Constitutional Ideas of Gandhi and Ambedkar

Hind Swaraj: Gandhi’s constitutional ideas

1. Mahatma Gandhi presented an indigenous account of what the Constitution would look like in 1908.
2. Without decolonising the Constitution, India may become independent but would not have swaraj. 
3. Ousting British from India can lead to establishment of a new democratic government, but the nature of government would not change resulting in “English rule without the Englishman” and not “Hindustan but Englistan”.
4. A Swaraj constitution:
   1. Ideally based on ancient village republics as opposed to a large government in Delhi. 
   2. India would then remain united not because of constitution promised rights, but because Indians themselves consider it as their duty to forge a nation out of a people.
5. Gandhiji’s ardent follower Agarwal drafted such a constitution to put Hind Swaraj into action.
   1. It was less of a legal text and more a moral code.
   2. The rights to personhood, liberty and equality would be contingent on a duty to be faithful to the state.
   3. The problem lies, for instance, in how would a citizen have to demonstrate loyalty? And if they failed, how will they be punished? 

Handing it over to Ambedkar

1. Due to the problems inherent in the constitution that bore his name, he distanced himself from it.
2. Also, he persuaded Rajendra Prasad to appoint B.R. Ambedkar as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution in August 1947. 
3. At that time, a progressive post-war constitution push was seen which was based on:
   1. A big state with the authority to ensure law and order
   2. Separation of powers to prevent overreach
   3. Range of fundamental rights to capture the global move towards universal human rights for all.
4. Ambedkar’s idea of the Constitution:
   1. India needed a powerful state machinery to ensure law and order as opposed to Gandhi’s view that a large state would be too distant from the people. 
   2. While Ambedkar believed that state would be duty-bound to manage the economy and control industries for the common good, Gandhi believed self-sustaining villages based on agriculture and cottage industry as the way forward.
   3. Ambedkar thought through fundamental rights for every individual, centuries of feudalism, sectarianism and casteism would be uprooted, but Gandhi thought history could not be undone by a policy document such as a constitution and it required individuals to change themselves.
5. Though Gandhiji held grave disagreement with each of Ambedkar’s visions, he accepted them as it enjoyed a wide consensus across party lines. 

India’s statistical performance on the global stage                     

Why in the News?

India has been recently elected to the United Nations Statistical Commission which has raised the need to focus on India’s own official statistical system.

India’s statistical system:

1. The World Bank’s compilation of Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) ranked India at 67 among 174 countries in 2019. 
2. Questions have been raised about the credibility of the statistics and the competence of the Indian official statisticians.
3. The results of statistical exercises, such as censuses and surveys, have been claimed to be of poorer quality when compared to data from administrative sources.

The SPI and dimensions:

1. SPI which assesses the performance of national statistical systems across 174 countries, is based on the assessment of 5 dimensions/pillars of performance: India’s score in 2019
   1. Data use- 80
   2. Data services- 88
   3. Data products- 60
   4. Data sources- 68.9
   5. Data infrastructure- 55
2. India’s overall SPI score stands at 70.4, placing it in the 67th rank among the 174 countries assessed. 
3. In Data use category,
   1. India performs well in measures assessing the comparability of estimates of child mortality, debt reporting, drinking water, and labour force participation (LFP).
   2. However, it lags by 20 points due to unavailability of comparable poverty estimates for the World Bank over the last 10 years (from 2017). This stems from a new comparability indicator introduced by the World Bank’s PovcalNet for poverty estimation.

An India assessment:

1. The pillar ‘Data Products’ is based on performance around the essential data required for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• India has conducted the Multiple Indicator Survey and Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey in the NSS 78th round (2020-21) and 79th round (2022-23), respectively, for collection of data on SDGs.

2. The pillar ‘Data infrastructure’ encompasses five sub-dimensions:
   1. Legislation and Governance- high scores as the national statistical legislation aligns well with the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.
   2. Standards and Methods- moderate performance 
   3. Skills
   4. Partnership
   5. Finance- poor performance as India’s national statistical plan lacks full funding.
3. Under data sources, three indicators are evaluated:
   1. Censuses and surveys- 100/100 for censuses and 86.6/100 for surveys
   2. Administrative data- low score of 50 due to non-fulfilment of criteria of at least 90% registration of births under the Civil Registration System (CRS). 
   3. Geospatial data
4. In ‘Data services’ dimension, India gets full points for data releases and data services. However, enhancements can be brought in by improving
   1. Download options
   2. Providing more comprehensive metadata availability
   3. Open terms for data usage.

SPI score, its relevance

1. India’s performance in censuses and surveys is superior in comparison to administrative data.
2. A thorough examination of the SPI score is crucial as it facilitates
   1. Improvement and enhanced in international competitiveness
   2. Substantial rise in rankings can be achieved by identifying issues and establishing attainable goals.

Protecting protected monuments

Why in the News?

A parliamentary committee headed by Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaisai Reddy has recommended that the list of centrally protected monuments (CPM) should be “rationalised” as 3,691 of CPM in India are “minor” monuments.

• The CPMs have to be categorised on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural and heritage value.
• It has also raised questions about the functioning of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Recommendations of the Committee:

1. The recommendations are part of the ‘359th Report on the Functioning of Archaeological Survey of India’ by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture.
2. The committee has specified that the list of CPM includes a large number of minor monuments with no national significance.
3. This current list includes a large number of minor monuments with no national significance.
4. Examples include:
   1. The graves of public works department engineer John Albert Cope (died in 1880) and Henry Gassen (died 1877) located in Kumta, Karnataka, is a protected monument under the supervision of the ASI. The structure had no architectural value, and the individuals were of no historical significance.
5. The approach is seen to be furtherance of the government’s decolonisation agenda.
6. The committee recommends that the list of monuments with ASI should be rationalised and categorised on the basis of their national significance, unique architectural value and specific heritage content.
7. Deletion of some of the kosminars (milestones built by Mughals) may also be considered, because they come in the way of road-widening exercises.

Easing restrictions around monuments:

1. The existing provision of a 100-metre prohibited area and 300-metre regulated area around all ASI-protected monuments leads to public inconvenience.
   1. It prohibits and regulates all activities like mining and construction around 100 metres and 300 metres of all the protected monuments.
   2. It causes problems for the local community living around it, as it becomes difficult for the village to repair their residential houses.
2. This stringent provision applies equally to both significant and insignificant monuments.
   1. For instance, the rules above apply identically to the Ajanta and Ellora monuments as much as to kosminars, unknown cemeteries and tombs.

Fixing ASI’s core mandate:

1. The committee has recommended ASI to develop preservation plans for all its work, especially before excavations. This includes,
   1. establishing clear strategies for documenting findings and conserving artefacts
   2. Restoring structures to ensure minimal impact on the site’s integrity.
2. It advocated the use of advanced technologies such as LiDAR, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D scanning for enhanced accuracy and efficiency of excavations. 
   1. For instance, some of these techniques were recently used inside the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi by the ASI for its court-mandated non-invasive survey.
3. To make the ASI an effective agency, it advised bifurcation of the organisation:
   1. ASI can look after the core mandate – exploration, excavation and conservation aspects
   2. India Heritage Development Corporation (IHDC) can deal with ASI’s revenue, such as ticket collection, conducting auctions, issuing licences, running cafeterias, selling mementoes and running sound and light systems.
4. Highest priority to the physical security and survey of all CPMs across the country has to be ensured by ASI.
   1. CAG had declared 92 CPMs as “missing” and of which only have been located.
   2. The remaining 50 monuments are either affected by rapid urbanisation, submerged under reservoirs/dams or are untraceable.
5. Regular physical surveys of all CPMs should be carried out from time to time. 
6. The ASI should maintain digital log books that include textual and photographic/ video records of the monument’s physical state and location coordinates, to check encroachment, if any, of these CPMs at an early stage.
7. Shortages of human resources and funds are limiting the efficient functioning of ASI.
8. ASI must undertake restoration work keeping the original structure, its relevance and aesthetics in mind.
9. ASI should integrate sustainable practices in conservation and restoration projects, such as using eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient techniques, and taking into consideration the long-term environmental impact of interventions.

Recent major conservation works undertaken by ASI:

1. Hoysala Temples in Karnataka (which has just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
2. Santiniketan in West Bengal (another recent WH site).
3. Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan
4. Ta Prohm and Preah Vihear temples in Cambodia
5. My Son Group of Temples in Vietnam
6. Friday Mosque in Maldives

Household savings

Why in the News?

The RBI Monthly Bulletin in September has revealed that households’ net financial savings had fallen to 5.1% from 11.5% in 2020-21.

• Financial liabilities of households rose faster than their assets which might be an indication of rising indebtedness and increasing distress. 

Government’s claim:

1. The household financial savings may be reducing but it does not imply fall in total savings.
2. This is because households took advantage of low interest rates after the pandemic to invest in assets such as vehicles, education and homes.

The optimistic claim:

There are evidences to support that the Household savings have shifted from financial to physical assets.

1. There has been an increase in household construction post-COVID, marked by 15% (when measured in 2011-12 prices) growth in the construction sector, and 10% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. 
2. Sectors such as trade, hotels, transport and communications grew during the same period.
3. Housing loans from Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) grew at double-digit rates between 2018-19 and 2022-23, with loans from housing finance companies growing almost 17 times between 2019-20 and 2022-23.
4. Liabilities in other non-financial assets such as education and vehicle loans from SCBs increased significantly between 2021-22 and 2022-23, at 17% and around 25% growth respectively.
5. Households have taken advantage of the low interest rates set by the RBI in the wake of the pandemic and increased their liabilities to purchase non-financial assets such as houses rather than spend for consumption needs.

The pessimistic claim:

Another contrasting picture can be seen from the below evidence points:

1. Gross financial assets declined marginally as a share of GDP from 11.1% to 10.9% between 2021-22 and 2022-23.
2. Though loans for housing, education and vehicles have increased, other components of personal loans have risen even faster. 
   1. The share of housing loans in total non-food personal loans from SCBs fell from 51.08% in 2018-19 to 47.4% in 2022-23.
   2. The share of education loans fell from 3.32% to 2.37%,
   3. Vehicle loans have remained constant at around 12%.
   4. While outstanding credit card loans increased from 3.8% to 4.7%, loans against gold jewellery increased from 1.07% to 2.16%, and the category of “Other Personal Loans” showed the largest rise from 24% to 27.42%. 
   5. These categories of loans do not necessarily indicate its use for asset creation and may indicate its use to finance consumption. 

The road ahead:

1. The data reveals that though housing loans have increased, other forms of loans used for consumption increased even faster. 
2. The possible reasons shall include:
   1. Households are borrowing more to maintain consumption in the face of income loss after COVID and high inflation.
   2. Realisation of pent-up demand during the pandemic in the form of debt-financed consumption, with households optimistic about future repayment.
3. Given the U.S. Federal Reserve’s commitment to maintaining higher interest rates to combat inflation, it shall cause significant stresses for households to meet increasing liabilities. 

How government agencies use commercial spyware to target opponents

Why in the News?

Recently, former Egyptian MP Ahmed Eltantawy was targeted with Cytrox’s Predator spyware sent via links on SMS and WhatsApp.

• This attack came after Mr. Eltantawy stated plans publicly to run for President in the 2024 Egyptian elections.
• This is concerning as Egypt is a known customer of Cytrox’s Predator spyware

Use of spyware by governments to target political opponents and dissidents:

1. Investigations under the Pegasus Project in 2021, revealed that more than 50,000 phone numbers in 50 countries were potential targets of spyware.
2. The victims of the spyware attacks were in India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
3. The Pegasus spyware was reportedly used by Saudi Arabia to target journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s wife months before his death. Mr. Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and a known critic of the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

What is Spyware?

1. It is defined as a malicious software designed to enter a device, gather sensitive data, and forward it to a third party without the user’s consent. 
2. They are used for commercial purposes like advertising while, malicious spyware is used to profit from data stolen from a victim’s device. 
3. Spyware is broadly categorised as:
   1. Trojan spyware
   2. Adware
   3. Tracking cookie
   4. System monitors
4. All spywares gather data for the author, but system monitors and adware make modifications to a device’s software and expose the device to further threats, making it more harmful.

Commercial Spywares:

1. Criminals use spyware to steal passwords or financial information. 
2. However, governments and law enforcement agencies use spyware as part of legal investigations which has led to the development of commercial spyware.
3. Commercial spyware mainly targets mobile platforms and can be legitimately used against criminals and terrorists. 
4. However, authoritarian governments have used it to spy on political opponents as there is lack of global regulations for companies developing spyware.

How are the devices targeted?

1. Citizen Lab and Google’s Threat Analysis Group have revealed that spyware on the former Egyptian MP’s device was delivered via network injection from a device located physically inside Egypt. 
   1. When he visited the sites without ‘HTTPS’ website, the device was redirected to a website, that matches the Cytrox’s Predator spyware.
2. The Pegasus spyware became a part of $2-billion “package of between India and Israel for sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear transaction between the two countries.
   1. As per The Washington Post, Pegasus spyware was used in India against at least 40 journalists, Cabinet Ministers, and holders of constitutional positions.
   2. The spyware was inserted into the victim’s phones exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities, which means even the device manufacturer was unaware of these exploits.
   3. The spyware was capable of zero-click attacks i.e., they can infect a device without requiring users to click on a malicious attachment or link.

Is the use of spyware increasing?

1. An Independent international affairs think tank has revealed that at least 74 governments contracted with commercial firms to obtain spyware or digital forensics technology between 2011 and 2023.
2. Autocratic regimes (44 such regimes have procured targeted surveillance technologies) are more likely to purchase commercial spyware or digital forensics than democracies.
3. Allegation has been pitched that Indian defence agency was reportedly purchasing equipment from an Israeli spyware firm that is a potential Pegasus alternative.
4. A report of The New York Times has stated that the FBI in the U.S. had bought a version of the Pegasus spyware.
5. Mexican authorities have been alleged to have deployed NSO products against journalists and political dissidents.
6. NSO Group have established subsidiaries in Bulgaria and Cyprus to facilitate selling their products, which indicates the lack of regulatory framework that act as enablers in spyware use by authorities.

Do spyware firms face backlash?

1. The U.S. blacklisted the NSO Group in 2021, after it gained access to a 50,000 phone numbers targeted by the NSO group’s clients.
2. However, patrons of the surveillance industry turned to other companies leaving the spyware industry alive.
3. Israel is the leading exporter of spyware and digital forensics but have low prioritised human rights considerations in its export licensing regime.
4. Tech giants including Meta, Google, and Apple have taken steps to tackle the problem of commercial spyware firms exploiting bugs in their software.
   1. Updating their software to fix the bugs exploited by spywares.
   2. Apple with its iOS 16 has a ‘Lockdown Mode’, an “extreme protection” mode designed for high-risk individuals. 
   3. Meta-owned WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit filed in 2019 against Israel’s NSO Group of exploiting a bug in its software.

Faulty policies on invasive exotics

Why in the News?

The invasive Conocarpus species of trees have been banned by Gujarat recently due to concerns over its management.

• This comes after the invasive species was banned by Telangana last year.
• There is a possibility of several other states following the suit.
• This can discourage horticulturists and nurseries from multiplying the species for afforestation and landscaping projects across the country over the next year.

Problem with exotic plant species 

1. Exotics are used in urban landscaping projects in particular, for beautification and greening purposes without due attention to the process of selection of species.
2. Many species introduced for greening or ornamental projects eventually turned invasive.
3. Native species which failed to compete for space and soil resources were driven to extinction, which led to significant costs to ensure the management of the invasive species. 
4. Such notable invasive species include:
   1. Eucalyptus
   2. Prosopis juliflora (vilayati kikar)
   3. Acacia mangium
   4. Lantana camara 
5. Conocarpus (buttonwood) trees:
   1. There are two species of
      1. Conocarpus erectus, more widely used in India and is native to South America
      2. C. lancifolius, native to East Africa.
   2. They are easily propagated and multiplied in nurseries through stem cuttings.
   3. Their plantations cause serious pollen allergies and respiratory problems, which has led to civic agencies taking action to ban them.

Reasons for deploying these exotics in the first place:

1. The non-native species often face very few or no pests or pathogens in new habitats.
2. Pest resistance makes their proliferation easy. 
3. They require very little aftercare. 
4. They are not browsed by livestock and thus, favoured for horticultural or landscaping projects.
5. The human population gets familiar with the local pollen calendar and, to a large extent, their immune systems coevolve.

Way forward:

1. Landscape managers have to choose from among native species pools, species that are ecologically appropriate and also meet aesthetic needs.
2. The urban landscaping and agroforestry projects have to refer to existing information on these species before taking up their large-scale use.
3. Urban greening projects should use native species for long-term sustainability. This can marginally increase the costs and effort, but will add immense value in terms of ecosystem services in the medium to long term.

• For instance, the avenue trees in Lutyens’ Delhi from Central India and the Gangetic plain, apart from aesthetics they harbour a large number of native bird species and other dependents.

4. A watch list of plants known to harm native species and ecosystems, and raise public health concerns has to be maintained to monitor import and use of horticultural plants.

Karman Line

1. Kármán Line is a boundary located at 100 km above sea level.
2. It is an imaginary line that demarcates the earth’s atmosphere from space.

3. 

   A record-keeping body called Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) established this boundary in the 1960s.
4. Any individual who crosses this line qualifies to be an astronaut.
5. The line does not indicate much physical variations within a short distance on either side of the line:
   1. There is no significant difference in the pressure or the composition of air.
   2. The earth’s gravity continues to exert its pull here. 
   3. The atmosphere doesn’t end here.
6. However, Karman line is significant as it regulates airspace:
   1. It marks the altitude beyond which a traditional aircraft cannot fly. 
   2. It also acts as a legal reference that separates airspace that a country can claim to own from space itself, which is governed like international waters.

Kosi River

1. It is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. 
2. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal.
3. The Kosi River is also known as Saptakoshi for its seven upper tributaries which includes:
   1. Tamur river
   2. Arun river
   3. Sun Kosi
   4. The tributaries of Sun Kosi include Dudh Koshi, Likhu Khola, Tamakoshi River, Bhote Koshi, and Indravati.
   5. Kamalā, Bāgmati (Kareh) are the major tributaries of Kosi River in India, besides minor tributaries such as Bhutahi Balān
4. Kosi is the 3rd largest tributary of the Ganges by water discharge after Ghaghra and Yamuna.
5. In the past, the river has shifted its course for more than 133 km (83 mi) from east to west during the last 200 years.
6. The Kosi River is known as the "Sorrow of Bihar" as the annual floods affect about 21,000 km² of fertile agricultural lands thereby disturbing the rural economy.

Bacteria Wolbachia

1. It is a genus of intracellular bacteria that infects mainly arthropod species, including a high proportion of insects, and also some nematodes.
2. It is the most common parasitic microbes, and is possibly the most common reproductive parasite, with as many as 25 to 70% of all insect species are estimated to be potential hosts
3. Some host species cannot reproduce, or even survive, without Wolbachia colonisation.
4. These bacteria can infect many different types of organs, but are most notable for the infections of the testes and ovaries of their hosts.