27 April 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – QUAD: GS II – International Relations

Context:

• On May 24, US President Joe Biden, his colleagues from Australia, and Japan will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sydney for a summit of the Quad leaders. The Indo-Pacific situation more broadly and the effects of the Ukraine war are expected to be the main topics of discussion during the conference.

About:

• India, Australia, the United States, and Japan are its four democratic members.
• All four nations are democracies, and they all concur that everyone’s interests are served by unhindered marine trade and security.
• It aims to ensure and promote a “free, open, and prosperous” Indo-Pacific area.
• In 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe originally presented the idea of Quad. The initiative, however, was unable to move forward when Australia withdrew, purportedly under Chinese pressure.
• This “quadrilateral” alliance between India, Australia, the US, and Japan was finally established in 2017.

What Options Does India Have Under the Quad Agreement?

Overcoming China:

• Chinese maritime interests trump their petty ambitions to take over territory in the Himalayas.
• The Indian Ocean routes, which intersect important maritime lanes, are the primary means of transportation for Chinese goods.
• India might be able to stop Chinese commerce by cooperating with the Quad nations in the event that China takes any border action.
• Because of this, unlike the continental sphere where India seems to be in a “nutcracker like situation” as a result of China-Pakistan cooperation, the maritime sphere is completely open to India and presents a wealth of opportunities for coalition building, rule setting, and other types of strategic exploration.

Becoming an Internet security provider:

• Great countries are becoming more interested in the maritime industry, especially since the “Indo-Pacific” concept was introduced. For instance, numerous European countries have lately made their Indo-Pacific strategies public.
• India, which is strategically positioned at the centre of the Indo-Pacific geopolitical imagination, might help materialise the vision of a “broader Asia” that can expand its influence beyond geographical boundaries.
• India can also help coordinated efforts in humanitarian aid and disaster relief, as well as monitoring shipping for search-and-rescue or anti-piracy operations, assisting states with vulnerable climates with infrastructure needs, and participating in connecting projects and other relevant initiatives.
• With the assistance of the Quad nations, India can also restrain China’s imperialist activities in the Indian Ocean region, promoting peace and prosperity for everybody.

What Problems Are Related to the Quad?

• Undefined Vision: Despite the potential for cooperation, the Quad remains a system without a distinct strategic objective.
• Concerns about whether cooperation extends outside the Asia-Pacific and Eurasian regions are raised by the Quad’s transformation into a marine alliance when the Indo-Pacific as a whole is the focus.
• The Difference Between India and the Alliance System India is the only member to oppose a treaty alliance arrangement, which has slowed down the development of a deeper Quadrilateral involvement.

How to Proceed:

• In order to advance everyone’s economic and security interests, the Quad states must adequately express the Indo-Pacific Vision within a comprehensive framework.
• Since India has many other allies in the Indo-Pacific, it should push for countries like Singapore and Indonesia to be invited to join in the future.
• India must develop a thorough plan for the Indo-Pacific region that takes into account both current and upcoming maritime concerns, unites its military and non-military capabilities, and includes its most important friends.

Source The Hindu

2 – GeM Portal: GS III – Indian Economy

Context:

• After signalling a “delay” in doing so, the Ministry of Education ordered states and Union Territories to use the Government e Marketplace (GeM) website to place orders for bulk purchases of kitchen equipment, including stoves and utensils for the midday meal programme.

About:

• GeM is a one-stop national public procurement platform that streamlines the online purchasing process for various Central and State Government Departments, Organisations, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
• Ministries and Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are required to purchase all goods and services listed on GeM.
• In order to help government users receive the best value for their money, it also provides reverse e-auction and e-bidding technology.
• GeM presently has over 30 lakh goods available, and online transactions totaling over 10 lakh crore rupees have already occurred.

Launch:

• It was implemented in 2016 to improve the effectiveness and transparency of the public procurement process.

New developments:

• The Bamboo Market Window of The Green Gold Collection. GeM has specified that while registering any new products on the platform, merchants must specify the country of origin.
• Customers can choose to buy only those products through the portal that meet the criterion for a minimum of 50% local content because this has been enabled on the portal.

Significance:

• GeM enables government organisations to swiftly, effectively, transparently, and affordably acquire the products and services they require to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Atmanirbhar Bharat policy, which was put in place in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and is meant to support independence and regional Indian producers, has the support of GeM.
• Small local vendors’ entry: Small local businesses now find it simpler to engage in public procurement thanks to the Marketplace, which also successfully implements the government’s “Make in India” and MSME Purchase Preference Policies.
• Several Entities at One Location: The internet market can combine demand from various entities for equivalent products, building on the benefits provided to small enterprises by State governments.

Challenges:

• The ability of GeM to fulfil its duty as the National Public Procurement site and provide the benefits of size and efficiency may be constrained by the existence of several portals inside Central Government agencies, such as the defence procurement site and the Indian Railways e-Procurement System.

Lack of Compliance

• The General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017 Rule 149, which mandates that all common-use goods and services offered on the GeM portal must necessarily be purchased there, is similarly difficult to enforce.

How to Proceed:

• The goal of GeM is to grow and become a one-stop shop for buyers and merchants. It is building a solid foundation and slowly creating a reliable and efficient commercial environment.
• If the challenges that stand in the way of its development are effectively solved, it could become as valuable as the dazzling mineral crystals that are suggested by its name.

Source The Hindu

3 – Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna: GS II – Government Schemes and Interventions

Context:

• In the preceding two fiscal years, just 329 of the 647 accident insurance claims made under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) for bank account holders got their claims settled.
• This information was provided in response to an RTI (Right to Information) request submitted by activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur. In August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Jan Dhan Yojana and provided accident insurance to account holders at the same time. This programme was praised for being a remarkable step towards financial inclusion.

About:

• Indicator Pradhan Mantri The Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the official name of the National Mission for Financial Inclusion.
• It ensures that financial services including banking, savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, and pension are accessible for a reasonable price.
• PMJDY has been the lynchpin of people-centered economic initiatives. All of these initiatives, such as the Direct Benefit Transer (DBT), Covid-19 financial aid, PM-KISAN, increased wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), and life and health insurance coverage, start with the opening of bank accounts for every adult, which PMJDY is almost done with.

Objectives:

• Make sure that financial goods and services are accessible and cheap.
• using technology to spread the word and cut costs.

Basic tenets of the strategy:

• A basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account can be opened with little or no paperwork, flexible KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, and no fees.
• Providing free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh on local debit cards that may be used for cash withdrawals and payments at merchant locations aims to protect the unprotected.
• The underfunded are supported through additional financial tools such micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension, and micro-credit.

Source The Hindu

4 – Eco-Sensitive Zones: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues

Context:

• The Supreme Court revised its decision on Wednesday to mandate eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) of at least one km around protected forests, national parks, and animal refuges across the country.
• The ESZ must be “protected area-specific” rather than being applied uniformly across the country, according to a bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai.

About:

• According to the National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), state governments are required by the Environmental (Protection) Act of 1986 to designate land as eco-fragile zones or eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) within 10 kilometres of the borders of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
• The 10-km rule is used as a broad guideline, but its exact application can change. The Union government may also designate a location as an ESZ if it contains more extensive “sensitive corridors” with ecological significance.

Activities Near ESZs:

Disallowed Behaviours:

• Commercial wood use, sawmills, businesses that contaminate the environment (such as the air, water, soil, or noise), and the development of sizable hydropower projects (HEP).

Regulated actions

• Road widening, cutting down trees, building hotels and resorts, using natural water for commercial purposes, installing electricity lines, drastically altering agriculture by using heavy equipment, herbicides, etc.

Permitted Activities:

• continuous horticultural or agricultural practises, the use of green technologies across all sectors, the use of renewable energy sources, organic farming, rainwater collection, and the use of renewable energy sources.

The utility of ESZs:

• Minimising the detrimental impacts of development activities
• To decrease the consequences of urbanisation and other development activities, regions near protected areas have been classified as Eco-Sensitive Zones.

Regional conservation:

• When a threatened species is preserved in its natural habitat, such as the one-horned rhinoceros of Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, ESZs encourage in-situ conservation.

Minimise Forest Depletion and Man-Animal Conflict:

• Ecosensitive areas lessen friction between humans and animals and forest loss.
• The protected areas are built on the core and buffer style of management, which helps and safeguards the neighbouring communities as well.

Reduce Negative Effects on Ecosystems at Risk:

• To serve as a “Shock Absorber” for the protected area, eco-sensitive zones are established around protected areas.
• They act as a transition zone between areas with high protection levels and those with less protection.

ESZ-related challenges:

Adapting to climate

• The ESZs are under stress due to climate change in terms of the environment, water, and land.
• For instance, Kaziranga National Park’s animals and ecosystem have suffered greatly as a result of the Assam floods and sporadic forest fires.

Infringing on Forest Rights:

• The government periodically disregards the rights of forest communities and negatively impacts their way of life as a result of the enforcement of the Environmental Protection Act of 1986 and the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• Similar limitations apply to the privileges given to the gramme sabha for approving development projects.
• The Forest Rights Act of 2006 required acknowledgement of forest rights and the gramme sabha’s consent before proposals to move forest land for non-forestry activities could be considered until the MoEFCC repealed them in 2022.

How to Proceed:

Community Involvement

• It is essential to involve local communities in the decision-making process for ESZ administration.
• This can be done by setting up community-based organisations, like user groups or conservation committees, that are in charge of managing and preserving the resources found in these areas.
• In the case of development projects, the gramme sabha must be given decision-making authority.

Encouragement of Alternative Income Streams

• It is critical to provide alternative means of subsistence to local communities whose livelihoods depend on the resources found in ESZs.
• This may entail providing financing for training courses in sustainable agriculture, eco-tourism, and horticulture, among other alternative livelihoods.

Support for Eco Restoration

• By promoting low carbon footprints and via education, it is vital to reforest degraded areas, recover lost habitats, and decrease the effects of climate change.

Source The Hindu