Comprehensive News Analysis - 02 February 2016

Table of Contents:

A. GS1 Related:

1. Let’s register sex of foetus, says Maneka

B. GS2 Related:

1.Supreme Court recalls notice to Governor

2. Towards a law on euthanasia

C. GS3 Related:

1.‘Trans-Pacific pact may impact exports’

D. GS4 Related:

1.U.K. grants ‘gene editing’ licence

E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

1.Seizing the ‘One Belt, One Road’ opportunity

others

1. A scheme for change

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn

G. Practice Questions

H. Archives

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Topic: Constitution

Category: President and Governor

Location: The Hindu, Page 1

Key Points:

Read about article 361 and the powers of the President and Governors in India

Topic: Social Justice

Category: Human Rights

Location: The Hindu, Page 10

Revising once again, as it is in news again 🙂

What is Euthanasia?

It means ‘good death’

It is and assisted suicide, when there are no chances of recovery of the terminally ill-patient.

Types :

Passive : When medical treatment is withdrawn with the deliberate intention of causing death to free the person from an unending pain

Active : It is an intentional act to deliberately kill a terminally ill patient

You can understand the difference like this : If a person has been provided with the possible treatment and still is not recovering, has no chance of recovering and is in acute pain, can be allowed to die through passive euthanasia. In case he was on a ventilator, the ventilator is removed. This is passive euthanasia.
However, if a terminally ill patient is made to die by doing an act, like administering a particular drug for the patient to die.
Read along with the debate over right to die and Article 21

Topic: International Relations

Category:International Groupings

Location: The Hindu, Page 13

Key Points:

According to Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman :

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or the mega-regional free trade pact led by the U.S. and including 11 other Asia-Pacific countries, is likely to indirectly impact India’s exports in several industrial sectors

The Indian government will have to consider improving the country’s standards in areas such as labour laws

The investor-State dispute settlement mechanism adopted by the TPP was also a concern from India’s point of view

She said some of the TPP standards were higher than that of the WTO norms, including on IPR and possible ever-greening of patents, which could hurt India’s pharma sector. The operations and the production methods of India’s public sector units (or SOEs) could also be constrained due to the TPP

Several Indian export sectors such as cotton and yarn could be affected as trade may be diverted to the TPP region due to its benefits of low or nil duties

Pointing out that the TPP, RCEP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (a proposed mega-regional between the U.S. and the European Union) excluded African countries, the Minister said India would also have to focus on improving its trade with African countries.

Meanwhile, India is also considering engaging with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries to ensure that it did not miss out on the emerging trade dynamics

Topic: International Relations

Category:Indo – China

Location: The Hindu, Page 11

Key Points :

At the third edition of the India-China Think-Tank Dialogue in Beijing, hosted in early January, a cross-section of Chinese scholars and officials discussed India-China relations and prospects for regional cooperation

Key Discussions:

1. ‘entity diplomacy’. This construction argues for engaging within and across regions to secure the best interests of an entity that is necessarily larger and with interests broader than those of any sovereign. This follows from the argument of a revival of ‘continentalism’ as the Eurasian landmass deepens linkages and ‘Asia’ emerges.

It therefore follows, from Beijing’s perspective, that Indian and other Asian nations must support and work for the OBOR initiative.

2. “one economic continent”. for some Chinese speakers, India is already part of the initiative, as its own projects like Project Mausam and economic initiatives such as Make in India and Digital India complement and complete OBOR. Indian participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and joint ownership of the New Development Bank only reaffirm India’s partnership in this Asian project for many in Beijing.

3.  mutually beneficial ‘swap’ — India protecting Chinese interests in the Indian Ocean, and China securing India’s essential undertakings in their part of the waters.

What India needs to do?

First and foremost, India needs to match ambition with commensurate augmentation of its capacities that allows it to be a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region.

India can focus on developing last-mile connectivity in its own backyard linking to the OBOR — the slip roads to the highways, the sidetracks to the Iron Silk Roads.

Topic: Governance

Category: Government Schemes

Key Points :

Today is the 10th anniversary of the launch of MNREGA

Questions :

Has the act enhanced livelihood security?

Has it resulted in rural empowerment?

The employment here is of supplementary nature and sustains households, when work opportunities in Non-MNREGA areas are few

Success :

1. The increase and reversal in the stagnation in rural wages

2. The participation rate of women has been around 50%

3. Reduced distress migration in traditionally migrant-intensive areas

4. Often been referred to as ‘ecological act’ due to focus on water-conservation works

5. Financial inclusion : around 80% of the wages were paid through bank and post-office accounts

6. Empowering gram panchayats

Need to look at :

Corruption and leakages

Linking it to the Socio-economic caste census

Readjusting the wages

Consistent political support

Question 1:Which of the following are member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

Question 2:Which of the following statements best explain gene editing?

Check Your Answers

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