚨 Attention: UPSC Key is now all 7 Days a Week!🚨
Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for May 25, 2024. If you missed the May 24th, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development
Main Examination: GS-III: Indian economy; Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.
What’s the ongoing story- A tax package for the ultra-wealthy in India including an annual wealth tax and an inheritance tax for those with net wealth exceeding Rs 10 crore accompanied by redistributive policies to support the poor, lower castes, and middle classes has been proposed by a report of the World Inequality Lab.
Prerequisites:
— What is inheritance tax?
— What is wealth tax?
— What is the difference Between Progressive and Regressive Tax?
Key takeaways:
— Economists Nitin Kumar Bharti, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi in a note released Friday said the tax package proposal can help tackle the massive concentration at the very top of the wealth distribution and create fiscal space for crucial social sector investments.
— The report proposes an annual wealth tax and an inheritance tax for those with net wealth exceeding Rs 10 crore, equivalent to the top 0.04 percent of the adult population (~370,000 adults), who currently hold over a quarter of the total wealth.
— It suggests raising phenomenally large tax revenues while leaving 99.96 percent of the adults unaffected by the tax. Outlining a baseline scenario, the report said, a 2 percent annual tax on net wealth exceeding Rs 10 crore and a 33 percent inheritance tax on estates exceeding Rs 10 crore in valuation would generate a 2.73 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in revenues.
— An inheritance tax would directly tackle the unfair advantage that unearned dynastic wealth renders to individuals solely based on the accident of birth, which is only exacerbated by the caste system, it said.
For Your Information:
— This note follows up on an earlier paper, co-authored by the same economists and released by World Inequality Lab in March, which had stated that India’s top 1 percent income and wealth shares have reached historical highs and are among the very highest in the world.
— The paper titled “Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922-2023: The Rise of the Billionaire Raj” had stated that the “Billionaire Raj” headed by “India’s modern bourgeoisie” is now more unequal than the British Raj headed by the colonialist forces.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the impact of inequality on the social development of the country?
— What are the problems with the Indian taxation system?
— What steps must be taken to overcome the economic inequality in the country?
— What are the concerns regarding inheritance tax?
Post Read Question:
Consider the following statements:
1. The Union Budget 2021 has increased the wealth tax from 2% to 7%.
2. In India, the taxes on transactions in Stock Exchange and Future Markets are levied by the Union government.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
9 takeaways from World Inequality Lab working paper
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate; Indian Economy
What’s the ongoing story- Japan and China have formally raised concern over India’s laptop import licensing measure which was announced in August last year but was soon reversed, according to a statement released by World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) Committee on Import Licensing (CIL) that met on May 21 showed.
Prerequisites:
— What is the role of World Trade Oragnisation (WTO)?
— What is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)?
— What is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)?
— What is the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware goods?
Key takeaways:
— “There are far more important concerns that global trade is impacted by such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) launched by the European Union and US but there is no movement on that front in the WTO. But India is being questioned for a policy that is imposing no restriction on laptop imports at all,” the official stated.
— This came as the regime could have impacted the exports of laptops and tablets manufactured by American companies in China as nearly 90 percent of the laptops and personal computers (PCs) imported by India came from China.
— While China and Japan raised concern over India’s measures on personal computers, tablets and other electronic products, Indonesia questioned India’s import monitoring on viscose staple fiber (VSF).
For Your Information:
— India had come up with the regime to limit import of laptop and tablets largely to cut reliance on China which is the largest exporter of the item. However, unlike in the case of mobile phones, a WTO commitment prevents India from raising tariffs to shore up manufacturing within the country.
— As per the commitment made under the Information Technology Agreement in 1997 at the WTO, India cannot increase the duty on laptops, PCs and similar IT products, which currently come into the country at zero duty.
— Limiting laptops import is also crucial for India since the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware goods is moving in the slow lane, despite the Union Information Technology Ministry modifying the plan to increase budgetary outlay last May
Points to Ponder:
— What are the issues India is facing at WTO?
— What are the agricultural-related issues India is facing at WTO?
— What was the purpose of the Information Technology Agreement in 1997 at the WTO?
Post Read Question:
What are the direct and indirect subsidies provided to farm sector in India? Discuss the issues raised by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in relation to agricultural subsidies. (UPSC CSE 2023)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Govt reaffirms quality-related restrictions on laptops, mobile phones, other electronic items
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-III: Economy, Science & Technology Bio-diversity & Environment, Disaster Management.
What’s the ongoing story- The Maharashtra government has ordered an investigation into Thursday’s chemical factory blaze which killed at least 11 people in an industrial complex in Thane and injured more than 60 others. By all accounts, the food colouring factory used highly reactive chemicals.
Prerequisites:
— What is the status of the chemical manufacturing industry in India?
— What was the Bhopal gas tragedy?
— What is the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)?
Key takeaways:
— Culpability for the incident should, of course, be fixed. But safety-related concerns about the Thane industrial complex are not new. In 2016, a fire accident at the complex claimed five lives. Explosions have been reported from the area in 2018, 2020, and 2023 as well.
— Shutting down industries or relocating them causes economic disruption and livelihood losses. The Maharashtra government should nudge these factories to follow industrial safety and environmental rules.
— India is among the top six chemical manufacturing countries in the world. Diverse industries — pharmaceuticals, pesticides, fertilisers, paints and petrochemicals — collectively account for more than 70,000 of the products that are made from chemicals. The sector contributes about 11 per cent of India’s exports and employs more than two million people.
— Although the country has 15 Acts and 19 rules governing different aspects of the chemical industry, none of them deals exclusively with the sector. At the same time, the overlapping jurisdictions of different ministries work to the detriment of effective regulation.
— The NDMA website shines a light on the chemical industry’s regulatory deficits.
— NDMA estimates that the country reported 130 chemical accidents in the last decade, which claimed more than 250 lives. It, however, gives no details of these accidents.
— The horrors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984 did lead to a rethinking on industrial safety, but accidents have not been followed by serious stock-taking — these include the Jaipur oil depot fire of 2009, Thane explosion of 2016, Visakhapatnam gas leak of 2020 and the blaze at a natural gas well in Tinsukia in 2020. A rapidly-industrialising country cannot afford such a knowledge deficit.
Points to Ponder:
— How are overlapping jurisdictions detrimental to the effective regulation of the chemical manufacturing industry?
— What are the issues pertaining to industrial safety in India?
— What are the legal Safeguards against Chemical/ Industrial disasters in India?
Post Read Question:
What are the implications of India’s lack of a strong legislative framework governing the chemical manufacturing industry, and suggest measures to overcome this deficiency?
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Massive blast in Thane chemical factory kills 6; rescue operations underway
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Bilateral Groupings & Agreements; Regional Groupings; Effect of Policies & Politics of Countries on India’s Interests, Environment
What’s the ongoing story- China has gifted 1,500 tonnes of water from the Tibetan glaciers to Maldives, the second such donation in less than two months, a media report said on Friday. This is the latest in the multiple grants and aid that China has promised the Maldives, especially since pro-China Mohamed Muizzu took over as the President in November 2023.
Prerequisites:
— What are the issues with the India-Maldives relationship?
— What is ‘operation neer’?
— Map work: Location of Maldives and Tibet
Key takeaways:
— Not just that, Maldives and China are also collaborating to enhance weather monitoring systems in this small island nation that bears the brunt of changing climate, including challenges such as sea level rise.
— The Maldives has 26 atolls and its 1,192 islands are mostly composed of coral reefs and sandbars, a combination that makes groundwater and freshwater extremely scarce, and the problems are exacerbated due to climate change.
— The country has tried between 2011 and 2015, a UN-funded ‘Increasing Climate Resilience through an Integrated Water Resources Management Programme’ but with limited success.
— In December 2014, India carried out ‘Operation Neer’ during one of its worst water crises following a massive fire in the Male Water and Sewerage Company complex on December 4, 2014.
For Your Information:
— Notwithstanding the turbulence in their bilateral ties, the Maldives will soon launch India’s RuPay service, which a senior minister has said “will bolster the Maldivian Rufiyaa.”
Points to Ponder:
— How is climate change becoming a great threat to island countries?
— What is the Alliance of Small Island States (ASIS)?
— How has India-Maldives relationship over the past few years?
—Is the Maldives’ growing closeness to China a cause of concern for India?
Post Read Question:
‘Operation Neer’ is associated with which of the following nations?
(a) Maldives
(b) Sri Lanka
(c) Bangladesh
(d) Thailand
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Express View on India-Maldives relations: Don’t overreact
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.
Mains Examination: GS-II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
What’s the ongoing story- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday ordered Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, Gaza. The court ruled that Israel must immediately cease its military actions and other operations in the area, citing the “immediate risk” to the Palestinian people.
Prerequisites:
— What is the ICJ?
— What is the UN Security Council (UNSC)?
— What are the Israel-Palestinian issues?
Key takeaways:
— The court has ruled in favor of a South African request urging Israel to immediately cease its military offensive in Rafah, following allegations of genocide by Pretoria. The decision comes amid ongoing tensions, with Israel continuously dismissing the accusations asserting its operations in Gaza as acts of self-defense against Hamas militants.
— It was earlier this month, when Israel launched assault on Rafah that triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and severing vital aid routes.
— In response to these developments, South African legal representatives petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week, urging the imposition of emergency measures. They argued that Israel’s assaults on Rafah must cease immediately to safeguard the survival of the Palestinian populace.
— While the International Court of Justice (ICJ) lacks enforcement powers, its rulings hold significant weight in international disputes. South Africa’s broader case against Israel alleges state-led genocide, a claim the ICJ has yet to substantively address.
For Your Information:
— From the Explained section, Norway, Ireland, and Spain said on Wednesday (May 22) that they would recognise a state of Palestine on May 28, marking the first time a Western European country has committed to such recognition.
— Being recognised as a “state” by other countries can support a region’s aspiration to be seen as a legitimate political entity by the international community.
— The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933), identified four conditions of a state: “a permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter into relations with other states”.
— Currently, Palestine is a “Permanent Observer State” — and not a “Member State” — at the UN. There is one other Permanent Observer State in the UN — the Holy See, representing Vatican City.
— Before the announcement by Norway, Ireland, and Spain, 143 of the UN’s 193 members already recognised Palestine as a state. Most of these countries are in Asia, Africa, and South America. India accorded recognition in 1988.
— When a state recognises another, it usually leads to the setting up of an embassy and posting of diplomatic officials in that country. The Norwegian Foreign Minister has said that its representative office to the Palestinian Authority, which was opened in the West Bank in 1999, would become an embassy.
— The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (UNGA Resolution 181(II)) proposed the establishment of a Jewish state, an Arab state, and for the city of Jerusalem to be administered by the UN as a corpus separatum (separate body). This is also known as the ‘two-state solution’.
Points to Ponder:
— How ICJ is different from the International Criminal Court (ICC)?
— What are the issues with UNSC?
— What is India’s stake in and stand on the Iran-Israel conflict?
— What concerns are raised by International organisations on the Israel-Palestinian conflict?
Post Read Question:
Consider the following statements:
1. UNGA resolution 181 (II) provided for the ‘two-state solution’ to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
2. India has recognised Palestine as a state in 1982.
3. Palestine, along with Palau, has been accorded the status of “Permanent Observer State” at the United Nations.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
UPSC Issue at a Glance | Iran-Israel Conflict: 5 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economic and social development
Mains Examination: GS-III: Indian Economy
What’s the ongoing story- In April, the research organisation Lokniti- CSDS published the results of a pre-election survey, which identified unemployment as the most important issue for voters. As many as 29% of respondents said jobs would be the biggest factor in the election. Data from the independent think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 provide a good understanding of which social groups have been the worst hit by the scarcity or quality of jobs.
Prerequisites:
— Who is ‘employed’ and ‘unemployed’ in economic term?
— What is the working-age population?
— Terms: Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Unemployment Rate (UER), The Employment Rate (ER)
Key takeaways:
— Joblessness has also hurt all, but to varying degrees. Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) provides a good understanding of how employment-related metrics diverge among different religious groups as well as different caste groups. CMIE has data for eight years, from 2016-17 to 2023-24.
— However, it is important to note that in India it can often give misleading results. That’s because India’s LFPR has been falling. Often this can happen if people who have been unemployed for a long time decide to stop looking for (demanding) a job.
— In such a case, the UER falls not because the economy has created more jobs but because fewer people are demanding them. As such, it is best to read the UER movement in conjunction with the LFPR movement.
— If ER is going up, it implies more and more people (as a percentage of the total working-age population) are getting jobs and if it falls it shows that the percentage of people with jobs is falling.
— Typically, for a developing economy such as India, a higher LFPR is considered better than a lower LFPR. Similarly, it is better if the LFPR shows a rising trend over time rather than a falling trend
— India’s overall LFPR was low in 2016-17 and has further declined by 5.8% over the past eight years. All major religion saw a decline.
— India’s overall LFPR was low in 2016-17 and has further declined by 5.8% over the past eight years.Sikhs were the worst affected.
— India’s overall ER fell by 5.6 percentage points over the past eight years. In other words, the proportion of working-age Indians with a job dropped from 42.8% in 2016-17 to 37.2% in 2023-24. The employment rate among Hindus fell the most.
— In terms of the percentage decline in LFPR, the OBCs and SCs — the two biggest working-age population groups — have experienced the sharpest fall in LFPR.
— The upper caste Hindus had the lowest employment rate in 2016-17 and the story continues to be the same, albeit at an even lower level.
For Your Information:
— The LFPR is the percentage of the working-age population that is demanding a job. As such, it excludes people like a 35-year-old married woman who is not actively looking for a job or a 22-year-old who is busy pursuing higher education or a 65-year-old who no longer wants to work. Thus the LFPR represents the demand for jobs in an economy.
— The UER is the percentage of people looking for a job but are as yet unemployed. The UER is expressed as a percentage of the labour force.
Points to Ponder:
— What is the issue of unemployment in India?
— How unemployment is measured in India?
— What are the various initiatives taken by the government to curb unemployment?
— What are the challenges of these initiatives?
Post Read Question:
“A category of unemployment arising from the mismatch between the jobs available in the market and the skills of the available workers in the market.” Which type of unemployment is being discussed here? (UPSC CSE 2021)
(a) Cyclical Unemployment
(b) Frictional Unemployment
(c) Structural Unemployment
(d) Disguised Unemployment
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
ExplainSpeaking: Did your salary beat the inflation rate in Modi years?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development
Mains Examination: GS-II: Social Empowerment Issues Related to SCs & STs Government Policies & Interventions.
What’s the ongoing story- The Calcutta High Court has struck down a series of orders passed by the West Bengal government between March 2010 and May 2012 by which 77 communities (classes), 75 of which were Muslim, were given reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
Prerequisites:
— What are the constitutional provisions regarding reservation?
— What is Article 16 (4) of the Constitution?
— What is sub-categorisation of castes?
— What is the Indra Sawhney v Union of India case?
Key takeaways:
— A division Bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha found that religion had been the “sole” basis for the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission and the state government to provide reservation, which is prohibited by the Constitution and court orders.
— As with most cases where reservations have been challenged, the HC relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Indra Sawhney v Union of India (Mandal judgment).
— A nine-judge Bench had held in 1992 that OBCs cannot be identified and given reservation only on the basis of religion. The SC also held that all states must establish a Backward Classes Commission to identify and recommend classes of citizens for inclusion and exclusion in the state OBC list.
— Sub-classification is meant to address the different levels of deprivation faced by different communities, which the court held could only be done by referring to material collected by the Commission.
For Your Information:
— Several Muslim communities are included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation both at the central and state levels. The criteria for the OBC quota is social and educational backwardness.
— Article 16(4) of the Constitution provides for reservation for a “backward class of citizens, which in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State”.
— The OBC quota works differently in different states.
— In Karnataka, for example, Muslims had a 4% sub-quota within the 32% OBC quota, which the Basavaraj Bommai government in 2023 redistributed among Vokkaligas and Lingayats. Kerala has an 8% Muslim quota in its 30% OBC quota. Several other states, including Tamil Nadu and Bihar, have Muslim caste groups in their OBC quota.
Points to Ponder:
— What were the main recommendations of the Mandal Commission?
— Major Supreme Court judgments on reservations
— What are the arguments in favour and against religion-based reservation?
— What is the socio-economic status of Muslims in the country?
Post Read Question:
Consider the following statements:
1. Article 15(4) was inserted in the constitution through the first amendment to empower the state to provide special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens.
2. The 102nd constitutional amendment has provided 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically backward category.
3. The Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee (2006) found that the Muslim community as a whole was almost as backward as SCs and STs, and more backward than non-Muslim OBCs.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
A brief history of religion-based reservations in India; the question of Muslims’ inclusion
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance, General Science.
Mains: GS-III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life, Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers, and robotics.
What’s the ongoing story- Menaka Guruswamy writes: “What do Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, singer Taylor Swift and actor Anil Kapoor have in common? They have all been victims of “deep fake” videos, generated using artificial intelligence (AI).”
Prerequisites:
— What is deepfakes?
— What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
— What is Europe’s Artificial Intelligence Act, of 2024?
Key takeaways:
— “The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a “deep fake” as an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said. And real life has already begun to mimic art when it comes to AI.”
— “The legal provisions available to address such deployment of deep fakes includes the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.”
— “The Indian Penal Code provides three traditional remedies- Section 468, Section 505, and Section 416.”
— “The Information Technology Act, 2000 has the potential to provide some redressal against deep fakes through Section 66 (c).”
— “These legal provisions, while useful, do not necessarily provide comprehensive protection against the use of AI to generate misinformation, including deep fakes.”
— “The existing legal regime also provides no remedy for attempts by hostile countries to influence electoral outcomes.”
— “In April, just before the commencement of the Indian general elections, the Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC) had warned that China will “at a minimum, create, and amplify AI-generated content to benefit its interests” in elections in India, South Korea and the US.”
— “Europe’s Artificial Intelligence Act, 2024, which will come into force in June, offers some ideas on how to think about a new legal regime to address offences that include the generation of deep fakes whose goal is to “manipulate human behaviour”.
— “Law reformers in India need to use the existing legal regime as a foundation to thoughtfully craft new laws that will address AI and deep fakes that look to influence electoral outcomes.”
For Your Information:
— The European Union (EU) has unveiled its comprehensive rulebook for governing the use of AI technologies. Under the Act, general-purpose AI systems and the models they’re built on must meet specific transparency requirements, including compliance with EU copyright law and publishing detailed summaries of the training data used. And for the most powerful models with potential “systemic risks,” there are additional safeguards like mandatory model evaluations and incident reporting.
Points to Ponder:
— What are the concerns associated with the deepfakes?
— What are the consequences of deepfakes for election?
— What initiatives are taken by India to regulate deepfakes?
Post Read Question:
Prelims
With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC CSE 2020)
1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units
2. Create meaningful short stories and songs
3. Disease diagnosis
4. Text-to-Speech Conversion
5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 4 and 5 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Mains
Examine the current and potential implications of deepfakes in India’s national security and civic life, and discuss strategies for mitigating their effects.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Deepfakes: 5 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsnxUastCeM?si=e5eDn-ZlK-abF_5o&w=560&h=315
