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On November 20, Nepal had its general elections, its second since the promulgation of the Nepal Constitution of 2015. This was also the first time in Nepal’s history that a parliament had completed a five-year tenure even though legislative activities were conducted for barely 18 months.
The last elections saw communist forces uniting and sweeping the elections and relegating the Nepali Congress to a quiet opposition.
There was no end to intra-party squabbles, which are a key feature of Nepali politics, and there was a split in the ruling party. What followed next were attempts to dissolve Parliament twice, but only to be reinstated by the Supreme Court.
The President also became very active by becoming a part of the push for a dissolution of Parliament as well as not approving a citizenship bill.
The November 2022 parliamentary elections saw an awkward pre-poll alliance between the ruling coalition of Nepali Congress and the two communist parties that had split from the main Nepal Communist Party, i.e., the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist).
The alliance was awkward as it was during the Maoist insurgency that some of the biggest killings took place (when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Prime Minister); the Maoist killed a large number of Nepali Congress cadres.
The other pre-poll alliance was led by Communist Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) and comprised the Janata Samajwadi Party (a splinter group of the multiple combinations of the Madhesi parties) and the royalist Hindu nationalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).
Nepal’s Parliament has 275 seats, with 165 under direct election from the First Past the Post (FPTP) and 110 through Proportional Representation (PR), for which each party submits a list prior to the elections.
Voting is by using two separate ballot papers — voting for the candidate and then voting for the party. Now, 61% of the eligible 17,988,57 voters voted for the elections.
Poor soil management will erode food security (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Healthy soils are essential for our survival. They support healthy plant growth to enhance both our nutrition and water percolation to maintain groundwater levels.
Soils help to regulate the planet’s climate by storing carbon and are the second largest carbon sink after the oceans. They help maintain a landscape that is more resilient to the impacts of droughts and floods.
As soil is the basis of food systems, it is no surprise that soil health is critical for healthy food production.World Soil Day (WSD) 2022, annually observed on December 5, aligns with this.
WSD 2022, with its guiding theme, ‘Soils: Where food begins’, is a means to raise awareness on the importance of maintaining healthy soils, ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, encouraging societies to improve soil health, and advocating the sustainable management of soil.
Today, nutrient loss and pollution significantly threaten soils, and thereby undermine nutrition and food security globally. The main drivers contributing to soil degradation are industrial activities, mining, waste treatment, agriculture, fossil fuel extraction and processing and transport emissions.
The reasons behind soil nutrient loss range from soil erosion, runoff, leaching and the burning of crop residues. Soil degradation in some form or another affects around 29% of India’s total land area.
This in turn threatens agricultural productivity, in-situ biodiversity conservation, water quality and the socio-economic well-being of land dependent communities.
Nearly 3.7 million hectares suffer from nutrient loss in soil (depletion of soil organic matter, or SOM). Further, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, and irrigation with contaminated wastewater are also polluting soils. Impacts of soil degradation are far reaching and can have irreparable consequences on human and ecosystem health.
Opinion
From a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The economic impact of the pandemic spared few, but there is now evidence that those in the informal sector faced especially devastating consequences.
A key reason was the challenge of raising capital. India’s formal credit system is inhospitable to informal sector workers and micro-entrepreneurs — they cannot even get a small personal loan to tide over cash flow issues in their businesses because they lack the papers and the collateral usually required for admission to the formal credit market. Why should it be so?
Bankers would say the working poor are not good credit risks and lack the behaviour and aptitude associated with successful repayment outcomes. Unfortunately, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Unable to borrow, the working poor cannot establish a credit history, or learn how to manage their debts, and invest the loan in productive expenditures that would bolster their earnings and allow them to make their EMI payments on time.
They are excluded from the formal credit economy. Banks are denied potentially good customers and the economy is denied their entrepreneurial energies.
Systematic evaluation of a pioneering new blended finance instrument called a returnable grant (RG) suggests we can break this vicious cycle of financial exclusion.
Developed as part of the Revive Initiative by Samhita Social Ventures and Collective Good Foundation (CGF), and supported by philanthropic funding, the RG concept is simple and innovative. Recipients receive a ‘grant’, with ticket sizes tailored to their needs (typically under ₹10,000).
But unlike conventional grants, there is an expectation to return (or repay) the grant, either in a lump sum or in EMIs over a pre-agreed time period.
Beneficiaries are told that timely return of the grant will allow Samhita-CGF to support other workers like themselves, and that additional benefits, such as interest-rate subsidies or access to skilling and insurance products, may be forthcoming for them.
Explainer
China’s moves in the Indian Ocean (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
On November 21, China’s top development aid agency convened the first “China-Indian Ocean Region Forum” in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming.
The meet organised by the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) is the latest Chinese initiative focusing on the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), underlining Beijing’s growing strategic interests in a region where its economic footprint has been deepening.
The CIDCA, which is China’s new development aid agency, currently headed by former Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, said in a statement the forum was “the first high-level official development cooperation forum jointly held by China and countries in the Indian Ocean Region” and “over 100 participants, including senior officials from 19 countries bordering the Indian Ocean” attended.
The forum issued a “Joint Press Statement” that noted China “proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region” and “all parties agreed” to “strengthen policy coordination, deepen development cooperation, increase resilience to shocks and disasters, and enhance relevant countries’ capacity to obtain economic benefits through use of marine resources such as fisheries, renewable energy, tourism, and shipping in a sustainable way.”
The organisers have said the forum was attended by “high-level representatives” and “senior officials” from 19 countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, and Australia.
Why has the Reserve Bank of India introduced an e-rupee? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Reserve Bank of India this week launched the digital rupee on a pilot basis. The digital currency will be offered by a select group of public and private banks in a few major cities initially, which can be used for both person-to-person and person-to-merchant transactions.
The digital rupee, or the e-rupee, is a central bank digital currency issued by the RBI. It is similar to the physical cash that you hold in your wallet except that the e-rupee is held electronically in a digital wallet overseen by the RBI.
The digital rupee is recognised as legal tender by the RBI, and thus has to be accepted by everyone in the country as a medium of exchange.
It is, however, different from deposits that you hold in a bank. Unlike deposits which are paid interest, the digital rupees in your wallet are not paid any interest by the central bank. Deposits held in banks can be converted into digital rupees and vice-versa.
The RBI believes that the digital rupee will make the rupee more attractive as a currency to users when compared to cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies have been viewed by many investors as alternatives to fiat currencies which progressively lose value over time due to debasement by central banks.
Since such a trend could threaten their sovereignty, central banks have been trying to come up with their own digital currencies. The RBI also believes that the digital rupee will be easier and more economical to produce when compared to physical cash notes.
More importantly, transactions carried out using digital rupees, in contrast to physical transactions, are more easily traceable by authorities.
The introduction of central bank digital currencies internationally has worried many who believe that it could disrupt the banking system.
News
India scores highest ever ranking in aviation safety (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
With the country getting its highest-ever rank in the ICAO aviation safety rankings, DGCA chief Arun Kumar on Sunday said the challenge now is to maintain and further improve the air safety ecosystem.
The comments also come against the backdrop of the country's aviation sector slowly coming back into the growth trajectory after being severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the domestic air traffic is also inching towards the pre-pandemic level.
In the latest rankings by the Indian Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), India's position has jumped to the 48th place from the 102nd spot in 2018. The ranking, which also places it ahead of China (49), is the highest ever received by India, according to DGCA officials.
“A robust safety oversight system certified and acknowledged by the experts is sine qua non for flight safety and very assuring for the flying public... The DGCA team has worked tirelessly to strengthen aviation safety.
A formal communication from the ICAO about India's ranking is expected in the coming weeks. The rankings are for 187 countries and assessments were done at different points of time.
Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16.
With a score of 85.49% each, India and Georgia are at the 48th position. Neighbouring Pakistan's score is 70.39%. The rankings are topped by Singapore with a score of 99.69%. It is followed by the UAE at the second position with a score of 98.8% and the Republic of Korea is at the third place (98.24%).
Others in the top ten are France (4th; 96.42%), Iceland (5th; 95.73%), Australia (6th; 95.04%), Canada (7th; 94.95%), Brazil (8th; 94.72%), Ireland (9th; 94.6%) and Chile (10th; 93.9%), as per the DGCA officials.