General Studies-III
Topic- Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
Context
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the creation of a chief of defence staff (CDS).
About
- The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the creation of a chief of defence staff (CDS) for the three services – the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.
- The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will act as the single-point advisor to the Government of India.
- The creation of a CDS to act as a single point military adviser to the Prime Minister on strategic issues was one of the key recommendations of the Kargil review committee.
- The Kargil review committee was constituted to recommend on higher military reforms after the 1999 conflict.
About Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
- CDS will be the single-point military adviser to the government as suggested by the Kargil Review Committee in 1999.
- CDS oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services.
- CDS will be a Four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
- The Chief of Defence Staff will also head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), to be created within the Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
- He will not be eligible to hold any Government office after demitting the office of CDS.
- He cannot take any private employment without prior approval for a period of five years after demitting the office of CDS.
Functions
The following areas will be dealt by the Department of Military Affairs headed by CDS
- The Armed Forces of the Union, namely, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
- Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence comprising Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters, Air Headquarters and Defence Staff Headquarters.
- The Territorial Army.
- Works relating to the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
- Procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procedures.
- Promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the Services through joint planning and integration of their requirements.
- Promoting use of indigenous equipment by the Services.
Other key function of CDS
- The Chief of Defence Staff, apart from being the head of the Department of Military Affairs, will also be the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
- He will act as the Principal Military Adviser to Raksha Mantri on all tri-Services matters.
- The three Chiefs will continue to advise RM on matters exclusively concerning their respective Services.
- CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs, so as to be able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership.
Need for Chief of Defence Staff
- Incoherency– In general, the policy formulation is done by Defense Secretary, who is a bureaucrat, while its execution rests with Chiefs of armed forces. This makes defence policy incoherent.
- Modern Warfare– The emergence of modern warfare domains like Space, Cyber etc, requires a more integrated approach to defense strategy.
- The fundamental reason for Integrated Commands is the imperative need for a single headquarters coordinating diverse elements in the same geographic space.
- The underlying rationale for appointing a CDS is to separate management and command of the Armed Forces.
Significance
- The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces.
- This is expected to save money by avoiding duplication between the Services, at a time of shrinking capital expenditure within the defence budget.
- After formation of this post (CDS), all the three forces will get effective leadership at the top level.
- It will help India in Defense diplomacy.
- It will synergise long term planning, procurement, training and logistics of the three Services, and ensure better coordination between them.
General Studies- II
Topic- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Health Index
Context
The second edition of NITI Aayog’s Health Index was recently released in its report titled ‘Healthy States, Progressive India.
About the NITI Aayog’s report
- The report focuses on measuring the overall performance and incremental improvement in the states and union territories with 2015-16 as the base year and 2017-18 as the reference year.
- The health index report has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
- Health index is based on 23 health indicators with major weightage given to mortality rate, total fertility rate, and sex ratio.
- The ranking was done under three categories – larger states, smaller states and Union territories (UTs).
- It aims- to establish an annual systematic tool to measure and understand the heterogeneity and complexity of the nation’s performance in Health.
- The Health Index does not capture non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases and mental health.
Key findings
- Kerala is on top the list for the best performing State in the health sector among the 21 large States.
- It followed by Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
- In incremental performance, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand are at the top.
- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have been shown as the worst performers.
- Among the 8 Empowered Action Group States, only 3 States i.e. Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh showed improvement in the overall performance.
- Among the smaller states, Mizoram ranked first in overall performance.
- Tripura and Manipur in smaller state category were the top two states in terms of incremental performance.
- Overall health index scores have decreased the most for Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Significance
- Health Index is a concept to encourage States into action, public health must become part of the mainstream politics.
- It has been developed as a tool to leverage co-operative and competitive federalism to accelerate the pace of achieving health outcomes.
- The Centre has paid attention to tertiary care and reduction of out-of-pocket expenses through financial risk protection initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat.
- It would also serve as an instrument for “nudging” States & Union Territories (UTs) and the Central Ministries to a much greater focus on output and outcome-based measurement of annual performance.
For prelims
Dada Saheb Phalke Award
Highlights
- The President of India presented Dada Saheb Phalke Award -2018 to Shri Amitabh Bachchan.
- The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in cinema.
- It is presented annually by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The recipient is honoured for their “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.
- As of 2017, the award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000.
- Presented first in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke’s contribution to Indian cinema.
- Phalke (1870–1944), is popularly known as and often regarded as “the father of Indian cinema“.
- He was an Indian filmmaker who directed India’s first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra.
‘Jana Gana Mana’ – the National Anthem
Highlights
- The National Anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Congress on December 27, 1911.
- ‘Reverence to the National Anthem’ is a Fundamental duty as per Article 51A (a) of the Constitution.
- ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was adopted as the National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950, the last day of its last session.
- It is originally written in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore.
