Target Prelims 2022 CNA 27th April 2022 Page 8. GS II (International Relations) - BYJU'S IAS ...

Target Prelims 2022 CNA
                                 27th April 2022

                     Page 8. GS II (International Relations)

French President Emmanuel Macron won his second term, though with a lesser vote % -
dropped from 66% to 58.5%. European leaders are relieved.
In 2017 when Mr. Macron emerged on the scene and captured the imagination of voters
as a pro-Europe, business-friendly, forward-looking liberal. Five years later, Mr. Macron
had a record to defend and counter the image of being a pro-rich, aloof and elitist
President. The fact that far-right and far-left parties accounted for 58% of the vote in the
first round reflects the growing polarisation in domestic French politics.

Ms. Le Pen promised a ban on the hijab (headscarf ) and a constitutional amendment that
would distinguish between “native born French” and “others” for access to education,
housing and other social benefits, and restricting citizenship to only those who have
“earned it and fully assimilated.” Mr. Macron was more focused on Ukraine – Russia

crisis. With lower ratings, Mr. Macron promised full employment in 5 years, tax cuts for
households and small businesses and softened his stand on raising the retirement age
from 62 years to 65, spreading it over a nine-year timeframe.

Priority should be to end polarisation. The 72% turnout on Sunday is the lowest in a
presidential run-of since 1969. National Assembly elections are due in June and if the
Left take the Assembly, Mr. Melenchon could become Prime Minister; a prospect of co-
habitation that ensures policy gridlock. In such a scenario, polarisation will only increase
and Mr. Macron’s centrist experiment would be a short-lived reprieve from the rightward
shift.

Such was the concern in Europe about the election that in an unprecedented move, the
Portuguese and Spanish Prime Ministers, António Costa and Pedro Sánchez, and German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz co-authored an Op-Ed in the Le Monde on April 21, urging
French voters to reject Ms. Le Pen.

India and France have enjoyed a solid strategic partnership, established in 1998 that has
expanded to cover cooperation in defence, nuclear and space sectors, climate issues and
renewables, cybersecurity and counter-terrorism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be
travelling to Germany and Denmark on a bilateral visit in the first week of May. It
provides a welcome opportunity to spend a day in Paris to congratulate Mr. Macron and
impart new momentum to the relationship

Beyond the Writeup: French President Election

The French election system under the Fifth Republic is quite different from many other
countries as it encompasses two voting rounds. The election takes place every five years.
Potential candidates must secure 500 signatures from elected officials, such as mayors
and members of parliament, to secure a spot on the ballot. The election is then split up
into two rounds.

In the first round, people can vote for any of the candidates that have gathered the 500
signatures. The number of candidates since 1965 has fluctuated between 6 and 12.

If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes during the first round, the two
candidates who received the most votes go on to the second round of the election. No
candidate in French history has ever secured a majority after just one round of voting.
French people can then vote for either one of these two candidates. The candidate with
the most votes is then confirmed as the new President of the Republic.

                Beyond the Writeup: French President Powers

The French President is the most powerful within the French system as well as amongst
all other executive across world democracies. Privileges of the Office of the President of
US, i.e. security of tenure and being the head of the Government as well as head of the
State is combined with the privileges of the Office of the British P.M. i.e. power to
dissolve the Assembly (which the American President doesn’t enjoy)
France has PM as well as President.

French PM, unlike that in India and Britain, is assistant to the President. There is a
division of functions, rather than the division of power between the two positions. The
French President deals with foreign policy and national concerns. The PM, on the other
hand, deals with day to day routine functions of the Government and local domestic
issues. PM is appointed by the President. The President doesn’t have a completely free-
hand in PM’s election. The person appointed as PM must enjoy the confidence of the
House.

Page 8. GS II (Governance)

The Indian Constitution mandates local governments to prepare and implement plans for
‘economic development and social justice’ (Articles 243G and 243W). Several bodies
and provisions introduced to promote this goal but they have failed to take the
decentralisation process forward in delivering social justice and progress in rural India.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the Ministry of Rural Development act as the nodal
agents to take the mission forward. The traditional poverty line linked to the calorie-
income measure has failed to serve as a purposive policy tool.

SECC 2011- 90% of rural households have no salaried jobs, 53.7 million households are
landless, 6.89 million female-headed households have no adult member to support, 49%
suffer from multiple deprivations, 51.4% derive sustenance from manual casual labour.
India spends more than ₹3 trillion every year for the rural poor from the Central and State
Budgets and bank-credit linked self-help programmes.

Objective of ‘Mission Antyodaya’ - to ensure optimum use of resources through the
convergence of various schemes that address multiple deprivations of poverty, making
gram panchayat the hub of a development plan. This planning process is supported by an

annual survey that helps to assess the various development gaps at the gram panchayat
level, by collecting data regarding the 29 subjects assigned to panchayats by the 11 th
Schedule of the Constitution. Also, data regarding health and nutrition, social security,
good governance, water management and so on are also collected. The idea of the
Ministry of Panchayati Raj to identify the gaps in basic needs at the local level, and
integrating resources of various schemes, self-help groups, voluntary organisations and so
on to finance them needs coordination and capacity-building of a high order.

‘Mission Antyodaya’ survey in 2019-20 for the 1st time collected data that shed light on
the infrastructural gaps from 2.67 lakh gram panchayats. No State in India falls in the top
score bracket of 90 to 100, 1,484 gram panchayats fall in the bottom bracket. Nearly four
years have passed since the Govt announced the Mission Project in his Budget speech of
2017-18 with the specific target “to make 50,000 gram panchayats poverty free by 2019,
the 150th birth anniversary of Gandhiji”. Nothing happened but the goal posts have been
moved to 2022, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Independence, on August 15.

Beyond the Writeup: Mission Antyodaya Objectives

• Ensuring effective use of resources through convergence of various Government
  Schemes with Gram Panchayats as the basic unit of planning.
• Work with a focused micro plan for sustainable livelihood for every deprived
  households.
• Conduct an annual survey on measurable outcomes at Gram Panchayat level to monitor
  the progress in the development process across rural areas.
• Supporting the process of participatory planning for Gram Panchayat Development Plan
  (GPDP), which will improve service delivery, enhance citizenship, create pace for an
  alliance of people's institutions and groups and improve governance at the local level.
• Encourages partnerships with network of professionals, institutions and enterprises to
  further accelerate the transformation of rural livelihoods.

Pg 9. GS II (International Relations)

India has the world’s third largest economy — at least in purchasing power terms, a
vibrant free market, a booming tech sector, a population that’s eager to learn and to
innovate, and an honest judiciary; with a government that’s rapidly closing the
infrastructure deficit. India has emerged as a democratic superpower, capable of
providing leadership to the world.

Ukraine didn’t provoke Russia. Baltic states and Poland are next in the firing line. China
is watching and learning. Australia was given 14 public demands by China in 2020.
Australia stands with India in resisting Chinese aggression over the line of control in
Ladakh.

India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal was right when he said that the new Australia-India
trade deal’s ambition just to double trade within a decade was too modest.
If there’s one country whose traditional friendship with Russia, and whose historic
aloofness from power plays, and whose palpable goodwill to all might just get through to
the Kremlin and to the ordinary Russians whose lives are also being blighted by this war,
it is India.

Beyond the Writeup: List of demands from China to Australia

Pg 9. GS II (Governance)

Water supply distribution lines in most Indian cities - in its current form, no sensor may
ever replace the “linemen” who work the valves spread across the city, often with a
simple rod, to regulate the supply of water. Union Minister for Housing and Urban
Affairs recently announced that Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) have
been established in 80 cities selected as part of the Smart Cities Mission.

ICCC has 5 basic pillars: first is bandwidth; second, the sensors and edge devices which
record and generate real-time data; third, various analytics which are software that draw
on data captured by end devices to generate “intelligence”; fourth is data storage; fifth,
the ICCC software which may be described as, in MoHUA’s words, “a system of
systems” — the anchor for all other application specific components and has been
described as the “brain and nervous system” of the city.

The ICCC may be seen in sync with the functions of an urban local body (ULB) under

the 74th Constitutional Amendment, towards improving services for people. Several
contradictions may arise in this context. First, the project is being executed under the
aegis of the Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) constituted under the Companies Act, 2013,
in the selected cities. Projects of the SPV that overlap with core ULB areas have been a
source of tension between the two, one that the cities are still learning to resolve.

Unless the core staff of ULB working across departments such as health, town planning,
water supply, etc., adopt the ICCC systems, it risks being a splintered “nerve centre”.
One solution is to build a team in the SPV that can act as a bridge, inspire more users,
and develop capacities; however, as “contract employees” they may be subject to the
mercurial aspects of administration. Second, there is the risk of permanent
underutilisation of the system.

Third, the sizeable investments required create contradictions in some cities which are
otherwise struggling for funds to upgrade their basic infrastructure and services. One of
the key questions to gauge the success of ICCC in future, maybe to ask, if cities are
choosing to build and sustain these systems out of their own revenue or untied devolution
funds. If not, ICCCs may struggle to outlive the exhaustion of mission grants. And
despite the efforts to keep procurement vendor-agnostic, some segments of ICCC are still
dominated by select industry players who may dictate terms to the city or engage in arm-
twisting for payments. ‘War rooms’ The ICCCs in some cities served as a “war room”
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its application is cited as a success.

Beyond the Writeup: Smart Cities Mission

It is an innovative initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, to drive
economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development
and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.

Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of
life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart
Solutions.

Focus: On sustainable and inclusive development and to look at compact areas, create a
replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.

Strategy: Pan-city initiative in which at least one Smart Solution is applied city-wide.
Develop areas step-by-step with the help of these three models:
                • Retrofitting.
                • Redevelopment.
                • Greenfield.
   • Coverage and Duration: The Mission covers 100 cities for the duration of five
      years starting from the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to 2019-20.
   • Financing: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

Pg 8. GS II (International Relations)

Wimbledon has declined entries from Russian and Belarusian players for the 2022
edition. With the Russia-Ukraine war raging, the All England Club stated that “it would
be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of
Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships”.

The move was by no means unique; in March, World Athletics had similarly ostracized
Russian and Belarusian athletes. That Wimbledon could act unilaterally has much to do
with tennis’ splintered administration. There is no umbrella organisation that directs the
sport; the four Majors, ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation act
independently. There is not an autonomous players’ union either. This militates against
the principle of fairness and equal opportunity and may force the ATP and WTA to strip
the event of ranking points, turning it into a exhibition tournament. The episode also
brings into focus the role of the British government, whose guidelines Wimbledon said it
had taken into account.

Mains Practice Questions

1. List down the objectives of Mission Antyodaya and assess the progress made by
the mission since its launch.
                                                           (250 words; 15 marks)

2. Elaborate the major areas of cooperation between India and Australia over the
past three decades and the future potential of the bilateral ties.
                                                                 (250 words; 15 marks)

Q1 – GS II (Governance)
Q2 – GS II (International Relations)