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About 239 institutes like the IITs, IIMs, NITs and AIIMS are categorised as premier institutes by banks.According to the data, 4.7 per cent of the total education loans disbursed by the State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank have turned into NPAs.
In contrast, of the total education loans to students in premier institutes, about 0.45 per cent turned into NPAs. These four banks together constitute about 65 per cent of the total loan portfolio of PSBs.
Overall, about 8 per cent of all education loans disbursed by 12 PSBs, where repayments have started, have turned into NPAs.
For education loans, students get a moratorium period of up to 12 months after they complete their studies.
So, for a four-year BTech course, the repayment starts only after the completion of the fifth year if the student fails to get a job. The repayment starts early if the student starts earning.
Following the high rate of defaults in low-value education loans of PSBs, banks have slowed such lending, impacting students enrolled in secondary institutes across the country.
PSBs are the largest lender in the education loan sector and have a market share of about 91 per cent – RRBs (regional rural banks) and private banks constitute the remaining 9 per cent of the market.
High defaults are being reported in low-value loans (up to Rs 7 lakh). Banks are not willing to lend to that segment as liberally as they were doing earlier.
In Parliament
Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill refereed to joint house panel (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Lok Sabha referred the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill-2022 to a joint committee of Parliament comprising 21 members from the Lower House and 10 from the Upper House.
On December 7, the government had introduced the Bill that proposes merger of “any cooperative society” into an existing multi-state cooperative society.
Home Minister Amit Shah moved a proposal to this effect in Lok Sabha, which was approved by a voice vote. The committee has been given time till the last day of the first week of the second part of the Budget Session-2023 to present its report to the House. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will appoint one of the members of the committee as its chairperson.
Of the 21 Lok Sabha members on the committee, a maximum of 12 are from BJP — Chandra Prakash Joshi, Jagdambika Pal, ParbatbhaiSavabhai Pate, PoonambenHematbhaiMaadam, Ramdas ChandrabhanjiTadas, Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, Nishikant Dubey, Sunita Duggal, Brijendra Singh, Jaskaur Meena, Ram Kripal Yadav and Dhal Singh Bisen.
Besides, two members are from Congress Suresh Kodikunnil and Manish Tewari, and one each from DMK (Kanimozhi Karunanidhi), TMC (Kalyan Banerjee), YSRCP (Sri Krishna Devarayalu Lavu), Shiv Sena (Hemant Shriram Patil), JDU (Dulal Chandra Goswami), BJD (Chandra Sekhar Sahu) and BSP (Girish Chandra).
The Centre has proposed this amendment through Section 6 of the Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Cooperation B L Verma.
As per the present law, enacted 20 years ago, only multi-state cooperative societies can amalgamate themselves and form a new multi-state cooperative society.
The Bill also seeks to establish a “cooperative election authority” to bring “electoral reforms” in the cooperative sector. For this, the government has proposed to substitute Section 45 of the 2002 Act.
As per the proposed amendment, the authority will consist of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and a maximum of three members to be appointed by the Centre.
Express Network
Project 75: Fifth Kalavari Class attack submarine delivered to Navy (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3 Defence)
The fifth submarine of Project 75 to build Kalvari class diesel-electric attack submarines, Yard 11879, which when commissioned will be christened INS Vagir, was delivered to the Indian Navy.
Project 75 includes the indigenous construction of six submarines based on the Scorpene-class developed by the French defence major, Naval Group (formerly DCNS), and Spanish state-owned entity Navantia.
These submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, in collaboration with Naval Group.
Launched on November 12, 2020, ‘Vagir’ commenced the sea trials on February 1, 2022, and has completed all major trials including the weapon and sensor trials in the shortest time in comparison to the earlier submarines, officials said. The submarine would shortly be commissioned into the Indian Navy.
Other submarines of the Kalvari class are INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, and INS Vela which have already been commissioned into the Navy and INS Vagsheer, which was launched in April earlier this year.
This class of submarines have Diesel Electric transmission systems and are attack submarines also known as the ‘hunter-killer’ type, which means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.
The Kalvari-class submarines have the capability of operating in a wide range of Naval combat including anti-warship and anti-submarine operations, intelligence gathering and surveillance, and naval mine laying.
These submarines are around 220 feet long and have a height of 40 feet. The submarines can reach the highest speeds of 11 knots when surfaced and 20 knots when submerged.
The submarines in the current Kalvari-class take their names from now-decommissioned classes of submarines – like Kalvari class that included Kalvari, Khanderi and Karanj, and Vela class that included Vela, Vagir, and Vagsheer.
The now-decommissioned Kalvari and Vela classes were one of the earliest submarines in the post-Independent period and belonged to the Soviet-origin Foxtrot class of vessels.
Explained
Virus and fear surge in China: what’s happening and why? (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
A surge of Covid-19 infections in China in the past few weeks has prompted warnings that the country could witness over a million deaths in the coming months, even though official figures presented a very different picture.
China reported five deaths for Monday and two for Sunday, according to a Reuters report, taking its total death count to 5,242.
Just about 2,700 new cases were reported on Monday, substantially lower than the nearly 40,000 cases that were being reported a couple of weeks ago. However, several media reports suggested that the situation was far more serious.
China has been seeing a surge in cases ever since it relaxed the suffocating restrictions last month following rare public protests. Infections have been spreading rapidly after that — the daily case count touched new records in the first two weeks of this month. While the official daily numbers have since come down, there have been reports of hospitals being overwhelmed, of shortages of flu medicines, and of schools moving back online.
China had been following a zero-Covid policy for the last three years, which involved extremely restrictive measures to deal with any surge in cases.
Every known case, even asymptomatic, was mandatorily hospitalised, small outbreaks triggered hard lockdowns, and suspected cases, and all their contacts, were kept under long isolation. Foreign travellers had to mandatorily go through 10 days of isolation.
The measures were painful but effective in keeping a check on the spread of the virus for three years. However, it also meant that a large proportion of the population was never infected by the virus, and had no natural immunity, thereby rendering it extremely susceptible.
So, once the virus was able to break through the defences, as it sometimes did, it spread rapidly in the population. That is what happened in March-April this year, when China saw an explosion of cases for the first time.
The Biodiversity Commitment (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A major international environmental conference has just concluded in Montreal, Canada, promising to take urgent action to protect and restore the world’s biodiversity — all the different forms of life, plants as well as animals, that inhabit this planet.
This conference was the biodiversity equivalent of the more high-profile climate meetings that are held every year. Signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), a 1993 agreement, meet every two years — not annually like the climate meetings — to work on a global plan to halt biodiversity loss and restore natural ecosystems.
The Montreal meeting was the 15th edition of this conference, hence the name COP15 — or the 15th Conference of the Parties to the CBD.
The Montreal Conference has delivered a new agreement called the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which contains four goals and 23 targets that need to be achieved by 2030. The GBF is being compared to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change that is guiding global climate action.
The comparison of the biodiversity meetings with the climate conferences is not incidental. The two are in fact closely related. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the CBD were both outcomes of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit — as was the third member of the family, the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), which deals specifically with the issue of land degradation. The CBD came into force in 1993; the other two in the following year.
The three environmental conventions seek to address the issues that overlap among them. Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, while changes in land and ocean use have an impact on climate change.
Land degradation appears as a cause as well as effect in both climate change and biodiversity loss. So, while all the three agreements hold their separate COPs, the interlinkages, not very obvious in the 1990s, are getting increasingly evident. The success on any one helps the cause of the others too.
The CBD is not just about conservation and restoration of ecosystems. It is also about sustainable use of natural resources, and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of these resources.
First winter fog hits Delhi: what is fog and what causes it? (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
For two consecutive mornings, dense fog has enveloped northwestern India, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, parts of Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan.
The fog episodes, which follow a comparatively warm start to the winter, are likely to recur over the Indo Gangetic Plain for the next three days, keeping visibility poor in the hours before and after daybreak.
Fog forms like clouds do — when water vapour condenses. The presence of moisture and a fall in the temperature are key factors for the formation of fog.
With the land surface cooling down at night, the air close to the surface also cools down. Since cooler air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air, the water vapour in the air condenses to form fog.
Fog begins to form in the early hours of the morning, when the temperature is at its lowest. On Monday, for instance, fog in Delhi began to form around 1.30 am.
Fog can have “high spatial variability”, and its intensity can depend on factors like humidity, wind, and temperature, R K Jenamani, scientist, IMD, said. Areas near water bodies, for instance, may see denser fog because of the higher humidity.
Temperatures have begun to dip over northwestern India. On December 17, Delhi recorded the lowest minimum temperature of the season so far — 6 degrees Celsius.
Cold wave conditions, in which the minimum temperature is significantly lower than normal, have been recorded recently over Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Rajasthan.
The fall in temperature along with moisture and light winds over the Indo Gangetic Plain has resulted in dense fog over the region, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Western disturbances, which are storms that originate in the Mediterranean Sea, bring moisture-bearing winds to northwest India. This can result in increased moisture levels over the region. In the absence of western disturbances, local moisture sources like water vapour from rivers and soil moisture can also cause fog, according to Jenamani.
Dutch history of slave trade and why the country’s PM apologized (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, History)
Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday apologised for the country’s historical role in slavery and slave trade, in a speech that has been seen by many as crucial but not sufficient.
While Rutte’s apology is historic, members of the aggrieved communities say it smacks of “colonialist attitudes’ ‘, as it was delivered without due consultation with them. Also, many have claimed, an apology without reparations is not enough.
The increased engagement of the Dutch with their racist and colonial past has been spurred on by the murder of George Floyd in the US in 2020. Rutte’s apology follows the report of a national advisory panel which was set up after Floyd’s murder.
In a speech made at the National Archives in The Hague, Rutte said, “We who live in today’s world must acknowledge the evils of slavery in the clearest possible terms, and condemn it as a crime against humanity.
As a criminal system which caused untold numbers of people untold suffering. Suffering that continues in the lives of people today. And we in the Netherlands must confront our part in that history.”
Saying that the slaves were “wrenched from their families and stripped of their humanity”, and “treated like cattle”, Rutte said while no one alive today was to blame for the past Dutch atrocities, “it is also true that the Dutch State, in all its manifestations through history, bears responsibility for the terrible suffering inflicted on enslaved people and their descendants.”
According to the United Nations Slavery and Remembrance website, “Like other European maritime nations, the Dutch were quick to involve themselves in the transtlantic slave trade.
Between 1596 and 1829, the Dutch transported about half a million Africans across the Atlantic. Large numbers were taken to the small islands of Curaçao and St. Eustatius, in the Caribbean.
The Dutch also shipped about a half million Africans to their settlements in Dutch Guiana, notably Suriname, where they worked primarily on sugar plantations.”
The Dutch put slaves to work in their coffee, sugar and tobacco plantations, apart from household labour in colonies. The centuries of slave trade funded what is known as Netherlands’ ‘golden age’ – the period roughly between 1585-1670, when trade, arts, sciences and the military flourished in the country.
Editorial
60 years on,the challenge (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
John F Kennedy’s aphorism — “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan” — was proved right (again) on the 60th anniversary of the 1962 India-China War this year when no official homage was paid by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or any politician to the fallen of 1962 at New Delhi’s National War Memorial.
Indian casualties in the 1962 China-India war, according to MoD figures, were 4,126 soldiers dead, wounded and missing in action, and 3,968 taken prisoner by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
While some Indian army units may have commemorated, with pride, the sanguinary battles of Rezang La and Walong, for the rest of the country, 65 per cent of whose citizens were born after 1962, this seems to be a forgotten war.
The December 9 clash between Indian troops and PLA soldiers in the vicinity of Tawang should serve as a harsh reminder of the close call that Arunachal Pradesh (then known as the North-Eastern Frontier Agency or NEFA) had in 1962. So, let us recall a bit of this history, lest it repeats itself.
Starting on October 20, 1962, the Chinese PLA advanced along two axes 500 miles apart — Tawang and Walong — and overcoming fierce but sporadic Indian resistance, overran NEFA in three weeks.
On November 21, China declared a ceasefire and PLA troops withdrew 20 km behind the McMahon Line. The Indian Army had fought with courage and tenacity, often, to the last man and last bullet, but they were let down by a fatal combination of political complacency, faulty intelligence and military incompetence and pusillanimity.
According to Australian journalist, Neville Maxwell, Nehru’s foolhardy “forward policy” was based on flawed inputs from his confidant and Intelligence Bureau chief, B N Mullik, who assured him that whatever the Indians did, “there need be no fear of a violent Chinese reaction”. Since the PM placed such faith in Mullik, none of the army generals could muster the courage to challenge his flawed advice.
Sixty years later, we can take reassurance from the fact that India and its armed forces have come a long way and there will be no replay of the 1962 debacle.
We must, however, bear in mind that China in this interregnum has seen phenomenal economic, technological and military growth and vies with the USA for the global “pole-position”.
Today, the Chinese threat hangs like a sword of Damocles over our heads, and without actually going to war, they have imposed a huge economic burden on us by forcing the “counter-mobilisation” of 50,000-60,000 extra Indian troops, stretching an already lean defence budget.
Judicial independence, above all (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
In February 1970, Swami Kesavananda Bharati, head of the EdneerMatha in Kerala, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, under Article 26 of the Constitution, challenging the Kerala government’s attempts to impose restrictions on the Matha’s management of its property.
Three years later, the Supreme Court, with a 7-6 majority, outlined the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution, emphasising the restrictions on Parliament’s ability to amend the Constitution, in particular, its key principles and architecture.
When Emergency was declared, the Supreme Court, too, was stacked with a new set of judges. In particular, AN Ray was appointed as chief justice by the president, superseding three judges who were senior to him — he was noted as one of the judges who had not signed the Kesavananda judgement.
Under him, the landmark judgement was revisited with a bench of 13 justices. The hearing of the case was conducted over two days — it was soon discovered that no review petition had actually been filed, with the review initiated over an oral request — an improper process, leading to the chief justice unilaterally dissolving the bench.
The basic structure doctrine survived, barely — despite the Centre having a committed judiciary. For India, the landmark judgement helped tip the balance away from autocracy to democracy.
Recently, there has been confrontation between the Centre and judiciary on the interpretation of Article 124 (2) and 217 (1) of the Constitution. Article 124 (2) highlights that every judge of the Supreme Court will be appointed by the president after consultation with such of the judges (in particular, the chief justice) of the Supreme Court and of the high courts in the states as necessary.
Similarly, for high courts, Article 217 (1) highlights that every judge of a high court will be appointed by the president after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the governor of the state, and the chief justice of the high court. Judicial interpretation in SP Gupta vs Union of India (1981), the Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India (Second Judges case) (1993) and Article 143(1) … vs Unknown (Third Judges Opinion) (1998) has further evolved the principle of judicial independence and led to a collegium system for recommending judges.
Currently, the Centre can accept or reject recommendations made by the collegium system — however, if a recommendation was reiterated, the government was obliged to accept it.
Primary Health Care 2.0 (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Health needs to be a central agenda for the G20 2023. It has been one of the priority areas for G20 deliberations since 2017, when the first meet of health ministers of G20 countries was organised by the German presidency.
The G20 now has health finance in its financial stream and health systems development in the Sherpa stream. An annual G20 meeting of health ministers and a joint health and finance task force reflects the seriousness the subject has gained.
The Berlin Declaration 2017 of the G20 health ministers provided a composite approach focusing on pandemic preparedness, health system strengthening and tackling antimicrobial resistance.
The Covid-19 pandemic gave added urgency to pandemic preparedness and the Indonesian presidency in 2022 made it the major focus. The Indian presidency needs to advance these agendas.
Health systems strengthening has engaged the global community in thinking through the content and directions — what is to be strengthened, and how? The concept of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) was born in the 2000s to prevent catastrophic medical expenditures due to secondary and tertiary level hospital services by universalising health insurance coverage.The UHC has been the big global approach for health systems strengthening since 2010, also adopted in 2015 as the strategy for Sustainable Development Goal-3 on ensuring healthcare for all at all ages.
However, the limited impact of this narrow strategy was soon evident, with expenditures on outdoor services becoming catastrophic for poor households and preventing access to necessary healthcare and medicines, while many unnecessary/irrational medical interventions were being undertaken.
So, in 2018, the Astana Conference organised by WHO and UNICEF put out a declaration stating that primary healthcare (PHC) is essential for fulfilling the UHC objectives.
In 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted the combined UHC-PHC approach as a “political declaration”. With demonstration of the benefits of PHC services during the pandemic, the World Bank published a report in 2021, “Walking the Talk: Reimagining Primary Health Care After COVID-19”. The dominant hospital-centred medical system is becoming unaffordable even for the high-income countries, as apparent during the 2008 recession and subsequently.