(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Committee on criminal law reforms recommended amendments to sedition law READ MORE
2. The grim forewarnings of a global study on birds READ MORE
3. Explained: What is a ‘marsquake’, and what causes it? READ MORE
4. Explained: A history of the Pulitzer Prize; and the Indians who have won it READ MORE
5. Surviving soldiers of ‘Operation Dudhi’ feted READ MORE
6. Future looms dark for 48% of bird species READ MORE
7. Data | How much of Europe’s gas comes from Russia? READ MORE

Main Exam 

GS Paper- 1

1. The women who went missing in our demographic dividend READ MORE
2. Communal violence is not new to India. But something is different now READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Induct more women into the police force READ MORE
2. Sedition law: Time-bound re-examination should be followed by repeal READ MORE
3. Common ground: Balanced judiciary-executive ties can help settle contentious issues READ MORE
4. Defections: Take away the Speaker’s powers READ MORE
5. How Do We Make the Wheels of the Police and Criminal Justice System Run Faster? READ MORE
6. Will a Common Undergrad Entrance Test Fix the Problems of India’s Education System? READ MORE
7. Opinion: Tackling India’s communalism challenges will require constitutional reform READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Measuring the change: India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys READ MORE
2. NFHS-5 data shows literacy and delivery of services, not religion, influences fertility READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Ukraine conflict won’t make Biden abandon Indo-Pacific strategy READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Control inflation by acting on liquidity: Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’; an abundance of liquidity has been an important factor READ MORE
2. Power sector needs attention for recovery READ MORE
3. Textile in trouble: Govt must revisit the GM policy READ MORE
4. Modi govt’s coal reforms go beyond the current crisis. It transforms India’s energy security READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Long-term plan needed to combat heat waves READ MORE
2. Unscientific tree plantation programmes waste money and cause more harm than good READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. True dharma is not religion, cult, or path READ MORE
2. Ensure life of dignity for specially abled READ MORE
3. Prayer and prayerfulness READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’.’ With reference to this statement, Explain the contemporary inflation-growth dynamics in India.
2. Discuss the importance of socio-economic survey in governance. Why India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys?
3. How far do you agree with this view that for the anti-defection law to be effective, the power to decide on disqualification cases should be vested in an independent authority? Anlayse your view.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror.
• Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’; an abundance of liquidity has been an important factor.
• If we want to control inflation, action on liquidity is very much needed with a concomitant rise in the interest rate on deposits and loans.
• India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys.
• India has achieved the replacement rate for its population. Now, ‘unmet need’ for family planning tools must be provided for.
• There is enough evidence to suggest that India’s demographic dividend is not playing out like it was expected to. While women are getting more educated and having fewer babies, they are not taking up paid jobs.
• Early warning systems, heat-proof shelters and major afforestation are of vital need to reduce heat wave fatalities.
• The judiciary and the executive appear to be looking for a mutually acceptable method of dealing with issues on which opinions are divided.
• Land acquisition for coal mines has had a complicated history in India. But Present govt’s reforms pave the way for a paradigm shift in energy security.
• The common entrance exam will determine the experience of learning, especially in schools with limited resources, rather than addressing issues of access, equity and social justice.
• The current system places too much power in the hands of the majority. A diverse nation should opt for a US model of secularism and decentralised governments.

50-WORD TALK

• Punjab is inured to stray incidents. But police intelligence headquarters hit with a rocket-propelled grenade is unprecedented. The usual suspects want to relight fires Punjab extinguished by 1993. It’s important that the state and central governments work together to counter this. Instead, unfortunately, they are at war with each other.
• Apart from coal supply, the main issue preventing the power sector from becoming viable and profitable is the fact that power distribution companies are not making payments to power-generating firms. The undeniable fact is that state govts are not prepared to levy viable user charges on power from most of their constituents, especially farmers. Every election brings more promises of free power which in turn make the discoms less and less viable.

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 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 220]

THE CONTEXT: The Country Reports on Human Rights were released by the US Secretary of State on 12 April 2022. The report on India has flagged concerns over arbitrary arrests and detentions, extra-judicial killings, violence against religious minorities, curbs on free expression and media, including unjustified prosecution of journalists. This article primarily focuses on press freedom in India and concerns issues raised in the report.

THE REPORT: The report is prepared by the US Department of State and submitted each year to the US Congress it is retrospective in nature and contains a country-wise discussion of the state of the internationally recognised individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE REPORT

ARBITRARY ARREST AND DETENTION: Indian law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention but both occurred during the year, with police using “special security laws to postpone judicial reviews of arrests. Pre-trial detention was arbitrary and lengthy, sometimes even exceeding the duration of the sentence given to those convicted.

VIOLATIONS OF PRIVACY: Citing media reports on journalists being targeted for surveillance through the Pegasus malware, the report flagged violations of privacy by government authorities, including the use of technology to arbitrarily or unlawfully surveil or interfere with the privacy of individuals.

CURBS ON FREE EXPRESSION AND MEDIA: The report highlighted instances in which the government or actors considered close to the government allegedly pressured or harassed media outlets critical of the government, including through online trolling. It detailed the government’s order of February-2021 directing Twitter to block accounts of journalists covering protests against the three (later repealed) farm laws.

ON FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: The report highlighted the cases of Amnesty International India, whose assets were frozen by the Enforcement Directorate, and the suspension of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) license of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) for alleged violations.

THE REPORT AND THE PRESS FREEDOM IN INDIA

• The report systematically lists cases where freedom of the press was endangered by government and non-government actors.
• The report noted that international watchdogs including Freedom House and Human Rights Watch had also documented a downslide in India’s application of democratic rights for the media and an increase in continuous harassment.
• There were also cases, especially in states, of journalists being killed or targeted by vested interests due to their professional work, it says.
• In June 2021, a journalist for the newspaper Kampu Mail was killed by two gunmen in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly for his investigative reports into illegal sand mining.
• The UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay had also taken cognizance and asked authorities to end “gunpoint censorship”.
• The report also mentions the arrest of comedian Munawar Faruqui and four other persons for allegedly offending religious sentiments with jokes that he did not even deliver but planned to perform.
• The report also noted that the World Press Freedom Index 2021 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described India as “very dangerous for journalists” with the rank of 142 among 180 countries.
• Further, the report listed that government officials at both local and national levels were involved in “intimidating critical media outlets through physical harassment and attacks, pressuring owners, targeting sponsors, encouraging frivolous lawsuits, and in some areas blocking communication services, such as mobile telephones and the internet, and constraining freedom of movement”.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT

• Citing media reports on journalists being targeted for surveillance through the Pegasus malware, the report flagged violations of privacy by government authorities. The report was also critical of the government’s involvement in allegedly pressuring or harassing the media outlets critical of the government while noting that the government generally respected the right to freedom of expression.
• Though there are instances of the alleged government pressure on the media houses and even there have been circumstances that warrant courts cautioning the media about the manner of its reportage. However, the general view is that the public has a right to know and it is the duty of the media to disseminate the information. The court in various instances took cognizance of the media reports and directed the state machinery to do the needful.
• The USA is entitled to have views; India also posted its strongest repudiation against America for constantly pontificating on human rights and press freedom.

PRESS FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

MAKING GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE: Free Media makes people question the decisions of the government and make it accountable. It conveys the people’s needs and desires to government bodies, making informed decisions and strengthening society as a result.

VOICE OF THE MARGINALISED: The free media by being the voice of the masses empowers them with the right to express opinions.

FREE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS: A free exchange of ideas, free exchange of information and knowledge, debating, and expression of different viewpoints are important for the smooth functioning of democracy. A free press can inform citizens of their leaders’ successes or failures.

FOURTH PILLAR OF DEMOCRACY: Due to these attributes, the Media can be rightly considered as the fourth pillar of democracy, the other three being legislature, executive, and judiciary.

THREATS TO FREEDOM OF PRESS

BIASED MEDIA: Corporate and political power has overwhelmed large sections of the media, both print and visual, which leads to vested interests and destroys freedom.

FAKE NEWS: The government’s pressure in the name of regulations, the bombardment of fake news, and the influence of social media are dangerous for the occupation.

PAID NEWS: Corruption-paid news, advertorials, and fake news are threats to free and unbiased media.

ATTACK AGAINST JOURNALISTS: The security of journalists is the biggest issue, killings, and assaults on Journalists covering sensitive issues are very common. Reports such as ‘Freedom in the World 2021 (Freedom House, US)’, ‘2020 Human Rights Report (US State Department)’, and ‘Autocratisation Goes Viral (V-Dem Institute, Sweden)’ have all highlighted the intimidation of journalists in India.

CENSORSHIP BY THE STATE:

• The political leaders encourage censorship of media. Various efforts are made to control and contain media through stringent norms and regulations.
• The IT Rules 2021 force digital news publishers and video streaming services to adhere to a three-tier structure of regulation. It will have a government committee at its apex. It is feared that the new rules will have implications for freedom of expression and the right to information as:
• I&B Ministry is entrusted to formulate an oversight mechanism and establish an inter-departmental committee for hearing grievances. This body will also have censorship and blocking powers.
• The regulation will be done by a body composed of bureaucrats who might perform discretionary censorship thereby enhancing political control.

SEDITION LAW: Arbitrary use Section 124A of IPC under which sedition is punishable by life imprisonment endangers the freedom of journalists. This leads to fear among journalists to work freely.

POLITICAL INFLUENCE: Corporate and political power has overwhelmed large sections of the media, both print and visual, which leads to the promotion of biased views and vested interests thereby harming the very nature and mandate of free journalism.

HOW JUSTIFIED ARE THE OBSERVATIONS MADE IN THE REPORT?

ARTICLE 19 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA: The Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, which deals with ‘Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc. Freedom of the press is not expressly protected by the Indian legal system but it is implicitly protected under article 19(1)(a) of the constitution. However, Freedom of the press is also not absolute. A law could impose reasonable restrictions on the exercise of this right explicitly mentioned under Article 19(2).

ROMESH THAPPAR v. STATE OF MADRAS, 1950: The Supreme Court observed that freedom of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organisations and was of the opinion that Constitution framers choose to not include the word “Sedition” in Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India which shows that “criticism of Government, exciting disaffection or bad feelings towards it, is not to be regarded as a justifying ground for restricting the freedom of expression and of the press unless it is such as to undermine the security of or tend to overthrow the State.”

VINOD DUA v. UNION OF INDIA: The Supreme Court said that “Every journalist is entitled to the protection under the Kedar Nath Singh case (which defined the ambit of the offence of sedition under Section 124A IPC).”

• In Kedar Nath Singh (1962), five judges of the Supreme Court made it clear that “allegedly seditious speech and expression may be punished only if the speech is an ‘incitement’ to ‘violence’, or ‘public disorder’”.

SELF REGULATION AND MEDIA ETHICS:

• Media in India is free and self-regulated with no state interference.
• The concept of Self-regulation is a voluntary act on the part of an individual media professional as well as a media organisation. It is not imposed by any external agency therefore it carries more credibility in the eyes of the public.
• Self-regulation ensures that the media can operate independently which is in the interest of the media as well as its different stakeholders and the audience.
• To facilitate ethical conduct, a number of self-regulatory mechanisms exist for the Indian media such as codes of ethics and the Press Council of India.
• Organisations like News Broadcasters Standards Authority (NBSA) and Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) have been set up as an internal self-regulatory mechanism for television (news and entertainment) respectively.

VIBRANT DIGITAL NEWS ECOSYSTEM:

• In the past few years, India has witnessed a plethora of vibrant online news broadcasting organisations. With the public looking beyond mainstream media for reports from the ground, independent digital platforms are emerging as a source of credible news.
• While digital media has helped amplify local issues and movements, its emergence has also turned the lens on issues concerning vulnerable communities, remote regions, and the environment, subjects that many sections of the mainstream media might have maintained a distance from.

JUDICIARY TO THE RESCUE

• In April 2022, the Delhi High Court quashed the lookout circular issued by the Enforcement Directorate against journalist Rana Ayyub on the ground of it being devoid of merits as well as infringing her human right to travel abroad and freedom of speech and expression.
• In March 2022, the Supreme Court stayed the Central government’s decision to revoke the security clearance of Kerala-based news and current affairs TV channel Media One “on the basis of intelligence inputs which are sensitive and secretive in nature”.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Legislation: Similar to the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020 which provides protection to the healthcare service personnel from the ‘act of violence, and the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014 which provides adequate safeguards against victimization of the person making such complaints, the country needs a more detailed law regarding the media to protect not only the freedom of expression and speech but also journalists’ safety.
• Better regulation: Efforts must be made to enable regulations that would lower the barriers to media ownership and reduce the concentration of media ownership.
• Strengthening the justice system: Strengthening the courts, the police, the justice system, and the rule of law is important to provide adequate protection for journalists.
• Incentivization: Government must Institute awards and other forms of recognition for excellence in watchdog reporting.
• Independent agencies: There is a need to establish independent press councils; media watch groups, ombudsmen, and other media self‐regulatory bodies autonomous from the government.
• International Reports: Reports from international watchdogs such as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch shall also be used as a mirror to reflect upon the lacunas and failures and not just a reason for rebuke.

THE CONCLUSION: The Indian government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of free voice even for journalists. Expressing disaffection or bad feelings towards the government is not to be regarded as a justifying ground for restricting the freedom of expression and of the press. Furthermore, the media houses and journalists should also be mindful of the manner of their reportage in their duty to disseminate the information.

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS:

1. “Various reports have highlighted the intimidation of journalists in India and India’s ranking on various indices such as World Press Freedom Index has been falling in past few years.” Elaborate on the reasons for the same and suggest measures to strengthen the freedom of the fourth pillar of democracy.
2. “US-India relations share strength and comfort level to deal with differences even if the two sides may not agree on all issues.” Examine-in context of Country Reports on Human Rights, 2021.

THE ART AND CULTURE

1. MARTAND SUN TEMPLE

THE CONTEXT: The Sun Temple Martand in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag saw a flurry of activity on May 7 as over a hundred devotees thronged the premises to observe Shankara Jayanti (the birth anniversary of Adi Shankaracharya). This was celebrated for the first time since the temple was declared a “site of national importance” by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

THE EXPLANATION:

• The temple is said to have been built in the 8th century, but attempts were made to destroy it several times between 1389 and 1413.
• It is believed that Hindu ruler Lalitaditya had built the Martand Surya Temple in honor of the Sun God or Bhaskar in the 8th century AD.
• Lalitaditya was a Surya (Sun) Dynasty Kshatriya. The temple’s style of construction and the expertise displayed in it was unprecedented in world history.
• The Vastu science of architecture has been employed, and the building is designed so that the Sun’s rays fall on the Surya idol throughout the day.
• Though the cities, towns, and ruins of Lalitaditya’s era are not easily located, the remnants of the large Martand temple, which the emperor had built at the pilgrimage site of the same name, are an example of the expertise of the Kashmiri Hindu builders of ancient times.

THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

2. PMJJBY, PMSBY & APY COMPLETE SEVEN YEARS OF PROVIDING SOCIAL SECURITY NET

THE CONTEXT: Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) on Monday complete seven years of providing social security net.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The schemes were launched by Prime Minister on 9th May 2015 in Kolkata, West Bengal. These schemes have been successful in providing affordable insurance and security to people.
• These three social security schemes are dedicated to the welfare of the citizens, recognizing the need for securing human life from unforeseen risks or losses and financial uncertainties.
• In order to ensure that the people from the unorganized section of the country are financially secure, the Government launched two insurance schemes – Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and introduced Atal Pension Yojana to cover the exigencies in the old age.
• While the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana provide access to low-cost life or accidental insurance cover to the people, the Atal Pension Yojana provides an opportunity for saving in the present to get a regular pension in old age.
• As of 27th of last month, the cumulative enrolments under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana have been more than 12.76 crore and an amount of 11 thousand 522 crore has been paid for over 5 lakh 76 thousand claims.
• The cumulative enrolments under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana have been more than 28.37 crore and an amount of one thousand 930 crore rupees has been paid for over 97 thousand claims. More than 4 crore individuals have subscribed to Atal Pension Yojana.

3. UNION GOVT REVISES ITS OWN STAND ON MINORITY STATUS FOR HINDUS

THE CONTEXT: The Ministry of Minority Affairs has superseded its earlier affidavit and claimed that the Union government has the power to notify minorities, not states, but that wide consultations are needed.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Union government has superseded its own affidavit to the Supreme Court in which it said that states had the ability to take a call on conferring minority status to any religious or linguistic community, including Hindus.
• In a fresh affidavit filed through the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs on Monday, May 9, it has claimed that the Union government has the power to notify minorities.
• However, it adds that a decision in this regard can only be taken by the Union government after “wide consultations with state governments and other stakeholders” to avoid “unintended complications in the future.”
• The government had filed the earlier affidavit after the Supreme Court sought its response in a plea that sought directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level. The plea contended that Hindus are in a ‘minority’ in six states and three Union Territories of India but were allegedly not able to avail themselves of the benefits of schemes meant for minorities.
• The Ministry of Minority Affairs had said: “It is submitted that the State governments can also declare a religious or linguistic community as a minority community within the said state.”
• For instance, the Maharashtra government has notified ‘Jews’ as a minority community within the state. Moreover, the Karnataka government has notified Urdu, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Tulu, Lamani, Hindi, Konkani and Gujarati languages as minority languages within the state of Karnataka,”.
• Minority status is sought for Hinduism, Bahaism and Judaism in states like Mizoram, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur and Union Territories of Ladakh and Lakshadweep.
• The apex court had earlier allowed a plea seeking transfer of cases from several high courts to it against the Union government’s notification to declare five communities – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis – as minorities and tagged the matter with the main petition.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

4. CYCLONE ASANI HITS PARTS OF BENGAL

THE CONTEXT: According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD)Cyclone Asani has intensified into a ‘severe cyclone’.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Severe cyclonic storm Asani is over west-central region and adjoining southwest region of the Bay of Bengal. The department earlier said it was about 590km southwest of Puri and about 510km south-southwest of Gopalpur in Odisha.
• Though it is unlikely to make landfall, the weather agency said it would pass through coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh-Odisha in the next two days.
• The name Cyclone Asani has been given by Sri Lanka. It means ‘wrath’ in Sinhalese.
• Cyclones that Hit India in 2020-21: Tauktae, Yaas, Nisarga, Amphan.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

5. UK INDIA INDUSTRY TASK FORCE

THE CONTEXT: A new UK India Industry Task force, a joint commission to increase cross-industry collaboration and push the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) over the line, was launched on 9^th May.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have created the new task force as part of a memorandum of understanding to provide a “critical forum” for discussion to ensure the FTA works to the benefit of businesses in both countries.
• The joint commission is designed to provide oversight and meet ahead of key milestones to reflect views on trade-offs, breakdown barriers to market access and help feed in on-the-ground business intelligence at a ministerial level in India and the UK.
• “A free trade agreement with the world’s fastest growing economy is now within touching distance, and to clinch that deal a focus on lowering barriers to trade is now essential.
• For example, on renewables, we have an opportunity to export UK’s expertise in clean tech. A deal has the potential to drastically lower tariffs on wind turbines parts that are currently as high as 15 per cent.
• The negotiating teams have since completed the third round of talks in New Delhi, with a focus on reducing the barriers to trade, cutting tariffs, and supporting firms to export.
• According to the CBI, reducing tariffs on green exports such as solar, onshore, and offshore wind, could open up new opportunities for companies in India, with an FTA with India expected to nearly double UK exports to India.
• A trade deal is also expected to boost Britain’s total trade by as much as 28 billion pounds (USD 34 billion) a year by 2035 and increase wages across the UK regions by 3 billion pounds (USD 3.6 billion), according to industry estimates.
• This partnership is an opportunity to address shared concerns, identify common interests and foster greater understanding and to develop capacity to address the issues of economic and global concerns.
• The collaboration between CII and CBI will cover joint efforts in specific areas such as advancing technology and digitalisation, climate change and sustainability, multilateral collaboration, alignment on FTA and education.
• Between them, the two industry organisations say they represent over 300,000 businesses of all sizes across both countries.

6. PROCUREMENT OF WHEAT IS SET TO HIT A 15-YEAR LOW THIS SEASON

THE CONTEXT: From an all-time high last year, procurement of wheat is set to hit a 15-year low this season, falling below existing stocks for the first time.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The 18.5 million tonnes (mt) likely procurement this time — farmers mostly sell from April to mid-May, although government wheat purchases technically extends until June and the marketing season until the following March — will be the lowest since the 11.1 mt bought in 2007-08.
• Moreover, this would be the first time that wheat procured from the new crop (18.5 mt) is less than the public stocks at the start of the marketing season (19 mt). As the table shows, fresh procurement has always exceeded the opening balance stocks. It was so even during the previous two low procurement years of 2006-07 and 2007-08.
• This year would be an exception and in sharp contrast to 2021-22, which had unprecedented levels of both opening stocks (27.3 mt) and procurement (43.3 mt).

WHY HAS IT FALLEN?

There are two main reasons for procurement plunging to a 15-year-low this time.

• The first is export demand.
• In 2021-22, India exported a record 7.8 mt of wheat. Supply disruptions from the Russia-Ukraine war – the two countries account for over 28% of global wheat exports – have led to skyrocketing prices and a further increase in demand for Indian grain.
• Indian wheat getting exported at about $350 or Rs 27,000 per tonne free-on-board (i.e. at the point of shipping), farmers are realising well above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 20,150/tonne at which government is procuring.
• This is even after deducting various costs – from bagging and loading at the purchase point, to transport and handling at the port. These would add up to Rs 4,500-6,000 per tonne, depending on the distance from the wholesale mandi to the port.

• The second reason is lower production.In mid-February, the Union Agriculture Ministry estimated the size of India’s 2021-22 crop (marketed during 2022-23) at 111.32 mt, surpassing even the previous year’s high of 109.59 mt. But the sudden spike in temperatures from the second half of March — when the crop was in grain-filling stage, with the kernels still accumulating starch, protein and other dry matter — has taken a toll on yields.
• In most wheat-growing areas — barring Madhya Pradesh, where the crop is harvest-ready by mid-March — farmers have reported a 15-20% decline in per-acre yields.
• A smaller crop, in combination with export demand, has resulted in open market prices of wheat crossing the MSP in many parts of India.
• The shorter the distance to the ports, the higher the premium that exporter/traders have paid over the MSP.
• Even in Punjab and Haryana — where the state governments charge up to 6% market levies, compared to 0.5-1.6% in MP, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan — flour millers have paid farmers Rs 50-100 above the MSP of Rs 20,150 per tonne.
• Traders and millers aren’t the only ones stocking up in anticipation of prices going up further. Many farmers, especially the more entrepreneurial/better-off sections among them, are also holding back their crop.
• Such “hoarding” by farmers was seen in the recent past in soyabean and cotton, too, again driven by soaring international prices.

IMPLICATIONS:

• With opening stocks of 19 mt and expected procurement of 18.5 mt, government agencies would have 37.5 mt of wheat available for 2022-23. Not all this, however, can be sold, as a minimum operational stock-cum-strategic reserve has to be maintained.
• The normative buffer or closing stock requirement for March 31 is 7.5 mt. Providing for that will leave 30 mt available for sale from government godowns this fiscal.
• That quantity should suffice for the public distribution system, midday meals and other regular welfare schemes, whose annual wheat requirement is around 26 mt. But the last two years have also witnessed substantial off take under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana scheme (10.3 mt in 2020-21 and 19.9 mt in 2021-22) and open market sales to flour mills (2.5 mt and 7.1 mt, respectively).
• There’s clearly not enough wheat for these, which explains the Centre’s recent decision to slash allocation under the PMGKAY from 10.9 mt to 5.4 mt for April-September 2022. Meeting even this requirement may not be easy, leave alone supplying to millers and other bulk consumers to moderate open market prices during the lean months after October.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

7. WHY SOUTH AFRICA’S FIFTH COVID WAVE IS DIFFERENT

THE CONTEXT: South Africa has entered the fifth wave but it’s very different to omicron BA.1

THE EXPLANATION:

• Those who are unvaccinated and whose only protection is from a previous infection of the original omicron variant are susceptible to the BA.4 and BA.5.
• 4 and BA.5 can easily break the immunity that was conferred by the earlier omicron variants such as BA.1 and BA.2.
• There is an evolutionary progression in variants as we go from BA.1 to BA.2 through to BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 all the way to BA.4 and BA.5. Some people have observed that these sub-variants have become more infectious whilst the disease remains relatively mild.
• Many of the people who get infected by BA.4 and BA.5 remain asymptomatic but when there are symptoms, they are very mild.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION FOR 10th MAY 2022

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. Cyclone ‘Asani’ originated in May 2022 in Bay of Bengal.
2. Name of the cyclone was given by Sri Lanka.
3. It made landfall along the coast of Odisha state.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 1 and 2 only

c) 2 and 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

 ANSWER FOR THE 8 & 9TH MAY

Answer: B

Explanation:

1. Rakhigarhi– Haryana
2. Dholavira – Gujarat
3. Alamgir– Uttar Pradesh

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2. View: Is the US Supreme Court using ‘federal overreach over rights of states’ to make abortion illegal? READ MORE
3. Unification of MCD for Structural Reforms: Functional domain of MCD must be restored, clear duties assigned READ MORE
4. Denying Parliament info citing ‘national security’ undemocratic. Govt moves need oversight READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Cyclone Asani hits parts of Bengal: IMD issues extremely heavy rainfall warning in these states READ MORE
2. Explained: Behind low wheat procurement READ MORE
3. Union Govt Revises Its Own Stand on Minority Status for Hindus READ MORE
4. Why South Africa’s Fifth COVID Wave Is Different READ MORE
5. Intellectual Property: Why is India silent, as a compromise deal on COVID-19 therapies is worked out READ MORE
6. PMJJBY, PMSBY, and APY complete seven years of providing social security net READ MORE
7. Mahinda Rajapaksa steps down as Sri Lankan Prime Minister amid economic crisis READ MORE
8. New UK India Industry Taskforce launched to facilitate free trade deal READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. Reprieve for widows: Village bansarchaic widowhood practices forced on women READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Centre to SC: Will relook at sedition, you defer hearing READ MORE
2. View: Is the US Supreme Court using ‘federal overreach over rights of states’ to make abortion illegal? READ MORE
3. Unification of MCD for Structural Reforms: Functional domain of MCD must be restored, clear duties assigned READ MORE
4. Denying Parliament info citing ‘national security’ undemocratic. Govt moves need oversight READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Extend health cover to the ‘missing middle’ READ MORE
2. Measuring progress: NFHS data should guide policy READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Ukraine conflict won’t make Biden abandon Indo-Pacific strategy READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Powering up after the power crisis shock READ MORE
2. The importance of emigrants READ MORE
3. Tapping India’s wheat export potential READ MORE
4. Price hike, inflation and consumption READ MORE
5. If gig economy is the future, India should first ensure rights of workers READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. A six-point guide for G20 countries to lead in decarbonization READ MORE
2. Rights for ‘Mother Nature’ Only Feeds the Myth of Sustainable Development READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Beyond good intentions: Navigating the ethical dilemmas facing the technology industry READ MORE
2. A great truth of living offers a path to a happier life READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘The weakening of parliamentary oversight over the executive has the potential to strike at the very roots of India’s democratic foundation and tilt it towards authoritarianism’. Discuss the statement.
2. ‘In an era displaying staunch resistance against rigid hierarchies and bureaucracy in the workplace, gig work is viewed as a tool of liberation’. In the light of the statement, discuss why India needs to ensure welfare and rights of gig workers?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.
• A lesson is that demand growth projections and supply arrangements need to become central to the regulatory process.
• Skilling of migrant workers has the potential to boost the domestic economy and low-cost interventions such as foreign language training can be of great help for such workers.
• The US emphasis on partnerships rather than unilateralism in dealing with the China challenge means India’s agency in the region can only grow.
• The increasing cost of quality health care combined with greater need and demand for health with increasing incomes, higher life expectancy, and epidemiological transition towards non-communicable diseases have made health coverage imperative.
• The value of parliamentary oversight has to be preserved without unduly interfering and inhibiting the ability of the executive to carry out its functions.
• The weakening of parliamentary oversight over the executive has the potential to strike at the very roots of India’s democratic foundation and tilt it towards authoritarianism.
• The absence of a viable political opposition increases the power of the executive and enlarges the scope for misuse. Essentially, the Constitutional checks and balances become ineffective.
• Weakening India’s parliamentary system, which is the most important part of India’s democratic structure, is a threat that is finding the supportive winds of global geopolitical frictions.
• Concentration of power in the hands of our union executive is an abomination of our Constitutional values.
• In an era displaying staunch resistance against rigid hierarchies and bureaucracy in the workplace, gig work is viewed as a tool of liberation. Now, ensuring the welfare and rights of gig workers is the need of the hour.

50-WORD TALK

• The Taliban’s decision to impose the all-enveloping burqa on Afghan women follows a series of barbaric anti-women measures, including tough restrictions on the right to work and education. Instead of mouthing pieties, the international community should reimpose rigorous financial and political sanctions and force Kabul to change its medieval policies.

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 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 219]

THE CONTEXT: In April 2022, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) presented a Performance Audit Report on ‘Functioning of Unique Identification Authority of India’. This Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India contains significant observations and recommendations emanating out of the Performance Audit conducted on ‘Functioning of Unique Identification Authority of India’.

This article explains the findings and recommendations by the comptroller and Auditor General of India in its recent report.

KEY POINTS ABOUT THE AUDIT REPORT

• The Performance Audit included an assessment of the Enrollment and Update Ecosystems as well as the Authentication Ecosystems of the UIDAI for the period from 2014-15 to 2018-19.
• Audit scrutinized the processes beginning right from the enrollment up to the delivery of Aadhaar number and subsequent use of the authentication services.
• The systems put in place for maintaining security and confidentiality of data were also subject to audit examination.

About Unique Identification Authority of India

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• Purpose: UIDAI was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named “Aadhaar”, to all residents of India.
• The UID had to be:
• robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and
• verifiable and authenticable in an easy, cost-effective way.
• As of 31 October 2021, the Authority has issued 131.68 crore Aadhaar numbers to the residents of India.
• Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrollment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of the Aadhaar life cycle, developing the policy, procedure, and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals, and performing authentication and the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals.

UNDERSTANDING THE KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT

NO DOCUMENTS FOR PROOF OF RESIDENCY:

• The Aadhaar Act stipulates that an individual should reside in India for 182 days or more in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of application for being eligible to obtain an Aadhaar.
• In September 2019, this condition was relaxed for non-resident Indians holding valid Indian Passport. However, UIDAI has not prescribed any specific proof/ document or process for confirming whether an applicant has resided in India for the specified period and takes confirmation of the residential status through a casual self-declaration from the applicant.
• There was no system in place to check the affirmations of the applicant. As such, there is no assurance that all the Aadhaar holders in the country are ‘Residents’ as defined in the Aadhaar Act.

DE-DUPLICATION PROBLEM:

• The uniqueness of the identity of the applicant, established through a de-duplication process, is the most important feature of Aadhaar.
• It was seen that UIDAI had to cancel more than 4.75 lakh Aadhaars (November 2019) for being duplicates.
• There were instances of issues of Aadhaars with the same biometric data to different residents indicating flaws in the de-duplication process and issues of Aadhaars on faulty biometrics and documents.
• Though UIDAI has taken action to improve the quality of the biometrics and has also introduced iris-based authentication features for enrollment for Aadhaar, the database continued to have faulty Aadhaars, which were already issued.

ISSUE OF AADHAAR NUMBERS TO MINOR CHILDREN:

• Issue of Aadhaar numbers to minor children below the age of five, based on the biometrics of their parents, without confirming the uniqueness of biometric identity goes against the basic tenet of the Aadhaar Act.
• Apart from being violative of the statutory provisions, the UIDAI has also incurred an avoidable expenditure of ₹310 Crore on the issue of Bal Aadhaars till 31 March 2019.
• The UIDAI needs to review the issue of Aadhaar to minor children below five years and find alternate ways to establish their unique identity, especially since the Supreme Court has stated that no benefit will be denied to any child for want of an Aadhaar document.

DEFICIENT DATA MANAGEMENT:

• All Aadhaar numbers were not paired with the documents relating to the personal information of their holders, and even after nearly ten years, the UIDAI could not identify the exact extent of the mismatch.
• Though with the introduction of online scanning (July 2016), the personal information documents were stored in CIDR, which stands for (Classless Inter-Domain Routing)the existence of unpaired biometric data from an earlier period indicated deficient data management.

NO DATA ARCHIVING POLICY:

• UIDAI maintains one of the largest biometric databases in the world; but does not have a data archiving policy, which is considered to be a vital storage management best practice.

LACK OF MONITORING SYSTEM:

• UIDAI had not effectively monitored funds released to States as Grants-in-Aid towards ICT assistance for creating infrastructure.

ISSUES IN THE GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL SYSTEM:

• The process of capturing grievances/complaints have not been streamlined and does not display a clear picture for analysis.
• The complaints lodged at the RO (Registered Organizations) level did not get the attention of UIDAI HQ, compromising the effectiveness of the grievance redressal mechanism, besides the delays in the settlement of grievances.

INEFFECTIVE DELIVERY SYSTEM:

• UIDAI’s arrangements with the Department of Posts were not adequate to guarantee delivery of Aadhaar letters to the right addressee, as seen from the large number of Aadhaar letters being returned as undelivered.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA

PRESCRIBE A PROCEDURE FOR SELF-DECLARATION:

• UIDAI may prescribe a procedure and required documentation other than self-declaration in order to confirm and authenticate the residence status of applicants, in line with the provisions of the Aadhaar Act.

TIGHTEN THE Service Level Agreements (SLA) PARAMETERS OF BIOMETRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS (BSPS):

• UIDAI may tighten the Service Level Agreements (SLA) parameters of Biometric Service Providers (BSPs), devise foolproof mechanisms for capturing unique biometric data, and improve upon their monitoring systems to proactively identify and take action to minimize multiple/ duplicate Aadhaar numbers generated.
• UIDAI may also review a regular updation of technology.
• UIDAI also needs to strengthen the Automated Biometric Identification System so that generation of multiple/duplicate Aadhaars can be curbed at the initial stage itself.

EXPLORE ALTERNATE WAYS TO CAPTURE THE UNIQUENESS OF BIOMETRIC IDENTITY FOR MINORS:

• UIDAI may explore alternate ways to capture the uniqueness of biometric identity for minor children below five years since uniqueness of identity is the most distinctive feature of Aadhaar established through biometrics of the individual.

REVIEW CHARGING OF FEES FOR VOLUNTARY UPDATES:

• UIDAI may review the charging of fees for the voluntary update of residents’ biometrics since they (UIDAI) were not in a position to identify reasons for biometric failures and residents were not at fault for the capture of poor quality of biometrics.

FRAME A SUITABLE DATA ARCHIVAL POLICY:

• UIDAI may frame a suitable data archival policy to mitigate the risk of vulnerability to data protection and reduce the saturation of valuable data space due to redundant and unwanted data by continuously weeding out unwanted data.

LEVYING PENALTIES:

• UIDAI may levy penalties on Biometric Service Providers for deficiencies in their performance in respect of biometric de-duplication and biometric authentication. Agreements in this regard should be modified if required.

OTHERS:

• Reducing dependence on other agencies for support.
• Improvement in the financial management of grants.
• Introducing a single centralized system for grievance redressal.

 THE WAY FORWARD

• UIDAI should immediately take steps as per the recommendation suggested in the CAG report.
• The Public Account Committee should also examine the functioning of the UIDAI in the highlight of the CAG report. Public Account Committee can provide further recommendations for improvement of its working.
• UIDAI should adhere to the principles of the RTI and put the information suo-moto in the public domain. This will generate an element of accountability and improvement for the agency.
• As the Aadhaar ecosystem is being used for multiple purposes. The agencies should scale up and streamline their infrastructural capacity to meet the increasing requirements.

THE CONCLUSION: Aadhaar is a revolutionary tool that promises to transform our country’s governance, and UIDAI has a significant role in it provided that the emerging issues need to be taken care of and confidence is built among citizens. Although UIDAI is playing its crucial role the recent report of CAG and the issues highlighted need to be addressed for an effective delivery system and gaining the trust of citizens.

Questions for Mains:

1. Discuss the issues highlighted in the Performance Audit Report of CAG ‘Functioning of Unique Identification Authority of India’. Suggest effective measures to resolve these issues.
2. Aadhaar is a revolutionary tool that promises to transform our country’s governance and UIDAI has a significant role in it provided the problems in its functioning are addressed. Explain.

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

CIDR– CIDR stands for Classless Inter-Domain Routing. It is an IP address assigning method that improves the efficiency of address distribution. It is also known as super netting replaces the older system based on classes A, B, and C networks. By using a single CIDR IP address many unique IP addresses can be designated.

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 OF 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.

1. World without diversity would be like a grave READ MORE
2. Equality – Jurisprudential Interest Reurrected READ MORE

1. Population control: Gains made but onus remains unfairly on women READ MORE
2. This is how poverty in rural India came down READ MORE
3. A bold, rights-based stand on marital rape READ MORE
4. Four lessons from online education that should survive the end of the pandemic READ MORE

1. Is La Nina a fair weather friend of our country? READ MORE
2. Explained: India Heatwaves and the role humidity plays in making them deadly READ MORE

1. Third and final round: On the tussle over Delhi’s status READ MORE
2. 124A & India: Sedition law has seen too many abuses & a very small conviction rate. Time for it to go READ MORE
3. Reviving the spirit of Centre-state alliance READ MORE
4. Repeal the sedition law READ MORE
5. Systemic reforms for justice delivery READ MORE
6. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act And a Long Way to Justice READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Explained | What is the debate around star ratings for food packets mooted by FSSAI? READ MORE
2. President appointments Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia, JB Pardiwala as Supreme Court judges READ MORE
3. Tough anteater leaves forest officials antsy READ MORE
4. DNA samples from Rakhigarhi burial pits sent for analysis READ MORE
5. Future looms dark for 48% of bird species READ MORE
6. Explain Speaking: RBI and the US Fed — The contrasting tale of two central banks READ MORE
7. Explained: What is monkeypox, a smallpox-like disease from Africa that has been reported in the UK? READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. Is La Nina a fair weather friend of our country? READ MORE
2. Explained: India Heatwaves and the role humidity plays in making them deadly READ MORE
3. Population control: Gains made but onus remains unfairly on women READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Third and final round: On the tussle over Delhi’s status READ MORE
2. 124A & India: Sedition law has seen too many abuses & a very small conviction rate. Time for it to go READ MORE
3. Reviving the spirit of Centre-state alliance READ MORE
4. Repeal the sedition law READ MORE
5. Systemic reforms for justice delivery READ MORE
6. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act And a Long Way to Justice READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. This is how poverty in rural India came down READ MORE
2. A bold, rights-based stand on marital rape READ MORE
3. Four lessons from online education that should survive the end of the pandemic READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Overcoming differences: India’s new push for stronger ties with Europe comes at a crucial time for both READ MORE
2. India-UK ties and a sustainable global future READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. How to tackle food inflation – and how not to READ MORE
2. Diversification push: Punjab needs all the support to promote alternative crops READ MORE
3. Yes, India needs agrarian reform, but that which is pro-people, not pro-corporate READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. World without diversity would be like a grave READ MORE
2. Equality – Jurisprudential Interest Reurrected READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Europe is willing to end its economic dependence on China and this is a golden opportunity for India to expand its export. In the light of the statement, discuss what policy measures are required for India to expand its trade with European Countries?
2. ‘The recent world bank shows extreme poverty reduction in India in last decade but the recent developments in international politics posed many challenges and can be shocked for this gain’. Discuss how India can address these challenges?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.
• Prioritising expanding credit and preventing non-performing assets is crucial for an inclusive banking policy.
• RBI’s surprise move to raise repo rate questions over its objective. Its mandate is to target inflation, not shore up rupee.
• 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 existence of religious diversity shows that human beings think differently, and they are alive to their respective situations.
• For cooperative federalism to survive, empower the moribund Inter-State Council to fulfil its role of mediating Centre-state relations.
• The PM’s emphasis on the use of local language will indeed increase the confidence of the masses in the justice delivery system and they will feel connected with it.
• The FTA between India-UK is the most exciting feature of the rapidly developing economic partnership. Reduction in tariffs will facilitate increased competitiveness in industries like auto and pharma.
• Classes during Covid-19 have highlighted that one-size-fits-all educational approaches fail to address student needs.
• Criminal law jurisprudence in India functions with the basic postulate of ‘innocent until proven guilty’, where the right to fair trial, the right to be heard and the right to a speedy trial form the basic elements of this postulate.

50-WORD TALK

• India’s right to question WHO’s excess Covid deaths estimate. Our official numbers aren’t accurate. But to say fatalities are almost 10 times higher is ludicrous. Just as it is to say fewer people died in China. WHO hasn’t covered itself in glory during Covid. This adds to its list of bungles.
• RBI’s rate increase was a surprise only because it came between two scheduled MPC meetings. RBI was behind the curve on addressing inflation and has caught up. Higher rates will hit consumption and investment. A nudge, if one was needed, for government to focus more on post-pandemic recovery and growth.

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 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 218]

THE CONTEXT: The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, was enacted by Parliament on April 6 to replace the Identification of Prisoners Act of 1920. The new law empowers police and investigating agencies to acquire and keep personally-identifying information on individuals, such as bio-metrics and biological samples. The Bill, which was introduced on March 28, was quickly passed by both houses. However, various segments of society have expressed worry about the implications for privacy rights. This article examines the issue in detail.

Note: on 18^th April 2022 the President has given assent to the Bill.

KEY FEATURES OF THE BILL

• The Bill expands:
• the type of data that may be collected,
• the persons from whom such data may be collected, and
• the authority that may authorize such collection.
• It also provides for the data to be stored in a central database. Under both the 1920 Act and the 2022 Bill, resistance or refusal to give data will be considered an offence of obstructing a public servant from doing his duty. Table 1 compares provisions of the 2022 Bill with the 1920 Act.
• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will be the central agency to maintain the records. It will share the data with law enforcement agencies. Further, states/UTs may notify agencies to collect, preserve, and share data in their respective jurisdictions.
• The data collected will be retained in digital or electronic form for 75 years.   Records will be destroyed in case of acquitted persons after all appeals or released without trial.   However, in such cases, a Court or Magistrate may direct the retention of details after recording reasons in writing.

COMPARISON OF KEY PROVISIONS OF THE 1920 ACT AND THE 2022 BILL

WHAT IS THE NEED FOR THE BILL?

CAN YOU BE COMPELLED TO GIVE YOUR MEASUREMENTS?

The scope of consent is one of the most criticized aspects of the Bill. Under Clause 3 of the Bill, a person may be required to give his measurements. The persons discussed under the said clause may be compelled to give their measurements. The proviso to Clause 3 clearly provides that a person may not be obliged to give biological samples until and unless he has been arrested or convicted for an offence against a woman or child or an offence punishable with more than seven years of imprisonment. Therefore, in simple terms, any person who is arrested for an offence that does not involve women or children and is punishable with imprisonment of less than 7 years, then such person can be compelled to provide all other measurements, excluding biological measurements. The scheme of the Bill is such that a person may be compelled to give his measurements. As per Clause 6 (2) of the Bill, in case a person refuses or resists providing the measurements, then he would be deemed to commit an offence under Section 186 IPC.

 WHAT ARE THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN THE BILL?

FAILS THE TEST OF ARTICLE 14:

• The object of the Bill is to use modern technology and make the criminal justice system more effective.
• Only those arrested for offences punishable by 7 years or more, or those arrested for offences against a woman or a child may be compelled to give their biological samples,
• But all arrested persons may be compelled to give measurements other than biological samples.
• This classification bears no rational nexus to making investigations more efficient.
• Moreover, there lies no option of consent with the person; hence it is nothing but manifestly arbitrary.

VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 20(3):

• As per Article 20(3), one cannot be compelled to be a witness against himself.
• A bare reading of the Bill makes it clear that the measurements of the person may be recorded and be used against him at his trial.
• Hence, the provisions of the Bill will be hit by Article 20 (3)

VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 21:

• In order for the Bill to stand the test of judicial review, it must satisfy the fourfold requirement of the doctrine of proportionality laid down in Justice KS Puttaswamy v Union of India^.
• While the Bill has the legitimate aim of improving the investigation, detection, and prevention of crimes, it fails to satisfy the other three requirements, namely, suitability, necessity and balancing.

ABUSE OF POWERS CONFERRED:

• It may be seen that the Bill provides for a police officer or prison officer above the rank of head constable or head warder to collect measurements, which is excessive and may lead to abuse of power and rampant corruption.

TIME PERIOD FOR WHICH THE DATA IS COLLECTED:

• The Bill aims to preserve the records of measurements for a period of 75 years from the date of collection of such samples.
• Hence, it lacks reason and is arbitrary.

AMBIGUOUS DEFINITION:

• The definition of “measurements” is very “ambiguous and nebulous”. Whether brain mapping and narco analysis will be used as part of “biological samples and their analysis” is not spelt out.

CREATION OF A POLICE STATE:

• Opposition MPs have said that they are not opposed to police reforms or modernization of police forces but to certain provisions of the Bill.
• Observing that a head constable can prepare one’s complete identification profile under the new law, they said, whether the government wants to make India a police state”.

NO DATA PROTECTION LAW:

• The law would be introduced without a data protection law, which India so desperately needs and in the absence of such a law, there is the likelihood of its misuse and abuse.

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF COLLECTING BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES OR OTHER MEASUREMENTS FOR FACILITATING INVESTIGATION

The Supreme Court of India held in State of Bombay vs Kathi Kalu in 1961 that the expression “to be a witness” under Articles 20(3) of the Constitution does not include a person in custody giving his specimen handwriting or signature or impression of his thumb, finger, palm, or foot to the investigating officer. Similarly, it has been held in a slew of cases that taking a blood sample for a DNA test, a hair sample, or a voice sample will not amount to compelling an accused to become a witness against himself. This is because such samples are harmless and do not convey information within the accused’s personal knowledge. As a result, the legality of taking biological samples or other measurements to aid investigation has long been established. The only exceptions are scientific techniques, namely narcoanalysis, polygraphy and brain fingerprinting which the Supreme Court in Selvi vs State of Karnataka (2010) held to be testimonial compulsions (if conducted without consent), and thus prohibited under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.

WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?

REMOVING THE AMBIGUITIES:

• Under what circumstances can a cop be allowed or denied access to this database?
• What are the permissible uses of this database?
• What punishment happens if a police officer uses this database in violation of extant law?
• All these issues need clarity, and the government must provide it through rules.

IMPROVE INVESTIGATION:

• For a civilized and advanced society to be developed and maintained, a civilized and sophisticated police force is quite essential.
• Therefore, emphasis should be made in this on capacity building, including experts in forensics at the police station level itself.

PROTECTION FOR JUVENILES:

• Though the Act does not explicitly bar taking measurements of juveniles, the provisions of the (Special Act) Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 regarding the destruction of records of conviction under the Act shall apply.
• However, it is desirable to include a provision for juveniles in the Act to
• provide clarity and eliminate any uncertainties

PREVENT POLITICAL WITCH-HUNT:

• The law should not become a tool for political “witch-hunt”.
• DNA profiling also should be used purely for serious crimes and for counter-terrorism purposes only.

REASONABLE PERIOD OF DATA STORAGE:

• The storage time for adult measurements could have been conveniently lowered by ten years, as the likelihood of any person committing a crime after the age of 80 is negligible.
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB Crime )’s in India–2020 figures, the number of arrested people above the age of 60 is less than 1.5 per cent.

JUDICIAL DETERMINATION:

• The Act has been challenged in Delhi High Court, and an early judicial pronouncement can address many of the contentious issues.

DATA PROTECTION LAW:

• Early enactment of a comprehensive data protection law is required.

THE CONCLUSION: No society, including ours, is flawless. Our social consciousness is riddled with deeply entrenched biases and preconceptions. Our police force is a product of its social environment, and as a result, it is far from ideal. That does not preclude us from providing it with the necessary powers and instruments. There is an undeniable necessity to strike a balance between respecting an individual’s privacy while also providing law enforcement with the tools they require to keep us safe.

QUESTIONS:

1. Critically examine the provisions of the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.
2. 2.” For a civilized and advanced society to be developed and maintained, a civilized and sophisticated police force is quite essential”. Examine the statement in the light of issues surrounding the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.
3. Can we say that right to privacy should be subjected to the right to safety? Argue.

THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. FREE SPEECH VS DISINFORMATION CONTROL

THE CONTEXT: The Future of India Foundation’s ‘Politics of Disinformation’ report finds that in an age of amplification to boost user engagement, social media companies cannot use ‘freedom of expression’ as an excuse to let false information to further propaganda thrive.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Social media platforms cite ‘free speech’ in order to absolve themselves of their role in spreading disinformation. They have framed the discourse around disinformation and its resolution as a content-moderation problem. In reality, pervasive disinformation is spread more by social media’s amplification of disinformation-laden content rather than its failure to remove it. It is only at the removal stage that the question of free speech arises.
• The report pegs disinformation (the deliberate use of misinformation) as a political problem and finds that its solution does not solely lie in laws enacted by a government and its execution.
• When it comes to disinformation, the report notes that social media platforms have a more central role to play than they claim to have.
• As long as amplification is driven by engagement instead of the quality of content or the trustworthiness of the content’s sources, current moderation efforts by social media platforms are likely to fall short.

Neutrality

• However, platforms have neatly bypassed the discussion around amplified distribution and have found it convenient to exclusively frame measures to reduce misinformation as being in “tension” with freedom of expression – an issue which can arise only in the case of outright removal.
• Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are all on the record stating their aversion to be the ‘arbiters of truth’ and that the platforms should be a marketplace of ideas. However, the report says that their very emphasis on free speech is because it is a grand business model.
• As private companies, the issue in the case of outright removal of content, is not freedom of speech but political neutrality of the platform, the report says, citing instances where Facebook did not restrict a post by former US president Donald Trump but Twitter did. The argument used by both companies was public interest.
• In 2020, an explosive report by the Wall Street Journal suggested that key Facebook employees in India were in conflict with the company’s pledge to remain neutral in elections around the world.
• The discussions focused on ascertaining the following:

1. how young people get and consume information.
2. how they determine which information is trustworthy.
3. how they sift between competing narratives on the same event/issue.
4. do they care to ascertain whether a piece of information is accurate.
5. the purpose and use of information
6. awareness of and reliance on fact-checking sites and
7. the impact of online misinformation.

• The report finds that the key takeaway from the focus group discussions is that not only have social media platforms disrupted the information ecosystem in India, but that they have allowed themselves to be weaponised by vested interests in ways which are leading to real world harm.

 2. MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE RELEASES NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY-5 (NFHS) REPORT

THE CONTEXT: The NFHS-5 survey work has been conducted in around 6.37 lakh sample households from 707 districts of the country from 28 States and 8 UTs, covering 7,24,115 women and 1,01,839 men respectively.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the report, Three times as many males as females are employed in the 15-49 age group in India, a stubborn gender gap that has remained virtually the same over the last five years, the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey Report shows.
• Around 75% of boys and men in the age group of 15-49 are currently employed, according to the fifth edition of the NFHS (for 2019-21), released by the ministry of health and family welfare.
• “About 25% of women in the age group of 15-49 are currently employed, compared with 75% of men aged 15-49. Employment is higher among less educated people. About 89% among men and 34% among women are employed with less than 5 years of schooling. There are approximately 87% men and 34% women who are employed with no schooling,” noted the report.
• Referring to the previous NFHS-4 (for 2015-16), the report said, “24% of women were currently employed in 2015-16, compared with 25% in 2019-21. Among men, the proportion who are currently employed has not changed in the same period.”
• The survey—an important indicator of social trends—defines currently employed as those who were employed in the seven days before the survey. This includes respondents who did not work in the past seven days but are regularly employed, and were absent from work for leave, illness, vacation or any other reason.
• India has been seeing a consistent decline in female labour force participation for years, and the survey raises important questions about whether India’s growth is inclusive enough, pointing to the need for urgent action, said Poonam Muttreja, executive director at the non-profit Population Foundation of India.
• Bihar (14%), Uttar Pradesh (17%), and Assam (18%) have the lowest percentage of women in work. More than a third of women were currently employed in a handful of states: Karnataka (35%), Andhra Pradesh (37%), Telangana (39%), Manipur (40%), and Meghalaya (42%).
• Those women who are employed are mostly working as farm or production workers.
• Ironically, women and men with 10-11 years of schooling, never married women and men, women and men with no children, and women and men belonging to the highest wealth quintile are less likely to be employed than others.

 THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

3. NASA’S CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG RECEIVES 2022 WORLD FOOD PRIZE

THE CONTEXT: Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, received the 2022 World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation on May 5.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the World Food Prize Foundation, the World Food Prize is a prestigious international award conceived as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture” with a mission to elevate innovations and inspire action to sustainably increase the quality, quantity and availability of food for all.
• Rosenzweig was selected for the award for her research to understand the relationship between climate and food systems and forecast how both will change in the future.
• Her modeling work has provided a foundation for decision-makers around the world to create strategies to mitigate climate change and adapt our food systems to a changing planet, which has helped communities worldwide address the consequences of Earth’s changing climate.

4. DIRECT SEEDING OF RICE (DSR)

THE CONTEXT: The Punjab government recently announced Rs 1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), which is known for saving water.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Paddy is non-shelled rice that farmers grow and sell in mandis and then after milling paddy rice is prepared. According to the studies by Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, around 3,600 litres to 4,125 litres of water is required to grow one kg rice depending upon the paddy variety.
• Long duration varieties consume more water. In Punjab, 32% area is under the long duration (around 158 days) paddy varieties, and the rest comes under paddy varieties that take 120 to 140 days to grow. So, on an average 3,900 to 4,000 litres water is required to grow one kg rice in the state.
• According to an analysis by the PAU, the DSR technique can help save 15% to 20% water. In some cases, water saving can reach 22% to 23%. With DSR,15-18 irrigation rounds are required against 25 to 27 irrigation rounds in traditional method.
• Since area under rice in Punjab is almost stagnant around 3 million hectares for the last three to four years, DSR can save 810 to 1,080 billion litres water every year if entire rice crop is brought under the technique.
• According to experts, DSR can solve labour shortage problem because as like the traditional method it does not require a paddy nursery and transplantion of 30 days old paddy nursery into the main puddled field. With DSR, paddy seeds are sown directly with machine.
• PAU experts said that DSR offers avenues for ground water recharge as it prevent the development of hard crust just beneath the plough layer due to puddled transplanting and it matures 7-10 days earlier than puddle transplanted crop, therefore giving more time for management of paddy straw.
• A PAU study said that results from research trials and farmers’ field survey have also indicated that yield, after DSR, are one to two quintals per acre higher than puddled transplanted rice.
• Experts said that with DSR technique, which is called ‘tar-wattar DSR’ (good soil moisture), farmers must sow paddy only after pre-sowing (rauni) irrigation and not in dry fields. Further, the field should be laser levelled. They said that spraying of herbicide must be done simultaneously along with sowing, and the first irrigation, which is done at 21 days after sowing.
• Experts said that suitability of soil is the most important factor as farmers must not sow it in the light textured soil as this technique is suitable for medium to heavy textured soils including sandy loam, loam, clay loam, and silt loam which accounts for around 80% area of the state.
• It should not be cultivated in sandy and loamy sand as these soils suffer from severe iron deficiency, and there is higher weed problem in it. Also, avoid direct seeding of rice in fields which are under crops others than rice (like cotton, maize, sugarcane) in previous years as DSR in these soils is likely to suffer more from iron deficiency and weed problems.
• Though government has said that farmers can sow paddy with DSR after May 20, but PAU experts say that DSR varieties must not be sown before May 25 or yield will get impacted. According to them, June 1-15 is best time to sow DSR-friendly paddy varieties and second fortnight of June is optimum time for direct sowing of basmati.
• Experts said that under agricultural extension services, farmers must train extensively at every stage from pre-sowing to harvesting so that they can develop confidence to adopt DSR without any hesitation.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

5. AT UNSC, INDIA CALLS FOR THE REMOVAL OF EXPORT CURBS ON   COUNTRIES COMBATING THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

THE CONTEXT: At United Nations Security Council (UNSC), May 5, India called for an exemption on food export restrictions for countries that are sending assistance to combat the current food shortages being experienced globally, resulting from the Ukraine war.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Referring to the first report of the Global Crisis Response Group Task Team, India’s permanent representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti, observed that the conflict had led to “skyrocketing” inflation and a shortage of food grains and fertilizers.
• The Global Crisis Response Group is led by UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, constituted to examine the fallout of the Ukraine war on food and energy security.
• The Group has made a recommendation for “exempting purchases of food by WFP [World Foood Programme] for humanitarian assistance from food export restrictions with immediate effect”.
• India’s proposal applied to situations beyond humanitarian catastrophes where WFP was directly involved, but also covered the crisis in countries that may be facing severe food shortages, like Egypt.
• Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore had led an initiative at WTO to remove export restrictions on food grains for non-commercial humanitarian efforts. But India had initially opposed it, worried that procurement of large volumes of food may lead to inflationary effects domestically.
• The Ukraine invasion by Russia has led to “a crisis that is also devastating global energy markets, disrupting financial systems and exacerbating extreme vulnerabilities for the developing world”.

6. AMID THE ECONOMIC CRISIS, SRI LANKA PLACED UNDER EMERGENCY FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A MONTH

THE CONTEXT: Sri Lanka’s president on 6^th may declare a state of emergency for the second time in five weeks, giving security forces sweeping powers amid a nationwide strike by angry demonstrators who blame him for an unprecedented economic crisis.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The decision came amidst weeks of protests demanding the resignation of the President and the government, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa clan for mishandling the island nation’s economy, already hit by the pandemic.
• Earlier in the day, student activists warned to lay a siege to Parliament as trade unions launched a crippling island-wide strike to demand the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government over their inability to tackle the economic meltdown which has caused unprecedented hardships to the public.
• The beleaguered Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has made it clear that he will not quit from his post, came under unexpected pressure to resign at the special Cabinet meeting.
• Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis in its history with the shortage of essentials, and power outages caused by a severe forex crisis.
• Sri Lanka is currently in the throes of unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.
• Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets across Sri Lanka since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.
• Despite mounting pressure, President Rajapaksa and his elder brother and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa have refused to quit.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

7. INDIA HAS NO PLANS TO JOIN THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT AGREEMENT (GPA)

THE CONTEXT: India has “no plans” to join the government procurement agreement grouping of the World Trade Organization (WTO) but is open to negotiating such agreements as part of bilateral deals.

THE EXPLANATION:

• It already figures in the free trade agreement signed with the UAE, and while this may act as a template for all future bilateral free-trade agreements the scope and coverage of the section may vary, the ministry of commerce and industry said on the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Pacts under negotiation include those with Canada, the EU, Israel and the UK.
• The India-UAE agreement, which came into effect on 1 May excludes government procurement (GP) for several union ministries.
• While this was the first time India had included government procurement in a free-trade pact, it is only limited to a few central ministries and excludes key sectors such as construction, infrastructure projects and health care, including medical devices and pharmaceutical products.
• India is an observer under WTO Agreement on government procurement since 2010 and, as of now, there is no plan to join the same.
• In future agreements, the GP chapter text may become a template, and the scope and coverage of the GP chapter may vary depending on the ambition.
• Under the pact, only government procurement contracts worth over ₹200 crore will be allowed for UAE-based companies on the same terms as Indian firms. Government procurement is open to 34 ministries and departments, including power and education.
• Earlier, India never took up government procurement for bilateral or multilateral trade agreements in order to protect domestic firms. This was one of the bottlenecks in several key FTA negotiations, including the one with the EU.State-owned firms and the defence ministry are excluded from GP.
• Only limited central government ministries are covered, that too with high thresholds for procurement of goods, services and construction services… excluded are subordinate entities of the central ministries including departments and attached bodies, autonomous bodies, government-owned firms, public sector enterprises, regulators or any other entity, wholly or partially, under the central government.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION FOR 7th MAY 2022

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at national level in India has gone below replacement levels.
2. All states in India have reached the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at replacement level or below.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR THE 6TH MAY

Answer: C

Explanation:

1. Koftgiri art – Rajasthan
2. Dhokra art – Chhattisgarh
3. Rogan painting – Gujarat

THE CONTEXT: In December 2021, six students at Udupi Women’s PU College, Karnataka, staged a protest for weeks after college authorities refused to let them sit in classrooms wearing hijabs. After approaching the district commissioner, and education department officials, the girls have petitioned the Karnataka High Court (HC) seeking relief. But the HC ruled against them. This whole saga of events has thrown up very pertinent questions on the right to education, the right to religion, and the courts’ role in adjudicating such cases. In this article, we examine these issues in detail.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE HIJAB?

Hijab, niqab, and burka are different kinds of coverings worn by Muslim women worldwide. Some women wear a headscarf to cover their head and hair, while others wear a burka or niqab, which also covers up their face. Headscarves are seen as a sign of modesty by people who wear them and a symbol of religious faith, but not everyone agrees with them and in some countries, like France and Denmark, there’s a ban on wearing garments that cover the face in public. The word hijab describes the act of covering up generally but is often used to describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women. These scarves come in many styles and colours. The type most commonly worn in the West covers the head and neck but leaves the face clear.

NOTE: The description given above is only for a general understanding of the students and in no manner is an authoritative exposition.

A TIMELINE OF THE ROW OVER WEARING THE HIJAB

28 DECEMBER 2021:

• Girl students started protesting against the refusal of college authorities to allow them to sit in the classrooms wearing hijab.
• The college authorities claimed that it had prescribed a uniform and no other religious attire is permissible to be worn along with the uniform.

3 JANUARY 2022:

• Hindu students of the Government First Grade College in Koppa, Chikmagalur, which also has a uniform and a dress code, staged a sit-in protest sporting saffron scarves.
• Their demand was also to allow them to wear saffron scarves if Muslim girl students were allowed to wear hijabs.

6 JANUARY 2022:

• Similar scenes were witnessed in Pompei college of Mangalore.
• The Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister B.C. Nagesh had said the state was mulling a uniform dress code.

31 JANUARY 2022:

• The issue flared up after Udupi Women’s PU college students approached the HC seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing hijab.
• Meanwhile, the Karnataka government asked all government colleges and schools to maintain the status quo until the government committee came up with a recommendation on the dress code.

2 FEBRUARY 2022:

• Kundapur Government PU college shut its gates to students wearing hijab after Hindu students wore saffron scarves.
• Videos of the girl students pleading with the principal to let them attend classes went viral.

3 FEBRUARY 2022:

• The protests spread to another college in Kundapur. Bhandarkar’s Arts and Science College forced the college management to shut the gates on students sporting hijab as well as saffron scarves.

5 FEBRUARY 2022:

• In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 133(2) of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, the govt ordered that:
• Students of all government schools to wear the uniform fixed by the state.
• Students of private schools may wear uniforms prescribed by the management committees of the school.
• In colleges that fall under the Karnataka Board of Pre-University Education, the dress code prescribed by the College Development Committee, or the administrative supervisory committee must be followed.
• If the administration does not fix a dress code, clothes that do not threaten equality, unity, and public order must be worn.

14 MARCH 2022:

• The court upheld the legality of the Karnataka Government’s February 5 order prescribing wearing of uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges under provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983.

AT PRESENT:

• The verdict has been appealed to the SC by the original petitioners and others although the SC has not begun hearing it yet.

DECODING THE RIGHT TO WEAR A HIJAB

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:

• Hijab (headscarf) is a Fundamental Right guaranteed under Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution of India and is an essential practice of Islam.
• Shariah mandates women to wear the headscarf and therefore, the action of the college in banning the headscarf within the premise of the college is repugnant to the protection of religious freedom as provided under Article 25 (1).

UNREASONABLE RESTRICTIONS:

• The Constitution of India guarantees the Freedom of Conscience and the right to profess, practice, and propagate religion while reserving the state’s right to interfere with the religious matter only if it involves an issue relating to public order, morality, and health.
• In this light, it is contended that banning the hijab can only be done by invoking an interest of public order or the morals of the society. However, that is not the case here.

IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH AND FUTURE PROSPECTS:

• The manner in which the respondent college has ousted the petitioner not only creates a stigma amongst her batch mates but among the children of the entire college, which in turn will affect the mental health as well as future prospects of the petitioner.

DENIAL OF RIGHT TO EDUCATION:

• The college has curtailed the right to education of the petitioner on the sole ground of religion is smacked with malfides, discriminatory, and politically motivated.
• By doing so the state government has failed in its duty to realise the right to human development by denying the petitioner her education.

ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE:

• The plea refers to verses from the Holy Quran and states that taking away the practice of wearing the hijab from women who profess the Islamic faith, results in a fundamental change in the character of the Islamic religion.
• For this reason, the practice of wearing the hijab constitutes as an essential and integral part of Islam.
• In the case of Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri. Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri. Shirur Mutt (1954 SCR 1005), where the Supreme Court has held that Freedom of Religion in our Constitution is not confined to religious beliefs only; it extends to religious practices also.

CHOICE OF DRESS:

• It is argued that the right of women to have the choice of dress based on religious injunctions is a fundamental right protected under Article 25 (1) when such prescription of dress is an essential part of the religion.

HIJAB AND THE WORLD

• Canada: After a long battle, the Canadian government decided not to pursue a ban on wearing the hijab during immigration ceremonies.
• France: French mayors have banned full-body swimsuits known as “burkinis” from beaches, citing public order concerns.
• United States: Women in hijab represent the United States in government, business, and sports.
• Iran: Women are required to wear hijab, although what constitutes “proper hijab” is widely debated.
• Turkey: Hijab may be part of a police officer’s uniform, although it is not required.

WHAT WAS THE ARGUMENT OF THE STATE OF KARNATAKA?

LEGISLATIVE BACKING:

• As per Section 7 of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, students of all educational institutions shall behave as one family, without restricting themselves to one class of persons, jointly maintaining and upholding public order.
• Under Section 133 of the Act, the government reserves the right to issue appropriate directions to schools and colleges to ensure the maintenance of public order.

POWER OF SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:

• Development Committees of all schools and colleges have been created to make proper use of government grants, improve basic infrastructure and facilities, and maintain the quality of education.
• Schools and colleges are directed to operate as per the decisions of the development committees.

ADVERSE EFFECTS ON EQUALITY:

• The Department of Education, Karnataka, came to know that in some institutions, students are following practices as per their religion, which is adversely affecting equality in such schools and colleges.

JUDICIAL ORDERS:

• The Apex Court in Asha Renjan & Ors v State of Bihar 2017 accepted the balance test when competing rights are involved and has taken the view that individual interest must yield to the larger public interest.
• Thus, conflict over competing rights can be resolved not by negating individual rights but by upholding larger rights to remain, to hold such relationships between institutions and students.
• In Fathima Hussain Sayed v Bharat Education Society & Ors a similar issue pertaining to dress codes arose in Karthik English School, Mumbai. After investigating the issue, the Bombay High Court held that the petitioner’s (school Principal’s) restriction on wearing a headscarf or covering one’s head is not violative of Article 25 of the Constitution.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE HIGH COURT VERDICT

The court upheld the legality of the Karnataka Government’s February 5 order prescribing wearing of uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges under provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983. The court ruled that prescription of school uniforms does not violate either the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) (a) or the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. The restriction against wearing of hijab in educational institutions is only a reasonable restriction constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to. Wearing the hijab (headscarf) by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practices in the Islamic faith and it is not protected under the right to freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. The bench, in its interim order passed on February 10, restrained all students regardless of their religion or faith from wearing saffron shawls (bhagwa), scarfs, hijab, religious flags, or the like in classrooms until further orders on the petitions.

A CRITIQUE OF THE HC JUDGMENT

ESSENTIAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE: 

• The court finds that the petitioners have failed to prove that wearing the hijab is essential to Islam – i.e., that it is mandatory, non-optional, and that Islam would lose its identity if women did not wear the hijab.
• Neither the court nor external commentators, are particularly well-placed to conduct this analysis.

FRAMING THE WRONG QUESTION:

• It effectively denies to Muslim women the ability to frame their argument as one of religious choice and requires, instead, for them to argue in the language of religious compulsion.

THE TEST OF PROPORTIONALITY:

• Proportionality requires, among other things, that the state adopt the least restrictive method in order to achieve its goals. Thus, where something less than a ban would suffice, a ban is disproportionate.

IGNORING PRECEDENT:

• It is pertinent to note that the petitioners had placed heavy reliance on a Madras High Court judgment (M Ajmal Khan vs Election Commission).
• The Madras High Court had observed, “… thus, seen from the reported material that there is almost unanimity amongst Muslim scholars that purdah is not essential but covering of head by scarf is obligatory”.
• However, quite shockingly, there is absolutely no discussion of the said Madras High Court judgment in the hijab verdict.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION:

• Reasonable accommodation requires the court to ask whether, in a setting where a certain default exists, a particular claim for departing from that default, founded in constitutional rights, can be reasonably accommodated by the state (or private party), without the activity in question losing its character.
• In the case of the hijab, the claim for reasonable accommodation is straightforward: that the wearing of the hijab (especially hijab that is the same colour as the uniform and is simply draped, like a shawl, over the head) can be reasonably accommodated alongside the uniform, without damaging or in other ways vitiating the overall public goal of education.

FAILURE TO RECOGNISE INDIRECT DISCRIMINATION:

• Facially neutral criteria of uniform dress code flies in the face of established discrimination law jurisprudence in the country, especially that of indirect discrimination which the Supreme Court of India has recognised.
• The court has failed to recognise that facially neutral criteria are capable of having a disproportionate impact on a particular community or group of individuals.

UNIFORM AS THE GOAL: 

• The court has been weighed down by the role of uniform instead of seeing education as an end goal.
• The court’s crucial error is that it sanctifies the uniform instead of sanctifying education.
• Instead of looking at the uniform as instrumental to achieving the goal of an inclusive and egalitarian right, it treats the uniform (and its associated values of sameness, homogeneity, etc) as the goal itself.

THE HIJAB AND WOMEN’S AGENCY

• To view the hijab as a contest between men and women, oppression and freedom, patriarchy and liberation is to reduce hijab-wearing women to their immediate identities of victims of patriarchy, denying them their agency and, therefore, viewing the world through a narrow dichotomy.
• We must acknowledge that feminine agency negotiates a matrix of power — whether it is caste, class, or community. The recent attack on the hijab cannot be seen in isolation but as part of the larger global politics starting from 9/11 when symbolic representations of Muslim identity in public were complicated by certain countries in Europe legislating to ban the hijab in state-run institutions, including schools.
• The representation of Islamic norms as incompatible with modern secularism led not just to a ban of the hijab but also the burkini. But symbols of the Christian religion continued to be worn publicly without being challenged. Similarly, In India, where the hijab is being attacked for disrupting the ‘uniform style of clothes’, no other religious symbols displayed on the body are being questioned.

THE WAY FORWARD

ROLE OF THE SC: The SC should hear the matter at the earliest and provide for an authoritative pronouncement.

ROLE OF THE GOVTS: The role of the union and state governments is very important here as they are the agencies responsible for implementing governance as per the Constitution. They should not support any act against the Constitution and particularly that which serves the agenda of fundamentalist forces.

A SENSITIVE APPROACH: The Karnataka government and college administration should have handled the issue in a more conciliatory and sensitive way so as to ensure the continuation of the education of these girls rather than confronting them in this way.

ROLE OF SECULAR AND DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT: The secular and democratic movements and political parties are seen to be stuck on symbolic issues. Instead, they need to have a broader development agenda for marginalised minorities.

RECONCILIATION OF RELIGION AND EDUCATION: The hijab controversy had become a site of contest between religion and education, community, and the system. “Muslim girls are increasingly opting for higher education. But with these developments, there may be a setback with girls withdrawing from modern secular education. This must be addressed.

THE CONCLUSION: In its 1994 judgment in the S.R Bommai case 1994, the Supreme Court observed that “religious freedom is the hallmark of pluralism and inclusiveness. It is meant to advance social harmony and diversity”. This must be the spirit in which the whole issue should be understood, debated, and logically concluded.

Questions:

1. Critically examine the judgment of the Karnataka High Court with respect to the ban on hijab in educational institutions.
2. Facially neutral criteria of uniform dress code flies in the face of established discrimination law jurisprudence in the country, especially that of indirect discrimination which the Supreme Court of India has recognised. Comment

ADD TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE

THE FUNCTION OF THE COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

1. Prepare an overall comprehensive development plan for the college regarding academic, administrative, and infrastructural growth, and enable the college to foster excellence in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities.
2. Decide about the overall teaching programmes or annual calendar of the college.
3. Recommend to the management about introducing new academic courses and the creation of additional teaching and administrative posts.
4. Take a review of the self-financing courses in the college, if any, and make recommendations for their improvement.
5. Make specific recommendations to the management to encourage and strengthen research culture, consultancy, and extension activities in the college.
6. Make specific recommendations to the management to foster academic collaborations to strengthen teaching and research.
7. Make specific recommendations to the management to encourage the use of information and communication technology in the teaching and learning process.
8. Make specific recommendations regarding the improvement in teaching and suitable training programmes for the employees of the college.
9. Prepare the annual financial estimates (budget) and financial statements of the college or institution and recommend the same to the management for approval.
10. Formulate proposals of new expenditure not provided for in the annual financial estimates (budget).
11. Make recommendations regarding the students’ and employees’ welfare activities in the college or institution.
12. Discuss the reports of the internal quality assurance committee and make suitable recommendations.
13. Frame suitable admissions procedures for different programmes by following the statutory norms.
14. Plan major annual events in the college, such as annual day, sports events, cultural events, etc.
15. Recommend to the administration appropriate steps to be taken regarding the discipline, safety, and security issues of the college or institution.
16. Consider and make appropriate recommendations on inspection reports, local inquiry reports, audit reports, reports of national assessment and accreditation council, etc.
17. Recommend the distribution of different prizes, medals, and awards to the students.
18. Prepare the annual report on the work done by the committee for the year ending on the 30th of June and submit the same to the management of such college and the university.

THE SOCIETY, ART, AND CULTURE

1. LEPAKSHI TEMPLE: ON UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES TENTATIVE LIST

THE CONTEXT: As of today, India is home to 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Before these sites gain World Heritage status, they form a part of a tentative list formulated by the state and reviewed by several advisory bodies before The World Heritage Centre makes a final decision. In 2022, the tentative list has three new additions: Lepakshi temple is one of them.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Located in Rayalaseema (Sri Satya Sai district) in Andhra Pradesh, it is a marvel in stone, and appeals equally to tourists and history and heritage enthusiasts.
• The Veerabhadra Swami temple here, which has found a place on UNESCO’s tentative list of world heritage sites in India for 2022, is the focal point.
• Situated atop the Kurmasailam (tortoise-shaped) hill, it is a glorious example of the much-celebrated Vijayanagara architecture.
• The Ramayana link: The name of the place itself is linked with the Ramayana. Legend has it that Jatayu fell at this spot after Ravana cut its wings when he tried to prevent Sita’s abduction. Rama stumbled upon the bird
• when searching for Sita. After the injured bird narrated what had happened, Rama coaxed him to rise again, “le, pakshi” (rise, bird in Telugu).
• A recent tourist addition to Lepakshi is a colossal concrete Jatayu statue (in flashy paint) on a hillock in JatayuPark, just before you take a turn off the highway to enter the temple.
• The Jatayu looks over a marvellously sculpted six-meter tall Nandi wearing layers of bells and ornaments. It is said to have been carved out of a monolith. Like the temple, it dates back to the 16th century.
• As one goes around the Veerabhadra Swami temple, what catches the eye first are the long pillared halls. Intricate carvings of yalis, flowers, trees, animals, yakshas, and yakshis can be seen on each pillar.
• For every part of the temple, there are two layers of stories — one that links it to incidents in the Ramayana, and the other talks about life during the reign of the Vijayanagara kings.
• The imposing Nagalinga statue, with the seven-hooded serpent coiled around a linga on a five-foot platform, is an awe-inspiring sight.
• The nearly six-foot Ganesha behind the Nagalinga, and surrounded by an incomplete mantapa, reminds one of the Sasivekalu and KadlekaluGanesha statues in Hampi – the rocky terrain and the fact that it also belongs to the Vijayanagara empire establishes the link.
• The entire temple complex was believed to be re-built by Virupanna, and his brother Veeranna under the rule of Vijayanagara king AchyutaDevaraya. The brothers were officers/governors in the Penukonda region.
• When one enters the main shrine, the 70-pillared nrutyamantapa, the detailed and beautiful carvings on them depict gods and artists playing musical instruments and dancers in various poses and mudras. The high ceiling is filled with long panels of fresco paintings.

ABOUT FRESCO PAINTING

• Fresco Paintings are evident on the roof of Sri Veerabhadra Swami temple.
• The paintings are somewhat similar to the Ellora paintings in terms of the colour palette of brown, ochre, red, off-white, and black, but the style is very different.
• The detailing of the jewellery, clothing, and hairstyle of the women are fascinating; the unique elongated headgear of the men, including gods, is another eye-catching feature. (I see resemblances to Kalamkari’s work.)
• The central portion of the roof near the garbhagriha has a mural of Veerabhadra, flanked by Virupanna and Veeranna worshipping him. Measuring 23 feet by 13 feet, it is said to be one of the largest murals in Asia.
• There are also representations of at least 14 avatars of Shiva, as well as scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

2. HATHI MITRAS: CHHATTISGARH’S SOLUTION TO TACKLING HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICT

THE CONTEXT: Village residents known as hathimitras or ‘friends of elephants’ dedicatedly track pachyderm movements to help prevent casualties and crop loss.

THE EXPLANATION:

• India’s 27,000 elephants often run into trouble with its burgeoning human population. The situation is especially worrisome in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh, where a number of factors have increased conflict. But Chhattisgarh seems to have found a solution — hathimitras.
• These residents of villages affected by human-elephant conflict work are engaged by the state forest department to dedicatedly track elephants, warn people about their movement and send updates in a Whatsapp group created for the purpose.
• Their services are important as Chhattisgarh has emerged as a new battleground for human-elephant conflict.
• The movement became regular from 1995 onwards. Slowly, the animals started making the state their permanent home. Today, there are about 275-320 elephants in the state.
• Today, elephants enter Chhattisgarh from Odisha and Jharkhand in search of suitable habitats. Hence, the central and northern parts of the state witnessed an escalation of casualties and crop damages.
• Hathi Mitras agree that most casualties occur due to a lack of knowledge about elephant behaviour and movement. Encounters mostly take place at night when visibility is low.
• People are asked to maintain a safe distance and not disturb the animals to prevent human deaths. But accidents are inevitable.
• The awareness campaigns carried out by hathimitras reduced the craze for clicking photos of elephants and taking selfies with them. A person died while trying to take a selfie with wild elephants in 2017.
• Hathi Mitra though they are useful, their potential has not been fully exploited. But these workers know how to trek inside jungles safely and get a monthly payment.

 THE GOVERNANCE

3. WHO ESTIMATES 4.7 MILLION COVID-LINKED DEATHS IN INDIA

THE CONTEXT: World Health Organization(WHO)estimates 4.7 million covid-linked deaths in India.

THE EXPLANATION:

• There were likely 47 lakh deaths, directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19, in India in 2020 and 2021, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. These are the highest, by far, for any country and makeup nearly a third of the 15 million such deaths estimated by the agency globally.
• India officially estimated only 4.8 lakh cumulative deaths linked to COVID-19 as of December 2021, which implies that the WHO estimate is nearly 10 times the government count. As of May, India’s official COVID-19 death toll is 5.2 lakh.
• Minutes after the WHO released its estimate, India reiterated its “objection to the methodology” used.
• “These sobering data not only point to the impact of the pandemic but also to the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems that can sustain essential health services during crises, including stronger health information systems,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “WHO is committed to working with all countries to strengthen their health information systems….”
• Excess deaths are calculated as the difference between the number of deaths that have occurred and the number that would be expected in the absence of the pandemic based on data from earlier years. Excess mortality includes deaths associated with COVID-19 directly or indirectly (due to the pandemic’s impact on health systems).

4. COSTING NORMS FOR MID-DAY MEALS, ANGANWADIS NOT REVISED DESPITE FOOD INFLATION

THE CONTEXT: Schools and Anganwadi centers (AWC) are finding it difficult to effectively run programmes that address the nutritional needs of children and mothers. This is because the government has not revised costing norms for mid-day meals despite inflation.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Schools and Anganwadi centers (AWC) are finding it difficult to effectively run programmes that address the nutritional needs of children and mothers. This is because the government has not revised costing norms for mid-day meals despite inflation, teachers and activists said.
• There is an urgent need to re-evaluate the cooking cost of programmes such as the PM-Poshan (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman), the Centre’s flagship mid-day meal scheme, according to teachers.
• The last revision was done in May 2020, when it was increased from Rs 4.48 to Rs 4.97 per student per school day for primary (Classes 1-5) and Rs 6.71 to Rs 7.45 for upper primary (Classes 6-8).
• Ideally, the central government is supposed to revise cooking costs annually, to offset the impact of inflation on food items.
• Under PM-Poshan, the nutritional norm per child per day is 450 calories and 12 grams protein for primary class students and 700 calories and 20 grams protein for upper primary class students.
• Similarly, cost norms for supplementary nutrition in Anganwadis were also revised last in October 2017: From Rs 6 to Rs 8 for children between 6-72 months, from Rs 9 to Rs 12 for severely malnourished children, and from Rs 7 to Rs 9.50 for pregnant women and nursing mothers.
• According to some food rights activists the mostAnganwadis, cooked meals have not started till now after they were stopped during the first COVID-induced lockdown in 2020.
• In the national capital, Delhi, hot cooked meals were started just two days ago on May 2, after a gap of two years.
• Earlier, the government had reduced the budgetary allocation to PM-Poshan — from Rs 11,500 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 10,233.75 crore in 2022-23.
• According to the national coordinator for the Right to Food Campaign the reduced allocation, along with the current food inflation will be a big challenge for India in its fight against malnutrition.“The nutritional aspect has been reduced to just wheat and rice,” they said.
• A survey by the Right to Food Campaign released in February 2022, covering 6,697 respondents across 14 states, found that 41 percent of households had reported that the nutritional quality of their diet had deteriorated, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• Some 64 percent had reported that their consumption of pulses had decreased, while 73 percent reported that their consumption of green vegetables has decreased.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

5. INDIA-FRANCE PARTNERSHIP

THE CONTEXT: Prime Minister of India and French President Emmanuel Macron agree to work together to expand relations.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Prime Minister of India and French President Emmanuel Macron held extensive discussions on a range of bilateral and pressing global issues, including the raging conflict in Ukraine, the situation in the Indo-Pacific, and terrorism.
• The two leaders agreed on a blueprint to work together in making the India-France strategic partnership a force for the global good.
• In a joint statement, India and France underscored that the long-standing armament cooperation is testimony to the mutual trust between the two sides. Both sides also agreed to work jointly to increase the mobility of students, graduates, professionals, and skilled workers while strengthening their efforts to combat irregular migration.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

6. IMPACT OF WIDENING TRADE DEFICIT

THE CONTEXT: The Widening trade deficit puts more pressure on the rupee and spurs growth-retarding inflation.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Official data on India’s merchandise trade for April give a reason for cheer at first glance. Emerging from a record export performance during the just-concluded financial year, outward shipments for the month rose 24.2% from a year earlier, with electronics and chemicals showing healthy expansion, while petroleum products more than doubled.
• However, imports continued to outpace exports, growing by 26.6% to broaden the goods trade deficit, which widened to $20.07 billion from $18.5 billion in March. The trade deficit — the extent to which the import bill exceeds export receipts — worryingly breached $200 billion for a rolling 12-month period for the first time in April, impacted predominantly by petroleum imports of $172 billion. Global crude oil prices have surged by more than 40% in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine, swelling the import bill.
• The early onset of the Indian summer, with a heatwave, has bolstered power demand, setting the pace for coal imports, which grew 136% last month, notwithstanding record output by key domestic supplier Coal India. For the first time ever, the Ministry of Power has set timelines for States to import coal over the next few months, a far cry from the 16% year-on-year decline in imports of the fuel in the April 2021-January 2022 period and a clear portent that the bill for overseas purchases of coal is also set to swell.
• Monitoring the trade deficit is crucial as this has a direct bearing on the current account deficit (CAD). Disconcertingly, foreign direct investment, which typically helps bridge the CAD, has seen a moderation. And, the wider the CAD, the greater the downward pressure on the rupee, which has already weakened considerably since the conflict in eastern Europe began in February.
• A weaker rupee, in turn, makes imports costlier, potentially widening the trade deficit, and thus triggering a vicious cycle. The RBI has sought to steady the rupee against wild swings, evident in the dip in foreign exchange reserves to $600.4 billion (April 22), from $640 billion just six months earlier. But a central bank can draw on the reserves to ease any rupee weakening only to a limited extent.
• The RBI also has its hands full with the battle against imported inflation as global commodity prices remain sharply elevated. To help avoid added stress, the Government must consider additional incentives for exports, while encouraging local production of items that strain the import bill.
• The coal crisis could have been averted with better-advanced estimates of power demand as the country emerged from the worst of the pandemic, and optimal allocation of coal-carrying rail wagons. Policymakers can ill afford to let their guard down on trade imbalances and risk growth retarding inflation and more pressure on the rupee.

7. COAL SHORTAGE AND INDIA’S LOOMING POWER CRISIS

THE CONTEXT: Due to several factors, India is staring at a coal crisis, with stock critically low at 108 of its 173 thermal power plants. The Indian Railways has cancelled trains to prioritise the delivery of coal rakes across the country.

THE EXPLANATION:

• International coal prices started reaching record highs in 2021 because of the rise in industrial demand, international price fluctuations, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine; all of this has seriously affected India’s coal imports.
• On April 28, 2022, India canceled several passenger trains to allow for faster movement of coal carriages. The Indian Railways are also planning to add 100,000 more wagons to their fleet and construct dedicated freight corridors to deliver goods faster.
• On the other hand, Delhi’s power minister claims that its power plants are left with less than a day of coal which can cause blackouts and affect crucial services like the Metro and government hospitals. The country is facing a critical coal shortage.
• Coal reserves at India’s power plants have declined almost 17 percent since the start of April 2022 and are barely a third of the required levels. But the question is, why?
• Seventy percent of India’s power demand is met by thermal power plants. The country has both, large-scale domestic and imported coal reserves to meet these enormous requirements. India is the second-largest importer of coal after China.
• But from 2021, international coal prices started reaching record highs because of the rise in industrial demand, international price fluctuations, and the latest being the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All this has seriously affected India’s coal imports.
• At the same time, India also has an increasing power demand. In 2022, the energy demand increased to 132 (billion units) BU per month from 106.6 BU per month in 2019.
• The sudden surge in demand can be attributed to the country’s industries as they pick up operations after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. And despite having the fourth-largest reserves in the world, the domestic producers of coal are unable to meet the demands.
• The rising heatwaves have also added extra pressure on the nearly exhausted thermal power plants. According to reports, the country’s power demand crossed a record 201-gigawatt (GW) mark on April 26, 2022, as large parts of the country reeled under sweltering heat.
• The coal shortage has disrupted the power generation of multiple states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu. The coal crisis comes at a time when India has been trying to reduce its dependency on non-renewable sources of energy to meet climate targets.
• In November 2021, at the UN climate change meeting in Glasgow, Prime Minister pledged that by 2030 India will generate 50 percent of its energy from non-fossil sources and will also install 500 GW of renewable energy. But the current crisis shows India’s neck-deep dependence on coal and the challenges in meeting its climate change targets.

THE INTERNAL SECURITY

8. THE STATUS OF THE NAGA PEACE TALKS

THE CONTEXT: The recently released annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) was involved in 44% of insurgency-related incidents in Nagaland in 2020.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released recently said that the Isak-Muivfaction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) was involved in 44% of insurgency-related incidents in Nagaland in 2020.
• The Union government had, in 2015, signed a framework agreement with the NSCN-IM to find a solution to the Naga political issue. The negotiations are yet to be concluded.
• Why did the Naga insurgency begin? The term Naga was created by the British for administrative convenience to refer to a group of tribes with similar origins but distinct cultures, dialects, and customs. The Naga tribes are accumulated in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Myanmar. Residing in the Naga Hills of Assam during the advent of the British and the annexation of Assam in 1820, the Nagas did not consider themselves a part of British India.
• The British adopted a way of governance over the Nagas that involved keeping in place their traditional ways of life, customs, and laws while putting British administrators at the top. At the time of the withdrawal of the British, insecurity grew among the Naga tribes about the future of their cultural autonomy after India’s independence, which was accompanied by the fear of the entry of “plains people” or “outsiders” into their territory.
• These gave rise to the formation of the Naga Hills District Tribal Council in 1945, which was renamed the Naga National Council (NNC) in 1946. Amid uncertainties over the post-independence future of the Nagas, a section of the NNC, led by Naga leader A.Z. Phizo declared the independence of the Nagas on August 14, 1947, a day before India’s declaration. The underground insurgency began in the early 1950s when Mr. Phizo founded the Naga Federal Government (NFG) and its armed wing, the Naga Federal Army (NFA).
• The Central Government sent the armed forces into Naga areas to curb the insurgency and imposed the contentious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is still in place in parts of Nagaland. The Nagas, led by Mr. Phizo, demanding an independent state outside of India, boycotted the 1952 and 1957 general elections and armed clashes grew.
• Unlike other groups in the northeast which were accepting some form of autonomy under the Constitution, Nagas rejected this in favour of sovereignty. Some leaders among the NNC formed their own group to hold discussions with the government, leading to the formation of the State of Nagaland in 1963.
• This, however, did not satisfy many in the NNC and NFG, who, following years of negotiations with the government, eventually signed the Shillong Accord of 1975, agreeing to surrender arms and accept the Constitution. When did the NSCN come into the picture? This signing of the Shillong Accord was not agreeable with many top leaders of the NNC and those operating from Myanmar as the agreement did not address the issue of Naga sovereignty and coerced them to accept the Constitution.
• Three NNC leaders — ThuingalengMuivah of the Tangkhul Naga tribe of Manipur’s Ukhrul district, Isak ChishiSwu of the Sema tribe, and S. S. Khaplang from Myanmar’s Hemis tribe, formed the National Socialist Council Of Nagaland (NSCN) to continue the armed movement.
• The motto of the NSCN was to create a People’s Republic of Nagaland free of Indian rule. In 1988, after years of infighting and violent clashes along tribal lines and over the main cause of the movement, the NSCN split into two factions. One, led by Mr. Muiwah and Swu called the NSCN-IM and the other, led by Mr. Khaplang called the NSCN-K.
• The NSCN-IM demanded and continues to demand ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim — it wants to extend Nagaland’s borders by including Naga-dominated areas in the neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. The NSCN-IM has now grown to become the most powerful insurgent group, also playing a role in the creation of smaller groups in other States.
• Its armed operations intensified along with illegal activities like tax extortion, smuggling of weapons, and so on. Where do the peace talks stand now? In 1997, the Government of India got the NSCN-IM to sign a ceasefire agreement to begin the holding of talks with the aim of signing a Naga Peace Accord. After this ceasefire, there have been over a hundred rounds of talks spanning over 24 years between the Centre and the insurgent group, while a solution is still awaited.
• New Delhi has been holding peace parleys simultaneously with the NSCN-IM, and the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) comprising at least seven other extremist groups, including the NSCN (K). In 2015, it signed a Framework Agreement with the NSCN (IM), the first step towards an actual Peace Accord.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION FOR 6th MAY 2022

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

1. Koftgiri art – Rajasthan
2. Dhokra art – Gujarat
3. Rogan painting – Assam

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 5TH MAY

Answer: A

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: Basavanna, a 12th-century poet and philosopher, is celebrated and held in high regard, especially by the Lingayat community, as he was the founder of Lingayatism.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: He believed in a society free of the caste system, with equal opportunity for all, and preached about manual hard work.