{"id":1126,"date":"2018-06-18T13:30:24","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2018-06-18T13:30:24","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T08:00:24","slug":"mains-focus-15th-18th-june-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/mains-focus-15th-18th-june-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Mains Focus-(15th-17th June 2018)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Paper 2: Devolution of powers &amp; finances up to local levels &amp; challenges therein<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"defaulth3\"><strong>Concerns in Urban Local Governments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1127\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"926\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA.png 926w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA-150x101.png 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA-300x202.png 300w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ADMINISTRATIVE-STRUCTURE-AND-HIERACRCHY-IN-INDIA-768x518.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>Status of urban local government<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Twenty-five years ago, the Constitution underwent what is arguably its most significant transformation with the passage of the 73rd (mandating the creation of panchayats) and the 74th (creation of municipalities) Constitutional Amendments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">As the Central Government\u2019s Smart Cities mission completes three years this month, it\u2019s the right time to examine India\u2019s tryst with municipal governance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Concerns in 3-tiers<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">First, elected representatives at the city-level are rendered powerless by making them subservient to the State government<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">In most municipal corporations, while the mayor is the ceremonial head, the executive powers of the corporation are vested with the State government-appointed commissioner<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Municipal corporations are further denied their political role by the continued operation of various parastatal agencies created by the State government.E.g. urban development authorities (building infrastructure), public corporations (water, electricity, transportation services, etc) Even urban planning and land-use regulation is with State government-controlled development authorities. These agencies function with certain autonomy.Moreover they are accountable only to the State government, and not the local government.Parastatal agencies and unelected commissioners are pre-74th Amendment legacies that have not been undone.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">These agencies, which function with a certain autonomy, are accountable only to the State government, not the local government<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Even urban planning and land-use regulation (globally a quintessential local government function) is with State government-controlled development authorities<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Functions in 12th Schedule which a State government is expected to devolve to the local government should be re looked. It does not include essential civic issues such as urban transportation, housing or urban commons.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Even for performing functions that are within its purview, local government requires State government permissions. These include functions like levying local taxes or undertaking civic projects above a certain budget. Municipalities are not yet autonomous units to be truly called as the \u201cthird tier\u201d of government in India\u2019s federal system. The creation of parallel institutions further dis-empowers the elected local government. It shows how higher levels of government distrust local politics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">The 74th Amendment contains an industrial township exception. A municipality need not be constituted in areas which are declared as industrial townships. These provisions have been employed by State governments to keep local governments weak<\/span>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Way forward<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Indian cities have grown exponentially over the last 25 years, with some crossing the 10 million population mark<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">As cities struggle to meet the basic needs of their inhabitants, we must re-examine the existing modes of organizing power in urban India<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">While urban governance reforms can take multiple shapes, they must be foregrounded in the political empowerment of local government that furthers local democratic accountability<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Local governments must be increasingly acknowledged as inherently political spaces.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The present model of urban governance vesting power in a singular municipality should be re-looked.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Urban governance reforms should focus on political empowerment of local government that promotes local democratic accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Paper 2: Issues relating to development &amp; management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">New Norms in UGC<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>Change in UGC regulations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The University Grants Commission (UGC) has brought out a new set of regulations to alter the conditions for recruitment and promotion of college and university teachers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">This is done\u00a0to make universities more focused on research and colleges on the teaching-learning process<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>New norms<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Research will no longer be mandatory for college teachers for promotion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">College teachers will be graded on teaching rather than research<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">They can earn grades for other activities too \u2014 like social work, helping in adoption of a village, helping students in extra-curricular activities, contributing teaching material to Swayam, the MOOCS platform for online material<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The regulations also make teaching hours flexible.<\/span><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Indians who had been awarded a doctoral degree from any of the top 500 global universities would be eligible to teach in Indian universities without the requirement of any equivalence certificate or NET as soon as the regulations are notified<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Paper 2: Issues relating to development &amp; management of Social Sector\/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Faults in NHPS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why in News<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Model Tender Document For The Selection of Implementing Agencies For the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare tries to address various concerns related to NHPS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The document states that nearly 47 percent of the packages under the NHPS,<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What document states ?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The document states that nearly 47 percent of the packages under the NHPS, including those related to heart ailments and cancer, require pre-authorisation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">This means hospitals impanelled under the scheme cannot perform these procedures until they have an authorization letter from the NHPS\u2019s Implementation Support Agency<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Why this system of checks?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Current\u00a0scheme\u2019s predecessor, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, was riddled with unethical practices such as unnecessary hospitalization, needless investigations and billing for superfluous and unrelated treatment packages<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Associated Concerns\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Hospitals might shift the onus of obtaining the authorization letter on the critically-ill or their families<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Several procedures, including emergency consultation for acute colic, nebulization for an asthma attack, hypoglycemia in a diabetic and treatment of \u201cdengue without complication\u201d, will be covered by the scheme only if the treatment is availed in a government hospital<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Without timely treatment, a dengue fever can aggravate to a life-threatening disease<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Way forward<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Checks on the impanelled hospitals are well in order under NHPS<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">It would prevent\u00a0private hospitals to milk the NHPS by prescribing unnecessary investigations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">But it should also be ensured that these checks do not come in between providing emergency care to critically ill patients or put an extra burden on their families<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Paper 2:\u00a0 India &amp; its neighborhood- relations<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Rift in India-Maldives ties<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Master.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1128\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Master.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Master.jpg 630w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Master-130x150.jpg 130w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Master-261x300.jpg 261w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why a Rift in ties?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">There has been a series of setbacks in India-Maldives ties, starting from March 2015 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceled a visit<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Recent moves by Abdulla Yameen, President of the Maldives, have put Mal\u00e9 on a collision course with New Delhi<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">India criticised the government for its incarceration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, sentenced to 19 months in prison for an alleged plot to unseat Mr. Yameen<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The Maldives has conveyed to India that it will not extend beyond June 30 the lease of Indian helicopters or the visas of personnel manning them<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">This signals a marked downturn in defense cooperation between the two countries, which normally coordinate maritime and EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) patrols together.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Hundreds of Indians offered employment in the Maldives at resorts, hospitals and colleges have been denied work visas for the past few month<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong> Paper 2: <\/strong>Bilateral, regional &amp; global groupings &amp; agreements involving India &amp;\/or affecting India\u2019s interest<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<p><strong>No Assumption Island in Indian Ocean<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/nuclear_1_032715115323.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1129\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/nuclear_1_032715115323.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/nuclear_1_032715115323.jpg 525w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/nuclear_1_032715115323-150x135.jpg 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/nuclear_1_032715115323-300x270.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>What was the deal?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The deal was to include a 20-year access to the base, as well as permission to station some military personnel on the ground with facilities on the island funded by India, owned by Seychelles and jointly managed by both sides.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The deal to build a military base at Assumption Islands was struck in principle in 2015 during PM Modi\u2019s visit to Seychelles<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>Setback for India&#8217;s vision in Indian Ocean<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">The decision by the Seychelles President to drop the deal in the face of protests over a perceived loss of sovereignty is a blow to the government\u2019s \u201cSAGAR\u201d (Security and Growth for All in the Region) programme, announced by Mr. Modi during a visit to Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries in March 2015.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">It also comes amid India\u2019s troubles with another IOR country, the Maldives, where the government has demanded that India withdraw two helicopters, pilots and personnel from its atolls that had been sent there to help with maritime patrols.&#8217;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Paper 3: Development &amp; employment<\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">No Parenting Leave for Father in India<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">India is among almost 90 countries in the world without national policies in place that ensure new fathers get adequate paid time off with their newborn babies<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Almost two-thirds of the world\u2019s children under one-year-old, nearly 90 million, live in countries where their fathers are not entitled by law to a single day of paid paternity leave as per study by UNICEF<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;\">Need of Paternity Leave<\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Evidence suggests that when fathers bond with their babies from the beginning of life, they are more likely to play a more active role in the child\u2019s development<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">Research also suggests that when children positively interact with their fathers, they have better psychological health, self-esteem and life-satisfaction in the long-term<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>Steps by India<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">In\u00a0India, officials are proposing a Paternity Benefit Bill for consideration in the next session of Parliament which would allow fathers up to three months of paid paternity leave<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"><strong>What UNICEF proposed<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\"> UNICEF modernized its approach to parental leave provisions, with up to 16 weeks of paid leave for paternity across all of its offices worldwide<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">This leave is for fathers of new infants to bond with their child and foster better relationships<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;\">UNICEF has become the first United Nations agency to extend such leave beyond the standard four weeks<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paper 2: Devolution of powers &amp; finances up to local levels &amp; challenges therein Concerns in Urban Local Governments Status<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,1],"tags":[501,606,605,607,604],"class_list":["post-1126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","category-miscellaneous","tag-constitution","tag-india-maldives","tag-national-health-protection-scheme","tag-paternity-leave","tag-urban-local-governments"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1130,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions\/1130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}