SYNOPSIS: Insights Secure Q&A April 15, 2016
This is a new feature. As feedback from our side on your answers is missing, we thought of providing detailed synopsis of important Secure questions on daily basis so that you could revise our synopsis and compare it with your answers. We intend to post synopsis of Secure questions every next day of posting questions on website.
You must write answers on your own and compare them with these synopses. If you depend on these synopses blindly, be sure of facing disaster in Mains. Until and unless you practice answer writing on your own, you will not improve in speed, content and writing skills. Keep separate notebooks for all GS papers and write your answers in them regularly. Now and then keep posting your answer on website too (Optional). Some people have the tendency of copying content from others answers and pasting them in a document for each and every question. This might help in revision, but if you do not write on your own, you can’t write a good answer in real exam. This is our experience at offline classes. We have seen many students who think they were regularly following Secure, yet fail to clear Mains. So, never give up writing.
Also never give up reviewing others answers. You should review others answers to know different perspectives put forth by them, especially to opinion based questions. This effort by us should not lead to dependency on these synopses. This effort should be treated as complimentary to your ongoing writing practice and answer reviewing process.
These synopses will be exhaustive – covering all the points demanded by question. We will not stick to word limit. You need to identify most important points and make sure these points are covered in your answer. Please remember that these are not ‘Model Answers’. These are just pointers for you to add extra points and to stick to demand of the question – which you might have missed while answering.
As you might be aware of, this exercise requires lots of time and energy (10 Hours), that to do it on daily basis! Your cooperation is needed to sustain this feature.
Please provide your valuable feedback in the comment section to improve and sustain this initiative successfully.
General Studies – 1;
Topic: Social empowerment
Status of dalit entrepreneurs:
- Most dalit enterprises were self run and into very basic businesses and services such as shopkeeping and carpentry.
- In India there are 1000 dalit entrepreneurs worth 15000 crore but it is just a miniscule of 96,75 lakh crore through IPO.
- Most of them are in manufacturing sector supplying parts to different automobile companies.Tata and other companies use services of 100 companies owned by dalit entrepreneur.
- First e-sewer project –saukaryam was launched by a dalit entrepreneur which won an UNDP award.
- There are 8.7 million dalit enterprises in the country which have not seen much growth since 2001.
- Out of 57.7 million MSME only 155 belong to both SC and ST.
Opportunities:
- A new public procurement policy which mandates that 4% of 3 lakh crore procured by public sector enterprises annually be sourced from SC/ST enterprises.this creates an assured market of 12000 crore for SC/ST businesses.
- Stand up India-aiming to support entrepreneurship among SC,ST and women.Expecting the benefit to create 2.5 lakh SC/ST entrepreneurs over the next three years
- Venture capital fund for SC-to promote entrepreneurship amongst SC entrepreneurs
- National SC finance and development corporation setup in 1989 to help entrepreneurs by augmenting their skills ,providing working capital .provides concessional finance for setting up self employment projects.
- 100% VAT reimbursement for a period of 5 years from the date of commencement of commercial production to micro and small enterprises(SC/ST share more)making service sector eligible for interest reimbursement ,giving land on lease for 33 years.
- Dalit Indian chamber of commerce and industry-brings together all dalit entrepreneurs under one umbrella
Challenges:
- Continue to face discrimination especially those who want to get into business of food
- entrepreneurial quality is the result of a network of existing entrepreneurs which dalits lack
- No systematic study of dalit entrepreneurs
- Securing loans for business is very difficult because of lack of collateral security and limited access to institutional finance
- .Few women entrepreneurs-gender inequality.
- Rural areas most of SC’s still agricultural labourers
General Studies – 2
Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests,
Is it good for regional stability?
YES:
- To balance regional anxiety over china’s aggressive attitude towards the countries in the south china sea including building of artificial islands over disputed reefs.
- It is just a naval exercise it is not intended to provoke anyone.countries are just strengthening their military
- It contributes to the security and safety of the regional water.
- To safeguard freedom of navigation
- It gives an opportunity to the small east asian countries to collaborate with US on an equal partnership
- To also control Chinese aggression of land reclamation in the region.
NO:
- Leads to regional militarization of region threatening stability
- Threatens peace by aggravating regional disputes like the recent dispute between phillipines and china where manila filed a case in the international court of arbitration regarding China’s role in the scarborough shoal
- May lead to nuclear strikes as well in future.
- Periodic presence of US forces is an errant.
Should India involve in these joint patrols?
NO:
- freedom of navigation which is the crucial interest for india in south china sea is not threatened.
- There is no need for India at present to build military presence in the region seen in the stands of Indian governments where
- earlier it rejected Vietnam invitation to the Indian navy to setup military base.
- Recently the government rejected the invitation by US to participate in joint patrols in south china sea.
- If India acts according to US interests it will become a vassal state like Japan,Australia which will damage India’s dignity and deter its pursuit to be a global power.
- India and china have significant bilateral trade and share common grounds in many issues on international platforms.Participation of India in patrols will risk this.
- India is still not a maritime power to get into confrontation with the supreme Chinese navy.
- India’s foreign policy tenet is not forging alliances and be neutral.Joint patrols forces India to choose a country over another and forge an alliance.that is the reason india has always participated in joint exercises not patrols.
- India has never carried out joint patrols with any other country.
YES:
- India’s stand that its interests of freedom of navigation is not threatened is flawed as the geopolitical of Indian ocean has increased and is not confined to just south china sea
- India can forge cooperation with east asian countries by participating in the patrols.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
Significance:
- Scientific consensus that the virus causes microcephaly and guillian barre syndrome (a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system)marks the turning point in Zika outbreak.This paved the way to efforts now being directed at understanding the full spectrum of birth defects caused by the infection.
- No infectious pathogen after rubella virus has been associated with birth defects in the last years Zika being an exception.
- Zika leads to severe brain damage with a range of abnormalities in babies with microcephaly.The brain effects it has are still not assessed .It looks like the more one learns about the virus the more concerned one gets .
- Based on the scientific findings efforts can be directed at quantifying the risk among infants born to mother with infection during pregnancy.
- Makes it easier to raise awareness both at clinical and community level especially to women who are pregnant.So far awareness levels are very low .
- Efforts need to be redoubled to develop diagnostic methods and vaccines as infection remains symptomless in majority of people and not specific even when present.
Indian scenario:
- India is affected every year with many dengue cases affected by Aedis Aegypti. The same mosquito affects Zika as well.
- Also in India the mosquito season looms long so a better management to avoid open drains,water logging,better sewage management in cities is needed.
- India has been affected by sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS in the past.Government need to take proactive efforts to make people aware about Zika and it can be sexually transmitted too.
Topic: Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
Why some bills are labeled as money bills?
Money bill is a term in the constitution referring to certain class of bills which contain taxation proposals and proposals related to money matters etc..
Article 110 of the constitution deals with the definition of money bills.It is a money bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters:
1.imposition ,abolition,remission,alteration or regulation of any tax
2.regulation of the borrowing of the union government
3.custody of consolidated or the contingency funds of India,the payment or withdrawal of money from any such fund
4.appropriation of money out of consolidated fund of India.
5.declaration of charged expenditure on consolidated fund or increase the amount of any such expenditure.
6.the receipt of money on account of the consolidated fund of India or public account of India
7.Any matter incidental to any of the matters specified above.
- If any question arises whether a bill is money bill or not the decision of the speaker of lk sabha is final and cannot be questioned in a court of law or in any house of parliament or even president.
Why money bills require only lok sabha to pass them in india?
- According to constitutional provisions money bill can be introduced only in loksabha and it has the ultimate power to accept or reject money bills.
- The supreme constitutional authority given to authority by the constitution in terms of the demand for grants and the appropriation bills
- Loksabha is directly responsible to the people so bills of such importance like money bills should be dealt by lok sabha.
- Also as government needs the confidence of the lower house only it should have decision making process of such bills.
Should the excessive power of speaker regarding money bills amended?
Yes:
- The sole discretion is being used by the ruling parties to whittle away the legislative powers of rajya sabha and make it a redundant legislative house by sending crucial bills like money bills as rajya sabha doesn’t have the power over those bills.
- In the recent controversy of considering aadhar bill as money bill despite the bill not meting the criteria set to be for a money bill shows the provision is being misused.
- Neither the constitution nor the house rules lay down the procedure with regard to certifying the money bill making speakers decision discretionary.
- Rajya sabha cant question as of now the decision of the speaker even when they have a strong case for contesting speakers decision.
- House of commons in Britain Appoint 2 senior members who must be consulted before speaker gives certificate that the bill is a money bill but the ultimate decision is with the speaker itself.
- Similarly in India a mechanism can be developed where the committee of the secretaries of both the houses ay examine in detail the given bill and submit their views to the speaker before speaker’s decision.
No:
Article 122 provides immunity against challenges to proceedings on the grounds of procedural irregularities.A wrong decision taken under article 110(3) is not a procedural irregularity and hence does not grant any immunity.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education and Human Resources
Merits:-
- It reduces financial burden and saves the students from the trouble of writing multiple entrance exams to medical courses in state run and private institutions.
- Can curb the increase in commercialization of higher education in medicine by giving admissions to students with merit.
- Ensures a transparent admission process in private,unaided institutions which thrive on selling of medical seats.
- Minimizes corruption and irregularities in admission to medical courses.
- Safeguards the sanctity of medical profession
- To prevent any form of malpractices such as donation,profiteering and capitation fees.
- Emphasises on merit as the only criteria for admissions.
- Upholds article 19(6)and provides for exception to Art 19(1)(g)
Demerits:-
- Centralization of medical education affects admission process to states.
- States fear that it would undermine their reservation policy
- Private institutions especially by minorities were against any interference in their admission process as
- it would affect their right to regulate their own admissions that had been upheld by supreme court in the judgement of TMA pai foundation (2002)
- violation of article 30
- No legal clarification for states as NEET is recalled which is leading to confusion whether they have to continue their admission process or not.
- Deprives state run universities and medical colleges of their right to admit students as per their own procedures.
- Also differences in terms of content,state and central boards syllabus adds to the confusion and uncertainty the students are facing.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Basics of cyber security;
Measures needed:
- holistic approach needed-enterprises,governments and service providers need to architect their systems and network to adopt new technology.
- Adoption of big data to detect threats
- Management of risks by banks when it comes to taking on third-party vendors.More investment in more resilient platform based security platforms.
- bring manpower like preparing students for 1 million odd unfilled cybersecurity jobs worldwide.
- Implementing BASELIII which requires financial institutions to have robust data architecture and IT infrastructure to provide an automated process to correctly identify and combine all material enterprise risks
- Cooperate with internet service providers for better security of national cyberspace as is the case in US,UK ,japan .
- Updating the cybersecurity strategies frequently to be at par with the technology of the attacks.
- Include input from all national stakeholders
- A cyber security law and strategy which are the first steps taken by USA in fighting cybersecurity are needed in India too.
- Implement gulshan rai committee recommendations-amending the evidence act suiting the present scenario,setup agencies for online cyber crime registration,new cyber Indian coordination centre etc..
International experiences:
- Cyber threat alliance – a group of cyber security solutions provides coming together to share threat intelligence on attacks taking place across the region.
- Cyber security information sharing act in US-
- help US companies to work with US government to combat hackers.
- india can look to foster the sharing of cyber threat information and ensure that there are responsible primary protections in place for the purpose of identifying,preventing cyber threats.
- 25% of global firms have adopted big analytics for at least one security and fraud detection case by 2016.
- World economic forum partnership for cyber resilience-is an initiative created in response to the growing importance of cybersecurity
- Global cybersecurity Index to measure a country’s level of cybersecurity document.
- India has to learn from Israel which has made huge advances in cyber security especially startup from the employees of defence organization with strong entrepreneurial spirit led to cyber security powerhouses there.
Topic: Prevention of money laundering
How did liberalization and policy measures make many Indians to invest abroad or stash funds there:
- Liberalised remittance scheme in 2003 made it clear that it is not illegal sending funds abroad for a variety of reasons .At present the limit is 2,50,000 $
- FERA did not allow Indians to take money out of the country or to keep funds outside india without permission .With FERA diluting and introduction of FEMA easier flow of funds from and to india allowed.
- With Prevention of money laundering 2005 money laundering which was a criminal offence under FERA became a civil offence now.
- Current account accountability but no capital account convertibility made at least a limited amount of proceeds from international transactions could be kept outside.
- The Double tax avoidance agreements with tax havens led to payment of low taxation in one country to avoid the higher tax rates in the other.The round tripping from Mauritius with zero tax on certain types of incomes is a major issue.
- Participatory notes issued by registered foreign institutional investors to overseas investors who wish to invest in the Indian stock markets without registration with regulator .
- Gold imports through official channel and smuggling is a conduit to being back black money from abroad.
- Foreign funds received by charitable organizations ,NGO’s need not disclose the Indian beneficiary
- Non tariff barriers to economic activity such as permits and licenses ,long delays in getting approvals from government agencies are an incentive to proceed with underground economy and black money.
- Unlike earlier decades the interest rates offered in Us currency is negligible. So Indians are routing their foreign funds back to india as the capital appreciation in Indian capital markets are far more attractive.An internal market of black money is being developed.
However blaming liberalization and policy measures entirely for the black money is not right.There were other reasons which made Indians send money abroad:
- Opaque and complicated procedures and regulations pushed people towards underground economy
- High transaction costs associated with compliance of law.
- Lack of reforms in many sectors like gold trading,mining permits,bullion,equity trading markets.
- Loopholes in agreements signed like DTAA,Tax exchange agreements
- Tax evasion due to unprecedentedly high tax rates
- Attractive features of tax havens with no disclosure of the person,easy registration and other features which makes it easy for investments
- Overall reduction of values in the society .Corruption and bribes by many government officials routed funds outside through hawala channels evading tax.Example:Vodafone case
- Not all funds in tax havens or abroad are illegitimate or against law
- Delay in implementation of general anti avoidance rules.
Suggestions:
- Implementing M.C.Joshi committee recommendations of
- US patriotic act under which global financial transactions above a threshold limit get reported to law enforcement agencies .India needs to follow this too
- Amnesty scheme with reduced penalties and immunity from prosecution to the people who bring black money from abroad
- And the effective implementation of mechanisms india has like FATF,Black money act ,BEPS india can control the trend of black money successively.
General Studies – 4
Topic:Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions;
