Article 246A and Article 279A

In News: The Supreme Court in a recent judgment held that Union and State legislatures have “equal, simultaneous and unique powers” to make laws on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on them.

Article 246A

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in articles 246 and 254, Parliament, and, subject to clause (2), the Legislature of every State, have power to make laws with respect to goods and services tax imposed by the Union or by such State.

(2) Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to goods and services tax where the supply of goods, or of services, or both takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce.

Explanation—The provisions of this article, shall, in respect of goods and services tax referred to in clause (5) of article 279A, take effect from the date recommended by the Goods and Services Tax Council.]

Note: This article in its present form was not debated in the Constituent Assembly. This article was introduced by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, with effect from 16th September 2016.

GST Council

• As per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution, the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A. The notification for bringing into force Article 279A with effect from 12th September, 2016 was issued on 10th September, 2016.
• As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States, shall consist of the following members: –
  • Union Finance Minister – Chairperson.
  • The Union Minister of State, in-charge of Revenue of finance – Member.
  • The Minister In-charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government – Members.
• As per Article 279A (4), the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues related to GST, like the goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from GST, model GST Laws, principles that govern Place of Supply, threshold limits, GST rates including the floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities/disasters, special provisions for certain States, etc.

Public Health and Management Cadre (PHMC)

In News: India’s States need to act quickly in setting up a public health and management cadre for a healthier society.

Key Points

• The ‘public health and management cadre’ is a follow up of the recommendations made in India’s National Health Policy 2017.
• NHP 2017, taking cognizance of the fact that a multidisciplinary workforce is required for managing various programs under National Health Mission. It envisaged creation of a multidisciplinary Public Health Management Cadre (PHMC) in all states/UTs.
• At present, most Indian States (with exceptions such as Tamil Nadu and Odisha) have a teaching cadre (of medical college faculty members) and a specialist cadre of doctors involved in clinical services. This structure does not provide similar career progression opportunities for professionals trained in public health.
• It is one of the reasons for limited interest by healthcare professionals to opt for public health as a career choice.

India’s ethanol blending policy

In News: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, to advance the date by which fuel companies have to increase the percentage of ethanol in petrol to 20%, from 2030 to 2025.

Key Points

• Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a hydrocarbon that when burnt can generate heat and power engines.
• India’s ambitious policy is to produce ethanol-blended petrol (EBP) and to bolster the country’s energy security. Plans is to substitute 20 per cent of petrol in vehicles with EBP by 2025

Key Benefits:

• The gains are potentially significant as ethanol can be sourced from sugarcane, molasses, maize, which given India’s agricultural base, can substantially reduce India’s dependence on petroleum.
• Immense benefits can accrue to the country by 20% ethanol blending by 2025, such as saving Rs 30,000 crore of foreign exchange per year, energy security, lower carbon emissions, better air quality, self-reliance, use of damaged foodgrains, increasing farmers’ incomes, employment generation, and greater investment opportunities.

Key Challenges:

• It takes much more ethanol to power a vehicle’s engine than petrol.
• It also leaves residual by-products that can corrode and damage the vehicle which is why, while vehicles can be run on ethanol, they need to be tuned accordingly so that they don’t compromise on efficiency and usability.

How does this affect engines?

• When using E20, there is an estimated loss of 6-7% fuel efficiency for four wheelers which are originally designed for E0 and calibrated for E10, 3-4% for two wheelers designed for E0 and calibrated for E10 and 1-2% for four wheelers designed for E10 and calibrated for E20. ]Car makers have said that with modifications in engines (hardware and tuning), the loss in efficiency due to blended fuel can be reduced. To compensate the consumers for a drop in efficiency from ethanol blended fuels, tax incentives on E10 and E20 fuel may be considered. The test vehicles worked well in several test-situations, the report noted.

Biosphere reserves

In News: It is important to increase the number of biosphere reserves in South Asia to ward off a doomsday ecological scenario.

• Key Points:
  One of the best mechanisms that has been created is the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, created in 1971 by UNESCO.
• Biosphere reserves are places where humans live in harmony with nature, and where there is an effective combination of sustainable development and nature conservation.
• They represent pockets of hope and proof that we are not inexorably headed towards a doomsday ecological scenario, provided we take appropriate action.
• In South Asia, over 30 biosphere reserves have been established. The first one was the Hurulu Biosphere Reserve in Sri Lanka, which was designated in 1977 and comprises 25,500 hectares within the tropical dry evergreen forest.
• In India, the first biosphere reserve was designated by UNESCO in 2000 within the blue mountains of the Nilgiris. It stretches across the States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
• The network has gone from strength to strength, and it now counts 12 sites, with Panna, in the State of Madhya Pradesh, as the latest inscription in 2020.

Impact of Pollution on India’s GDP

• GS Paper 3: Environment- Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Impact of Pollution on India’s GDP in News

• A latest Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health says that economic losses due to modern forms of pollution have increased as a proportion of GDP between 2000 and 2019 in India, China, and Nigeria.

Key Findings of Lancet Commission Report

• Rise in Death due to Pollution: The Lancet Report notes that increases in deaths due to modern forms of pollution were particularly evident in south Asia, east Asia and southeast Asia.
• Causes for Increased Death: The factors responsible for this include-
  • Rising ambient air pollution,
  • Rising chemical pollution,
  • Ageing populations and
  • Increased numbers of people exposed to pollution.
• Premature Deaths due to Pollution: Overall, as a result of pollution, 9 million people die prematurely per year, which corresponds to one in six deaths worldwide.
  • Air pollution remains responsible for causing most deaths in the world, causing about 6.7 million deaths in 2019.
  • Water pollution was responsible for about 1.4 million deaths.
• Economic cost of Pollution: The Lancet Report estimated the present value of future output lost when a person dies prematurely due to pollution in six regions, including India, China, Ethiopia, Nigeria, the US and EU15.
  • The global cost of fossil fuel air pollution is estimated to be about US $8 billion per day.

Analysis Of Sansad TV Discussion: ”Alarming Pollution Levels in the Country”

Impact of Pollution on India’s GDP- Lancet Report on India

• Pollution: The Lancet report says that in 93 per cent of India, the amount of pollution remains well above the WHO guidelines.
  • It says that in 2019, India had the largest estimated number of pollution-related death.
• Premature Deaths: World Air Quality Report 2021, finds that PM 2.5, one of the principal pollutants in Northern Indian cities including Delhi, is estimated to cause over 3,000,000 premature deaths in India.
• Health & Life Cost: Premature deaths lead to the loss of 62,700,000 years of life, 2,700,000 emergency room visits due to asthma, 2,000,000 preterm births and 1,755,200,000 work absences.
• Economic Cost of Pollution: The Lancet Report said that in the year 2000, India lost output equivalent to 3.2 per cent of its GDP as a result of pollution.
  • The study finds out that economic losses due to pollution are now conservatively estimated to amount to approximately 1 per cent of GDP in India.

Rice Fortification

• GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context

• Recently, activists in Jharkhand have warned that distribution of iron fortified rice through government schemes as a “silver bullet” to curb anaemia must stop in States like Jharkhand.

Issues in rice fortification

• Jharkhand has large tribal population that suffer from sickle-cell anaemia, thalassemia, and tuberculosis.
• In this segment of population, overload of iron can create adverse health issues.
• Thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and malaria are conditions where there is already excess iron in the body, whereas TB patients are unable to absorb iron. Consumption of iron-fortified foods among patients of these diseases can reduce immunity and the reduce functionality of organs. 
• The experts have also discovered that neither field functionaries nor beneficiaries had been educated about the potential harms.
• Moreover, there were no warning labels despite the food regulator’s rules on fortified foods.
• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations 2018 require that fortified food packets must mandatorily display the fortification logo (+F),and that every package of food fortified with iron shall carry a warning statement that people with thalassemia may consume it under medical supervision, and persons with sickle cell anaemia are advised not to consume iron fortified food products.
• According to a report prepared jointly by the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA-Kisan Swaraj) and the Right To Food Campaign, Jharkhand, where fortified rice is being distributed, consent is not being obtained from beneficiaries.

What is fortification?

• According to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), it is deliberately increasing the content of essential micronutrients in a food so as to improve the nutritional quality of food and thus improve public health.
• Fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.

Food fortification: Why needed?

• High levels of malnutrition among women and children in the country.
• According to the Food Ministry, every second woman in the country is anaemic and every third child is stunted.
• India ranks 94 out of 107 countries and is in the ‘serious hunger’ category on the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

What are the added nutrients in food fortification?

• According to FSSAI norms, 1 kg fortified rice will contain
  • iron (28 mg-42.5 mg),
  • folic acid (75-125 microgram)
  • Vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram).
• In addition, rice may also be fortified with micronutrients, singly or in combination, with zinc and vitamin B.

Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor

• GS Paper 3: Indian Economy– Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor in News

• Recently, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has said the Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield corridor is being constructed in a full capacity.
• Bikaner to Jodhpur section of 277 km is targeted to be completed and opened to public by the end of this year.

Key Points about Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor

• About: Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor is one of the most important Greenfield corridors being developed by National Highway authority of India (NHAI).
  • Complete Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield corridor is targeted to be completed by September 2023.
• Length: Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor is 1,224 km long and connects Amritsar – Bhatinda – Jamnagar. It is also called as Amritsar – Bhatinda – Jamnagar corridor.
• Cost: Amritsar – Bhatinda – Jamnagar corridor is being developed at a total capital cost of Rs 26,000 Crore.
• Important Cities, Town and States to be connected: Amritsar – Bhatinda – Jamnagar corridor will connect the economic towns of Amritsar, Bhatinda, Sangaria, Bikaner, Sanchore, Samakhiyali and Jamnagar across the four states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
  • Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor is will connect the northern industrial and agricultural centres of the country with the key ports of western India like Jamnagar and Kandla.
• Significance: Amritsar-Jamnagar Greenfield Corridor will help boost the industrial revolution connecting industrial belt of Baddi, Bhatinda and Ludhiana through spurs and the state of Jammu and Kashmir through Delhi – Amritsar – Katra Expressway.
  • The trans-Rajasthan corridor will significantly reduce the transit time and logistics cost to fuel, will help to stand tall in the competitive global export marketplace.

What is a Green Field Project?

• A greenfield project is built from scratch and lacks the constraints of prior work on the site of the project.
  • It means that there is no existing building or infrastructure.
• Green Field Project can include infrastructural, industrial, manufacturing and urban development projects, built on greenfield land with no existing development.

What is Brownfield Project?

• Brownfield project” is refers generally to commercial/industrial land that will soon be upgraded.
• Brownfield properties can be large (for example, manufacturing sites and industrial plants)or small (abandoned dry cleaners, gas stations), and they are not necessarily contaminated.

Socio-Economic Impact Of National Highways

Introduction

• The impact of National Highways consists of direct or first-round effects, and indirect or a sum total of all later-round effects.
• Direct effects are mostly observed in the form of increased mobility, reduced travel time, etc.
• The indirect effects, on the other hand, consist of structural changes in the economy due to enhanced opportunities which would result from the increase in mobility arising from the development of infrastructure.

Key Benefits of National Highways

• The pulsating economy of a country depends on the roads that serve as its arteries. Therefore, road transport has emerged as a dominant segment with a share of 4.8 per cent in India’s GDP
• Road infrastructure is the most important of all public assets, as they encourage economic activity between the large cities and the towns they happen to connect along the way.
• Such connectivity enables economic activity to spread, allowing under-developed regions to catch up and drive balanced and inclusive growth.
• The Golden Quadrilateral project initiated under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in late 2000 connected the hinterland with various critical financial centres and cities, thereby boosting economic growth.
• Thus, road construction provides a fillip to other sectors of the economy, including steel, cement, auto, real estate.

Road Network in India

• India has the second-largest road network globally, spanning a total of 5.89 million km. The road network moves 64.5% of all goods in the country.
• Additionally, 90% of India’s total passenger traffic employs a road network to commute.

Initiatives by GOI

• NHAI plans to construct 25,000 kilometres of national highways in 2022-23 at a pace of 50 km per day.
• India’s Gati Shakti program has consolidated a list of 81 high impact projects, out of which road infrastructure projects were the top priority. The major highway projects include the Delhi-Mumbai expressway (1,350 kilometres), Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway (1,257 kilometres) and Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway (210 kilometres). The main aim of this program is a faster approval process which can be done through the Gati shakti portal and digitized the approval process completely.
• Under Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Ministry has approved implementation of 34,800 km of national highways in 5 years with an outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 crore (US$ 76.55 billion). Under this scheme, 22 greenfield projects (8,000 kms length) are being constructed; this is worth Rs. 3.26 lakh crore (US$ 43.94 billion).
• The government also aims to construct 23 new national highways by 2025.

• The government has allocated Rs. 111 lakh crores under the National Infrastructure Pipeline for FY 2019-25. Earlier in 2015, India embarked upon Bharatmala Pariyojana to connect the entire country through a network of highways, a steady growth observed since.
• The government has approved the implementation of 34,800 km of 23 new national highways till 2025, with an outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 crores.
• Despite pandemic lockdown, India constructed 13,298 km of highways in FY21, with a record of 37 km per day in March 2021.

Conclusion

The Government, through a series of initiatives, is working on policies to attract significant investor interest. A total of 200,000 km of national highways is expected to be completed by 2022. A robust road network will continue to be an essential pillar in India’s rapid economic recovery in the coming years.

Circular economy 

• GS 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste: Context

• According to a recently released report on ‘Circular Economy in Municipal Solid and Liquid Waste’, MoHUA (Ministry of Health and Urban Affairs) recommended complete ban on disposing recyclables at landfills.

Report on Circular Economy: Key points

• The report highlighted that disposing of recyclables in landfills/dump sites not only leads to loss of valued resources but also leads to environmental pollution.
• The report has also recommended that state pollution control boards and urban development and industry departments to introduce a tax for dumping of all municipal waste in landfills.
• Moreover, the report was also of the view that the government should reduce the GST and other taxes on products made from recycled materials to 5% to give a boost to waste recycling.

What is circular economy?

• The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible.

Circular economy importance

• Waste management: An efficient waste management ecosystem is necessary to manage the enormous waste generated by renewable energy projects in the coming decades.
• Support to battery industries: The prevalence of a circular economy could also partially insulate battery industries from potential supply chain shocks triggered by extraneous developments.
• Employment opportunities: It would also offer quality employment opportunities for the future generations as new jobs would be created across the entire value chain of waste management and recycling.
• Socio-economic benefits: The majority of India’s recycling sector is informal and workers have to work in unsafe environments without standardised wages. Soo, workers in the informal sector could access various socio-economic benefits and look forward to an improved quality of life.

Circular economy in India: Steps needed

• Revise electronic waste management rules: Policymakers should revise existing electronic waste management rules to bring various clean energy components under their ambit. Moreover, the revised regulations should clearly define the responsibilities of various stakeholders involved in the renewable energy value chain.
• Complete ban on dumping and burning: At present, landfilling is the cheapest and most common practice to manage renewable energy waste, which is not environmentally sustainable. Studies show that the leaching of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium from solar photovoltaic modules could increase by 90% and 40%
• Research and development: The renewable energy industry should invest in the research and development of recycling technologies. Investments in research and development could help discover new ways of recycling that result in higher efficiency and a less environmentally damaging footprint.
• Focus on finance: The focus should be on the creation of innovative financing routes for waste management. The central government should nudge public and private sector banks to charge lower interest rates on loans disbursed for setting up renewable energy waste recycling facilities.
• Quality control standards: Both the Union and State governments should set stringent quality control standards for components used in their tenders. Such standards will prevent premature end-of-life of components, and consequent waste creation.
  • Substandard components generate considerable waste due to early life damage that is often irreplaceable, and the components often have to be discarded.

Stop TB Partnership

• GS Paper 2: International Relation- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Stop TB Partnership in News

• Recently, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare addressed the 35^thBoard meeting of the Stop TB Partnership through video-conference.

Stop TB Partnership Board Meeting

• India expressed condolences for all lives lost due to COVID19 and TB and thanked all health workers, caregivers and community members for relentlessly working with people affected by TB.
• Steps taken by India during COVID-19: several new initiatives have been taken in India to turn the crisis into an opportunity, such as –
  • ‘Bidirectional testing’ of TB with Covid,
  • House-to-house TB detection campaigns,
  • Scale up of rapid molecular diagnostics at sub-district levels,
  • Use of Artificial Intelligence and Digital tools,
  • Jan Andolan (peoples’ movement) and
  • Decentralization of TB services to Ayushman Bharat Health & Wellness Centres as part of comprehensive primary healthcare.

Stop TB Partnership

• About: The Stop TB Partnership is a hosted entity of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
  • The Stop TB Partnership was established in 2000.
  • Secretariat: The Stop TB Partnership Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Mandate: The Stop TB Partnership aligns 1,600 partner organizations all over the world, leading global advocacy to end tuberculosis (TB).
• Significance: Together with its partners, the Stop TB Partnership is a collective force that is transforming the fight against TB globally. The Stop TB Partnership is-
  • Empowering communities and key populations,
  • Strengthening community systems and promoting community leadership in the TB response,
  • Focusing efforts on ensuring that responses are people-centered, rights-based and gender transformative.
• Key Roles: Through the Partnership’s Secretariat and working with all partners, it ensures a clear identity for the TB community, high-level engagement and representation.
  • The Partnership also identifies and funds innovative approaches to find, treat and cure people affected by TB.
  • It plays a key role in procuring TB drugs and diagnostics, including the roll-out of new tools across the world.
  • The Partnership’s market-shaping strategy also helps to reduce prices, improve forecasting and prevent stock-outs for drugs.

About TB

• TB is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is spread when people who are sick with TB expel bacteria into the air (e.g., by coughing).
• The disease typically affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can affect other sites.
• Most people (about 90%) who develop the disease are adults, with more cases among men than women.
• About a quarter of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis.
• Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
• Until the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, TB was the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, ranking above HIV/AIDS.

Fight against Tuberculosis in India: Steps Taken by the Government

• As India is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), our national development agenda has been aligned to eradicate TB from the grassroots level.
• Eliminating TB by 2025: which is ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) timeline of 2030.
  • It is envisaged to make a TB-free India with zero deaths and zero TB disease.
  • A gendered approach to ending TB: we must adopt a comprehensive approach to ending TB–including a shift towards gender-sensitive and gender-specific interventions.
• Gender-Responsive TB Care: Awareness regarding this is being spread through a series of National and Regional Conferences, jointly organized by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

• ‘c-TB’: India will introduce a newly approved “made in India” TB infection skin test called ‘c-TB’
  • It will be a cost-effective tool that will be of immense benefit to other high burden countries as well.

World Governance Indicators 

• GS 2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

World Governance Indicators World Bank: Context

• Recently, World Bank’s World Governance Indicators found that India’s scores were “much below” its peers on all counts.

What is World Governance Indicators?

WGI provide a ranking of 215 countries territories based on six dimensions of governance:

• ‘Voice and Accountability’;
• ‘Political Stability and Absence of Violence’;
• ‘Government Effectiveness’;
• ‘Regulatory Quality’;
• ‘Rule of Law’ and
• ‘Control of Corruption.’

World Governance Indicators data: Key points

• In an analysis of the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators, Ministry of Finance reported, through a presentation, that factors noted in the Freedom House report also led to the country receiving the largest score decline among the world’s 25 largest democracies in 2020.
• The presentation showed the government felt there was a danger India may witness a drop in WGI scores “due to the latest negative commentary on India by think tanks, survey agencies and international media.
• The presentation noted India’s WGI score is much below the BBB Median on all six indicators.
  • BBB is an investment-grade rating issued by global rating agencies such as S&P and Fitch.

About Credit rating agencies

• A sovereign credit rating is an independent assessment of the creditworthiness of a country or sovereign entity.
• It can give investors insights into the level of risk associated with investing in the debt of a particular country, including any political risk.

World Governance Indicators methodology: Negative reporting by international agencies

• Freedom House Report 2020 mentioned alarming setbacks in the world’s largest democracy. It highlighted that “a series of actions by India’s Hindu nationalist government in 2019 violated democratic rights in India and Indian Kashmir”.
• The US State Department mentioned that in 2018, the government harassed and at times prosecuted activists, lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists for criticising authorities. Draconian sedition and counterterrorism laws were used to chill free expression.
• Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported that India slipped to the 51st place from 42nd on EIU’s 2019 Global Democracy Index and remains classified as ‘flawed democracy’.
• In the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI), the government noted that under ‘Political Transformation’: “From being in the top category of ‘Democracies in consolidation’ in 2014 we have fallen to ‘Defective Democracy’.”
• In the Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom, the presentation noted “India’s Economic Freedom Score has been “Mostly Unfree” since Heritage Foundation started publishing data in 2008.”

World Governance Indicators databank: Countering negative perception

• The Finance Ministry’s economic division is drafting a strategy to counter the negative commentary on India by global think-tanks, indices and media, amid worries this could lead to downgrading of sovereign rating to “junk”.
• In June 2020, then Principal Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance, Sanjeev Sanyal, prepared a presentation on the subjective factors that impact India’s sovereign ratings for internal circulation within the government.

List of Indian Military Exercises 

Military exercises are very important for UPSC civil services examination. These are low hanging fruits and the civil services aspirants must remember these facts in order to get the easy questions right UPSC prelims 2022. Below we are listing the important military exercises so that you don’t have to run to many places.

List of Important Military Exercises

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