Headlines
Floor test - Page No.4 , GS 2
A critical view of the ‘sanitation miracle’ in rural India - Page No.6 ,
GS 2
An Uttar Pradesh model to tackle malnutrition - Page No.6 , GS 3
Quad summit - Page No.10 , GS 2
Text and Context - Myanmar’s civil war and India’s interests
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Pg no. 1 GS 2
Floor test - Page No.4 , GS 2
Floor Test:
• A floor test is a confidence motion for or against the government in-
house.
• It is a constitutional mechanism under which a Chief Minister
appointed by the Governor can be asked to prove majority on the
floor of the Legislative Assembly of the state when this majority is
questioned.
• In case of a hung assembly with no clear majority to any one party
more than one person is claiming to form the government and the
majority is not clear, the Governor may call for a special session to
see who has the majority. In case of a tie, the Speaker casts his
vote.
• Article 174: The Governor has the power to prorogue, summon, and
dissolve the legislature of a state.
• Article 163: There shall be Council of Ministers with the Chief
Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise
of his functions except in so far as he is by or under the
Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his
discretion
• Supreme court judgements: In SR Bommai case (1994) and Nabam
Rebia case (2015) the court said that when the Governor has
objective reasons to believe that the incumbent government does
not command the confidence of the house, his call for a floor test in
his discretion cannot be termed as constitutional violation.
Q.1 Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the
Governor of a State? (2014)
1. Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the
President’s rule
2. Appointing the Ministers
3. Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for
consideration of the President of India
4. Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Pg no. 6 GS 2
A critical view of the ‘sanitation miracle’ in rural India -
Page No.6 , GS 2
• In the past decade, improving sanitation coverage has been one of the
key public policy miracles in India.
• Access to water and sanitation is Goal 6 in the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals envisaged by the United Nations.
• Public sanitation programmes have a long history in the country,
beginning with the launch of the highly subsidised Central Rural
Sanitation Programme (CRSP) in 1986.
• The Total Sanitation Campaign in 1999 marked a shift from a high subsidy
regime to a low subsidy one and a demand-driven approach.
• The public sanitation programme evolved as a mission in 2014 under the
Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen (SBM-G) to make India Open Defecation
Free (ODF) by October 2019.
• According to information by the Government of India, sanitation coverage
in the country improved from 39% in 2014 to 100% in 2019. Encouraged
by the achievements under the SBM, the government launched Phase II of
the SBM-G.
• The focus here was on the sustainability of initial achievements by
promoting solid and liquid waste management and covering those
households left out earlier.
• The construction of toilets does not automatically lead to their use. A
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey (69th round), showed that
in 2012, when 59% of rural households had no access to a toilet, 4% of
individuals who had access reported not using the facility.
• The primary reasons for not using one were: not having any
superstructure (21%); the facility malfunctioning (22%); the facility being
unhygienic/unclean (20%), and personal reasons (23%).
• The more comprehensive National Annual Rural Sanitation
Survey (NARSS)- Round-3 (2019-20), conducted by the Ministry,
shows that 95% of the rural population had toilet access in India.
• Access to owned, shared, and public toilets was available to 79%,
14% and 1% of households, respectively. It was also reported
that 96% of toilets were functional, and almost all had access to
water.
• However, the same report suggests that only 85% of the rural
population used safe, functional, and hygienic toilets.
• Assuming that the same percentage of people have toilet access
as the households, the gap rises to 10% between access to toilets
and their use.
What is Open Defecation Free Status?
• ODF: An area can be notified or declared as ODF if at any point of
the day, not even a single person is found defecating in the open.
• ODF+: This status is given if at any point of the day, not a single
person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open, and all
community and public toilets are functional and well
maintained.
• ODF++: This status is given if the area is already ODF+ and the
faecal sludge/septage and sewage are safely managed and
treated, with no discharging or dumping of untreated faecal
sludge and sewage into the open drains, water bodies or areas.
Pg no. 6 GS 3
An Uttar Pradesh model to tackle malnutrition - Page
No.6 , GS 3
• Uttar Pradesh is a remarkable example of the importance of women’s
empowerment in tackling malnutrition by supporting community-based
micro enterprises led by self-help groups.
• These enterprises produce fortified and nutritious foods for
pregnant/breastfeeding mothers and children, provided as take home
ration through the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
programme.
• Engaging women from the community to run the take home ration
production units is a game-changer. This unique gender-transformative
approach provides livelihood opportunities to local women, empowering
them economically.
• Over 4,000 women have organised themselves into 204 self-help group
micro enterprises across 204 blocks in 43 districts.
• They have been provided with machinery and raw materials such as wheat at
subsidised rates to produce and distribute take home ration. This project
presents an excellent opportunity for them to earn a livelihood and contribute to
the local economy as several ingredients are procured locally.
• To ensure good uptake of the variety of products developed, there was research
which included production trials, shelf-life analysis, and an acceptability study.
The products include sweet and savoury options, such as aata besan halwa, aata
besan barfi, daliya moong dal khichdi, and energy-dense halwa.
• Ready-to-eat meals come in age-appropriate colour-coded packaging that
includes helpful information on infant and young child feeding practices.
• The packaging label also lists the ingredients, nutritional information, cooking
instructions, directions for storage, food safety and hygiene messages,
manufacturing dates, and batch numbers. All these aspects have been included
in alignment with the regulations set by the Food Safety and Standards Authority
of India.
Pg no. 10 GS 2
Quad summit - Page No.10 , GS 2
• Leaders of the Quad nations may not be able to meet for a summit
in India before the U.S. elections, U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti
said, stressing that the Quad agenda would be “more productive”
by 2024-end. Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. form the Quad.
• It aims to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-
Pacific region.
• The idea of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe in 2007. However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with
Australia pulling out of it, apparently due to Chinese pressure.
• Finally in 2017, India, Australia, the US and Japan, came together
and formed this “quadrilateral” coalition.
Text and Context - Myanmar’s civil war and India’s
interests
• In February 2021, when the Myanmar military leaders ousted the
elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, they anticipated a
resistance movement that would subside in a few months.
• Three years later, the opposition to military rule gains in
strength. Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) and the People’s
Defence Forces control many towns in different parts of the
country.
• A few weeks ago, the Arakan Army captured Paletwa in the Chin
State which lies on Myanmar’s western borders with Bangladesh
and India.
• Myanmar is a large multi-ethnic nation,
located in a strategically significant
neighbourhood.
• What happens in the country impacts
its five neighbours: China, Laos,
Thailand, Bangladesh, and India.
• The developments in Paletwa will also impact the Indian
government’s Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project
(KMTTP) in Myanmar, which has already faced significant delays.
• The Kaladan project was aimed at addressing the geo-economic
and geo-political challenges of northeast India. The partition of
the subcontinent and the subsequent hardening of borders
converted northeast India into a landlocked region.
• Transporting goods to and from northeast India via the narrow
Siliguri corridor is an expensive affair, and in a worst-case
scenario with China, there is a possibility of movement along the
corridor being adversely affected. Therefore, the Kaladan project
was conceptualised as an alternative route that gives northeast
India access to the sea.
• India and Myanmar signed the framework agreement on the Kaladan
project in 2008. The operationalisation of the project was delayed
because of rugged terrain, inadequate inter-departmental
coordination, political instability and security challenges in Myanmar.
• While the Sittwe port and inland water terminal at Paletwa have been
completed in the past few years, road construction is facing challenges
due to the prevailing security situation in Myanmar.
• For expeditious implementation, the attitudes of the local ethnic
organisations towards the Kaladan project should be factored in.
• The people of Mizoram and their co-ethnics across the border in Chin
State are interested in the expedited completion of the Kaladan
project, as it will spur economic activity in the region.
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