THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. RAPE PUNISHABLE BUT MARITAL RELATIONSHIP IS DIFFERENT: HC

THE CONTEXT: According to Delhi high court, “there is no compromise with a woman’s right to sexual and bodily integrity. A husband has no business to compel. (But) the court can’t ignore what happens with we knock it (marital rape exception) off.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Delhi High said that while there can be no compromise with women’s right to sexual autonomy and any act of rape has to be punished, there is a “qualitative difference” between a marital and a non-marital relationship as the former entailed a legal right to expect reasonable sexual relation from the spouse and it played a part in the marital rape exemption in criminal law.
• The criminalisation of marital rape orally observed that a non-marital relation, no matter how close, and a marital relationship cannot be “parallelised”.
• The court questioned as to why the exception from the offence of rape granted to a married couple had remained in the legislature for several years in spite of developments suggesting the contrary and remarked that “one of the possible reasons” was the wide scope of Section 375 of Indian Penal Code which included even a single act of “unwilling sex” as rape.
• “When a party gets married, there is a right – it can lead to divorce — a legal right to expect a normal, reasonable sexual relationship with your partner. That qualitative difference has a part to play in the exception,” clarifying that he was neither expressing his final opinion on the petitions nor examining “whether marital rape should be punished” at this stage.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2. THE PROTESTS IN KAZAKHSTAN

THE CONTEXT: The 2022 new year saw protests in yet another unexpected place: Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Although ruled by autocratic regimes since the USSR’s disintegration, it is unexpected because Kazakhstan is the richest Central Asian Republic and is thought to be one of the more stable of these republics.

REASONS FOR UNREST:

The protests began when the ruling government of Kazakhstan lifted the price controls of Liquified Petroleum Gas. The prices quickly doubled after the lift. Earlier, because of its low price, the citizens had converted their vehicles to run on the fuel. Their plans shattered due to sudden price hike after the price control was lifted. This angered them and they started protesting.

The situation in Kazakhstan is a classic case of the dilemma of transfer of power in strongman regimes, something which resonates in Russia as well. The protests have not ended despite the resignation of the Government and the removal of the unpopular Nursultan Nazarbayev as chairman of the country’s Security Council. He was also the former President who ruled the country for 28 years.

What is in the protest for Russia?

Around 20% of the Kazakhs are ethnic Russians. Baikonur Cosmodrome of Kazakhstan is used as launch base for all Russian manned space missions.

How Kazakhstan control the protest?

After the Prime Minister of the country resigned, the president has taken over responsibility. He has created a security council to control the protest. Kazakhstan has sought help from its military allies, especially Russia. It has also sought the help of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization). CSTO comprises of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Bealrus.

Demands for democracy:

• There has been a growing discontent among Kazakhs over risingincome inequality and the lack of democracy.
• The authoritarian government has been widely criticised over the years for violating fundamental freedoms.
• For instance, during the presidential elections of 2019, there were widespread reports of irregularities.

What is the CSTO?

The CSTO is a Russia-dominated security alliance (Russia contributes 50% of its budget) which was established after the USSR’s fall when some members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) signed a mutual defence treaty named the Collective Security Treaty. Meant as a replacement for the Warsaw Pact, the Treaty came into force in 1994. In 2002, it became the CSTO. The CSTO has six members today: Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

The organisation is based, as the name indicates, on the principle of collective security or the idea of “one for all and all for one”. Essentially, this means that an aggressor against any one state in the organisationis considered to be an aggressor against all other states. So, all the members would act together to repel the aggressor.

BACKGROUND:

Kazakhstan is an oil rich country. It has huge foreign investments mainly because of its oil. It had a strong economy since its independence (after disintegration of Soviet Union). However, its autocratic form of governance has raised international concerns. The political rifts between the ruling and opposition creates the unrest. And the authorities often crack down due to the internal protests. Such conditions are always around oil issues. Oil is used as weapon to capture power.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

3. GHAZIABAD MOST POLLUTED CITY: NCAP REPORT

THE CONTEXT:According to the three-year comparative analysis, Ghaziabad, with annual PM 2.5 level above 100, remained at the top of the table in the most polluted cities, except in 2020, when Lucknow ranked first with an annual PM 2.5 level of 116.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The analysis by NCAP Tracker, a joint project by news portal ‘Carbon Copy’ and a Maharashtra-based start-up ‘Respirer Living Sciences’, designed to track India’s progress in achieving the clean air targets set under the NCAP, ranked Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh as the most polluted city out of the 132 non-attainment cities listed under the NCAP with highest levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10.
• Delhi was the second most polluted city in the list of cities with the highest PM 2.5 level and fourth in cities with the highest PM 10 level. Despite the constant focus on the air pollution woes of the Capital city, Delhi reduced its PM levels only marginally.
• A non-attainment city is one whose air did not meet the national ambient air quality standards of 2011 to 2015. The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched for such cities, seeking to bring a 20-30 per cent reduction in pollution levels from PM2.5 and PM10 particles by 2024, using 2017 pollution levels as a base. The goal is non-binding.

Other Cities:

• Varanasi was able to achieve the largest reduction in air quality levels (52 per cent in PM2.5 levels and 54 per cent in PM10 levels). The only other cities to achieve an at least 20 per cent reduction were Hubli, West Bengal (42 per cent in PM2.5 levels and 40 per cent in PM10 levels), and Talcher, Odisha (20 and 53 per cent respectively).
• Ahmedabad recorded a reduction of 26 per cent in PM10 levels. However, Navi Mumbai’s PM2.5 levels increased to 53 micrograms per cubic metre from 39, and PM 10 levels increased to 122 from 96 compared to 2019.
• None of the 132 cities, however, attained the national annual safe limits for particulate matter. Currently, the annual safe limit is 40 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5 and 60 micrograms per cubic meter for PM10.
• Additionally, of the 132 cities, only 36 cities had data from 2019 and 2021 with an “uptime” of 50 per cent, meaning the systems were running 50 per cent of the time.

About the National Clean Air Programme:

Launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2019. It was not notified under the Environment Protection Act or any other Act.

Goal

Goal of NCAP is to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country in a stipulated timeframe. The tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.

Objectives

• To augment and evolve effective and proficient ambient air quality monitoring network across the country for ensuring comprehensive and reliable database
• To have efficient data dissemination and public outreach mechanism for timely measures for prevention and mitigation of air pollution and for inclusive public participation in both planning and implementation of the programmes and policies of government on air pollution
• To have feasible management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.

Approach

• Collaborative, Multi-scale and Cross-Sectoral Coordination between relevant Central Ministries, State Government and local bodies.
• Focus on no Regret Measures, Participatory and Disciplined approach

Who will all participate?

Apart from experts from the industry and academia, the programme will be a collaboration between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, NITI Aayog, and Central Pollution Control Board.

4. RED SANDERS FALLS BACK IN IUCN’S ‘ENDANGERED’ CATEGORY

THE CONTEXT:Red Sanders (Red Sandalwood) has fallen back into the ‘endangered’ category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. The species, Pterocarpus santalinus, is an Indian endemic tree species, with a restricted geographical range in the Eastern Ghats.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The species is endemic to a distinct tract of forests in Andhra Pradesh. It was classified as ‘near threatened’ in 2018 and has now joined the ‘endangered’ list once again in 2021.
• It was a moment of celebration when the species was lifted off from the endangered category for the first time since 1997.
• The latest IUCN assessment stated: “Over the last three generations, the species has experienced a population decline of 50-80 per cent. It is assessed as Endangered”.
• The IUCN maintains a list — called the Red List — of flora and fauna species and categorises them based on their conservation status.

Value Addition:

• Pterocarpus santalinus known for their rich hue and therapeutic properties, are high in demand across Asia, particularly in China and Japan, for use in cosmetics and medicinal products as well as for making furniture, woodcraft and musical instruments.
• Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that a tonne of Red Sanders costs anything between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore in the international market.
• The slow growth of the species and continued harvesting leaves no time for the species to recover naturally. Cattle grazing and invasive species also threaten the species.
• It is listed under Appendix II of CITES and is banned from international trade. The harvest of the tree is also restricted at the state level, but despite this illegal trade continues.
• “The over-harvest of the species has left the population structure skewed, with trees of harvestable size and maturity being scarce and making up less than 5 per cent of the trees remaining in the wild”.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

5. CHANG’E 5 LUNAR PROBE FINDS FIRST ON-SITE EVIDENCE OF WATER ON MOON

THE CONTEXT: China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander has found the first-ever on-site evidence of water on the surface of the moon, lending new evidence to the dryness of the satellite.

KEY FINDINGS:

• A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances revealed that the lunar soil at the landing site contains less than 120 parts-per-million (ppm) water, or 120 grams water per tonne, and a light vesicular rock carries 180 ppm – much drier than rocks on Earth.
• The presence of water had been confirmed by remote observation but the lander has now detected signs of water in rocks and soil.
• A device on-board the lunar lander measured the spectral reflectance of the regolith and the rock and detected water on the spot for the first time.
• According to the Xinhua news agency reported, the water content can be estimated since the water molecule or hydroxyl absorbs at a frequency of about three micrometers, citing researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
• According to the researchers, it was the solar wind that contributed to the most humidity of lunar soil as it brought hydrogen that makes up the water.The additional 60 ppm water in the rock may originate from the lunar interior.
• Therefore, the rock is estimated to hail from an older, more humid basaltic unit before being ejected onto the landing site to be picked up by the lunar lander. The study revealed that the moon had turned drier within a certain period, owing probably to the degassing of its mantle reservoir.

ABOUT CHANG’E-5 PROBE

The objective of the mission was to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

It is an unmanned spacecraft by China. The probe is named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess.

• Chang’e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.
• The findings provide more clues to China’s Chang’e-6 and Chang’e-7 missions. The investigations of lunar water reserves come into the limelight as the building of manned lunar stations are in the pipeline in the next decades.

THE INTERNAL SECURITY

6. DISTURBED AREA’ STATUS EXTENDED FOR ONE YEAR IN MANIPUR

THE CONTEXT:Amid the growing public demand for repealing AFSPA following the December 4,2021 incident in Nagaland’s Mon district, the government of Manipur has extended the disturbed area status in the state for one year.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the Government, the entire state of Manipur is in such a disturbed condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is necessary and is of the opinion that the areas within the state be declared as a “Disturbed Area” under the provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.
• “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (Act No.28 of 1958) as amended from time to time, the Governor of Manipur hereby accords ex-post facto approval to declare the entire state of Manipur excluding the Imphal Municipal Area as “Disturbed Area” for a period of 1 (one) year with retrospective effect from December 1, 2021.
• In Nagaland also, the Centre extended the disturbed area status for six months on December 30 in 2021 in-spite of the Nagaland state cabinet resolving against continuation of AFSPA in the wake of the Mon district incident.

What is a “disturbed area” and who has the power to declare it?

• A disturbed area is one which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA. An area can be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.
• The Central Government, or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.
• A suitable notification would have to be made in the Official Gazette. As per Section 3 , it can be invoked in places where “the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary”.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs would usually enforce this Act where necessary, but there have been exceptions where the Centre decided to forego its power and leave the decision to the State governments.

THE MISCELLANEOUS

7. TURKMENISTAN PLAN TO CLOSE ITS ‘GATEWAY TO HELL’

THE CONTEXT:Turkmenistan President has ordered experts to find a way to extinguish a fire in a huge natural gas crater, the Darvaza gas crater also known as the ‘Gateway to Hell’.

THE EXPLANATION:

What is the ‘Gateway to Hell’?

The crater is 69 metres wide and 30 metres deep. While the details of the origin of the crater are contested but it has been said that the crater was created in 1971 during a Soviet drilling operation.

Located in the Karakum desert, 260 kilometres away from Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat, the crater has been burning for the last 50 years.

Background:

In 1971, Soviet geologists were drilling for oil in the Karakum desert when they hit a pocket of natural gas by mistake, which caused the earth to collapse and ended up forming three huge sinkholes. This pocket of natural gas contained methane, hence to stop that methane from leaking into the atmosphere, the scientists lit it with fire, assuming the gas present in the pit would burn out within a few weeks.

Although, the scientists seemed to have misjudged the amount of gas present in the pit, because the crater has been on fire for five decades now. As reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Turkmenistan is one of the five Caspian Sea littoral countries, an area with large volumes of oil and natural gas reserves.”

Why did Turkmenistan’s President order to extinguish it?

• According to the President, it is a human-made crater, “it negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby”.
• As reported by Reuters, he had also asked the authorities to ensure that it does not hinder the development in the gas field near the crater. “The Existing anomalies have hindered the accelerated industrial development of the subsoil riches of central Karakum”.

According to the International Trade Administration, Turkmenistan produced 63.2 billion cubic meters of gas in 2019. Reuters, in 2010, had reported that the country wanted to triple the output over the next few decades to expand sales beyond Russia, China and Iran and into Western Europe, India and Pakistan.

Reason behind the Fire:

• The soil samples from within the crater to find a sign of “microbial life-forms that are thriving in the hot, methane-rich environment”.
• The scientists were able to find bacteria living amidst the burning crater. “The most important thing was that they were not found in any of the surrounding soil outside of the crater”.

How harmful are methane leaks?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, “Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air pollutant and greenhouse gas, exposure to which causes 1 million premature deaths every year. Methane is also a powerful greenhouse gas. Over a 20-year period, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.”

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY 11^TH JANUARY 2022

1. Consider the following statements about NCAP:
2. It was launched in 2019 to reduce levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in certain cities which fail tomeet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
3. It aims to reduce particulate matter levels in those cities by 20-30% in 2022.

Which of the statements is/are correct?

1. a) 1 only
2. b) 2 only
3. c) Both 1 and 2
4. d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR 10^TH JANUARY 2022.

Answer: d)

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct:Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank headquartered in Beijing.

1. Faith in God, the self & in the world around READ MORE
2. Australia visa row: For now, Novak Djokovic is a free man but it may be a hollow victory READ MORE
3. Safeguarding integrity in public institutions READ MORE

1. How the past informs the present READ MORE  
2. Economic development, the nutrition trap, and metabolic disease READ MORE

1. In Great Nicobar, an EIA Points the Way for a Megaproject READ MORE
2. Pollution bouncing back in middle and lower Indo-Gangetic Plain: CSE READ MORE

1. The rise of collaboratives for social impact: The emphasis on inclusion, equity and justice, and formal collaborations could make a mark in India’s social sector READ MORE
2. How India has approached customary international law READ MORE
3. Risks of three Cs: CVC curtailing CBI’s scope for bank probes is excellent. But PSBs still face perverse incentives READ MORE
4. Challenges for ECI: Ensuring free, fair and safe elections an onerous task READ MORE
5. Government needs effective communications strategy READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Ghaziabad most polluted city, says NCAP report READ MORE
2. Supreme Court panel to probe PM Modi security breach READ MORE
3. Explained: Why does Turkmenistan plan to close its ‘Gateway to Hell’? READ MORE
4. China’s Chang’e 5 Lunar Probe Finds First On-Site Evidence of Water on Moon READ MORE
5. Red Sanders falls back in IUCN’s ‘endangered’ category READ MORE
6. PM Narendra Modi greets Indian diaspora on Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas READ MORE
7. Ex-RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed Vice President of AIIB READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. How the past informs the present READ MORE  

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The rise of collaboratives for social impact: The emphasis on inclusion, equity and justice, and formal collaborations could make a mark in India’s social sector READ MORE
2. How India has approached customary international law READ MORE
3. Risks of three Cs: CVC curtailing CBI’s scope for bank probes is excellent. But PSBs still face perverse incentives READ MORE
4. Challenges for ECI: Ensuring free, fair and safe elections an onerous task READ MORE
5. Government needs effective communications strategy READ MORE

SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Economic development, the nutrition trap, and metabolic disease READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The sail that Indian diplomacy, statecraft need: Striking the right balance between continental and maritime security will enable India’s long-term security interests READ MORE
2. Disparity, escalation key issues for NPT review READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. FDI in retail: The conundrum persists READ MORE
2. Industrialisation of Space READ MORE
3. Time for a shift in balancing under IBC READ MORE
4. With RCEP now in force, India must strengthen trade & engage with other blocs, say experts READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. In Great Nicobar, an EIA Points the Way for a Megaproject READ MORE
2. Pollution bouncing back in middle and lower Indo-Gangetic Plain: CSE READ MORE

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. AFSPA debate: What could be a possible solution? READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Faith in God, the self & in the world around READ MORE
2. Australia visa row: For now, Novak Djokovic is a free man but it may be a hollow victory READ MORE
3. Safeguarding integrity in public institutions READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Striking the right balance between continental and maritime security would be the best guarantor of our long-term security interests.’ Discuss.
2. ‘True social advancement arises from the ideals and shared beliefs that weld society together’. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned.
• The emphasis on inclusion, equity and justice, and formal collaborations could make a mark in India’s social sector.
• Current crises in Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Kazakhstan are reshaping the geopolitics of the region, with Russia at the very centre of that restructuring.
• Strengthening the livestock sector will not only help meet the growing demand for livestock products, but will also enhance farmers’ income, generate employment, empower women and give a fillip to livestock-based processing sectors.
• Indian support for the statement and a decision to offer similar commitment will not really demand any immediate steps that could adversely impact its nuclear deterrence.
• The way forward is tolegitimize FDI in Indian online retail. Modi should also allow 100 per cent FDI in offline retail without any riders.
• We need to restore confidence on both sides and ensure an atmosphere of reasonable operational freedom without harming people, whom the military also treats as its centre of gravity.
• True social advancement arises from the ideals and shared beliefs that weld society together.
• Maturity isn’t just taking responsibility for our actions but critically assessing the history that placed us there. The ultimate freedom is having the power to change it.

50-WORD TALK

• There’s not much to celebrate over Djokovic being allowed to play. Tennis Australia’s arbitrary rules granting Djokovic an exception shows what you can get away with if powerful. Anti-vaxxer Djokovic isn’t a hero sports needs. He has neither the grace of Nadal or Federer, nor any regard for people’s lives.
• India has welcomed the P-5 statement. In fact, New Delhi could go a step further and echo the same at an individual level. It could also call upon the P-5 to start realising their promises by joining India on the two resolutions that it annually presents at the UNGA. One of this precisely matches the P-5 promise to address nuclear dangers. India’s resolution calls for steps to reduce the risk of unintentional or accidental use of nuclear weapons.

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.

[WpProQuiz 133]

THE CONTEXT: In November 2021, the Centre has brought in two ordinances to facilitate the continuance of the chiefs of the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation in their posts for a maximum period of five years. In this article, we will analyze the consequences of this move.

THE DEVELOPMENT

1. TENURE EXTENSION FOR INVESTIGATING AGENCIES CHIEF

• The Centre moved an ordinance that allowed the tenure of the Central Bureau of Investigation director to be extended by up to five years. A similar ordinance has extended the tenure of the director of the Enforcement Directorate.
• The Directors of CBI and ED enjoy a fixed tenure of two years from the date of their appointment in the wake of the directives of the Supreme Court in the famous Vineet Narain case.
• For the CBI director, the central government amended the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 and for the ED director, the government amended the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act.
• Both the Acts allow the chiefs of ED and CBI the nation’s nodal organisations entrusted with fighting corruption, money laundering and other serious crimes to get three one-year extensions after the completion of their two-year tenures.
• The CBI is currently headed by 1985-batch IPS officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, who was appointed in May 2021 for a two-year period.
• The ED is headed by IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra, who was appointed to the post in November 2018. In November 2020, his tenure was extended by another year by the Centre.

2. AMENDMENT IN FUNDAMENTAL RULES

• The Centre amended Fundamental Rules (FR), 1922 also to facilitate extended tenure and in-service benefits to CBI and ED directors.
• The FR is a set of guiding principles applicable to all government servants and covers the entire gamut of their in-service and post-retirement working scenarios.
• It bars extension in service to any government servants beyond the age of retirement of sixty years except a few including Cabinet Secretary, those dealing with budget-related work, eminent scientists, Cabinet Secretary, IB and RAW chiefs besides the CBI director among others with certain conditions.
• The rules now allow the central government to give extension in the public interest to the Defence Secretary, Home Secretary, Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a case-to-case basis.

HOW DO THESE AGENCIES CHIEFS APPOINT?

CBI CHIEF

• The procedure for the appointment of the CBI chief is laid down in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946.
• Section 4A of the Act says that any director of a special police force or establishment, including the CBI chief, is to be appointed by the central government, which has to go by the recommendation in that regard of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha along with the Chief Justice of India or any judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him.
• For filling the post of CBI chief, the committee is mandated to recommend a panel of officers “on the basis of seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases” who are to be chosen from amongst officers belonging to the Indian Police Service (IPS).
• Section 4B of the DSPE Act provides that persons appointed as directors under it shall “continue to hold office for a period of not less than two years from the date on which he assumes office”.

ED CHIEF

• The appointment of the ED chief is governed by the Central Vigilance Commission Act of 2003. Article 25 of the Act lays down that the Centre shall appoint the ED Director on the recommendation of a panel that will have the Central Vigilance Commissioner as its chairperson and include vigilance commissioners as its members along with the Union home secretary, the secretary of the central Ministry of Personnel, and the revenue secretary.

WHY DID THE GOVERNMENT BRING TWO ORDINANCES?

Both CBI and ED are the two most important investigating agencies. The ED has the sole jurisdiction to investigate money-laundering cases, while the CBI has the primary responsibility to investigate cases of corruption.

• A fixed upper limit to the tenure of such appointments to “maintain independence”.
• India faces certain sensitive investigative and legal processes in important cases, requiring extradition of fugitive offenders, which need a “continuum”.
• The ED and CBI chiefs are a “relevant and significant part of the global movement against corruption and money laundering”, and hence “any possibility of restricting the tenure may defeat the object under certain circumstances”.
• The world is facing “global contingencies” such as fugitives running away, the laundering of funds using shell companies, and extradition cases and there is every possibility of such global contingencies occurring in the future and therefore, amendments in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, are necessitated to meet such contingencies whenever arises with certain in-built safeguards.
• It is mandatory for senior personnel to hold their positions for sufficiently long tenures.
• Enhancing capacity and resources for continuing oversight by the senior officers, especially the heads of the two agencies, is “fundamental to the proposed re-strengthening”.
• It is strongly felt that assured long tenures of the heads of ED and CBI on similar lines would be highly desirable.
• A longer-term could give the ED and CBI chiefs greater leeway, helping them pursue sensitive cases to their logical conclusion — the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) does give its head a 10-year tenure.

A case study of ED working under present director Sanjay Mishra

Sanjay Kumar Mishra brought about fundamental changes in the work culture of the Enforcement Directorate.

• He maintained a low public profile and did not give any interviews to the media. He also ensured that the zonal directors, who were earlier working essentially as regional satraps, also did the same. He ensured that no motivated leaks or rumours attributed to sources within ED were floated.
• He avoided indiscriminate arrest of the accused, giving them ample opportunity, by way of summons, to join the investigation. Anil Deshmukh case and P. Chidambaram case.
• The Enforcement Directorate is handling a number of many sensitive cases that are at a crucial stage, it would have been neither in the national interest nor in the interest of the administration of justice to change the head of the organisation, merely because of a legal provision.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Autonomy of the agencies: One-year extensions would harm the independent functioning of these agencies and would also take away the stability required to protect them from political interference.

Tinkering with tenure: While there have been attempts to bring independence and stability to the appointment and functioning of CBI directors, their appointments and tenures have frequently been mired in controversy. The new ordinance would give the Central government even more power to decide the tenure of the director, one year at a time, undermining the idea of a fixed and minimum tenure for the person in the post.

Appointments in question: Despite several measures to bring impartiality to appointing CBI directors, the process has frequently been questioned. In 2013, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act prescribed that the CBI director would be selected by a panel comprising of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and the CGI. While this process seems to ensure fairness, the director is usually chosen from a pool of candidates elected by a Central government department. The current selection criteria are based on “seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases”. But they have been criticised for being vague since relatively junior officers have been appointed as directors. Apart from this, there have been numerous instances of the government trying to tinker with the appointment of CBI directors. In 2018, there was a long drawn fight between Alok Verma, who was then CBI director, and Rakesh Asthana, special director of the CBI. Asthana is believed to be close to the government and was appointed as special director despite being accused of corruption by Verma. Asthana in turn also alleged corruption by Verma. In a context that is already politicised, giving the government more control over the appointment of the CBI director could undermine the independence of the institution.

Timing of the ordinance: The timing of the ordinances has also raised questions, coming just before the tenure of the current Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra was about to expire. His tenure was retrospectively extended last year so that he could continue till 2021. His term has already been extended by a year using the ordinance. The ordinance was brought in two weeks before the winter session of Parliament.

The working of the agencies is already under doubt: The CBI is frequently misused by the Central government for political goals. In 2013, the Supreme Court described the CBI as a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”. At present, eight states ruled by governments led by opposition parties, have withdrawn the “general consent” to the CBI. This means that the CBI, being a central agency, will have to obtain the state government’s consent to proceed in a case.

Against the SC judgement: The move has sidelined the 2020 judgment by the Supreme Court bench that had pointedly said in the case linked to the extension of Mishra’s tenure that such an extension can only be “in rare and exceptional cases”. The ordinances have not been a rare incident. The Centre has been outreaching and making such changes earlier too. When Ed chief tenure was extended in Nov. 2020, it was a challenge in SC. Then Supreme court ruled that the ED director can be appointed for a period of more than two years by following the relevant procedure. But for Mishra’s case, the court said no further extension shall be granted and also said the extension of tenure granted to officers who have attained the age of superannuation should be done only in rare and exceptional cases.

The proper procedure is not followed: Unlike the CBI director, the head of the ED is not selected by the committee consisting of the prime minister, leader of the opposition and chief justice of India. However, the recommendation of extension of the term of ED director comes from a committee comprising the chief vigilance commissioner, vigilance commissioner, home secretary and the secretaries of the Department of Personnel and Training and Revenue. By extending the ED director’s tenure through an ordinance, the Union government has bypassed this committee.

PATRONAGE OVER PROBITY?

• Ordinances are meant to deal with emergencies and brought when circumstances demand swift action. But previous 2 years viz: 2019 & 2020 have seen ordinances surpassing Parliament scrutiny and 16 & 15 ordinances were promulgated in 2019 & 2020.
• Parliamentary proceedings offer a wonderful platform to debate, discuss & devise any new legislation. Any new legislation should be debated at length, as has been the tradition. At a time when the Parliament Session was just days ahead, taking the ordinance route could have been avoided.
• Promulgating an ordinance in such circumstances is nothing but a means to undermine the institution. Parliament is an appropriate body for law-making and decisions that weaken its role should be avoided.

THE WAY FORWARD

• At a time, when the working of investigating agencies is under doubt, the government should give more autonomy to these agencies in their work to show their neutrality.
• As in present, parliament session is going on, so there should be a proper discussion about the ordinances.
• The selection procedure for the appointment of heads of these agencies should be more transparent, and government should try to appoint neutral officers.
• As the supreme court ruled that, the extension should be in rare conditions, this guideline should be followed.
• There should be a proper selection panel for the selection of ED chief also.
• In future, such a decision should be taken after the proper debate and discussion in parliament.

THE CONCLUSION: Although, the tenure extensions of such bodies are needed, and they should be, but these decisions should be taken after proper discussion in parliament and government. In an era where one of the most progressive legislation has been passed, transparency and accountability to the people are called for on the part of all democratic institutions.

THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. THE 24TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-GOVERNANCE 2021

THE CONTEXT: The Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in association with the State Government of Telangana organized the 24th Conference on e-Governance (NCG) 2021.

THE EXPLANATION: 

• The theme of this Conference is “India’s Techade: Digital Governance in a Post Pandemic World”. At the Valedictory Session ‘Hyderabad Declaration’ on e-Governance was adopted after intensive deliberations during the sessions.
• The discussions were held on six sub-themes in Plenary sessions- AatmaNirbhar Bharat: Universalization of Public Services; Innovation– Platformization, Emerging Technologies; Ease of living through Technology Interventions for Good Governance; Government Process Re-engineering and Citizen’s participation in Government Processes; India’s Techade – Digital Economy (Digital Payments – Building Citizen’s Confidence).

HYDERABAD DECLARATION:

The Conference resolved that Government of India and State Governments shall collaborate to:

1. To bring citizens and government closer through digital platforms.
2. Transform citizen services through use of technology by leveraging the artifacts of India Stack that include Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, UMANG, e Sign and consent framework.
3. Fast track the implementation of the national level public digital platforms in key social sectors viz. Health, Education, Agriculture, etc by adopting open interoperable architecture for joined up connected services.
4. Operationalize the data governance framework to facilitate data sharing within Government entities as also make available all data on data.gov.in except for a negative list. Enable protocols for data collection, data harvesting, data privacy, data anonymization, data security, and data preservation that can help build a data economy.
5. Foster responsible use of emerging technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, 5G, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, etc for Social Empowerment.
6. Use technology for propagating end to end service delivery without human interference to the citizen at the grass root level.
7. Make “digital” the primary aspect of government service design and delivery and provide requisite infrastructure to achieve that.

Value Addition:

What is e-Governance?

• E-governance is the application of ICT to the processes of government functioning for good governance. In other words, e-governance is the public sector’s use of ICTs with the aim to improve information and service delivery, encourage citizen participation in decision-making and make government more accountable, transparent and efficient.
• So in essence, e-governance is the application of ICT in government functioning to bring in SMART governance implying: simple, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent

SMART governance, thus, helps in:

• improving the internal organizational processes of governments;
• providing better information and service delivery;
• increasing government transparency in order to reduce corruption;
• reinforcing political credibility and accountability; and
• promoting democratic practices through public participation and consultation.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

2. THE RARE MICROBES

THE CONTEXT: Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have discovered that oxygen is also produced without sunlight, possibly deep below the ocean surface. Researchers have discovered that some of the invisible microorganisms living in water columns produce oxygen in an unexpected way.

THE EXPLANATION:

Scientists say there would be no oxygen on Earth were it not for sunlight: the key component in photosynthesis.

Nitrogen cycle

• A few microbes are known to make oxygen without sunlight, but so far, they have only been discovered in very limited quantities and in very specific habitats.
• But the ocean living microbe Nitrosopumilus maritimus and its cousins, called ammonia-oxidizing archaea play an important role in the nitrogen cycle. For this, they need oxygen. So it has been a long-standing puzzle why they are also very abundant in waters where there is no oxygen.
• The researchers found that N. maritimus was using the oxygen present in water, but the oxygen levels started increasing again in water. The micro-organisms were able to make oxygen even in a dark environment. Not sufficiently high to influence oxygen levels on Earth, but enough to keep itself going.
• maritimus couples the oxygen production to the production of gaseous nitrogen. By doing so they remove bioavailable nitrogen from the environment.

What are Microbes?

A microbe, or “microscopic organism,” is a living thing that is too small to be seen with the naked eye. We need to use a microscope to see them.It is used to describe many different types of life forms, with dramatically different sizes and characteristics:

• Bacteria
• Archaea
• Fungi
• Protists
• Viruses

Microscopic Animals

The human body is home to microbes from all of these categories. Microscopic plants are also considered microbes, though they don’t generally live on or in the human body.         

3. THE RETURN OF GHARIAL TO ORANG NATIONAL PARK

THE CONTEXT: The Assam government issued a preliminary notification for adding 200.32 sq. km to the 78.82 sq. km Orang National Park as it is to be expanded to more than thrice its existing size; to include Gharials, dolphins, turtles.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The gharial, wiped out from the Brahmaputra River system in the 1950s, could be the prime beneficiary of a process to expand an Assam tiger reserve.

• Orang, on the northern bank of the river, is strategic to the Kaziranga Orang Riverine Landscape. Tigers and rhinos are known to use the islands in this riverine landscape, about 180 km long, to hop between Orang and Kaziranga.
• “The government is pursuing a policy for the reintroduction of the gharial that became locally extinct more than six decades ago. With better protection, the stretch of Kaziranga-Orang landscape is ideal for sustaining the gharial,”
• The Gangetic dolphin is also expected to be a beneficiary of the final notification of the addition to Orang, expected to take at least three months after the rights and claims are settled.
• Other national parks in Assam are Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri, Dibru-Saikhowa, Raimona and DehingPatkai.

About Gharials

Gharials (or gavials) are a type of Asian crocodilian distinguished by their long, thin snouts. Crocodilians are a group of reptiles that includes crocodiles, alligators, caimans, and more.

India has three species of Crocodilians namely:

• Gharial: IUCN Red List– Critically Endangered
• Mugger crocodile: IUCN-
• Saltwater crocodile: IUCN- Least Concern.
• All the three are listed on Appendix I of CITES and Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• However, Saltwater Crocodile populations of Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are included in Appendix II of CITES.

Habitats include:

• Fresh waters of the northern India – Chambal river, Ghagra, Gandak river and the Sone river (Bihar).
• Population of Gharials is a good indicator of clean river water.

Conservation Efforts:

• Breeding Centres of Kukrail Gharial Rehabilitation Centre in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, National Chambal Sanctuary (Gharial Eco Park, Madhya Pradesh).

Orang National Park

• The Orang National Park also known as Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park is located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam and covers an area of 78.81 square kilometers.
• It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1985 but was declared as National Park in 1999. It is also 49th Tiger Reserve of the country, being notified in 2016.
• It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN site) since the two parks have a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams, and grasslands.
• Pachnoi River, Belsiri River and Dhansiri River border the park and join the Brahmaputra River.

THE DEFENCE AND SECURITY

4. THE LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFT PROGRAMME

THE CONTEXT: According to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), HAL expects to deliver all Final Operational Clearance (FOC) variant aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2022 pending some systems from Israel, while the LCA-MK1A is expected to take flight in June 2022. There is another 20 to 24 months of testing after which deliveries would begin with manufacturing activities going parallel to the testing.

THE BACKGROUND:

• The term Tejas means ‘radiance’. Developed as a joint venture between Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Tejas is a lightweight aircraft technically described as a multi-role, singing-engine tactical fighter. The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas was conceptualized in the year
• Specially manufactured for induction into the Indian Navy and Indian Air force, Tejas comes with two variations.
• Tejas is an indigenously manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Notably, this is among the world’s smallest and lightest multi-role fighter aircraft belonging to the Supersonic class. The highlights of this tailless Aircraft include a single-engine and a compound delta wing. In the mission of its development, we see ADA and HAL partners also making use of the expertise of DRDO, CSIR, BEL, DGAQA, IAF and IN. Upon its deployment, Tejas will meet the diverse requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy (IN).

Tejas aircraft Performance

• Altitude: 50,000 feet; Max Speed at all altitudes: Supersonic; and ‘g’ limits: +8/-3.5.
• The efficiency and worth of any modern fighter aircraft depend on the weapons it is capable of delivering on the target. Tejas can carry a veritable plethora of air to surface, air to air, standoff and precision-guided weaponry. In the air-to-air arena, Tejas can carry long-range and beyond-visual-range weapons. It can also tackle any kind of close combat threat by handling highly agile and high off-boresight missiles.
• A broad range of air to ground munitions and highly accurate navigation and attack system makes it possible for the aircraft to prosecute the surface targets both over the land or at the sea with the mission accomplished with a high degree of accuracy. These features bestow the multi-swing role capabilities to this highly touted fighter jet aircraft Tejas.

What is the status of the LCA programme?

• Two decades since the first flight, in February 2021, the Defence Ministry signed a ₹48,000 crore deal with HAL to supply 83 LCA-Mk1A to the IAF. This includes 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Mk-1 trainer aircraft at the cost of ₹45,696 crores along with the design and development of infrastructure sanctions worth ₹1,202 crores.
• The MK-1A will have over 40 modifications over the MK1 variant including some major ones like a new Electronic Warfare system, Advanced Electronically Scanning Array (AESA) radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles and network warfare system including Software Defined Radio (SDR).
• The first IOC fighter aircraft was delivered in 2016 and the first LCA squadron No. 45 “Flying Daggers” in the IAF was formed in July 2016 with two aircraft. The first squadron is now complete and the second LCA squadron No. 18 ‘Flying Bullets’ was operationalized in May 2020.

What is the way forward?

• To ramp up production, HAL has already set up two additional assembly lines which are operational. Some back-end activities are also being finished at the moment, according to HAL.
• The indigenous content in LCA is currently about 52% and HAL said it is looking at ways to increase it to 65%.
• An ambitious fifth-generation fighter aircraft Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), and a new Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) to operate from the Navy’s aircraft carriers are being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
• The AMCA is envisaged as a 25-tonne aircraft with an internal carriage of 1,500kg of payload and a 5,500kg external payload with 6,500kg of internal fuel with the rollout planned in 2024 and first flight planned in 2025, according to ADA officials.
• The TEDBF is being designed based on lessons learned from the Naval LCA programme and the first flight is planned for 2026. In addition to supplying to the IAF, HAL is aggressively pitching its helicopters and Tejas to countries in South East Asia and West Asia and LCA is in the contest in Malaysia.

THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT

5. THE GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS VOLCANO ERUPTS

THE CONTEXT: According to Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute the tallest mountain in the Galápagos islands has erupted, spewing lava down its flanks and clouds of ash over the Pacific Ocean.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The 1,701-meter volcano is one of the numerous active volcanos in the Galápagos, which are nearly 1,000km (600 miles) from mainland South America.
• A cloud of gas and ash from Wolf Volcano rose to 3,793 meters (12,444 feet) above sea level after the eruption.
• The volcano last erupted in 2015.

Value Addition:

A volcano is an opening in the earth’s crust through which gases, molten rocks materials (lava), ash, steam etc. are emitted outward in the course of an eruption. Volcanic activity is an example of an endogenic process. 

Difference between Magma and Lava:

• Magma is the term used to denote the molten rocks and related materials seen inside the earth. A weaker zone of the mantle called the asthenosphere usually is the source of magma.
• Once this magma came out to the earth’s surface through the vent of a volcano, it is called the Lava. Therefore, Lava is nothing but the magma on earth’s surface.
• The process by which solid, liquid and gaseous material escape from the earth’s interior to the surface of the earth is called Volcanism.

THE GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND INITIATIVES IN NEWS

6. NEW MICROCHIP IN E-PASSPORTS

THE CONTEXT: The Ministry of External Affairs signed an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services Limited for the second phase of the Passport Seva Programme (PSP), one of the several Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) of the Government of India.

THE EXPLANATION:

The latest agreement will facilitate the next phase of the PSP termed PSP-V2.0. The $1 billion agreement will focus on faster delivery of passports to the citizens and create a more effective integration between various wings of the Government like the MEA and the local police network that can work in harmony for verification of applicants and quick tracing in case of emergency situations.

What are the features of the new passport initiative programme?

• The new initiative is aimed at creating a digital platform that would be “transparent, more accessible and reliable” and that it would be backed by a trained workforce. This will create a state-of-the-art digital ecosystem, overhaul existing processes and integrate various wings of Government that is involved in the issuance of passports.
• The overall system would be connected to all the Indian diplomatic missions abroad and will allow monitoring and supervision through the state-of-art Network Operation Centre, and Security Operation Centre.
• “The programme has recently been connected to more than 176 Indian Missions/Posts through Global Passport Seva Programme (GPSP), providing seamless delivery of passport services to the Indian diaspora,”

What will be the new features of PSP-V2.0?

• The new programme is expected to have technology upgrades including the use of the latest biometrics technology, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Data Analytics, Chat-Bot, Auto-response, Natural Language Processing, Cloud Enablement.
• The newest feature under the PSP-V2.0 will be the issuance of the new generation of passports called e-passports. Under this, new and renewed passports will be fitted with a microchip that will hold all biometric information regarding the applicants

How different will e-passports be from the current passports?

• Current passports are scanned at the immigration counters to reveal the travel record of the citizen using the same document and the e-passport is also expected to perform the same function. However, unlike the current passports, the e-passport users will have physical storage of their biometric data in a chip which will reduce risk of data leakage.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS 

QUESTION OF THE DAY 10^TH JANUARY 2022

Q1. Consider the following statements about AIIB.

1. It is a multilateral development bank headquartered in Beijing.
2. India is the second-largest shareholder in AIIB.
3. Japan is not a member of AIIB.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

          a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

THE CONTEXT: The Third Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan was held in New Delhi on 10 November 2021 in an expanded format. The NSA of several neighboring countries participated in the event and the Taliban welcomed it. IN this article, let us understand the importance of the Delhi Declaration and the associated issues.

BASICS OF THE DELHI DECLARATION

• Participants: All Afghan neighbors such as Pakistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Russia and China were invited.
• The reason behind the Meet: The Taliban takeover after the USA withdrawal from Afghanistan has raised safety concerns for the neighboring states, and thus to address them, the meeting was held.
• KEY PROBLEM: Terrorism
• HIGHLIGHT: Condemned Terrorism in all forms and reaffirmed commitment to combat Terrorism including its financing, dismantling of terrorist infrastructure, and countering radicalization.
• KEY PROBLEM: Radicalisation
• HIGHLIGHT: The meeting condemned the terrorist attacks in Kunduz, Kandahar, and Kabul. Called for collective cooperation against the menace of radicalization, extremism, separatism, and drug trafficking in the region.
• KEY PROBLEM: Humanitarian Assistance
• HIGHLIGHT: Strong support for a peaceful, secure, and stable Afghanistan was expressed while emphasizing the respect for sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and non-interference in its internal affairs. Expressed concern over the deteriorating socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and underlined the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Humanitarian assistance should be provided in an unimpeded, direct, and assured manner to Afghanistan.
• KEY PROBLEM: Form of Government
• HIGHLIGHT: Forming an open and truly inclusive government that represents the will of all the people of Afghanistan and has representation from all sections of their society. The Central Role of the UN in solving the Afghan problem was reaffirmed.

HIGHLIGHTS OF DELHI DECLARATION

RESPONSES BY NATIONS

1. Russia: Russia raised the concern that the multiple dialogues on the Afghan future can complicate the already complex situation of Afghanistan.
2. Pakistan and China: The nations stay away from the discussion.
3. Afghan representation: There was no representation of the Afghan government or Taliban. Even though they praised the dialogue.
4. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan: The two nations didn’t mention Terrorism in their opening statements.

WHY DELHI DECLARATION MATTER? AN ANALYSIS

1. Gave Voice to Indian Concerns: Since India has not been an invitee to other meetings on the Afghan future, the Delhi declaration gave a voice to Indian concern especially on terrorism radicalization and the need for an inclusive government.
2. Linkage of Humanitarian Assistance with Terrorism: While Pakistan and China are pushing for humanitarian assistance so as to seek recognition for the Taliban regime, Delhi Declaration linked it to Terrorism, and thus when seen in its totality, the declaration says that any recognition of the Taliban regime will mean countering Terrorism.
3. Recognition of Pakistan-sponsored Terrorism: The unanimous acceptance of the fear of Terrorism rising from Afghanistan on an Indian platform by the regional countries showed the shared fear of Pakistan-sponsored Terrorism.

PROBLEMS WITH DELHI DECLARATION

1. IMPRACTICAL: Even though the declaration sounds pious, it is near impossible for any of the eight countries to provide ‘unimpeded, direct and assured’ humanitarian assistance.
2. No outcome on Visas and Student education: No outcome came on visas to Afghanistan citizens and the plight of students that were studying in Indian universities was ignored.
3. India-Iran Axis: India has failed to bring Iran on its side and against the Taliban rise. The India-Iran axis is the only axis at the moment that can put weight against the Taliban regime.

OTHER DISCUSSIONS ON AFGHANISTAN’ FUTURE

1. Troika Plus Meeting: It is a U.S, Russia, China, and Pakistan grouping on the Afghanistan peace process.
2. Moscow Format: Set up by Russia in 2017 involves six parties namely Russia, India, Afghanistan, Iran, China, and Pakistan.

THE WAY FORWARD

1. Creation of Consensus with other nations: India needs to create a consensus with other nations on Afghanistan as only through consensus we can ensure that Afghanistan doesn’t become a safe haven for terrorists.
2. Lead with Example: India in the dialogue asked for uninterrupted humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan but itself has not contributed in this regard. India needs to lead by example.
3. Define India’s view of Afghan: India needs to define the role to be played by Afghanistan. Without demarcating it, we can’t make a consensus in this regard.

THE CONCLUSION: Delhi Declaration on Afghanistan is an important step towards a coordinated regional response to the Afghan crisis. It showed India’s readiness to coordinate India’s Afghan policy with that of regional countries while asserting its role as the key interlocutor. The key challenge now remains at the conversion of the pledges into practice.

THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

1. MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND NEPAL FOR CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE

THE CONTEXT: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal for the construction of a bridge over Mahakali River at Dharchula (India)- Dharchula (Nepal).

THE EXPLANATION:

As close neighbours, India and Nepal share unique ties of friendship and cooperation characterized by an open border and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture.  Both India and Nepal have been working together on different regional forums i.e. SAARC, BIMSTEC as well as global fora.

IMPORTANCE:

• Nepal shares a border with 5 Indian states-Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar. Hence an important point of cultural and economic exchange.
• Importance for India can be studied from two different angles: a) their strategic importance for India’s national security; and b) their place in India’s role perception in international politics.
• Nepal is right in the middle of India’s ‘Himalayan frontiers’, and along with Bhutan, it acts as northern ‘borderland’ flanks and acts as buffer states against any possible aggression from China.
• The two countries not only share an open border and unhindered movement of people, but they also have close bonds through marriages and familial ties, popularly known as Roti-Beti ka Rishta.
• India is Nepal’s largest trade partner and the largest source of foreign investments, besides providing transit for almost the entire third-country trade of Nepal.
• Indian firms engaged in manufacturing, services (banking, insurance, dry port), power sector and tourism industries etc.

THE INDIAN ECONOMY

2. THE SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SCHEME 2021-22

THE CONTEXT: The Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow a discount of Rs 50 (Rupees Fifty only) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online, and the payment is made through digital mode. For such investors, the issue price of Gold Bond will be Rs 4,736 (Rupees Four thousand seven hundred thirty-six only) per gram of gold.

THE EXPLANATION:

About the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme:

• The sovereign gold bond was introduced by the Government in 2015.
• The government introduced these bonds to help reduce India’s over-dependence on gold imports.
• The move was also aimed at changing the habits of Indians from saving in the physical form of gold to a paper form with Sovereign backing.
• Joint Holder: In the case of joint holding, the investment limit of 4 kg will be applied to the first applicant only.
• Collateral: Bonds can be used as collateral for loans. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is to be set equal to the ordinary gold loan mandated by the Reserve Bank from time to time.

Merits of investing in gold bonds:

• For investors, it is advisable to invest in gold for portfolio diversification.
• Sovereign gold bonds are considered one of the better ways of investing in gold as along with capital appreciation an investor gets a fixed rate of interest.
• Apart from this, it is tax-efficient as no capital gains is charged in case of redemption on maturity.
• Sovereign gold bonds are a good way to ensure an investment that does not need physical storage of the gold.

Demerits of sovereign gold bonds

• This is a long-term investment, unlike physical gold which can be sold immediately.
• Sovereign gold bonds are listed on an exchange, but the trading volumes are not high, therefore it will be difficult to exit before maturity

3. INDIA TO OVERTAKE JAPAN AS ASIA’S SECOND-LARGEST ECONOMY BY 2030: REPORT

THE CONTEXT: India is likely to overtake Japan as Asia’s second-largest economy by 2030 when its GDP is also projected to surpass that of Germany and the UK to rank as world’s No.3, according to the IHS Markit report.

THE EXPLANATION:

THE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Currently, India is the sixth-largest economy in the world, behind the US, China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
• According to the projection “India’s nominal GDP measured in USD terms is forecast to rise from USD 2.7 trillion in 2021 to USD 8.4 trillion by 2030.” “This rapid pace of economic expansion would result in the size of Indian GDP exceeding Japanese GDP by 2030, making India the second-largest economy in the Asia-Pacific region.” By 2030, the Indian economy would also be larger in size than the largest Western European economies of Germany, France and the UK.
• Overall, India is expected to continue to be one of the world’s fastest-growing economies over the next decade.
• “An important positive factor for India is its large and fast-growing middle class, which is helping to drive consumer spending,” forecasting that the country’s consumption expenditure will double from USD 1.5 trillion in 2020 to USD 3 trillion by 2030.
• For the full fiscal year 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022), India’s real GDP growth rate is projected to be 8.2 percent, rebounding from the severe contraction of 7.3 percent year-on-year in 2020-21.
• The rapidly growing domestic consumer market as well as its large industrial sector have made India an increasingly important investment destination for a wide range of multinationals in many sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure and services.
• The digital transformation of India that is currently underway is expected to accelerate the growth of e-commerce, changing the retail consumer market landscape over the next decade.
• “The large increase in FDI inflows to India that has been evident over the past five years is also continuing with strong momentum in 2020 and 2021”.
• Being one of the world’s fastest-growing economies will make India one of the most important long-term growth markets for multinationals in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing industries such as autos, electronics and chemicals, and services industries such as banking, insurance, asset management, healthcare and information technology.

4. NSO ESTIMATES ON FY22 GDP GROWTH

THE CONTEXT: According to first advance estimates of the National Statistical Office (NSO), India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to grow 9.2% in the financial year 2021-22.

THE EXPLANATION:

• India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 9.2% in the current financial year following last fiscal’s 7.3% contraction, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in its first advance estimates of economic output released amid concerns over the likely impact of a third wave of the COVID pandemic.

• “GDP at constant prices (2011-12) in the year 2021-22 is estimated at ₹147.54 lakh crore, as against the provisional estimate of GDP for the year 2020-21 of ₹135.13 lakh crore”. It also added that growth in real GDP is pegged at 2%. “Real GVA at Basic Prices is estimated at ₹135.22 lakh crore in 2021-22, as against ₹124.53 lakh crore in 2020-21, showing a growth of 8.6%”.

Mining spurt

• The NSO’s GVA estimates show the mining sector outpacing others with the growth of 3% following in 2021 8.5% contraction, followed by manufacturing which is seen expanding by 12.5% after shrinking 7.2% in the previous 12-month period.
• The agriculture sector is estimated to grow at 3.9% in FY22 (3.6%). The electricity, water supply and other utility services category is estimated to grow at 8.5% (1.9%), while construction is expected to grow 10.7% (-8.6%) and trade, hotels, transport, communication and broadcasting services are projected to grow at 11.9% against a sharp contraction of 18.2% in 2022.
• “Compared to the pre-COVID performance of FY2020, the advance estimates project an anemic rise of 1.3% and 1.9%, respectively, for GDP and GVA in FY2022”.

GLOSSARY:

• Gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the total value of goods and services produced in an economy( area, region or country). The amount of value-added to a product is taken into account.
• GVA= Gross Domestic Product + Subsidies on products – Taxes on products.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

5. THE SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN DARTERS’ MOVEMENTS BEING MONITORED

THE CONTEXT: A new record has been set by the Chinese ‘artificial sun’ or the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) fusion energy reactor in Hefei as it ran at 70 million°C for 1,056 seconds, which is over 17 minutes. The record was apparently achieved.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to a report have mentioned that the achieved temperature is almost five times hotter than the real Sun, which hits a temperature of 15 million°C at its core.
• The previous record set by EAST set was in May by running for 101 seconds at a higher temperature of 20 million°C.
• Also, researchers noted that “this time, steady-state plasma operation was sustained for 1,056 seconds at a temperature close to 70 million degrees Celsius, laying a solid scientific and experimental foundation toward the running of a fusion reactor”.
• It is important to note that nuclear fusion power works by colliding heavy hydrogen atoms to form helium. It releases vast amounts of energy.

ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL ADVANCED SUPERCONDUCTING TOKAMAK (EAST)

• The mission mimics the energy generation process of the sun.
• The reactor consists of an advanced nuclear fusion experimental research device located in Hefei, China.
• It is one of three major domestic tokamaks that are presently being operated across the country.
• The EAST project is part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) facility, which will become the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor when it becomes operational in 2035.
• The ITER project includes the contributions of several countries, including India, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.

HOW DOES THE ‘ARTIFICIAL SUN’ EAST WORK?

• It replicates the nuclear fusion process carried out by the sun and stars.
• For nuclear fusion to occur, tremendous heat and pressure are applied on hydrogen atoms so that they fuse together.
• The nuclei of deuterium and tritium — both found in hydrogen — are made to fuse together to create a helium nucleus, a neutron along with a whole lot of energy.
• Here, fuel is heated to temperatures of over 150 million degrees C so that it forms a hot plasma “soup” of subatomic particles.
• With the help of a strong magnetic field, the plasma is kept away from the walls of the reactor to ensure it does not cool down and lose its potential to generate large amounts of energy. The plasma is confined for long durations for fusion to take place.

WHY IS FUSION BETTER THAN FISSION?

• While fission is an easier process to carry out, it generates far more nuclear waste.
• Unlike fission, fusion also does not emit greenhouse gases and is considered a safer process with lower risk of accidents.
• Once mastered, nuclear fusion could potentially provide unlimited clean energy and very low costs.
• Like fission, fusion also does not emit greenhouse gases and is considered a safer process with lower risk of accidents.

 Which other countries have achieved this feat?

• China is not the only country that has achieved high plasma temperatures. In 2020, South Korea’s KSTAR reactor set a new record by maintaining a plasma temperature of over 100 million degrees Celsius for 20 seconds.

Value Addition:

What is Nuclear Fusion?

Nuclear fusion is a reaction through which two or more light nuclei collide to form a heavier nucleus. The nuclear fusion process occurs in elements that have a low atomic number, such as hydrogen. Nuclear Fusion is the opposite of nuclear fission reaction in which heavy elements diffuse and form lighter elements. Both nuclear fusion and fission produce a massive amount of energy.

[WpProQuiz 132]

1. Some Raj Bhavans are on the war path READ MORE
2. Unchanged: After much loss of time, SC allows EWS quota income norm to stay for this year READ MORE
3. Apprehensions persist over electoral bonds READ MORE
4. Imprudent Judgement Leaves Detainees in Despair: The human cost of detention and the implications of re-verification of NRC. READ MORE

1. Empowering Women or Curbing Rights? Increasing the minimum marriage age is not just tokenistic, but harmful. READ MORE
2. Changing Education~II READ MORE

1. Zero the way to go READ MORE
2. 2022 may continue the trend of world’s warmest years: UK Met Office READ MORE

1. Politics with the Value of ‘Honesty’? READ MORE
2. The unreality of fact and reality of fiction READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. 24th National Conference on e-Governance 2021 successfully concludes at Hyderabad READ MORE
2. Explained: France’s controversial vaccine pass bill READ MORE
3. India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier begins another phase of sea trials READ MORE
4. Galápagos islands volcano erupts spewing lava and clouds of ash READ MORE
5. Expanded tiger reserve may see return of gharials in Assam READ MORE
6. Scientists can detect animal species by vacuuming their DNA out of the air READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. A prudent heritage-CSR partnership is needed READ MORE  
2. Empowering Women or Curbing Rights? Increasing the minimum marriage age is not just tokenistic, but harmful. READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Some Raj Bhavans are on the war path READ MORE
2. Unchanged: After much loss of time, SC allows EWS quota income norm to stay for this year READ MORE
3. Apprehensions persist over electoral bonds READ MORE
4. Imprudent Judgement Leaves Detainees in Despair: The human cost of detention and the implications of re-verification of NRC. READ MORE

SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Changing Education~II READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Maldives, China ink key deals, agree on visa exemption READ MORE
2. Japan-Australia pact shows others can move on without India in Quad READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The Devas arbitration READ MORE
2. What GDP data says about state of economy, its influence on budget priorities READ MORE
3. How India can give a boost to biofuels: Rather than bank on crop residue and used oilseeds, the focus must shift to a few feedstock crops to produce biofuels READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Zero the way to go READ MORE
2. 2022 may continue the trend of world’s warmest years: UK Met Office READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Politics with the Value of ‘Honesty’? READ MORE
2. The unreality of fact and reality of fiction READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Compare between Dissent and Disagreement in a democracy. Do you think that dissent is in principle against the social contract for the state. Justify your view.
2. The institution of bureaucracy in India is showing signs of fatigue in keeping with modern times. Do you agree?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.
• Increasing the minimum marriage age is not just tokenistic, but harmful.
• Brandishing honesty through conducting raids is something that results from one’s moral discomfort with the truth.
• The National Education Policy 2020 has all the right intentions in place to propel the higher education institutions of this country in a trajectory of catalyzing innovative growth and economic development.
• India continues to harbour the illusion that more partners are better than deeper partnerships. This makes creating a regional balance against China more difficult.
• Communalism can be resisted, not by a different version of it, but only by constitutionalism. The politics of hatred need to be checked by politics of love and inclusiveness.
• India’s built heritage is predominantly falling under the jurisdictions of urban areas being governed by respective urban local bodies.
• The law would take its own course and time, but political parties in the Opposition will have to fight the elections in the meantime.
• The investment in the infrastructure to synchronise the electricity produced from RE sources with that from conventional power stations will contribute to energy security, ensure ecologically sustainable growth, and spur employment generation.
• Rather than bank on crop residue and used oilseeds, the focus must shift to a few feedstock crops to produce biofuels.

50-WORD TALK

• Fearful the health system could collapse as the Covid third wave accelerates, panicked citizens have begun stockpiling the antiviral Molnupiravir. But self-medication and over-prescription caused immeasurable harm last summer; avoidable mucormycosis deaths were just one particularly grim result. The government must ensure the use of life-saving medicines is carefully regulated.
• The Supreme Court has finally weighed in on the much-delayed NEET-PG OBC/EWS reservation matter. Not a day too soon. This will contribute immensely toward filling doctor shortages, especially when many of them are getting infected. The allocation of colleges should now be taken up immediately without the usual administrative sloth.

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.

Section-A

• Q.1 (a) Identify the Ethical traits on which one can plot the performance of a civil servant. Justify their inclusion in the matrix. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) Identify 10 essential values that are needed to be an effective public servant. Describe the ways and means to prevent non-ethical behaviour in the public servants. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.2 (a) Impact of digital technology as a reliable source of input for rational decision making in a debatable issue. Critically evaluate with suitable example. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) Besides domain knowledge, a public official needs innovativeness and creativity and creativity of a high order as well, while resolving ethical dilemmas. Discuss with suitable example(s). (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.3. What does each of the following quotations mean to you?
• (a) “Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.” – Swami Vivekananda (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until and unless we obtain peace within ourselves.” – Dalai Lama (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (c) “Life doesn’t make any sense without independence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, it is better for us all.” Erik Erikson (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.4.(a) Attitude is an important component that goes as an input in the development of human being(s). How to build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) In case of crisis of conscience, does emotional intelligence help to overcome the same without compromising the ethical or moral stand that you are likely to follow? Critically examine.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.5 (a) “Refugees should not be turned back to the country where they would face persecution or human right violation.” Examine the statement with reference to ethical dimension being violated by the nation claiming to be democratic with open society. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) Should impartial and being non-partisan be considered as indispensable qualities to make a successful civil servant? Discuss with illustrations. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.6 (a) An independent and empowered social audit mechanism is an absolute must in every sphere of public service, including judiciary, to ensure performance, accountability and ethical conduct, Elaborate.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• (b) “Integrity is a value that empowers the human being” Justify with suitable illustration.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10

Section-B

• Q.7. Sunil is a young civil servant and has a resolution for his competence, integrity, dedication and relentless pursuit of difficult and onerous jobs. Considering his profile, he was picked up by his bosses to handle a very challenging and sensitive assignment. He was posted in a tribal dominated district notorious for illegal sand mining. Excavating sand from the river belt and transporting through trucks and selling them in black market was rampant. This illegal sand mining mafia was operating with the support of local functionaries and tribal musclemen who in turn were bribing selected poor tribals and kept the tribals under fear and intimidation. Sunil being a sharp and energetic officer immediately grasped the ground realities and the modus operandi followed by the mafia through their devious and dubious mechanism. On making inquiries, he gathered that some of their own office employees are hand in glove with them and have developed a close unholy nexus. Sunil initiated stringent action against them and started conducting raids on their illegal operations of movement of trucks filled with sand. The mafia got rattled as many officers in the past had taken such strong steps against the mafia. Some of the office employees who were allegedly close to the mafia informed them that the officer is determined to clean up the mafia’s illegal sand mining operations in that district and may cause them irreparable damage. The mafia turned hostile and launched counter- counter-offensive. The tribal muscleman and mafia started threatening him with dire consequences. His family (wife and old mother) were stalked and were under virtual surveillance and thus causing mental torture, agony and stress to all of them. The matter assumed serious proportions when a muscleman came to his office and threatened him to stop raids, etc., otherwise, his fate will not be different than some of his predecessors (ten years back one officer was killed by the mafia).
• (a) Identify the different options available to Sunil in attending to this situation.
• (b) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you.
• (c) Which of the above, do you think, would be the most appropriate for Sunil to adopt and why?
  (Answer in 250 words) 20
• Q.8. You are Vice Principle of a degree college in one of the middle- class towns. Principal has recently retired and management is looking for his replacement. There are also feelers that the management may promote you as Principal. In the meantime, during annual examination the flying squad which came from the university caught the students red- handed, involving unfair means. A senior lecturer of the college was personally helping these students in this act. This senior lecture also happens to be close to the management. One of the students was son of a local politician who was responsible in getting college affiliated to the present reputed university. The second student was son of a local businessman who has donated maximum funds for running the college. You immediately informed the management regarding this unfortunate incident. The management told you to resolve the issue with flying squad at any cost. They further said such incident will not only tarnish the image of the college but also the politician and businessman are very important personalities for the functioning of the college. You were also given hint that your further promotion to Principal depends on your capability in resolving this issue with flying squad. In the meantime, you were intimated by your administrative officer that certain members of the student union are protesting outside the college gate against the senior lecture and the students involved in this incident and demanding strict action against defaulters.
• (a) Discuss the ethical issues in this case.
• (b) Critically examine the options available with you as Vice Principal. What option will you adopt and why? (Answer in 250 words) 20
• Q.9. An elevated corridor is being constructed to reduce traffic congestion in the capital of a particular state. You have been selected as project manager of this prestigious project on your professional competence and experience. The deadline is to complete the project in next two years by 30 June ,2021, since this project is to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister before the elections are announced in the second week of July 2021. While carrying out the surprise inspection team, a minor crack was noticed in one of the piers of the elevated corridor possibly due to poor material used. You immediately informed the chief engineer and stopped further work. It was assessed by you that minimum three piers of the elevated corridor have to be demolished and reconstructed. But this process will delay the project minimum by four to six months. But the chief engineer overruled the observation of inspecting team on the ground that it was a minor crack which will not in any way impact the strength and durability of the bridge. He ordered you to overlook the observation of inspecting team and continue working with same speed and tempo. He informed you that the minister does not want any delay as he wants the Chief Minister to inaugurate the elevated corridor before the elections are declared. Also informed you that the contractor is far relative of the minister and he wants him to finish the project. He also gave you hint that your further promotion as additional chief engineer is under consideration with the ministry. However, you strongly felt that the minor crack in the pier of the elevated corridor will adversely affect the health and life of the bridge and therefore it will be very dangerous not to repair the elevated corridor.
• (a) Under the given conditions, what are the options available to you as a project manager?
• (b) what are the ethical dilemmas being faced by the project manager?
• (c) What are the professional challenges likely to be faced by the project manager and his response to overcome such challenges?
• (d) What can be the consequences of overlooking the observation raised by the inspecting team?
  (Answer in 250 words) 20

• Q.10 The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic has quickly spread to various countries. as on may 8th, 2020 in India 56342 positive cases of corona had been controlling the transmission of coronavirus among its population. Multiple stragies became necessary to handle this outbreak. The Ministry of Health and family Welfare of India raised awareness about this outbreak and to take all implemented a 55-day lockdown throughout the country to reduce the transmission of the virus. Schools and colleges had shifted to alternative mode of teaching-learning-evaluation and cerfitication. Online mode became popular during these days.
  India was not prepared for a sudden onslaught of such a crisis due to limited infrastructure in terms of human resource, money and other facilities needed for taking care of this situation. This disease did not spare anybody irrespective of caste, creed, religion on the one hand and ‘ have and have not’ on the other. Deficiences in hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, ambulances, hospital staff and crematorium were the most crucial aspects.
  You are a hospital adminstrator in a public hospital at the time when coronavirus had attacked large number of people and patients were pouring into hospital day in and day out.
• (a) What are your criteria and jusstification for putting your clinical and non-clinal staff to attend to the patients knowing fully well that it is hihgly infeectious disease and resources and infrastructure are limited ?
• (b) If yours is a private hospital, whether your justification and decision would remain same as that of a public hospital ? (Answer in 250 words) 20
• Q 11. A reputed food product company based in India developed a food product for the international market and started exporting the same after getting necessary approvals. The complany announced this achievement and also indicated that soon the product will be made available for the domestic consumers with almost same quality and health benefits. Accordingly, the company got its product approved by the domestic competent authority and launched the product in Indian market. The company colud increase its market over a period of time and earned substantial profit both domesctically and internationally. However, the random sample test conmducted by inspecting team found the product being sold domestically in variance with the approval obtained from the competent authority. On further investigation, it was also discovered that the food company was not only selling products which were not meeting the health standard of the country but also selling the rejected export products in the domestic market. This episode adversely affected the reputation and profitability of the food company.
• (a) What action do you visualize should be taken by the competent authority againt the food company for violating the laid down domestic food standard and selling rejected export products in domestic market ?
• (b) What course of action is available with the food company to resolve the crisis and bring back its lost reputation ?
• (c) Examine the ethical dilemma involved in the case. (Answer in 250 words) 20
• Q 12. Pawan is working as an officer in the Statement Government for the last ten years. Asa part of routine transfer, he was posted to another department. He joined in a new office along with five other colleagues. The head of the office was a senior officer conversant with the functioning of the office. as a part of general inquiry, Pawan gathered that his senior officer carries the reputation of being difficult and insensitive person having his own disturbed family life. Initially, all seem to go well. However, after some time Pawan felt the senior officer was belittling him and at times unreasonable. Whatever suggestions given or views expressed by Pawan in the meetings were summarily rejected and the senior officer would express displeasure in the presence of ours. It became a pattern of boss’s style of functioning to show him in bad light highlighting his shortcomings and humiliating publicailly. It became apparent that though there and no serious work’s related problems/shortcomings, the senior officer was always on one pretext or the other and would scold and shout at him. The continous harassment and public criticism of Pawan resulted in loss of confidence, self-esteem and equanimity. Pawan realized that his relations with his senior officer are becoming more toxic and due to this, he felt perpetually tensed, anxious and stressed. His mind was occupied with negativity and caused him mental torture, anguish and agony. Eventually, it badly affected his personal and family life. He was no longer joyous, happy and contented even at home. Rather without any reason he would loose his temper with his wife and other family members. The family environment was no longer pleasant and congenial. His wife who was always supportive to him also became a victim of his negativity and hostile behaviour. due to harassment and humiliation suffering by him in the office, comfort and happiness virtually vanished from his life. Tghus it damaged his physical and mental health.
• (a) What are the options available with Pawan to cope up with the situation ?
• (b) What approach Pawan should adopt for bringing peace, tranquillity and congenial enviroment in the office and home ?
• (c) As an outsider, what are your suggestions for both boss and subordinate to overcome this situation and for improving the work performance, mental and emotional hygiene ?
• (d) in the above scenario, whatr type of traning would you suggest for officers at various level in the government offices ? (Answer in 250 words) 20

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• Q.1. Explain the difference between computing methodology of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the year 2015, and after the year 2015. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.2. Distinguish between Capital Budget and Revenue Budget. Explain the components of both these budgets. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.3. How did land reforms in some parts of the country help to improve the socio- economic conditions of marginal and small farmers? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.4. How and to what extent would micro- irrigation help in solving India’s water crisis?
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.5. How is S-400 air defence system technically superior to any other system presently available in the world? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.6. Explain the purpose of the Green Grid Initiative launched at the World Leaders Summit of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November, 2021. When was this idea first flouted in the International Solar Alliance (ISA)? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.7. Describe the key points of the revised Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). How are these different from its last update in 2005? What changes in India’s National Clean Air Programme are required to achieve these revised standards?
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.8. Discuss about the vulnerability of India to earthquake related hazards. Give examples including the salient features of major disasters caused by earthquakes in different parts of India during the last three decades. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.9. Discuss how emerging technologies and globalisation contribute to money laundering. Elaborate measures to tackle the problem of money laundering both at national and international levels.
  .(Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.10. Keeping in view India’s internal security, analyse the impact of cross-border cyber attacks. Also discuss defensive measures against these sophisticated attacks. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.11. Do you agree that the Indian economy has recently experienced V-shaped recovery? Give reasons in support of your answer. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.12. “Investment in infrastructure is essential for more rapid and inclusive economic growth.” Discuss in the light of India’s experience.(Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.13. What are the salient features of the national Food Security Act, 2013? How has the Food security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.14. What are the present challenges before crop diversification? How do emerging technologies provide an opportunity for crop diversification? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.15. What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of the society ? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.16. The Nobel Prize in Physics of 2014 was jointly awarded to Akassaki,Amano and Nakamura for the invention of Blue LEDs in 1990s. How has this invention impacted the everyday life of human beings ? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.17. Describes the major outcomes of the 26th session of the conference of the parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). What are the Commitments made by india in this conference? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.18. Describe the various causes and the effects of landslides.Mention the important components of the National Landslide Risk Management Strategy.(Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.19.Analysis the multidimensional challenges posesd by external state and non state actors, to the internal security of India,also discuss measures required to be taken to be combat these threats.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.20. Analyse the complexity and intensity of terrorism, its causes, linkages and obnoxious nexus. Also suggest measures required to be taken to eradicate the menace of terrorism.(Answer in 250 words) 15

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• Q1. ‘Constitutional Morality’ is rooted in the Constitution itself and is founded on its essential facets. Explain the doctrine of ‘Constitutional Morality’ with the help of relevant judicial decisions.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q2. Discuss the desirability of greater representation to women in the higher judiciary to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q3. How have the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission of India enabled the states to improve their fiscal position? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q4. To what extent, in your view, the Parliament is able to ensure accountability of the executive in India? (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q5. “Pressure groups play a vital role in influencing public policy making in India.” Explain how the business associations contribute to public policies. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q6. “Besides being a moral imperative of Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable development.” Analyze. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q7. “‘Earn while you learn’ scheme needs to be strengthened to make vocational education and skill training meaningful.” Comment. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q8. Can the vicious cycle of gender inequality, poverty and malnutrition be broken through microfinancing of women SHGs? Explain with examples. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q9. “If the last few decades were of Asia’s growth story, the next few are expected to be of Africa’s.” In the light of this statement, examine India’s influence in Africa in recent years. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q10. “The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of a China, that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.” Explain. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q11. The jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) regarding lodging an FIR and conducting probe within a particular state is being questioned by various States. However, the power of States to withhold consent to the CBI is not absolute. Explain with special reference to the federal character of India. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q12. Though the Human Rights Commissions have contributed immensely to the protection of human rights in India, yet they have failed to assert themselves against the mighty and powerful. Analyzing their structural and practical limitations, suggest remedial measures. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q13. Analyze the distinguishing features of the notion of Equality in the Constitutions of the USA and India. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q14. Explain the constitutional provisions under which Legislative Councils are established. Review the working and current status of Legislative Councils with suitable illustrations. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q15. Do Department -related Parliamentary Standing Committees keep the administration on its toes and inspire reverence for parliamentary control? Evaluate the working of such committees with suitable examples. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q16. Has digital illiteracy, particularly in rural areas, couple with lack of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) accessibility hindered socio-economic development? Examine with justification.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q17. “Though women in post-Independent India have excelled in various fields, the social attitude towards women and feminist movement has been patriarchal.” Apart from women education and women empowerment schemes, what interventions can help change this milieu? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q18. Can Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations present an alternative model of public service delivery to benefit the common citizen. Discuss the challenges of this alternative model.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q19. Critically examine the aims and objectives of SCO. what importance does it hold for India.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q20. The newly[formed] tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strenght and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15

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• Q.1. Evaluate the nature of the Bhakti Literature and Its contribution to Indian culture.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.2. Trace the rise and growth of Socio- religious reform movements with special reference to Young Bengal and Brahmo Samaj. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.3. Assess the main administrative issues and socio- cultural problems in the integration process of Indian Princely States. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.4. Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.5. Despite India being one of the countries of the Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Products in percentage. Discuss. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.6. What are the environmental implications of the reclamation of water bodies into urban land use? Explain with examples. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.7. Mention the global occurrence of volcanic eruptions in 2021 and their impact on regional environment. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.8. Why is India considered as a subcontinent? Elaborate your answer. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.9. Examine the uniqueness of tribal knowledge system when compared with mainstream knowledge and cultural systems. (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.10. Examine the role of ‘Gig Economy’ in the process of empowerment of women in India.
  (Answer in 150 words) 10
• Q.11.To what extent did the role of the Moderates prepare a base for the wider freedom movement? Comment. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.12. Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non- Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.13. “There arose a serious challenge to the Democratic State System between the two World Wars”. Evaluate the statement. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.14. Briefly mention the alignment of major mountain ranges of the world and explain their impact on local weather conditions, with examples.(Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.15.How do the melting of the Artic ice and glaciers of the Antarctic differently affect the weather patterns and human activities on the Earth? Explain. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.16. Discuss the multi-dimensional implications of uneven distribution of mineral oil in the world.
  (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.17. What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.18. Discuss the main objectives of population education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail. (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.19. What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also? (Answer in 250 words) 15
• Q.20. How does Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it. (Answer in 250 words) 15

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THE ART AND CULTURE

1. DNA SAMPLES FROM RAKHIGARHI BURIAL PITS SENT FOR ANALYSIS

THE CONTEXT: DNA samples collected from two human skeletons unearthed at a necropolis of a Harappan-era city site in Haryana have been sent for scientific examination, the outcome of which might tell about the ancestry and food habits of people who lived in the Rakhigarhi region thousands of years ago.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The skeletons of two women were found a couple of months ago at mound number 7 (named RGR 7 by the Archaeological Survey of India or (ASI), believed to be nearly 5,000 years old. Pots and other artefacts were also found buried next to them in a pit, part of the funerary rituals back in the Harappan Civilisation era.
• “Seven mounds (RGR 1-RGR 7) scattered around two villages (Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur) in Hisar district are part of the Rakhigarhi archaeological site. RGR 7 is a cemetery site of the Harappan period when this was a well-organised city. At present RGR 1, RGR 3 and RGR 7 have been taken up for investigation.
• The Rakhigarhi site, about 150 km north-west of Delhi, since it commenced on February 24, 2022, said the DNA analysis will help answer a lot of questions, anthropological or otherwise.
• “The outcome of the DNA analysis will help tell about the ancestry of the people who lived at this ancient city, whether they were native or had migrated from elsewhere to settle. Besides, samples taken from the teeth area would tell about their food habits, what kind of food they consumed and other anthropological patterns related to that human settlement which must have been one of the largest, dating from the Harappan Civilisation period.
• For the collection of DNA samples, experts had done it while wearing special uniform so as to not contaminate the samples. And samples were taken from the teeth region and petrous part of the temporal bone, located at the base of the skull in the ear region.
• The Rakhigarhi site is one of the “five iconic sites” declared by the Central government in the Union budget 2020-21.The cultural span of the Harappan Civilisation can be broadly subdivided into three periods — early (3300 BC to 2600 BC), mature (2600 BC to 1900 BC), and late (1900 BC to 1700 BC), according to archaeological experts.
• Five major urban sites — Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Ganweriwala, all three sites now in Pakistan, and Rakhigarhi and Dholavira in India — have been identified as regional centres of the Harappan Civilisation.
• Archaeological evidence from the Rakhigarhi site spanning seven mounds is spread across nearly 350 hectares, covering at the present villages of Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur in Hisar, according to the ASI.
• The Rakhigarhi site, “layers of history”, ranging from the early Harappan to the mature Harappan period can be seen, but compared to the previous excavation, where town planning contours had emerged, in the current excavation, “detailed town planning patterns, street designs, including provision for soak pits” as part of a possible drainage system can be seen.
• ASI officials are banking on the analysis of DNA samples to further unearth the fascinating story of Rakhigarhi, located in the Ghaggar river plain of the seasonal Ghaggar river.
• The two skeletons were found lying in a supine position with head pointing in the north direction. They were both buried with a plethora of pottery and adorned jewellery like jasper and agate beads and shell bangles. A symbolic miniature copper mirror was found buried along with one of the skeletons.
• Animal bones were also found at the site.
• First attempts to archaeologically explore the Rakhigarhi site are said to have been done in the late 1960s.

2. THE SOCIAL ISSUES

THE CONTEXT: A recent World Bank Report has shown that extreme poverty in India more than halved between 2011 and 2019 – from 22.5 per cent to 10.2 per cent. The reduction was higher in rural areas, from 26.3 per cent to 11.6 per cent. The rate of poverty decline between 2015 and 2019 was faster compared to 2011-2015.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Poverty has reduced significantly because of the current government’s thrust on improving the ease of living of ordinary Indians through schemes such as the Ujjwala Yojana, PM Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, Jan Dhan and Mission Indradhanush in addition to the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission and improved coverage under the National Food Security Act.
• While debates on the World Bank’s methodology continue to rage, it is important to understand how poverty in rural areas was reduced at a faster pace. Much of the success can be credited to all government departments, especially their janbhagidari-based thrust on pro-poor public welfare that ensured social support for the endeavour. It will nevertheless be useful to delineate the key factors that contributed to the success.
• First, the identification of deprived households on the basis of the Socioeconomic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 across welfare programmes helped in creating a constituency for the well-being of the poor, irrespective of caste, creed or religion. The much-delayed SECC 2011 data was released in July 2015. This was critical in accomplishing the objectives of “SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas”.
• Since deprivation was the key criterion in identifying beneficiaries, SC and ST communities got higher coverage and the erstwhile backward regions in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Rajasthan and rural Maharashtra got a larger share of the benefits. This was a game-changer in the efforts to ensure balanced development, socially as well as across regions.
• Social groups that often used to be left out of government programmes were included and gram sabha validation was taken to ensure that the project reached these groups.
• Second, the coverage of women under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana and Self Help Groups (SHG) increased from 2.5 crore in 2014 to over 8 crore in 2018 as a result of more than 75 lakh SHGs working closely with over 31 lakh elected panchayati raj representatives, 40 per cent of whom are women.
• This provided a robust framework to connect with communities and created a social capital that helped every programme. The PRI-SHG partnership catalysed changes that increased the pace of poverty reduction and the use of Aadhaar cleaned up corruption at several levels and ensured that the funds reached those whom it was meant for.
• Third, Finance Commission transfers were made directly to gram panchayats leading to the creation of basic infrastructure like pucca village roads and drains at a much faster pace in rural areas. The high speed of road construction under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadhak Yojana created greater opportunities for employment in nearby larger villages/census towns/kasbas by improving connectivity and enhancing mobility.
• Fourth, the social capital of SHGs ensured the availability of credit through banks, micro-finance institutions and MUDRA loans. The NRLM prioritised livelihood diversification and implemented detailed plans for credit disbursement. New businesses, both farm and non-farm livelihoods, were taken up by women’s collectives on a large scale with community resource persons playing crucial hand holding roles, especially with respect to skill development.
• Fifth, in the two phases of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in 2018, benefits such as gas and electricity connections, LED bulbs, accident insurance, life insurance, bank accounts and immunisation were provided to 6,3974 villages that were selected because of their high SC and ST populations. The implementation of these schemes was monitored assiduously. The performance of line departments went up manifold due to community-led action. The gains are reflected in the findings of the National Family Health Survey V, 2019-2021.
• Sixth, the thrust on universal coverage for individual household latrines, LPG connections and pucca houses for those who lived in kuccha houses ensured that no one was left behind. This created the Labarthi Varg.
• Seventh, this was also a period in which a high amount of public funds were transferred to rural areas, including from the share of states and, in some programmes, through extra-budgetary resources.
• Eighth, the thrust on a people’s plan campaign, “Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas” for preparing the Gram Panchayat Development Plans and for ranking villages and panchayats on human development, economic activity and infrastructure, from 2017-18 onwards, laid the foundation for robust community participation involving panchayats and SHGs, especially in ensuring accountability.
• Ninth, through processes like social and concurrent audits, efforts were made to ensure that resources were fully utilised. Several changes were brought about in programmes like the MGNREGS to create durable and productive assets. This helped marginal and small farmers in improving their homesteads, and diversifying livelihoods.
• Tenth, the competition among states to improve performance on rural development helped. Irrespective of the party in power, nearly all states and UTs focussed on improving livelihood diversification in rural areas and on improving infrastructure significantly.
• All these factors contributed to improved ease of living of deprived households and improving their asset base. A lot has been achieved, much remains to be done. The pandemic and the negative terms of trade shock from the Ukraine crisis pose challenges to the gains made in poverty reduction up to 2019.

THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

3. PRESIDENT APPOINTED TWO NEW JUDGES

THE CONTEXT: Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Jamshed Burjor Pardiwala took oath as Supreme Court judges on 09^th May.They would be judges 33 and 34, completing the sanctioned judicial strength of the court.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana read out the oath of the constitutional office to the two new judges in a brief, solemn ceremony held in an auditorium of the Supreme Court additional building complex.
• Other Supreme Court judges were in attendance on the dais. Justice Dhulia was sworn in first followed by Justice Pardiwala. They would be judges 33 and 34, completing the sanctioned judicial strength of the court.
• Justice Dhulia is the second judge to be elevated from Uttarakhand High Court. The grandson of a freedom fighter who took part in the Quit India Movement, Justice Dhulia, who hails from Madanpur, a remote village in Pauri Garhwal district, was elevated as a judge of the High Court of Uttarakhand in November 2008.
• He later became the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court on January 10, 2021.
• Justice Pardiwala would be the sixth member of the Parsi community to become a Supreme Court judge.
• A fourth generation legal professional in his family, his father, Burjor Cawasji Pardiwala, had briefly served as the Speaker of the Seventh Legislative Assembly of Gujarat besides being a lawyer.
• The President appointed the two judges on May 7 within only a couple days of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation last week.
• With Justices Dhulia and Pardiwala, the Ramana Collegium has successfully seen to the appointment of a total 11 judges to the Supreme Court since August 2021. A substantial feat considering that his immediate predecessor was not able to appoint even one judge to the Supreme Court.
• Of the 11 judges, Justice B.V. Nagarathna, is in line to be the first woman Chief Justice of India, albeit for 36 days, in 2027.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

4. FUTURE LOOMS DARK FOR 48% OF BIRD SPECIES

THE CONTEXT: According to The State of the World’s Birds  13.5% of 10,994 recognised extant species are currently threatened with extinction.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Humans eat 14% of the world’s surviving species of birds. However, this is not the only reason why 48% of the extant bird species are undergoing population decline.
• The State of the World’s Birds, an annual review of environmental resources published on May 5, has attributed the threat to almost half of the 10,994 recognised extant species of birds to the expanding human footprint on the natural world and climate change.
• The degradation and loss of natural habitats as well as direct over exploitation of many species are the key threats to avian biodiversity.
• The use of 37% of the surviving bird species as common or exotic pets and 14% as food are examples of direct over exploitation, the report indicates.
• The review found that 5,245 or about 48% of the existing bird species worldwide were known or suspected to be undergoing population decline. While 4,295 or 39% of the species had stable trends, about 7% or 778 species had increasing population trends. The trend of 37 species was unknown.
• The study underlines bird watching, a global pastime involving millions of people, as a form of avian conservation but warns of “local negative impacts” of bird feeding valued at $5-6 billion per year and growing by 4% annually.
• The caution is for some non-provisioned species via trophic cascades, an “ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling”.
• “Avian diversity peaks globally in the tropics and it is there that we also find the highest richness of threatened species. We know a lot less about the fortunes of tropical bird species than we do about temperate ones, but we are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally-distributed bird species, which has followed the historic loss of species on islands like the dodo”.
• Apart from tropical forests, the threat of natural grasslands has been particularly worrying for North America, Europe and India. “If unique ecosystems like grasslands are to retain their diverse bird life, governments and research groups must prioritise such landscapes and their inhabitants for conservation and ensure that they do not become plantations or woodlands,”.
• Because birds are highly visible and sensitive indicators of environmental health, we know their loss signals a much wider loss of biodiversity and threat to human health and well-being, he added.
• The State of the World’s Birds says 13.5% of 10,994 recognised extant species are currently threatened with extinction
• The degradation and loss of natural habitats, as well as direct overexploitation of many species, are the key threats to avian biodiversity
• Apart from tropical forests, the threat of natural grasslands has been particularly worrying for North America, Europe, and India

5. IS LA NINA A FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND OF OUR COUNTRY?

THE CONTEXT: In most years, meteorologists consider the La Nina to be a friend of India. The phenomenon associated with below normal sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, makes the summer monsoon wetter and the winter colder unlike its evil twin, the El Nino, or a warming phenomenon that frequently dries up monsoon rains over India.

THE EXPLANATION:

• This year, however, the La Nina is being blamed for worsening perhaps the longest spell of heatwaves from March to April in north, west and Central India.
• Formally known as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the La Nina-El Nino phenomenon follows a periodic pattern that roughly lasts three years.
• During a La Nina winter, a north-south pressure pattern sets up over India and normally this influences the trade winds that bring rains to India. However, because the La Nina didn’t peak, the sea surface temperatures continued to be cold and this drove hot westerly winds and blasts of hot air from the Middle East into Pakistan and India.
• The north-south pressure pattern has been persisting over India, with La Nina extending its stay over the Pacific. This has definitely impacted the weather over India, which has been seen even during 1998-2000 when La Nina had persisted for three years.
• While land temperatures over India begin rising in March, they are usually punctuated by western disturbances, or moisture from the Mediterranean region that fall as rain over north and western India. For these currents to make it as far as India, they need a significant difference in temperature between Europe and the latitudes over India. Partly due to La Nina, this temperature difference was absent and so the western disturbances that came to India were weak with hardly any rain.
• According to a 2021 report by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, ‘Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region’, all India averaged frequency of summer heatwaves is expected to rise to about 2.5 events per season by the mid-21st century, with a further slight rise to about 3.0 events by the end of 21st century under current trajectory of greenhouse gas emission.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

6. WHAT IS THE DEBATE AROUND STAR RATINGS FOR FOOD PACKETS MOOTED BY FSSAI? 

THE CONTEXT: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue a draft regulation for labels on front of food packets that will inform consumers if a product is high in salt, sugar and fat. It is expected to propose a system under which stars will be assigned to a product, which has earned the ire of public health experts and consumer organisations who say it will be misleading and ineffective. Health experts are demanding that the FSSAI instead recommend the “warning label” system which has proven to have altered consumer behaviour.

THE EXPLANATION:

• In the past three decades, the country’s disease patterns have shifted. While mortality due to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases has declined and India’s population is living longer, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries are increasingly contributing to the overall disease burden. In 2016, NCDs accounted for 55% of premature death and disability in the country.
• Indians also have a disposition for excessive fat around the stomach and abdomen which leads to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021), 47.7% of men and 56.7% of women have high risk waist-to-hip ratio. An increased consumption of packaged and junk food has also led to a double burden of under nutrition and over nutrition among children. Over half of the children and adolescents, whether under-nourished or with normal weight, are at risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to an analysis by the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey in India (2016-2018).
• Reducing sugar, salt, and fat is among the best ways to prevent and control non-communicable diseases. While the FSSAI requires mandatory disclosure of nutrition information on food packets, this is located on the back of a packet and is difficult to interpret.
• At a stakeholder’s meeting on February 15, 2022, three important decisions were taken on what would be the content of the draft regulations on front-of-package labelling. These included threshold levels to be used to determine whether a food product was high in sugar, salt and fat; that the implementation will be voluntary for a period of four years before it is made mandatory; and that the health-star rating system would be used as labels on the basis of a study commissioned by the FSSAI and conducted by IIM-Ahmedabad.
• The food industry agreed with the FSSAI’s decision on the issue of mandatory implementation and use of ratings, and sought more time to study the issue of thresholds. The World Health Organization representative said the thresholds levels were lenient, while the consumer organisations opposed all three decisions.
• The biggest contention is over the use of a health-star rating system that uses 1/2 a star to five stars to indicate the overall nutrition profile of a product.
• In a health-star rating system, introduced in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, a product is assigned a certain number of stars using a calculator designed to assess positive (e.g., fruit, nut, protein content, etc) and risk nutrients in food (calories, saturated fat, total sugar, sodium).
• Scientists have said that such a system misrepresents nutrition science and the presence of fruit in a fruit drink juice does not offset the impact of added sugar. Experts say that so far there is no evidence of the rating system impacting consumer behaviour. The stars can also lead to a ‘health halo’ because of their positive connotation making it harder to identify harmful products. Over 40 global experts have also called the IIM-Ahmedabad study flawed in design and interpretation.
• There are many other labelling systems in the world, such as “warning labels” in Chile (which uses black octagonal or stop symbols) and Israel (a red label) for products high in sugar, salt and fat. The ‘Nutri-Score’, used in France, presents a coloured scale of A to E, and the Multiple Traffic Light (MTL), used in the U.K. and other countries depict red (high), amber (medium) or green (low) lights to indicate the risk factors. Global studies have shown a warning label is the only format that has led to a positive impact on food and beverage purchases forcing the industry, for example in Chile, to reformulate their products to remove major amounts of sugar and salt.
• The FSSAI is expected to make its draft regulations on front-of-package public soliciting comments from all stakeholders. The FSSAI’s scientific panel comprising independent experts will study these comments and make its proposal. Following this, it will go to a scientific committee, the FSSAI and the Health Ministry before the regulations are tabled before Parliament.
• The debate on front-of-package labelling has once again raised questions on the influence of the industry on the food regulator.
• Reducing sugar, salt, and fat is among the best ways to prevent and control non-communicable diseases. While the FSSAI requires mandatory disclosure of nutrition information on food packets, this is located on the back of a packet and is difficult to interpret.
• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue a draft regulation for labels on front of food packets that will inform consumers if a product is high in salt, sugar and fat
• The debate on front-of-package labelling has once again raised questions on the influence of the industry on the food regulator.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION FOR 8 & 9th MAY 2022

Q. Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched?

1. Rakhigarhi– Haryana
2. Dholavira – Gujarat
3. Alamgir– Rajasthan

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

a) 1 only

b) 1 and 2 only

c) 2 and 3 only

d) 3 only

ANSWER FOR THE 7TH MAY

Answer: A

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at national level in India has gone below replacement levels.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: There are five States — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17) — in India which are above replacement level of fertility of 2.1 as per the national report of the NFHS-5, by the Union Health Ministry.

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