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THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

MUSLIM GIRL AGED ABOVE 15 COMPETENT FOR MARRIAGE: PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a Muslim girl above 15 years of age is competent to enter into a contract of marriage with a person of her choice.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The couple contended before the Court that in Muslim law, puberty and majority are one and the same and that there is a presumption that a person attains majority at the age of 15 years.
• It is further submitted that a Muslim boy or Muslim girl who has attained puberty is at liberty to marry anyone he or she likes and the guardian has no right to interfere.

THE RIGHT TO MARRY IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT:

• The right to marry is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
• The right to marriage is also stated under Human Rights Charter within the meaning of the right to start a family.
• The right to marry is a universal right and it is available to everyone irrespective of their gender.
• Various courts across the country have also interpreted the right to marry as an integral part of the right to life under Article 21.
• A forced marriage is illegal in different personal laws on marriage in India, with the right to marry recognized under Hindu laws as well as Muslim laws.

Other laws that lay down a person’s right to marry in India are:

• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
• The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
• The Majority Act, 1875
• The Family Courts Act, 1984
• The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

SCOPE OF ARTICLE 21:

• Article 21, considered the heart and soul of the Constitution, states, ‘No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

It has a much more profound meaning that signifies the:

• Right to live with human dignity
• Right to livelihood
• Right to health
• Right to pollution-free air
• Right to live a quality life
• Right to go abroad
• Right to privacy
• Right against delayed execution,

And anything and everything that fulfils the criteria for a dignified life.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

EXERCISE “EX KHAAN QUEST – 2022”

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the multinational peacekeeping Exercise “Ex Khaan Quest -2022” was held at the Peace Support Operations Training Centre in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The exercise conducted from 06 June to 20 June 2022 provided a platform for mutual learning and sharing best practices amongst the armies of 16 Nations. The Indian contingent consisting of personnel from the LADAKH SCOUTS participated in the field training as well as the Command Post-exercise. A number of training activities were organised during the course of the exercise, which included mock tactical operations as per United Nations (UN) mandate, combat discussions, training of staff & command appointments; as part of a combined UN brigade, in order to enhance multinational interoperability.
• The bonhomie, espirit-de-corps and goodwill generated during the exercise will go a long way in future strengthening of bonds between the Armies of participating Nations.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

EXPLAINED: WHY IS SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BEING BANNED IN INDIA FROM JULY 1?

THE CONTEXT: The Centre has banned the use of ‘single-use plastic’ from July 1. The Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change had issued a gazette notification last year announcing the ban and has now defined a list of items that will be banned from next month.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to Ministry’s Notification “The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022’’.

What is single-use plastic?

• As the name suggests, it refers to plastic items that are used once and discarded. Single-use plastic has among the highest shares of plastic manufactured and used — from packaging of items, to bottles (shampoo, detergents, cosmetics), polythene bags, face masks, coffee cups, cling film, trash bags, food packaging etc.
• A 2021 report by one of the Australian philanthropic organisations the Minderoo Foundation said single-use plastics account for a third of all plastic produced globally, with 98% manufactured from fossil fuels. Single-use plastic also accounts for the majority of plastic discarded – 130 million metric tonnes globally in 2019 — “all of which is burned, buried in landfills or discarded directly into the environment”.
• On the current trajectory of production, it has been projected that single-use plastic could account for 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
• The report found that India features in the top 100 countries of single-use plastic waste generation – at rank 94 (the top three being Singapore, Australia and Oman. With domestic production of 11.8 million metric tonnes annually, and import of 2.9 MMT, India’s net generation of single-use plastic waste is 5.6 MMT, and per capita generation is 4 kg.

What are the items being banned?

• The items on which the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have announced a ban are earbuds; balloon sticks; candy and ice-cream sticks; cutlery items including plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays; sweet boxes; invitation cards; cigarette packs; PVC banners measuring under 100 microns; and polystyrene for decoration.
• The Ministry had already banned polythene bags under 75 microns in September 2021, expanding the limit from the earlier 50 microns. From December, the ban will be extended to polythene bags under 120 microns. Ministry officials have explained that the ban is being introduced in phases to give manufacturers time to shift to thicker polythene bags that are easier to recycle. While manufacturers can use the same machine for 50- and 75-micron bags, the machinery will need to be upgraded for 120 microns.
• According to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, there is also a complete ban on sachets using plastic material for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.

Why these items?

• Ministry officials have said that the choice for the first set of single-use plastic items for the ban was based on “difficulty of collection, and therefore recycling”.
• “The enemy is not that plastic exists per se, but that plastic exists in the environment. When plastic remains in the environment for long periods of time and does not decay, it turns into microplastics – first entering our food sources and then the human body, and this is extremely harmful.

How are other countries dealing with single-use plastic?

• Earlier this year, 124 countries, parties to the United Nations Environment Assembly, including India, signed a resolution to draw up an agreement which will in the future make it legally binding for the signatories to address the full life of plastics from production to disposal, to end plastic pollution.
• Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags in 2002. New Zealand became the latest country to ban plastic bags in July 2019. China issued a ban on plastic bags in 2020 with phased implementation.
• As of July 2019, 68 countries have plastic bag bans with varying degrees of enforcement.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

DESIGN-LED MANUFACTURING UNDER A PRODUCTION-LINKED INCENTIVE (PLI) SCHEME

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Department of Telecommunications(DoT) had notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme on 24th February 2021, with a financial outlay of ₹ 12,195 Crores. A total of 31 companies, comprising of 16 MSMEs and 15 Non-MSMEs including 8 Domestic and 7 Global companies were given approval on 14th October,2021.

THE EXPLANATION:

• With the objective to build a strong ecosystem for 5G, the Union Budget 2022-23 has proposed to launch a Scheme for design-led manufacturing as part of the existing PLI Scheme. After consultations with stakeholders, the Guidelines for the PLI Scheme for Telecom & Networking Products have been amended to introduce the Design-led Manufacturing with additional incentive rates.
• Further, DoT based on feedbacks from stakeholders including the selected PLI Applicants, has decided to extend the existing PLI Scheme by one year. The existing PLI beneficiaries will be given an option to choose financial year 2021-22 or financial year 2022-23 as the first year of incentive.
• DoT has also approved addition of 11 new telecom and networking products to the existing list, based on suggestions from the stakeholders.
• Applicants will have to satisfy the minimum Global Revenue criteria to be eligible under the Scheme. The Company may decide to invest for single or multiple eligible products. The Scheme stipulates a minimum investment threshold of ₹10 Crores for MSME and ₹100 Crores for non MSME applicants. Land and building cost will not be counted as investments. Eligibility shall be further subject to Incremental Sales of Manufactured Goods (covered under Scheme Target Segments) over the base year (FY2019-20). The allocation for MSME has been enhanced from ₹1000 Crores to ₹2500 Crores.

 VALUE ADDITION:

What is the Design Linked Incentive (DLI)Scheme?

• Domestic companies, startups, and MSMEs will be eligible for the financial incentives and design infrastructure support under the DLI Scheme.
• Over 5 years, incentives will be provided at various stages of development and deployment of the semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, Systems & IP Cores, System on Chips (SoCs),and semiconductor-linked design.

 DLI Scheme Components

The scheme is made up of three parts: Chip Design Infrastructure Support, Product Design Linked Incentive, and Deployment Linked Incentive.

Product Design Linked Incentive

This provides fiscal support to eligible applicants involved in semiconductor design by reimbursing up to 50% of eligible expenditure up to a maximum of Rs.15 Crore per application.

EXPLAINED: WHAT IS A BLACK SWAN EVENT?

THE CONTEXT: A study by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has spoken about the possibility of capital outflows to the tune of $100 billion (around Rs 7,80,000 crore) from India in case of a major global risk scenario or a “black swan” event.

THE EXPLANATION:

What is a ‘black swan’ event?

A black swan is a rare, unpredictable event that comes as a surprise and has a significant impact on society or the world. These events are said to have three distinguishing characteristics – they are extremely rare and outside the realm of regular expectations; they have a severe impact after they hit; and they seem probable in hindsight when plausible explanations appear.

When did the term originate?

• The black swan theory was put forward by author and investor Nassim Nicholas Taleb in 2001, and later popularised in his 2007 book – The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. The news agencies described his work as one of the 12 most influential books since World War II.
• In his book, Taleb does not try to lay out a method to predict such events, but instead stresses on building “robustness” in systems and strategies to deal with black swan occurrences and withstand their impact.
• The term itself is linked to the discovery of black swans. Europeans believed all swans to be white until 1697, when a Dutch explorer spotted the first black swan in Australia. The metaphor ‘black swan event’ is derived from this unprecedented spotting from the 17th century, and how it upended the West’s understanding of swans.

When have such events occurred in the past?

• Interestingly, Taleb’s book predated the 2008 global financial crisis – a black swan event triggered by a sudden crash in the booming housing market in the US. The fall of the Soviet Union, the terrorist attack in the US on September 11, 2001, also fall in the same category.

Is the Covid-19 pandemic a black swan event?

• Taleb does not agree with those who believe it to be one. In an interview to Bloomberg in 2020, he called it a “white swan”, arguing that it was predictable, and there was no excuse for companies and governments not to be prepared for something like this.
• While the outbreak of any pandemic is difficult to individually predict, the possibility of one occurring and having a major impact on systems around the world was known and documented.

THE PLACES IN THE NEWS

THE KALININGRAD REGION

THE CONTEXT: Russia called Lithuania’s decision to ban the transit of some goods to Russia’s Kaliningrad region “unprecedented” and vowed to respond.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Lithuanian authorities banned the transit of goods which are sanctioned by the European Union across its territory, which includes the only rail route between mainland Russia and the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea. Banned goods include coal, metals, construction materials and advanced technology.

Kaliningrad region:

• Kaliningrad is the only Russian Baltic Sea port that is ice-free all year round and hence plays an important role in the maintenance of the country’s Baltic Fleet.
• Sandwiched between EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania, Kaliningrad receives supplies from Russia via rail and gas pipelines through Lithuania.

THE NEWS IN NUMBERS

RUSSIAN CRUDE EXPORTS

• According to figures from the Customs Administration. 8.42 In million tonnes, the quantity of oil China imported from Russia last month, a 55% on-year rise. The latest number was a spike from the 5.44 million tonnes China imported in May 2021.
• Thus, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s main source of oil. Beijing, which has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, has also been accused of providing diplomatic cover for Russia by blasting Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv.

ENERGY CRISIS IN AFRICA

• According to the International Energy Agency (IEA). 43 per cent of the African population, or 600 million people, who lack access to electricity — mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of Africans with access to electricity fell during the COVID pandemic, but $25 billion in annual investments could bring full coverage by 2030.
• Africa is facing far more severe effects of climate change than most other parts of the world, despite emitting less energy-related carbon dioxide than any other region, the IEA added.

SEA OF WASTE

• 68,500 In tonnes, the amount of medical waste the city of Shanghai produced during its recent COVID lockdown, with daily output up to six times higher than normal.
• While the mass testing strategy has allowed the world’s most populous nation to avoid a public health catastrophe, it is creating a sea of hazardous waste and a mounting economic burden for local governments.
• The disposal systems in the poorer rural parts of the country have long been overburdened.

 TWO-YEAR HIGH- SAUDI ARABIA’S CRUDE EXPORTS

• Data shows that 7.38 In million barrels per day (bpd), is Saudi Arabia’s crude exports in April 2022. Crude exports in April rose about 2% from about 7.235 million bpd reported for March 2022.
• The world’s largest oil exporter’s April crude production rose to its highest level in two years at 10.441 million bpd from 10.300 million bpd in the previous month.
• Oil product exports eased 0.015 million bpd to 1.473 million bpd in April, while demand for oil products rose 0.177 million bpd to 2.234 million bpd.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION FOR 21ST JUNE 2022

Q1. With reference to the economy, which of the following best explains the meaning of ‘Dutch disease’?

a) When a country has high level of unemployment and inflation simultaneously.

b) When a country has huge trade deficit.

c) When a country has wide current account deficit and may face Balance of Payment crisis.

d) When a country witnesses uneven growth across sectors due to the discovery of natural resources.

Q2. Which of the following countries does not have border with Russia?

a) Estonia

b) Latvia

c) Lithuania

d) Romania

ANSWER FOR 20^TH JUNE 2022

Answer: C

Explanation:

Teesta River:

• It is a tributary of the Jamuna River (Brahmaputra River), flowing through India and Bangladesh.
• It rises in the Himalayas near Chunthang in Sikkim, India, flows to the south, cutting a deep gorge through the Siwalik Hills east of Darjiling (in West Bengal, India), and turns southeast to run through the Sivok Khola pass onto the plains of West Bengal.
• Originally, the river continued southward to empty directly into the upper Padma River (Ganges River). About 1787, however, the river changed its course to flow eastward, crossing the Rangpur region of Bangladesh to join the Jamuna River near Chilmari after a total course of about 200 miles (320 km).
• Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and second largest river of West Bengal after Ganges.