Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Etosha Salt Pan and its location
Mains level: NA
NASA has recently captured images depicting the wet and dry cycles of Etosha Pan in Africa’s Namibia through the year.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/ dried up in the recent past due to human activities?
- Aral Sea
- Black Sea
- Lake Baikal
Select the correct option using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
Etosha Salt Pan
- The Etosha pan is hollow in the ground, wherein water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after the water has evaporated.
- The 120-kilometre-long dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, Namibia’s second-largest wildlife park.
- The pan is mostly dry, but after a heavy rain, it acquires a thin layer of water that is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issue of employment in India
The article discusses the issue of vulnerability of informal jobs in India and suggests the steps to address the problem.
The urban unemployment in India crept up to 9.83% in August as against 9.15% in July, according to monthly unemployment data released Tuesday by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). In other words, roughly one in every 10 person in urban areas cannot find work
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2-National Education Policy
The article analyses the missing focus on the rural youth in the National Education Policy 2020 and its implications.
Education in rural India and NEP
- Poor quality education marks and mars the lives of rural citizens.
- The NEP fails to address the growing school differentiation in which government schools are now primarily attended by children of disadvantaged castes and Adivasi groups.
- The mushrooming of private schools caters to the aspirations of the more advantaged castes and classes.
- The NEP overlooks the complexity of contemporary rural India, which is marked by a sharp deceleration of its economy, extant forms of distress, and widespread poverty.
- Rural candidates are finding it increasingly difficult to gain entry into professional education.
- The lack of fit between their degrees and the job market means that several lakhs of them find themselves both “unemployable” and unemployed.
What the NEP misses
- NEP overlooks the general adverse integration of the rural into the larger macroeconomy and into poor quality mass higher education.
- The report calls for the “establishment of large, multi-discipline universities and colleges” and places emphasis on online and distance learning (ODL).
- However, correspondence courses and distance education degrees have become a source of revenue generation for universities.
- The possibility of forging and promoting environmental studies for local ecological restoration and conservation are missing.
- Emphasis on local health and healing traditions from the vast repertoire of medical knowledge is missing.
- Vernacular architectural traditions and craftsmanship to use local resources find no mention at all in the NEP.
Neoliberal ideas in NEP
- The NEP moots the possibility of establishing “Special Education Zones” in disadvantaged areas and in “aspirational districts”.
- But the report provides no details as to how such SEZs will function and who will be the beneficiaries of such institutions.
Conclusion
The NEP fails to cater to the needs of rural India’s marginalised majority, who in so many ways are rendered into being subjects rather than citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Peace in the Middle East
Realignment of relations is taking place in the Middle East with wider implications for the future of the region. India needs to reconsider its framework based on the non-involvement.
Recent geopolitical developments
- India-China tensions have soared over the border issue.
- The Afghan peace process is underway with the first direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban insurgents at Doha, in Qatar.
- The normalisation of the relations between Israel and Arab countries began with the UAE and Bahrain normalising the relations.
Issues with the development
- The chances of failure in Afghanistan are real.
- The momentum behind the normalisation of ties between Israel and the Gulf kingdoms, may not necessarily lead to broader peace in the Middle East.
- The US initiatives in Afghanistan and Arabia are driven by President Donald Trump’s quest for diplomatic victories.
Why it matters to India
1) The vulnerability of the peace process
- Because of competing interests, the peace process in Afghanistan and the Middle East remain vulnerable.
- The unfolding dynamic will alter the geopolitical landscape in both places.
- Whether peace breaks out in Afghanistan or not, the Taliban is here to stay.
- As UAE and Bahrain join Egypt and Jordan in having formal relationships with Israel, the contradiction between Arabs and Israelis is no longer the dominant one in the region.
2) India should recognise the importance of Arabia
- India’s strategic community tends to take too narrow a view of the Arabian salience.
- The focus is mostly on ensuring oil supplies, promoting manpower exports, and managing the Pakistan problem.
- We should consider that the Afghan peace talks are taking place in Qatar, a tiny Gulf Kingdom.
- The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the only countries to recognise the Taliban government in the late 1990s.
- This time around, they appear to have taken a backseat.
- Delhi will need to pay more attention to the unfolding realignments between the Arabs and non-Arab states like Iran, Turkey and Israel.
3) Paradox of American power
- The U.S. is being seen as a declining power in the matters of the Middle East and Afghanistan.
- But the reality remains that the US is the one forcing a change in both the places.
4) Implications of strategic vacuum created by the U.S. exit
- As the US steps back from the region, the resulting strategic vacuum is likely to be filled by Russia and China.
- Russia and China are quite active in both the Middle East and Afghanistan.
- China’s future role in Afghanistan, in partnership with Pakistan, could be quite significant and will be of some concern for India.
- Regional powers have already acquired much say in the new geopolitics of the Middle East.
- Qatar and UAE punch way above their weight, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are locked in a major contest for regional influence.
5) Domestic politics in the country
- Religious radicalism, sectarian and ethnic divisions, and the clamour for more representative governments are sharpening conflicts within and between countries.
- The collapse of the oil market is undermining the region’s economic fortunes.
- Collapsing oil market is also making it harder for political elites to address the emerging political challenges.
Consider the question “Middle East is going through the major realignment of relations. What are its implications for India?.
Conclusion
As the old order begins to crumble in the greater Middle East, the question is no longer whether India should join the geopolitical jousting there; but when, how and in partnership with whom.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Phosphine, Venus
Mains level: Quest for extraterrestrial life
Scientists have detected in the harshly acidic clouds of Venus a gas called phosphine that indicates microbes may inhabit Earth’s inhospitable neighbour, a sign of potential life beyond Earth.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which phenomenon has Venusian winds rotating 60 times faster than the planet below on the dark side?
(a) Super rotation
(b) Monrotation
(c) Dual rotation
(d) Macrrotation
Phosphine
- Phosphine – a phosphorus atom with three hydrogen atoms attached – is highly toxic to people.
- It is known to be produced only through a biological process, and not through any naturally occurring chemical process.
- Phosphine was seen at 20 parts-per-billion in the Venusian atmosphere, a trace concentration.
- Researchers examined potential non-biological sources such as volcanism, meteorites, lightning and various types of chemical reactions, but none appeared viable.
- There are some other ways in which this chemical might be produced, for example, in the underbelly of volcanoes or meteorite activity, but that would have shown in much lower concentrations.
Why study Venus?
- Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour. Similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun. Earth is the third.
- Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps in heat. Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.
- Existence of phosphine is the most credible evidence yet for the possibility of life away from Earth.
Hosting life on Venus
- There are several things that we know about Venus that make life, as we know it, unsustainable on that planet.
- The temperature of Venus is too high, and its atmosphere is highly acidic, just two of the things that would make life impossible.
- It is too early to consider this as evidence for extraterrestrial life.
Paving way for future mission
- Missions to Venus are not new. The finding can further ignite interest in space missions to Venus.
- Spacecraft have been going near the planet since the 1960s, and some of them have even made a landing.
- In fact, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also planning a mission to Venus, tentatively called Shukrayaan, in the near future.
- As of now, the plan is still on the drawing board. All future missions to Venus would now be attuned to investigating further evidence of the presence of life.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UN Commission on Status of Women, ECOSOC
Mains level: Not Much
India has been elected as a member of the United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women (UN-CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Try this PYQ:
Q.Democracy’s superior virtue lies in the fact that it calls into activity:
(a) The intelligence and character of ordinary men and women
(b) The methods for strengthening executive leadership
(c) A superior individual with dynamism and vision
(d) A band of dedicated party workers
UN Commission on Status of Women
- The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main organs within the United Nations.
- CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
- Every year, representatives gather at UN Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
- India will be a member of United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, 2021 to ‘25.
- This year is the 25th anniversary of the famous Beijing World Conference on Women (1995).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Subramania Bharati and his works
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from an article originally published in TH.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.A recent movie titled The Man Who Knew Infinity is based on the biography of-
(a) S. Ramanujan
(b) S. Chandrasekhar
(c) S. N. Bose
(d) C. V. Raman
Subramania Bharati
- Bharati was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot.
- Popularly known as “Mahakavi Bharathi”, he was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and is considered one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time.
- His numerous works included fiery songs kindling patriotism during the Indian Independence movement.
Literary works
- As a working journalist, Bharati necessarily employed prose to communicate, and his writings in Swadesamitran and India made an important contribution to Tamil political vocabulary.
- He wrote stories, commentaries, and was also the pioneer of column writing in Tamil.
- Active participation in the day-to-day politics of the nationalist movement notwithstanding, Bharati never lost sight of the future, the dream of how a free India should look like.
- Aspects of this dream form part of his fantasy story, Gnanaratham (The Chariot of Wisdom), written when he was still in his late 20s.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Panama disease
Mains level: NA
The scientists of Indian Council of Agriculture Research or ICAR have found a cure for one of the most dreaded diseases on Banana.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Recently, our scientists have discovered a new and distinct species of banana plant which attains a height of about 11 metres and has orange-coloured fruit pulp. In which part of India has it been discovered?
(a) Andaman Islands
(b) Anamalai Forests
(c) Maikala Hills
(d) Tropical rain forests of northeast
Panama Disease
- The fungal disease, called Fusarium Wilt, is popularly known as the ‘Panama Disease’ and afflicts banana plants.
- For the first time, Indian scientists have brought out a biopesticide that can control the disease. This biopesticide has been made using another fungus.
- For a long time, banana cultivators have been struggling with the Panama Disease.
- This disease affects the Cavendish variety or the G9 Banana cultivar, which is the most widely grown banana in the world.
Spread in India
- In India, more than 60 per cent of bananas are of the G9 variety.
- They go by names like ‘Grand Naine’, ‘Robusta’, ‘Bhusaval’, ‘Basrai’ and ‘Shrimanth’.
- Farmers in at least four Indian states — Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — have been badly affected by this disease.
- All these are areas where the Cavendish variety is grown.
Why is the disease so deadly?
- Panama Disease is caused by a fungus with a long and complicated name called Fusarium oxysporum f. Sp cubense.
- One of its strains which is called ‘Tropical Race 4’ or ‘TR4’ is creating the most havoc, threatening almost 80 per cent of the global banana production.
- The disease is so deadly that it is sometimes referred to as ‘banana cancer’.
- The fungus resides below ground and infects the plant through its roots. The infection then stops water and essential nutrients from being transported to the rest of the plant.
- The leaves begin to wilt, and the stem of the plant starts turning dark brownish before the plant dies. If one plant gets it, then it is most likely that an entire plantation can be wiped out.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Inter-state water dispute
Mains level: Inter-state water dispute
At present, the Mahanadi dispute is under adjudication in the Tribunal under Section 5 (2) of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956
Note the interrelation between the Article 262 and 253.They contain provisions related to international and interstate water sharing.
Mahanadi Tribunal
- The Central Government has constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018 under Section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
- It is set to adjudicate on water disputes between the riparian States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh
- The tribunal is expected to give its verdict within a period of three years.
- Provided that if the decision cannot be given for an unavoidable reason, within a period of three years, the Central Government may extend the period for a further period not exceeding two years.
What is the dispute about?
- Chhattisgarh has been constructing dams and weirs (small dams) upstream the Mahanadi. This is being allegedly carried on without consulting Odisha.
- It would affect the flow of the river downstream and affect drinking water supply. Also, it would impact the irrigation facilities in Odisha and adversely affect the interests of the farmers.
- Moreover, the weirs and other projects would impact the flow of water in the Hirakud reservoir, a multipurpose river valley project, which is a lifeline for many in the state.
Back2Basics: Water Disputes Resolution in India
- The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted under Article 262 of Constitution of India on the eve of the reorganization of states on the linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river[1] or river valley.
- Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state/regional governments.
- This Act further has undergone amendments subsequently and its most recent amendment took place in the year 2002.
- A/c to art 262, the Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.
- Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint.
Note: Any river water sharing treaty made with other countries, has to be ratified by the Parliament as per Article 253 after deciding the share of the Indian riparian states per Article 262 to make the treaty constitutionally valid or enforceable by the judiciary. The government has signed Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, Ganga water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh, etc. without the ratification by the Parliament and the consent of concerned riparian states per Article 252.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Opportunity of Indian IT industry
The article analyses the significance of the Indian ban on Chinese apps. The ban also presents Indian IT companies with unique opportunity.
Context
- The current India-China border standoff has entered into cyberspace.
How China took lead in IT
- The Chinese government censored and banned several popular Western websites and applications years ago.
- In the intervening years the Chinese Internet market exploded and has grown to over 900 million users.
- The Chinese government insulated Chinese entrepreneurs from Big Tech in Silicon Valley.
- Home-grown apps at first were faithful reproductions of Silicon Valley, but soon morphed into distinctly Chinese applications tailored solely to the home market.
- According to the 2016 White House report, the Chinese have leapfrogged even the U.S. in AI research.
- In this case, the intellectual property being produced actually belongs to China and is not a faithful duplicate of someone else’s product or technology.
- This has far-reaching implications.
Significance of India’s ban
- India now has the lowest Internet data costs in the world.
- In its attempt to dominate the rest of the world, the Chinese Internet industry desperately needs India’s 500-plus million netizens to continue to train AI algorithms they put together.
- The ban on apps in India is not only a geopolitical move but also a strategic trade manoeuvre that can have a significant economic impact.
- Ban on Chinese apps allows our home-grown IT talent to focus on the newly arrived Internet user.
- However, India’s focus remains on exporting IT services while paying little attention to servicing our own nation’s tech market.
- India spent the last two decades exporting technology services to developed countries in the West, the vacuum created as the Indian Internet grew has been filled by American Big Tech and by the Chinese.
- After the removal of more than 118 Chinese apps, Indian techies have started trying to fill the holes.
Way forward
- The primary Indian IT objective must shift from servicing others to providing for ourselves.
- Focus should not be simply to replace what the exiting firms have so far been providing.
- Focus should be on providing services and products of high quality that will be used by everyday Indians across the country.
- The aim of providing netizens with the same services across diverse markets is overarching — regional barriers created by language exist within our own nation.
- The fundamental focus of the new digital products should be to provide for hyper-regional necessities and preferences.
- Hyper-local and hyper-regional services with great accessibility that are also portable across our linguistic diversity, are likely to succeed in creating one of the strongest Internet markets in the world.
Consider the question “What are factors responsible for the lack of innovation in the Indian IT industry? How the ban on Chinese apps provide the IT industry with the opportunity to fill the vacuum?”
Conclusion
Indian IT companies must seize the opportunity provided by the exit of Chinese IT companies and come up with products transcending regional barriers and allowing accessibility.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Singapore Convention
Mains level: Not Much
The Singapore Convention on Mediation has finally come into force.
Try this MCQ:
Q. The Singapore Convention recently seen in news is related to:
Climate change/ Arbitration and conciliation/ Foreign trade/ Marine Regulation
Singapore Convention
- It is aimed to provide a more effective way of enforcing mediated settlements of corporate disputes involving businesses in India and other countries that are signatories to the Convention.
- Also known as the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, this is also the first UN treaty to be named after Singapore.
- With the Convention in force, businesses seeking enforcement of a mediated settlement agreement across borders can do so by applying directly to the courts of countries that have signed and ratified the treaty.
- The harmonized and simplified enforcement framework under the Convention translates to savings in time and legal costs.
Its signatories
- The Convention has 53 signatories, including India, China and the U.S.
- Singapore had worked with the UN Commission on International Trade Law, other UN member states and non-governmental organisations for the Convention.
Significance of the convention
- The Convention would boost India’s ‘ease of doing business’ credentials by enabling swift mediated settlements of corporate disputes.
- Businesses in India and around the world will now have greater certainty in resolving cross-border disputes through mediation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FCRA
Mains level: FCRA
The licences of 13 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been suspended under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010, this year.
What is the FCRA?
- The FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
- First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010 when a slew of new measures was adopted to regulate foreign donations.
- The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations. It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
- The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
What happens once registered?
- Registered associations can receive a foreign contribution for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural purposes.
- Filing of annual returns, on the lines of Income Tax, is compulsory.
- In 2015, the MHA notified new rules, which required NGOs to give an undertaking that the acceptance of foreign funds.
- It ruled that it is not likely to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or impact friendly relations with any foreign state and does not disrupt communal harmony.
- It also said all such NGOs would have to operate accounts in either nationalized or private banks which have core banking facilities to allow security agencies access on a real-time basis.
Who cannot receive foreign donations?
- Members of the legislature and political parties, government officials, judges and media persons are prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution.
- However, in 2017 the MHA amended the 1976-repealed FCRA law paving the way for political parties to receive funds from the Indian subsidiary of a foreign company or a foreign company in which an Indian holds 50% or more shares.
How else can receive foreign funding?
- The other way to receive foreign contributions is by applying for prior permission.
- It is granted for receipt of a specific amount from a specific donor for carrying out specific activities or projects.
- But the association should be registered under statutes such as the Societies Registration Act, 1860, the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, or Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
- A letter of commitment from the foreign donor specifying the amount and purpose is also required.
When is a registration suspended or cancelled?
- The MHA on inspection of accounts and on receiving any adverse input against the functioning of an association can suspend the FCRA registration initially for 180 days.
- Until a decision is taken, the association cannot receive any fresh donation and cannot utilise more than 25% of the amount available in the designated bank account without the permission of the MHA.
- The MHA can cancel the registration of an organisation which will not be eligible for registration or grant of ‘prior permission’ for three years from the date of cancellation.
Also read:
Registration under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Question hour, Zero Hour
Mains level: Not Much
The decision to go without “Question Hour” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament has evoked serious concerns about the democratic functioning of the institution.
This newscard is very narrative in its form and scope. Try this question as well-
Q.Discuss the various instruments of Parliamentary Control in India.
What is Question Hour?
- Question Hour is the liveliest hour in Parliament. It is during this one hour that MPs ask questions of ministers and hold them accountable for the functioning of their ministries.
- Prior to Independence, the first question asked of government was in 1893. It was on the burden cast on village shopkeepers who had to provide supplies to touring government officers.
- The questions that MPs ask are designed to elicit information and trigger suitable action by ministries.
- Over the last 70 years, MPs have successfully used this parliamentary device to shine a light on government functioning.
- Their questions have exposed financial irregularities and brought data and information regarding government functioning to the public domain.
- With the broadcasting since 1991, Question Hour has become one of the most visible aspects of parliamentary functioning.
Its evolution
- The right to question the executive has been exercised by members of the House from the colonial period.
- The first Legislative Council in British India under the Charter Act, 1853, showed some degree of independence by giving members the power to ask questions to the executive.
- Later, the Indian Council Act of 1861 allowed members to elicit information by means of questions.
- However, it was the Indian Council Act, 1892, which formulated the rules for asking questions including short notice questions.
- The next stage of the development of procedures related to questions came up with the framing of rules under the Indian Council Act, 1909, which incorporated provisions for asking supplementary questions by members.
- The Montague-Chelmsford reforms brought forth a significant change in 1919 by incorporating a rule that the first hour of every meeting was earmarked for questions. Parliament has continued this tradition.
- In 1921, there was another change. The question, on which a member desired to have an oral answer, was distinguished by him with an asterisk, a star. This marked the beginning of starred questions.
Its significance
- Question Hour is not only an opportunity for the members to raise questions, but it is a parliamentary device primarily meant for exercising legislative control over executive actions.
- The government’s actions erode the constitutional mandate of parliamentary oversight over executive actions as envisaged under Article 75 (3) of the Indian Constitution.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNESCO heritages (tangible and intangible)
Mains level: Not Much
Turkish Coffee made it to the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. It is celebrated in literature and songs and is an important part of ceremonies and festivals.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
Traditions Communities
- Chaliha Sahib Festival — Sindhis
- Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra — Gonds
- Wari-Warkari — Santhals
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) None of the above
Turkish Coffee
- To make Turkish Coffee, Arabica beans are ground manually and boiled with water and sugar in a special pot called cezve in Turkey and ibrik elsewhere.
- It is taken off the heat as soon as it begins to froth and before it boils over.
- It is traditionally served in individual porcelain cups called kahvefinjan.
- Sometimes the coffee may be flavoured with cardamom or other spices and served with a small piece of Turkish delight.
Back2Basics: Intangible Heritages from India
- Tradition of Vedic chanting
- Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
- Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
- Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas.
- Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
- Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
- Chhau dance
- Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.
- Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
- Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab
- Yoga
- Nawrouz
- Kumbh Mela
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Question hour and zero hour comparison
Mains level: Paper 2- Question hour and its significance
The article highlights the significance of question hour in democracy.
Context
- The decision to go without “Question Hour” during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, beginning September 14, has evoked serious concerns about the democratic functioning of the institution.
Significance of question hour
- Question Hour is an opportunity for the members to raise questions,
- It is also a parliamentary device primarily meant for exercising legislative control over executive actions.
- It is also a device to criticise government policies and programmes, ventilate public grievances, expose the government’s lapses, extract promises from ministers.
- In short, question hour helps to ensure accountability and transparency in governance.
Right to question the executive: Historical background
- The right to question the executive has been exercised by members of the House from the colonial period.
- The first Legislative Council in British India under the Charter Act, 1853, allowed members the power to ask questions to the executive.
- The Indian Council Act of 1861 allowed members to elicit information by means of questions.
- However, it was the Indian Council Act, 1892, which formulated the rules for asking questions including short notice questions.
- The Indian Council Act, 1909, which incorporated provisions for asking supplementary questions by members.
- The Montague-Chelmsford reforms brought forth a significant change in 1919 by incorporating a rule that the first hour of every meeting was earmarked for questions.
- Parliament has continued this tradition.
- Since 1921, the question on which a member desired to have an oral answer, was distinguished by him with an asterisk, a star.
Recent instances in which right to ask questions was curtailed
- The government passed important bills in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha before the formation of department-related standing committees.
- The Constitution Amendment Bill on J&K was introduced without circulating copies to the members.
- Several important bills were passed as Finance Bills to avoid scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha.
- Standing committees are an extension of Parliament.
- Any person has the right to present his/her opinion to a Bill during the process of consideration.
Consider the question “What is the significance of question hour in the context of democracy in India? What is the implication of its suspension due to pandemic?”
Conclusion
The government’s actions erode the constitutional mandate of parliamentary oversight over executive actions as envisaged under Article 75 (3) of the Indian Constitution.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Malnutrition and health of the child
The article analyses the problem of malnutrition in India and suggests the pathways to achieve the malnutrition free India by 2030.
Severity of the nourishment problem in India
- There were 189.2 million undernourished people (28 per cent of the world) in India in 2017-19, as per the combined report of FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (FAO, et.al. 2020) on “The state of Food Security and Nutrition in the World”.
- India accounts for 28 per cent (40.3 million) of the world’s stunted children (low height-for-age) under five years of age, and 43 per cent (20.1 million) of the world’s wasted children (low weight-for-height) in 2019.
- In India, the problem has been more severe amongst children below the age of five years.
- As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2015-16), the proportion of underweight and stunted children was as high as 35.8 per cent and 38.4 per cent respectively.
- In several districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Gujarat, the proportion of underweight children was more than 40 per cent.
Aims of the National Nutrition Mission (NNM)
- Ending all forms of malnutrition by 2030 is also the target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-2) of Zero Hunger.
- Towards this end, NNM aims to reduce stunting, underweight and low birth weight each by 2 per cent per annum.
- It aims to reduce anaemia among children, adolescent girls and women, each by 3 per cent per annum by 2022.
- However, the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2017 has estimated that if the current trend continues, India cannot achieve these targets under NNM by 2022.
Understanding the key determinants and deciding policy response
1) Mothers’ education
- Mothers’ education, particularly higher education, has the strongest inverse association with under-nutrition.
- Women’s education has a multiplier effect not only on household food security but also on the child’s feeding practice and the sanitation facility.
- Despite India’s considerable improvement in female literacy, only 13.7 per cent of women have received higher education (NFHS, 2015-16).
- Therefore, programmes that promote women’s higher education such as liberal scholarships for women need to be accorded a much higher priority.
2) Sanitation and access to safe drinking water
- The second key determinant of child under-nutrition is the wealth index, which subsumes access to sanitation facilities and safe drinking water.
- WASH initiatives, that is, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, are critical for improving child nutritional outcomes.
- In this context, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to eliminate open defecation and bring about behavioural changes in hygiene and sanitation practices.
- In five years of the Abhiyan, as per government records, rural sanitation coverage has gone from 38.7 per cent in 2014 to 100 per cent in 2019, while the sanitation coverage in urban cites has gone up to 99 per cent by September 2020.
- This remarkable achievement of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, subject to third-party evaluations, is expected to have a multiplier effect on nutritional outcomes.
3) Leveraging agricultural policies
- We should leverage agricultural policies and programmes to be more “nutrition-sensitive” and reinforcing diet diversification towards a nutrient-rich diet.
- Food-based safety nets in India are biased in favour of staples: rice and wheat.
- They need to provide a more diversified food basket, including coarse grains, millets, pulses and bio-fortified staples.
- Bio-fortification is very cost-effective in improving the diet of households and the nutritional status of children.
- The Harvest-Plus programme of CGIAR can work with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to grow new varieties of nutrient-rich staple food crops.
4) Promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, complementary foods, diversified diet
- The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods and a diversified diet after the first six months is essential to meet the nutritional needs of infants and ensure appropriate growth and cognitive development of children.
5) Access to prenatal and postnatal care
- Access and utilisation of prenatal and postnatal health care services also play a significant role in curbing undernutrition among children.
- Aanganwadi workers and community participation can bring significant improvements in child-caring practices.
Consider the question “Assess the severity the problem of malnutrition in India and suggest the measure to achieve the goal of malnutrition free India by 2030”
Conclusion
To contribute towards the holistic nourishment of children and a malnutrition free India by 2030, the government needs to address the multi-dimensional determinants of malnutrition on an urgent basis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to livelihood and related Articles
Mains level: Paper 2- Right of livelihood
The article analyses the implications of recent Supreme Court order regarding the removal of encroachment along the railway line.
Context
- In short order, the Supreme Court of India on August 31 ordered the removal of about 48,000 slum dwellings situated along the railway tracks in Delhi.
- The order raises several legal questions, which are discussed below.
1) Violation of the principle of natural justice
- The order violates principles of natural justice and due process because it was delivered without hearing the affected party, the jhuggi dwellers.
- The order was passed in the long-running case on the piling up of garbage along railway tracks.
- However, neither this case nor the report concerns itself with the legality of informal settlements.
- Still, the Court made an unconvincing connection between the piling of garbage and the presence of slums.
2) Ignoring the right to livelihood
- In this order, the Court ignored its long-standing jurisprudence on the right to livelihood.
- In the landmark decision concerning pavement-dwellers, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in Olga Tellis & Ors vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation & Ors. (1985) held that the right to life also includes the “right to livelihood”.
- Further, in Chameli Singh vs. the State Of U.P. (1995), the Supreme Court recognised the “right to shelter” as a component of the right to life under Article 21 and freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(e).
3) Failure to consider policies and case laws
- High Court of Delhi has held that prior to any eviction, a survey must be conducted.
- The procedure laid down in this judgment formed the basis for the Delhi Slum and JJ Rehabilitation and Relocation Policy, 2015.
- In Ajay Maken & Ors. vs Union Of India & Ors. (2019), the Delhi High Court invoked the idea of the “Right to the City” to uphold the housing rights of slum dwellers.
- This case led to the framing of a Draft Protocol for the 2015 Policy on how meaningful engagement with residents should be conducted.
Conclusion
The Courts need to strike the balance between the rights of the slum dweller and those affected by the encroachment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations
The article analyses the challenges in the India-China border dispute and the recent events of Chinese aggression.
Trust deficit
- The recent Chinese actions have set back trust between the two countries by decades.
- Trust made sense when both sides could assume that the other side either did not have the capacity or would not rapidly deploy troops in strategic positions at the border.
- With the building of infrastructure on both sides, this trust was bound to break.
- Even after temporary disengagement, both sides will now have distrust about the deployment of the other side.
- An infrastructure-thick environment will require a permanent presence and closer deployments.
Challenges
- At the level of the army, India seems to have consistently misread the PLA’s intentions.
- The closer the armies get, the greater the risks.
- There is a political logic that does not bode well. There is still speculation on why the Chinese are taking an aggressive posture.
- The very fact that we are not sure of Chinese motives means it is hard to know their endgame.
Chinese fears
- At a basic level, they will want to secure their interests in CPEC.
- Tibet issue has also been a sensitive issue for China.
- Chinese interest in Nepal is less to encircle India. It is to ensure Nepal is not used as a staging ground of resistance in Tibet.
Tibet issues in India-China relations
- On Tibet issue India is in an awkward situation.
- Due to the presence of the Dalai Lama in India, China will see it as a potential threat to its cultural hegemony in Tibet.
- Ladakh and Tawang are also important pieces in that cultural consolidation.
- The Sino-India peaceful relations were premised on keeping the Tibet issue in check.
- But just as we are not sure of Chinese motives, they may not be sure of our motives either.
New paradigm in India’s foreign policy
- India growing power means it needs a new paradigm of foreign policy.
- This policy will supposedly safeguard India’s interests more assertively.
- If diplomatically not well managed, this change also causes great uncertainty in the international system.
- India’s Pakistan policy is premised entirely on keeping them guessing on what we might do, including possible military options and altering the territorial status quo.
- Our domestic ideological articulation of India’s position ranges from reclaiming PoK to Aksai Chin.
- We cannot abandon Tibetans.
- This underscores a narrative of uncertainty over our intentions.
Conclusion
Our own trumpeted departure from the past, without either the diplomatic preparation, domestic political discipline, and full anticipation of military eventualities, does not make it easy for others to understand our endgame.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project
Mains level: India's freedom struggle
Four martyrs of Communist movement of Kerala will be added to the ‘Dictionary of Martyrs India’s Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)’, if an earlier review report to the Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) is accepted.
Communist revolutionaries of Kerala
- The four who may make it to the list include Aboobacker and Chirukandan of Kayyur, “who walked to the gallows shouting Inquilab Zindabad and Communist Party Zindabad” and “died as brave communists,” as mentioned in the fifth volume of the dictionary.
- Abu of Mambram, a Communist and active partner in the nationalist and anti-imperialist movements, and Chattukutty, an active Communist cadre involved in the agitations for price control, wage hike, and relief to peasants, who were killed in the Tellichery police firing on September 15, 1940, would also qualify.
- The report had suggested the deletion of the martyrs of Punnapra-Vayalar, Karivelloor, and Kavumbayi agitations as they were rioters against the interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Back2Basics: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project
- The project for the compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the uprising of 1857.
- In this dictionary, a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for the emancipation of India.
- It includes ex-INA or ex-military personnel who died fighting the British.
- Information of about 13,500 martyrs has been recorded in these volumes.
Who are included?
- It includes the martyrs of 1857 Uprising, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34), Quit India Movement (1942-44), Revolutionary Movements (1915-34), Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal), Indian National Army (INA, 1943-45), Royal Indian Navy Upsurge (RIN, 1946), etc.
Five Volumes
- Volume 1: In this volume, more than 4400 martyrs of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been listed.
- Volume 2: In this volume, more than 3500 martyrs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir have been listed.
- Volume 3: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1400. This volume covers the martyrs of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sind.
- Volume 4: The numbers of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 3300. This volume covers the martyrs of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
- Volume 5: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1450. This volume covers the martyrs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CSCAF 2.0
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF) 2.0.
About CSCAF 2.0
- A framework is a climate-sensitive approach to urban planning and development in India.
- It was developed after a review of existing frameworks and assessment approaches adopted throughout the world.
- It followed a series of an extensive consultative process with more than 26 organizations and 60 experts from different thematic areas.
- The Climate Centre for Cities under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA in implementation of CSCAF.
Various indicators of the framework
The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely:
- Energy and Green Buildings
- Urban Planning, Green Cover & Biodiversity
- Mobility and Air Quality
- Water Management
- Waste Management
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