1. Guru Nanak, the pioneer of interfaith dialogue READ MORE
2. A Protective Shield READ MORE
3. The Great Contribution of a Gentle Human Being READ MORE

1. Debris dumped along Beas READ MORE
2. The low road: Uttarakhand’s ecological balance must be protected READ MORE

1. Covid beyond illness: Address mental health too READ MORE
2. A hunger-free nation: How India can leverage existing institutions READ MORE

1. Longer-term, better impact: The recent ordinance that allows the Centre to extend the tenure of the Director of the CBI is timely and merited READ MORE
2. There’s a need for transparency in the transfer of judges READ MORE
3. All India Judicial Service won’t solve pendency. And no, the IAS, IPS parallel doesn’t work READ MORE
4. Why a judge’s transfer from Madras to Meghalaya has raised concerns about judicial independence READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Pochampally makes it to list of best tourism villages in the world READ MORE
2. PM to inaugurate the first Global Innovation Summit of the Pharmaceuticals sector on 18th November READ MORE
3. Kartarpur corridor will be reopened READ MORE
4. 20% Unorganised Sector Workers Registered With Labour Ministry’s e-Sharm Portal: Report READ MORE
5. Penicillin can prevent latent rheumatic heart disease from progressing in children: Study READ MORE

Main Exam     

GS Paper- 1

1. Standing tall, and apart READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Longer-term, better impact: The recent ordinance that allows the Centre to extend the tenure of the Director of the CBI is timely and merited READ MORE
2. There’s a need for transparency in the transfer of judges READ MORE
3. All India Judicial Service won’t solve pendency. And no, the IAS, IPS parallel doesn’t work READ MORE
4. Why a judge’s transfer from Madras to Meghalaya has raised concerns about judicial independence READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Covid beyond illness: Address mental health too READ MORE
2. A hunger-free nation: How India can leverage existing institutions READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Kabul, Kashmir and the return of realpolitik: India could find itself in a catch-22 situation as engagement with the Taliban may lead Pakistan to up the ante in J&K READ MORE
2. For more than a waiver: Threat of sanctions undermines foundation of India-U.S. global strategic partnership READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Our economic recovery requires a broader base READ MORE
2. More MGNREGS support needed READ MORE
3. Regional connectivity: An opportunity for India READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Debris dumped along Beas READ MORE
2. The low road: Uttarakhand’s ecological balance must be protected READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY

1. Bias in Artificial Intelligence: Why we need more India-centric AI READ MORE

SECURITY

1. From across the border, a new cyber threat READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Guru Nanak, the pioneer of interfaith dialogue READ MORE
2. A Protective Shield READ MORE
3. The Great Contribution of a Gentle Human Being READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Analyse the factors responsible for the menace of drug abuse in India. Suggest some measures that India could adopt to address the issue.
2. How far do you agree with the view that with the help of AUKUS, India can secure its interests Indo-Pacific without being a member of any security group? Analyse your view.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The recent ordinance that allows the Centre to extend the tenure of the Director of the CBI is timely and merited.
• Threat of sanctions undermines foundationof India-U.S. global strategic partnership.
• Bias in AI may have a broad societal impact, with decision-makers often being unaware of the risks.
• Developing more India-centric datasets and an Indic AI eco-system that incorporates India’s local views is imperative. This will help create more balanced datasets in terms of nationality, colour, gender and global diversity.
• India has managed to upstage China in Maldives but the situation is very fluid due to internal political dynamics and religious extremism.
• Expanding our approach from ‘lives and livelihoods’, as conceived in the Economic Survey, to ‘lives, livelihood and liveliness’ is essential.
• If there is genuine demand in rural India for jobs, the outlay for the MGNREGS should be enhanced.
• With the pandemic deepening India’s food security crisis, existing institutions such as ICDS, PDS, midday meal schemes and subsidised food canteens, can address hunger and malnutrition.

50- WORD TALK

• The first face-to-face summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping wasn’t expected to produce any breakthroughs and it didn’t. But it may have just managed to lower temperatures that were climbing on the back of a range of tensions and rhetoric. That the two powers talked is the achievement.
• The collegium recommendation to appoint Saurabh Kirpal as a Delhi High Court judge has come after a long, needless delay. Kirpal will be India’s first openly gay HC judge and this signals an important mindset change. Concerns about his partner were outside the remit. Government should notify his appointment swiftly.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

THE CONTEXT: Data has become crucial for any country. After the Supreme Court Judgement in Puttaswamy Case in 2017, the debate about the privacy of users is on the floor every time. There is a demand for the proper setup for the protection of users’ data. Data protection Authority is an effective solution in this regard. This article analyses the importance of data protection authority in the securing of users’ data.

 WHAT IS DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY AND WHY IS IT REQUIRED?

India’s data protection authority (DPA), as envisaged under the proposed Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, has been entrusted with the crucial responsibility of protecting and regulating the use of the personal data of citizens.

• India has around 290 million social media users, 340 million messaging application users and around 400 million search engine users. These can easily be siphoned off to a foreign land and used for micro-targeting advertising.
• In similar cases, the EU has the General Data Protection Regulation and the US laws dealing with issues of privacy with the help of such authorities.
• In 2018, Srikrishna Committee also recommended Such Authorities for effective security of data.

PROTECTION FROM WHOM?

Basically, personal data is collected and processed by

• State actors => central and state governments and their instrumentalities;
• Non-state actors => private organisations providing services, social media intermediaries, e-commerce entities, big tech companies and employers
• The central and state governments are one of the largest data fiduciaries (who collect, hold and process data) in a wide array of state activities such as national security, welfare administration, subsidies, provision of municipal services and employment benefits etc.
• Similarly, in the age of big data, non-state data fiduciaries such as social media intermediaries like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and giant e-commerce platforms also collect large amounts of personal data on a day-to-day basis.

WHY DATA PROTECTION IS REQUIRED?

  WHAT IS RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

• A right to privacy is defined broadly as “the right to be let alone.”
• It usually excludes personal matters or activities which may reasonably be of public interest.
• The right to privacy is our right to keep a domain around us, which includes all those things that are part of us, such as our body, home, thoughts, feelings, secrets and identity.
• The right to privacy gives us the ability to choose which parts in this domain can be accessed by others and to control the extent, manner and timing of the use of those parts we choose to disclose.

THE LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS
WHERE RIGHT TO PRIVACY HAS BEEN RECOGNISED AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT
KHARAK SINGH V. THE STATE OF U.P. (1962)	In this case, a minority opinion recognised the right to privacy as a fundamental right but this was not the majority opinion. The minority Judges located the right to privacy under both the right to personal liberty as well as freedom of movement.
GOVIND V. STATE OF M.P. (1975)	Confirmed that the right to privacy is a fundamental right. The right to privacy was said to encompass and protect the personal intimacies of the home, the family marriage, motherhood, procreation and child-rearing. However, the right to privacy is subject to “compelling state interest”.
R. RAJAGOPAL V. UNION OF INDIA (1994)	The right to privacy is a part of the right to personal liberty guaranteed under the constitution. It recognized that the right to privacy can be both a tort (actionable claim) as well as a fundamental right.
UIDAI V/S CBI (2014)	The Unique Identity Authority of India should not transfer any biometric information of any person who has been allotted an Aadhaar number to any other agency without the written consent of that person.
JUSTICE K.S. PUTTUSWAMY (RETD.) & ANR. V. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. (2017).	Privacy is to be an integral component of Part III of the Indian Constitution, which lays down the fundamental rights of the citizens. The state must carefully balance the individual privacy and the legitimate aim, at any cost as fundamental rights cannot be given or taken away by law, and all laws and acts must abide by the constitution. The right to privacy is not an absolute right and any invasion of privacy by state or non-state actor must satisfy the triple test i.e. 1.       Legitimate Aim 2.       Proportionality 3.       Legality

In the Puttaswamy case, the SC instructed the government to pass a law that would regulate informational privacy not only from non-state actors but also from the state parties and other individuals.

DEVELOPMENTS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT?

• In August 2017, the Supreme Court held that privacy is a fundamental right, flowing from the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court also observed that privacy of personal data and facts is an essential aspect of the right to privacy.
• In July 2017, a Committee of Experts, chaired by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, was set up to examine various issues related to data protection in India.
• The Committee submitted its report, along with a draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in July 2018.
• In 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Parliament that is not passed yet.

OBJECTIVE OF THE BILL

• Its regulatory nature not only creates a safe environment for a data principal to get his/her data processed but also protects the right of data fiduciary to profess.
• Gives both the partners in this relationship certain rights and liabilities for it to work effectively.
• Makes sure that the judgement made by the Supreme Court and the rights under the Constitution is protected and safeguarded.
• It attempts to create a secure mechanism for processing of data, establishing certain norms for social media intermediaries, cross-border transfer, liabilities of agencies processing personal data, remedies for illegal, unauthorized and harmful processing, and to lay down a framework of a Data Protection Authority for India for the above said purpose.
• The need for the Bill is derived from the growth of the digital economy and the purpose of monitoring the valid use of data as a means of communication.

PROVISION REGARDING DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITIES

• The Bill sets up a Data Protection Authority which may:

1. 1. take steps to protect the interests of individuals,
2. 2. prevent misuse of personal data, and

• 3. ensure compliance with the Bill.
• It will consist of a chairperson and six members, with at least 10 years of expertise in the field of data protection and information technology.  Orders of the Authority can be appealed to an Appellate Tribunal.  Appeals from the Tribunal will go to the Supreme Court.

HOW DPA IS EMPOWERED TO PROTECT THE DATA?

• The Chairperson of the authority will have the power of superintendence and to give direction for the affairs. The authority will itself appoint members and officers it deems necessary for discharging its duties under this act.
• The most important function of the authority would be to protect the right to privacy that is to protect the interests of data privacy, prevent any misuse of the data, promote data security awareness and comply with the provisions of this act. Other responsibilities or the powers of the authority include formulating regulations and policies for all the purposes as stated above to regulate the data processing, inclusive of all such regulation required provisions.
• The authority has the power to enact code for the practice in the good faith of the data processing companies and entities. The code of practice shall be formulated for an agency, association, or industry involving personal data processing. The authority has the role of maintaining the code and making necessary changes to adapt to the needful.
• The Authority may, for the purpose of discharging of its functions under this Act, issue directions. From time to time as it may deem necessary directions can be issued to some data fiduciaries or data processors in general, or to a particular data fiduciary or a data processor. By the means of provisions of such order or directions, a data fiduciary could be bound to comply with the directions.
• The authority has the power to call for information for discharging its functions as required by the Bill from data fiduciaries and data processors. The authorized officer in the authority has the power to seize any computer resource or any other document if it gives any doubt of misconduct or violation of regulations under the act.
• The authorized officer in the authority has the power to seize any computer resource or any other document if it gives any doubt of misconduct or violation of regulations under the act.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES: AN ANALYSIS?

WHAT INDIA CAN LEARN FROM BEST PRACTICES

1. EU MODEL

2. CHINA MODEL

There is no single regulatory authority that deals exclusively with data protection/privacy matters. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is currently generally considered the primary data protection authority in the PRC, although various other legislative and administrative authorities have claimed jurisdiction over data protection matters, such as:

• National People’s Congress Standing Committee
• Ministry of Public Security
• Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
• State Administration for Market Regulation
• Ministry of Science and Technology

Other sector-specific regulators, such as the People’s Bank of China or the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, can monitor and enforce data protection issues of regulated institutions within their sector.

WAY FORWARD:

• The DPA must be established not as a regulatory body appointed by the central government but as a quasi-judicial independent body having judicial representation and should be subjected to only judicial oversight and monitoring and not executive supervision as envisaged in the current Bill.
• Need for a decentralised DPA structure with state bodies and bodies at the district level like the Consumer Protection regime and to a certain extent, the Right to Information regime.
• As DPA will be an umbrella regulator over the sectoral regulators, there is a greater need to make it not only independent and competent but also efficient and effective.
• There is a need to set up an independent DPA, which can implement the Personal Data Protection Bill in an unbiased manner. It cannot appear to be under the direct command and control of the central government.

CONCLUSION: Maintaining a balance between informational privacy and the development of a strong digital economy is a truly challenging task, requiring a qualified and neutral body at the helm. India can unlock its true digital potential as a data market only with an independent DPA, and not by a regime that irreparably harms our constitutional values and citizens’ right to informational privacy.

Just add to your knowledge

ART AND CULTURE

1. POCHAMPALLY VILLAGE

THE CONTEXT: The Pochampally Village in Telangana State has been selected as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

THE EXPLANATION:

• The prestigious award will be given on the occasion of the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly on 2nd December 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
• The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO Pilot initiative aims to award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified nine evaluation areas.
• It also aims to support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.
• The Ministry of Tourism recommended three villages for the UNWTO Best Tourism Village entry from India. These were Kongthong in Meghalaya, Ladhpura Khas, Madhya Pradesh and Pochampally in Telangana. Pochampally, was awarded by UNWTO.

ABOUT POCHAMPALLY

• Pochampally, 50 Kms from Hyderabad, is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana and is often referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite sarees that are woven through a unique style called Ikat.
• This style, Pochampally Ikat, received a Geographical Indicator (GI Status) in 2004.
• Ikat is a Malaysian, Indonesian word that means “Tie and Dye”. Ikat involves the process of wrapping (or tying) and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined colour pattern before they are woven.
• The dye penetrates into exposed sections while the wrapped section remains undyed. This pattern formed by the yarn in this process is woven into fabric.
• Pochampally is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally to commemorate the Bhoodan Movement that was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18th, 1951.

SOURCE: PIB

2. KARTARPUR CORRIDOR OPENS

THE CONTEXT: The Indian government said it was re-opening the Kartarpur corridor that connects Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan, given the decline in covid-19 cases.

ABOUT KARTARPUR CORRIDOR

• Guru Nanak is the founder and first Guru of Sikhism.
• He was born in 1469 at Talwandi Rai Bhoe near Lahore. The place is renamed later as Nankana Sahib.
• He undertook preaching tours, also called Udasis, to spread his message.
• In the later years of his life, Guru Nanak settled down at the township of Kartarpur, on the banks of river Ravi in Punjab.
• Kartarpur Corridor connects the Dera Baba Nanak Sahib Gurdwara in the India’s state of Punjab to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur shrine in Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
• It runs across over Ravi River.
• The Gurdwara Darbar Sahib was ordered by the Maharaja of Patiala between 1921-1929.
• Guru Nanak died at the age of 70. He appointed Bhai Lena as his successor and renamed him, Guru Angad.

SOURCE : TH

INDIAN ECONOMY

3. COUNTRY’S FIRST FISHERIES BUSINESS INCUBATOR

THE CONTEXT: Union Minister of Fisheries inaugurated the country’s first-of-its-kind, a dedicated business incubator to be known as LINAC- NCDC Fisheries Business Incubation Centre (LlFlC) in Haryana’s Gurugram costing Rs. 3.23 crore to nurture fisheries start-ups under real market-led conditions.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), an implementing agency for the LIFIC, has identified the first batch of ten incubatees from four states—Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
• Out of them, 6 are from newly-created Fish Farmers Producer Organizations with the support of the financial grant under the PMMSY.
• Fisheries is a sunrise industry in India, growing at a 7 per cent rate annually.
• The PM has set a goal of 22 million tonnes of fish production and export to the tune of Rs one lakh crore by 2025.
• It is a very tall order to be achieved within next four years given that presently, fish production is 130  lakh tones and export worth Rs 46,000 crore.
• Overall, there are around 30,000 cooperatives in the fisheries sector.

 SOURCE: PIB                       

4. 20% USW’S REGISTERED WITH E-SHARM PORTAL

THE CONTEXT: About 7.7 crore unorganised sector workers, accounting for 20% of the targeted 38.37 crore workers, across the country had registered on the e-Sharm portal.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The e-Sharm portal is the first centralised database of unorganised workers nationwide seeded with Aadhaar.
• Odisha with the achievement of 87% of the targeted registrations emerged on the top, followed by West Bengal (65%), Chhattisgarh (33%), Jharkhand (31%) and Bihar (25%).
• The response to registration on the e-Sharm portal in these states could be an indication of the suffering faced by the unorganised sector and migrant workers in the aftermath of lockdown and restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.
• For the first time with the e-Sharm portal, the Union government will have a centralised database with Aadhaar numbers seeded of migrant workers, gig workers, agricultural workers, Anganwadi workers, street vendors, domestic workers, among other unorganised sector workers. So far there has been no such database for unorganised sector workers.
• Only data on organised sector workers is available through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation.
• With the conception of the e-Sharm portal, the government claims that will be closer to providing a universal account number and an e-Sharm Card to unorganised workers. Efforts are on to link this number with social security schemes in the future.
• For now, the government has already announced its intention to link accidental insurance with registration on the e-Sharm portal. According to this, if a registered worker meets with an accident, she will be eligible for Rs 2 lakh on death or permanent disability, and Rs 1 lakh on partial disability.
• The government has set the deadline to complete the registration of 38.37 crore informal sector workers across the country by March 2022.

 SOURCE: TheWire                     

INTERNAL SECURITY

5. INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM

THE CONTEXT:   The 7^th edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs is being hosted by French Navy in Paris from 15 – 16 Nov 21.

ABOUT IONS

• IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008 as a forum that seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive platform for discussions on regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to a common understanding on the way ahead.
• The inaugural edition of IONS was held in Feb 2008 in New Delhi, with the Indian Navy as the Chair for two years. The IONS Chair is presently held with France.

SOURCE: PIB

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

6. RUSSIAN ASAT TEST

THE CONTEXT:  Russia has carried out a Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite (DA-ASAT) test by shooting down an old satellite on Monday which has created huge debris in the low earth orbit.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the US space command, Russia has conducted the DA-ASAT test to shoot down an old Soviet Tselina-D SIGINT satellite, Kosmos-1408, which was launched in 1982 and had been dead for a long time.
• While Russia has previously tested ASAT weapons, the DA-ASAT is more advanced and similar to the ones the US has in its inventory.
• ASAT weapon gives the capability to destroy satellites in orbit disrupting the communications and surveillance capabilities of adversaries. Only a handful of countries have successfully demonstrated ASAT capability – China, India, Russia and U.S.
• Initial assessment by USSPACECOM is that the debris will remain in orbit for years and potentially for decades, posing a significant risk to the crew on the International Space Station and other human spaceflight activities, as well as multiple countries’ satellites.
• USSPACECOM continues to monitor the trajectory of the debris and will work to ensure all space-faring nations have the information necessary to safeguard their on-orbit activities if impacted by the debris cloud, a service the United States provides to the world, to include Russia and China.

 SOURCE: TH

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS:

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. United Nations World Tourism Organisation was formed in 1975.
2. Its headquarters is located in Rome, Italy.
3. Tourism Villages is a global initiative of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
4. Pochampally village in Telangana is selected as one of the best Tourism Villages in 2021.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

a) 1 and 3 only

b) 1, 2 and 3 only

c) 1, 3 and 4 only

d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

ANSWER FOR NOVEMBER 16^th, 2021 PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Q1. Answer: D

Explanation:

• Birsa Munda was an Indian tribal freedom fighter, religious leader, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe.
• He is also known as ‘Dharti Abba’ or the Earth Father.
• He started the faith of ‘Birsait’. He wanted to reform the tribal society and so, he urged them to let go of beliefs in witchcraft and instead, stressed the importance of prayer, staying away from alcohol, having faith in God and observing a code of conduct.
• He started a movement called ‘Ulgulan’, or ‘The Great Tumult’.
• His struggle against the exploitation and discrimination against tribals led to a big hit against the British government in the form of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act being passed in 1908. The act restricted the passing on of land from the tribal people to non-tribals.