THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1.‘LAKSHYA ZERO DUMPSITE’

THE CONTEXT: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved proposals worth ₹28.5 crores submitted by the UT for remediating 7.7 lakh MT of waste in Daddumajra dumpsite.

THE EXPLANATION:

This initiative is set to give residents of Chandigarh respite from diseases and the foul smell of garbage and will ensure that the city is on its way to remediate its legacy waste and become 5-Star Garbage Free in the coming period of time.

• The ‘Heritage City’ of Chandigarh, founded in 1953 and planned by famous Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, stands out for its immaculate urban planning and design. The city is renowned for its open public spaces, adequate green covers, and strict norms for residential and commercial zones that have preserved the sanctity of the city.

What is the need?

• The city generates 521 metric tonnes (MT) of waste every day, mostly consisting of horticultural waste due to the wide spread green cover across 1,800 parks, and processes the same into 4,000 quintals of compost annually.
• The city has been certified as 1-Star Garbage Free in the recently concluded Star Rating Assessment for Garbage Free Cities in 2021, under the aegis of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. It was also recognized for its commitment to transform ‘manhole to machine hole’ by winning the ‘Best Performing UT’ inSafaiMitra Suraksha Challenge 2021.
• For decades, the city’s waste would travel to the Daddumajra dumpsite which is now estimated to hold around 7.7 lakh MT of legacy waste. As part of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the UT has pledged to achieve ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsites’ within the Mission period and has undertaken the challenge of remediating the 7.7 lakh (MT) of legacy waste lying across 8 acres of land as part of the Daddumajra dumpsite.
• The land captured by Chandigarh’s largest and only dumpsite is valued at around ₹80 crores and efforts are now underway to completely remediate the dumpsite and provide a healthier future to the residents of the city.

2. DRAFT INDIA DATA ACCESSIBILITY & USE POLICY, 2022

THE CONTEXT: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) on February2022 released a policy proposal titled as, “Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022”.

THE EXPLANATION:

About “Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022”:

Aim:  To “radically transform India’s ability to harness public sector data”. The proposals of the Draft Data Accessibility Policy has been in the spotlight for permitting the licensing and sale of public data by the Government to the private sector.

Highlights of the Draft Policy:

• Commercial Use: The policy will be applicable to all data and information created/generated/collected/achieved by the government directly or through authorised agencies by various ministries/departments/organisations/ agencies and autonomous bodies.
• Data Authority: Indian Data Office (IDO) will be constituted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to streamline and consolidate data access and share public data repositories across the government and other stakeholders.
• Consultative body: Indian Data Council (IDC) will comprise the IDO and data officers of five government departments. Its tasks will include defining frameworks for defining high-value datasets, finalizing data standards and metadata standards and reviewing the implementation of the policy.
• Database Integration: All central and state government bodies will have to compulsorily share data with each other to create a common “searchable database”. A data-sharing toolkit will be provided to ministries and departments to assess and manage risks associated with data sharing.
• The monetisation of Data: The datasets that have undergone value addition could be monetised by the government.
• Stakeholders: Start-ups, other enterprises, individuals and researchers will be able to access enriched data through data licensing, sharing and valuation within the frameworks of data security and privacy.

What are the privacy issues with the Draft Data Accessibility Policy?

• India does not have a data protection law that can provide accountability and remedy for privacy violations such as coercive and excessive data collection or data breaches. Here, inter-departmental data sharing poses concerns related to privacy since the open government data portal which contains data from all departments may result in the creation of 360 degree profiles and enable state-sponsored mass surveillance.
• Even though the policy considers anonymisation as a desired goal there is a lack of legal accountability and independent regulatory oversight. There is also a failure to consider scientific analysis and the availability of automated tools for the re-identification of anonymous data.
• The commercial value of the data increases with greater amounts of personal data.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

3. INDIAN RAILWAYS INSTALLING SOLAR FENCES TO SAVE ELEPHANTS

THE CONTEXT: Agricultural Engineering Department is planning to install hanging solar-powered fences. Though the concept is not new to the State, it will be carried out with a 40% back-ended subsidy to be provided to farmers willing to have such fences.

THE EXPLANATION:

The barrier, to be hung from a height of about 12 ft, is made up of hot-dip galvanised aluminium conductor steel reinforced wires, which are considered rust-free. This is said to be useful in protecting the fields against wild boar and bison attacks.

The cost varies depending upon the number of lines of the wire. For instance, wires with five lines are estimated to cost about ₹2.91 lakh, of which the government’s subsidy will cover around ₹1.16 lakh. If the number of lines is 10, the cost goes up to approximately ₹3.37 lakh, of which the subsidy component will be nearly ₹1.35 lakh.

Significance:

• While electrocution claimed the lives of 741 elephants, train hits led to the death of 186 pachyderms, followed by poaching (169) and poisoning (64).
• Karnataka and Odisha lost 133 elephants each to electrocution and Assam reported 129 deaths in the recent past. Among elephant casualties due to train hits, Assam stood first with 62 deaths, followed by West Bengal at 57. A total of 169 elephants were killed by poachers in the 10 years and Odisha reported the highest of 49, fol-lowed by Kerala 23. Assam reported the highest number of elephants poisoned, 32, and Odisha stood second with 15.
• According to the Ministry, India had a total of 29,964 wild elephants as per an esti-mate done in 2017. The southern region comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra accounted for the highest population — 14,612 elephants.

4. NUEVA PESCANOVA: WORLD’S FIRST OCTOPUS FARM

THE CONTEXT: A Spanish company plans to open the first commercial octopus farm  in 2023, but as scientists discover more about the enigmatic animals, some have warned it could be an ethical and environmental disaster.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Nueva Pescanova, the company pouring 65 million euros ($74 million) into the farm, which is pending environmental approval from local authorities.
• The commercial incentives for the farm, which is slated to produce 3,000 tonnes per year by 2026 for domestic and international food chains and generate hundreds of jobs on the island of Gran Canaria.
• Between 2010 and 2019 the value of the global octopus trade ballooned to $2.72 billion from $1.30 billion, according to data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, while landings only rose around 9% to 380,000 tonnes.
• Despite increasing concern for animal rights, demand is booming, led by Italy, Korea, Japan and Spain, the world’s biggest importer. Natural fishing grounds are feeling the strain.
• However, previous efforts to farm octopus have struggled with high mortality, while attempts to breed wild-caught octopus ran into problems with aggression, cannibalism and self-mutilation.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

5. NASA’S RETIREMENT PLAN FROM SPACE STATION

THE CONTEXT: According to a NASA’s press release, NASA plans to retire the International Space Station at the end of 2030 and crash it into the Pacific Ocean in an area called Point Nemo.

THE EXPLANATION:

For over two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has been orbiting Earth at a speed of about eight kilometres per second, while an international crew of astronauts and cosmonauts onboard conducted ground-breaking scientific investigations that have thrown open the doors for deep space exploration.

What is International Space Station?

• The International Space Station is a large spacecraft in orbit around Earth. It serves as a home where crews of astronauts and cosmonauts live. The space station is also a unique science laboratory. Several nations worked together to build and use the space station. The space station is made of parts that were assembled in space by astronauts.
• It orbits Earth at an average altitude of approximately 250 miles. It travels at 17,500 mph. This means it orbits Earth every 90 minutes. NASA is using the space station to learn more about living and working in space. These lessons will make it possible to send humans farther into space than ever before.

What’s next for the ISS?

According to NASA, once it retires, the ISS will be replaced by “one or more commercially-owned and -operated” space platforms. “The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance.

What about India’s Space Station?

According to the ISRO, India will launch its first indigenously made space station by 2030, just a few years after the ‘Gaganyaan’ mission which will kick off starting 2022.

THE PT PERSPECTIVE

6. THE STRATEGIC LOCATION OF GOLAN HEIGHTS

The Golan Heights are a fertile plateau of around 1,300 sq km area lying to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee, which Israel seized from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967, and has occupied ever since.

The inhabitants

Around 50,000 people are estimated to live on the Golan, divided almost equally between Israeli Jewish settlers and Arabic-speaking Druze people of Syrian origin, who follow a monotheistic Abrahamic religion related to Ismaili Shia Islam.

Significance:

• The heights give Israel an excellent vantage point for monitoring Syrian movements. The topography provides a natural buffer against any military thrust from Syria.
• Israel’s government says it also fears that Iran, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is seeking to establish itself permanently on the Syrian side of the border in order to launch attacks on Israel.
• The area is also a key source of water for an arid region. Rainwater from the Golan’s catchment feeds into the Jordan River.

7. THE 9,000-YEAR-OLD SHRINE FOUND IN JORDAN

THE CONTEXT: A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists found a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan’s eastern desert.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The ritual complex was found in a Neolithic campsite near large structures known as “desert kites,” or mass traps that are believed to have been used to corral wild gazelles for slaughter.
• Such traps consist of two or more long stone walls converging toward an enclosure and are found scattered across the deserts of the West Asia.
• “It’s 9,000 years old and everything was almost intact.” Within the shrine were two carved standing stones bearing anthropomorphic figures.

MAPPING-PLACES IN NEWS

8. WHO ARE ANGADIAS?

The Angadia system is a century-old parallel banking system in the country where traders send cash generally from one state to another through a person called Angadia that stands for courier. It is by and large used in the jewellery business with Mumbai – Surat being the most popular route as they are two ends of the diamond trade.

 The cash involved is huge and it is the responsibility of the Angadia to transfer cash from one state to another for which they charge a nominal fee. Generally, it is the Gujarati, Marwari and Malbari community that are involved in the business.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY 24^th FEBRUARY 2022

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. Israel does not share its border with Syria.
2. Jordan does not share its border with Mediterranean Sea.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR 23^rd FEBRUARY 2022

1. Answer: D

Explanation:

Mission Shakti:

• It envisages a unified citizen-centric lifecycle support for women through integrated care, safety, protection, rehabilitation & empowerment to unshackle women as they progress through various stages of life.
• It has two sub-schemes ‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’.
• ‘Sambal’ is for safety and security of women, the ‘Samarthya’ sub-scheme is for empowerment of women.
• The Sambal sub-scheme consists of the existing scheme of One Stop Centres (OSC), Women Helplines (181-WHL) and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP). Besides, a new component of Nari Adalats has been added as women’s collectives to promote and facilitate alternative dispute resolution and gender justice in society and within families.
• The Samarthya sub scheme is for empowerment of women, consisting of existing schemes of Ujjwala, SwadharGreh and Working Women Hostel. In addition, the National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which have been under the Umbrella ICDS Scheme till now, are also subsumed in ‘Samarthya’.

2. Answer: B

Explanation:

The iconic island Char Chinari in the middle of the Dal Lake in Srinagar:

• Recently, two tall chinar trees were planted on the picturesque island with the Zabarwan hills in the backdrop. This will be the second time in the past decade that chinar trees, which can survive for centuries, will be planted on the island.
• The 2014 floods left two mighty chinars damaged.
• The island, in fact, owes its name to chinar trees, as Char Chinarimeans four chinars.

1. Nueva Pescanova: World’s First Octopus Farm Stirs Ethical Debate READ MORE
2. Living in gratitude is a way to be at peace READ MORE
3. Apathy, cynicism of babus hurt welfare READ MORE

1. India must revisit its forestry goals READ MORE
2. In Antarctica, Does a Burgeoning Krill Fishery Threaten Wildlife? READ MORE
3. Human presence has accelerated snow melting in Antarctica: Report READ MORE

1. On Hijab issue, listen to the missing voices READ MORE
2. Why Judges Should Not Interpret Religion READ MORE
3. Introduce digital media literacy in schools READ MORE

1. Drafting a new Constitution is impossible: That the Centre is suppressing the powers of the States is not reason enough for a new statute READ MORE
2. Understanding the Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022 READ MORE
3. India needs to take a serious look at its business laws. Here’s why READ MORE
4. Democracy needs challenges to assert itself READ MORE
5. India needs judicial reforms – but granting more powers to the chief justice won’t solve anything READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. NASA’s plan to decommission the International Space Station READ MORE
2. Indian Navy’s MILAN exercise to be held in Visakhapatnam from February 25 READ MORE
3. Ukraine Crisis: US Imposes Sanctions On Russia’s Nord Stream 2 Pipeline READ MORE
4. Tejas to participate in prestigious Cobra Warrior exercises of the Royal Air Force in the U.K. READ MORE
5. Explained: Who are Angadias and what are the challenges they face? READ MORE
6. SC to hear plea to declare ‘Ram Sethu’ national heritage monument on March 9 READ MORE
7. ‘Lakshya Zero Dumpsite’: Daddumajra Dumpsite Remediation in Chandigarh READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. India must revisit its forestry goals READ MORE
2. On Hijab issue, listen to the missing voices READ MORE
3. Why Judges Should Not Interpret Religion READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Drafting a new Constitution is impossible: That the Centre is suppressing the powers of the States is not reason enough for a new statute READ MORE
2. Understanding the Draft India Data Accessibility & Use Policy, 2022 READ MORE
3. India needs to take a serious look at its business laws. Here’s why READ MORE
4. Democracy needs challenges to assert itself READ MORE
5. India needs judicial reforms – but granting more powers to the chief justice won’t solve anything READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. Introduce digital media literacy in schools READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Emerging axes, new equations: Pak-Russia dynamics in a changing world READ MORE
2. Quad takes another step forward READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Explained: How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could impact Indian exports READ MORE
2. No garble, please READ MORE
3. Dealing with unclaimed bank deposits READ MORE
4. Circular economy for plastic: Progress in handling waste has been uninspiring READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. In Antarctica, Does a Burgeoning Krill Fishery Threaten Wildlife? READ MORE
2. Human presence has accelerated snow melting in Antarctica: Report READ MORE

SCIENCE

1. Fixing the under-representation of women in the sciences READ MORE
2. Promote the whys & hows: Objective should be to encourage the spirit of enquiry, not reverence for science READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Explained: How big is insurgency threat in Manipur? READ MORE

GS Paper- 1

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Nueva Pescanova: World’s First Octopus Farm Stirs Ethical Debate READ MORE
2. Living in gratitude is a way to be at peace READ MORE
3. Apathy, cynicism of babus hurt welfare READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘India needs judicial reforms but granting more powers to the chief justice won’t solve this issue’. Comment on the statement.
2. Discuss the need for a protection law that can provide accountability and remedy for privacy violations such as coercive and excessive data collection.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The important thing is to never stop questioning.
• Mining activities result in deforestation, alter the community ecology of native wildlife and push populations to extinction or migration. This will increase the instances of human-wildlife conflict.
• Drafting a new Constitution will be a chaotic exercise and will shut the voices of some sections, especially the vulnerable.
• India does not have a data protection law that can provide accountability and remedy for privacy violations such as coercive and excessive data collection or data breaches.
• Efforts to ensure gender equity should not be limited to the academies. All stakeholders must get involved.
• Muslim women’s voices are infantilised, dismissed, and they are forced to choose between false binaries such as education or hijab, Indianness or Muslimness.
• Financial illiteracy and lack of awareness about the procedures among the people lead to these kinds of situations. Therefore, financial literacy drive is welcome.
• A recent study focused on the United States and India pointed out the lack of attention to digital media literacy in education policies as a critical factor in spreading online misinformation.
• To reform the system, bureaucrats must start believing in welfare. Only then they will be able to find the right algorithm.
• Instead of wasting public money on grand events, government agencies engaged in science popularisation should direct their resources towards genuine engagement with people and communities.
• The fate of Indian democracy at this juncture hangs on the outcome of this struggle.
• The Quad has to now deliver on the identified sectors to maintain credibility and not regress again into a dormant state.
• Instead, the focus should have been on the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for judicial infrastructure, which is the flagship program for funding judicial infrastructure.

50-WORD TALK

• Mining activities result in deforestation, alter the community ecology of native wildlife and push populations to extinction or migration. This will increase the instances of human-wildlife conflict. These short term economic gains will ruin wildlife habitat as well as impose soil, water and air pollution. Such projects are being challenged by public interest litigators in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

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 166]

THE CONTEXT: Among the many initiatives taken around the world to neutralize the gender binary, India faces its own challenge in the form of gender-caste intersectionality.

THE ISSUE: On the 2018 Gender Inequality Index, India ranked 122 out of 162 nations (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2019). India has both low rates of female labour force participation (FLFP) and large pay disparities between women and men in India. The FLFP is about 25% in rural regions and less than 20% in urban areas (Lahoti and Swaminathan 2016). The average wage of female employees is about 65% of average male wages in 2018-2019 (Chakraborty 2020). Aside from the steps taken to improve women’s political representation, no constitutional mandate or law ensures seats for women in public-sector employment or educational institutions. Only a few states – like Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab – have introduced reservations for women in government jobs during the last decade. In terms of educational institutions, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) introduced a reservation of 20% seats for women in 2018 to correct the low levels of female participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines. This measure has been quite successful in increasing the share of women, from about 14% of total seats in 2018-19 to 20% in 2020-21. Yet, a large gulf remains in achievement by subaltern caste.

WHAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY?

The intersectionality perspective emphasizes that an individual’s social identity influences the individual’s beliefs and experiences of gender making it essential to understand gender within the context of power relations.

SOME OF THE EXAMPLE

Intersectionality of class, caste, and gender and its linkages with unmet need for care. Research on economic inequality and poverty demonstrated that unequal distribution of resources manifests in unequal access to opportunities including healthcare. Economic differences may not shape the opportunities in isolation rather than caste inequalities and

gender biases which are rooted in the social system, interacting with economic class influences the pathways of healthcare access some of the data in the case of gender intersectionality.

This clearly shows that a social gradient to health exists in India in the case of health outcomes.

The social gradient in health is a term used to describe the phenomenon whereby people who are less advantaged in terms of socioeconomic position have worse health (and shorter lives) than those who are more advantaged.

THIS INTERSECTIONALITY PREVAILS IN OTHER SECTORS TOO

• One of the RTI reports reveals that just 19% of the 17,000 companies had adopted the voluntary code of affirmative action for SC/ST communities. The hesitation of corporates in giving importance to caste-based hiring comes from their preference for talent over inclusion.
• However, the need for inclusion is imperative. Despite higher education systems providing placement opportunities to Dalit students, their scarce presence in corporates’ higher management across the country is worrying about.
• Many of the leaders of top companies in India have been vocal about their willingness to hire based on merit and academic performance instead of caste.
• At the same time, a few companies like Muthoot ask for the caste of candidates in the application form.
• A study conducted in 2012 found that over 93% of the Indian Corporate board members belong to the “upper-castes”. In such a scenario, the unconscious bias of companies and especially the recruiters can hardly be ignored.
• It has been observed that most of the Dalit workers in the private sector are employed at ground level and often as unskilled laborers. The absence of Dalit members in the management body directly impacts these lower-level employees.
• As a marginalized section, their needs and concerns remain unheard of and unresolved. This creates the condition of underrepresentation at the top level and overrepresentation at the bottom level.
• Impact of such anomaly.
• Impact on entrepreneurship: Dalit entrepreneurship has suffered due to a lack of resources as well as skills. The combined support of the government and the corporate houses is needed to boost such an entrepreneurial spirit. It is crucial to fill the gaps left by the education system through systematic training and skill development. Business houses such as Godrej and M&M are providing training facilities as well as funds to the deprived class entrepreneurs. The government has also been talking about bringing in equal opportunity legislation in the private sector along with financing for the training costs of underprivileged meritorious youth.

THE WAY FORWARD

The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs came out with a “diversity index” that measures the workforce’s diversity in an organization. It has been found through several studies that the more diverse companies perform better financially and consumers prefer them over those that take no stand in societal issues. Consequently, many companies have now started caste-profiling their employees. The need of the hour is a conscious effort from the corporate industry for inclusive hiring and talent development rather than just a few short-term CSR activities.

THE CONCLUSION: Despite caste-based reservations, caste-based discrimination persists, raising the question of whether alternative approaches in implementing affirmative action – other than reservations – should be considered. An alternative affirmative action strategy to reservations may be to devote more educational resources to prepare underrepresented groups for higher education students better. This approach may enhance representation while reducing negative stereotypes that women and lower caste groups have lower productivity or provide lower quality services. Enhanced representation and reduced discrimination against women and lower caste groups in high-skilled occupations can encourage competition and improve the overall quality of services.