UPSC 2017: Comprehensive News Analysis - December 01

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

• The dawn of the information age opened up great opportunities for the beneficial use of data. It also enhanced the perils of unregulated and arbitrary use of personal data.
• Unauthorised leaks, hacking and other cyber crimes have rendered data bases vulnerable. But it is the conflict between the massive scope for progress provided by the digital era and the fear of loss of individual autonomy that is foregrounded in any debates about data protection laws.
• It is against this backdrop that the White Paper made public by the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee to elicit views from the public on the shape and substance of a comprehensive data protection law assumes significance.
• To some, in this era of Big Data analytics and automated, algorithm-based processing of zettabytes of information, the fear that their personal data may be unprotected may conjure up visions of a dystopian world in which individual liberties are compromised.
• Therefore, it would be appropriate to draw up a law using the rights-based approach of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, 2016, in which data protection is comprehensive and exemptions limited.
• Some may prefer the American model in which the norms are stringent for government departments processing personal information, while private entities have to abide by the norms of giving notice and receiving consent.
• An enlightened citizenry will only help itself in participating in the search for a good data protection framework.
• India does not have a separate law for data protection, though Section 43A of the Information Technology Act provides a measure of legal protection of personal information.
• In 2012, the Justice A.P. Shah Committee recommended a set of principles for a legal framework for protecting privacy. Drawn from OECD guidelines, these principles were centred on sufficient notice and disclosure to citizens when data are collected, limitations on data collection and use, and norms related to data security and accountability.
• The Srikrishna Committee has also flagged seven major principles. It wants the law to be technology-agnostic and enshrine the principle of informed consent. It favours data minimisation and accountability of those who process and control data.
• It privileges a holistic approach as the law would apply to both government and private entities, but with “differential obligations”. This is where the law requires careful drafting and strictly defined concepts.
• It is legitimate to collect personal data in the public interest, but this information should be protected and used only for the purposes it was collected.
• Above all, the law must provide for a suitably empowered statutory authority to enforce its promised protection to citizens’ data.

• The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Centre’s plea seeking extension of time for publication of the draft National Register of Citizens for Assam, as the government termed fixing of the deadline as judicial overreach and an “encroachment” into the executive domain.
• The top court said that on the expiry of the midnight of December 31, the draft NRC pertaining to 2.38 crore claims will be published. The NRC is being prepared to identify illegal migrants in Assam.
• The court said it has been monitoring the process of updating the NRC for three years now and it was the “sheer inaction on the part of the executive in dragging the matter”.

• The Centre completed its arguments in the spat over the administrative governance of the National Capital on Thursday while underlining that the executive power rested completely with it.
• A five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had orally indicated that there should be a harmonious relationship between the Lieutenant Governor and the Delhi government.
• The court had said that the difference of opinion between the two should not be trivial or contrived. This may run the danger of stonewalling governance in the Capital.
• The Lieutenant Governor could not stultify proposals or schemes forwarded by the Council of Ministers to him by simply sitting on it
• The Delhi government had argued that the Lieutenant Governor was not a “Viceroy” but simply an agent of the President whose powers depended on the pleasure of the President.
• The Centre had argued that it too was a government by the people. There was nothing undemocratic about the Union government and the President, through the Lieutenant Governor, exercising complete executive power over the National Capital, the Union argued.

• The Telangana government will establish an incubator, on the lines of the T-Hub, as well as create a Rs. 15 crore technology fund exclusively for women entrepreneurs.
• These apart, the government will move towards a system under which a portion of its mandatory procurement from small and medium enterprises is sourced from women-run SMEs.
• Hyderabad, which is home to T-Hub, the country’s largest incubator, would also play host to the world’s largest technology incubator with the facility’s second phase

• For all we know, Padmini or Padmavati is a fictional character, created by the Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the 16th century.
• While Allauddin Khilji’s siege of Chittor in 1303 is a historical event, the legend of Padmini has little historical evidence and most modern historians have rejected its authenticity.
• What worse attack could there be on cinematic art? Nobody except its maker or the scriptwriter is privy to what the film is about. How can passers-by decide that it should not be shown to the people?
• Constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression are under threat in India. How can some people threaten to kill or maim persons associated with films they don’t like and haven’t even seen?
• The film got made despite all the violence, but it has not been censored. Allegations are being raised now against the film to influence Censor Board members.
• Censorship is nothing but a dictatorial weapon used by people who do not want the public to know what is really happening in the country.
• A committee headed by Shivaram Karanth was formed in 1979 to advise the government on the film industry and how quality of films could be ensured.
• We need to ensure that films do not spread ideas that sow the seeds of treason or divisiveness among people. But there are sufficient safeguards against such possibilities in the Constitution.
• There is no provision for banning a film in the certification rules. The rules are only meant to classify films into various categories.

• At issue is the maintenance of the status quo of open borders with Northern Ireland, which underpins the landmark 1998 Good Friday agreement. Britain’s withdrawal from the EU customs union could lead to the reintroduction of security checkpoints.
• Agreement on the status of the Irish boundary is one of the three EU preconditions for Brexit negotiations to move to the next phase, to discussions on a free-trade agreement between London and Brussels.
• There has been greater progress on the other two elements of the terms of Britain’s divorce — a financial settlement and the reciprocal rights of U.K. and EU citizens.
• The future of the Irish border is intertwined with the nature and shape of the U.K.’s relationship with the bloc, and clarity could take some time coming.
• Dublin has even demanded that post-Brexit, Northern Ireland be integrated into an EU regulatory regime.
• The broader reality is that Britain is Ireland’s largest market, and the gateway for sizeable exports to Europe and the rest of the world. In the current state of Brexit negotiations, a spirit of reasonable accommodation could well define the future.

• The Pope has been in South Asia this week, with the focus of his stops in Bangladesh and Myanmar on the reconciliation and rehabilitation of more than 836,000 Rohingya who have fled gruesome violence in Myanmar.
• In a rare shift of position from not involving itself in the internal politics of another country, China decided to play a mediatory role in the issue.
• Within days, Bangladesh and Myanmar announced an agreement to begin the repatriation of Rohingya refugees back to Rakhine province in about two months.
• In this flurry of diplomatic activity, it would be natural to ask why India has been so soft-footed and silent in comparison.
• As the subcontinent’s biggest nation, neighbour to both Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as the country most likely to be affected if the numbers of Rohingya refugees continue to grow, India in fact should be showing the most initiative in this crisis.
• Instead, through a series of blunders that began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s own visit to Myanmar, India has allowed its voice to be muffled.
• Even as hundreds of thousands were fleeing violence at home, Mr. Modi refused to refer to the Rohingya in his press statements in Naypyidaw in early September.
• Nor did India refer to anything other than the terror strike by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army while discussing the violence in Rakhine.
• It wasn’t until two days later, and after some prodding from Ms. Hasina, that the Indian foreign office even issued a statement of concern over the refugee crisis that had reached alarming proportions, something the U.S. has now called a clear case of “ethnic cleansing”.
• Moreover, in Bali, India refused to endorse a 50-nation parliamentarian conference’s declaration because it referenced the Rohingya.
• Every other South Asian country, including Buddhist-majority Bhutan and Sri Lanka, endorsed the Bali declaration.
• Later in September, the government began to dispatch humanitarian aid in an operation rather grandly named “Operation Insaniyat(Humanity)”, but was only one of several countries including the U.S., Turkey, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and others to do so.
• In every way, the Rohingya crisis is mammoth, with around a million men, women and children in Bangladesh and Myanmar living perilously.
• India, which has a tradition of rushing humanitarian aid and medical assistance, doctors and volunteers to other nations — for example, after the 2004 tsunami, the 2008 Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar, and the 2015 Nepal earthquake — has been seen to visibly hold back during the Rohingya crisis.
• Meanwhile, at the UN too, India’s voice has been consistently muted, ceding space to other countries to take the lead on the issue.
• At the UNGA’s Third Committee vote, India abstained on a resolution calling for an end to military action, one of 26 abstentions on the proposal to send a UN fact-finding mission to Myanmar — 135 countries voted in favour of the resolution.
• While India’s vote is consistent with its position on interventionist resolutions, it doesn’t mark itself out for principled leadership of any kind.
• If anything, the votes have had a bearing on India’s standing in Bangladesh, one of its closest allies in the region, whose leadership is struggling to cope with the flow of refugees as Ms. Hasina braces for a tough election next year.
• In short, all of India’s actions since the outbreak of this round of violence in Myanmar have negated its position as a regional, sub continental and Asian leader.
• Regaining that stature will require a more proactive stance in being part of the solution to the crisis.
• To begin with, the impression that the government’s decision to push out nearly 40,000 Rohingya living in India since 2012 is guided by its domestic political compulsions is not conducive to India’s international ambitions.
• Therefore, it may be necessary for India to put its own concerns about repatriation on hold until it is able to work with both Bangladesh and Myanmar on the issue, preferably in a trilateral format.
• This should have been easier for India than for China, given it already works with them on regional issues as a part of BIMSTEC.
• The government must also iron out internal contradictions on India’s refugee policy.
• Even though it is not a signatory to any UN refugee convention, India has a proud tradition of giving a home to neighbours in distress: from Tibetans in 1960s to East Pakistanis in the 1970s, from Sri Lankans in the 1980s to the Afghans in the 1990s.
• More recently, the Modi government even changed its long-term visa rules to help minorities fleeing violence from neighbouring Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• If India now says it cannot help Rohingya, who are a minority in Myanmar, it is either saying that Rohingya are not Myanmarese or that Myanmar is not a neighbour, both of which contradict previous positions.
• The government’s argument in court that Rohingya refugees pose a terrorist threat wasn’t used for Sri Lankans or Afghans.
• India also has a unique position as a country that is home to every religion practised in the region and must play to this strength.
• For all these reasons, India, which has high stakes in global and regional governance, must ensure its voice is heard on the Rohingya crisis.
• Mumbling as part of a chorus while one of the biggest human tragedies is unfolding across two of India’s borders does not behove a nation with global leadership aspirations.
• Those questioning India’s push for a Security Council seat have often cited its record as a fence sitter at the UN.
• All those critics must be silenced now by clarity in India’s position on an issue where abstentions cannot suffice.

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday inaugurated construction work on the much-awaited Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant in Ishwardi, located in the western part of the country.
• The plant is expected to add 2,400 MW of electricity to the national grid by 2024, helping the country meet its increasing demand for electricity.
• The mega project is being implemented by state-run Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission with financial and technological support from Russia through its state nuclear agency, Rosatom.
• Russian company JSC Atomstroyexport had signed a general contract for construction of the plant in December 2015. The company has 68 months following the inauguration ceremony to complete its construction work.
• Also, there is a possibility of India participating in the project, a Rosatom official said on Thursday.
• “There is room for cooperation and there is a possibility of India to participate. There was an initiative to have a trilateral document and we supported that document. No document is signed yet and it is under negotiation,” said the official.
• Though India cannot directly take part in the construction of nuclear power plants — as it is not a member of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group — it has signed individual agreements with Bangladesh and Russia.

• Discussions are on for India to join the Russia-led Rooppur nuclear power plant construction in Bangladesh, an official of the Russian atomic power agency Rosatom said.
• There is room for cooperation and there is a possibility of India’s participation.
• Russia is building two reactors of 1,200 MW each at Rooppur in Bangladesh and India has expressed its keenness to join the project.
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally launched the main construction work of the Rooppur plant. It is the country’s first nuclear power plant.
• As it is not a member of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), India cannot directly take part in the construction of nuclear power plants but has individual agreements with Bangladesh and Russia.
• In December 2014, India and Russia signed the “Strategic Vision for Strengthening Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy”, which allows the two sides to explore opportunities for sourcing materials, equipment and services from Indian industry for the construction of Russian-designed nuclear power plants in third countries.
• India has experience in installation of reactors. It can provide some training to Bangladesh.

• The Chinese military on Thursday hinted at maintaining sizeable presence of its troops near the area of Doklam standoff during winter, asserting that the region is in Chinese territory.
• India and China resolved the 73-day standoff on August 28 at Doklam after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) stopped building a strategic road close to India’s narrow Chicken Neck area connecting north-eastern States.
• Bhutan also claims the Doklam area to be its part.
• India objected to the road building by the PLA, saying that it endangered the security of the narrow corridor.

• The U.S. warned that North Korea’s leadership will be “utterly destroyed” if war breaks out but its call for nations to cut ties with Pyongyang was rejected by Moscow while Beijing sidestepped talk of an oil embargo.
• Washington urged tough action at an emergency meeting of the Security Council held on Wednesday to respond to North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
• The U.S. earlier pressed for a full oil embargo on North Korea after it tested its most powerful nuclear bomb to date in September, but dropped that demand in negotiations on a sanctions resolution with China.

C. GS3 Related

• Finance Minister Arun ‘Achieving 10% GDP growth challenging’ Jaitley said that achieving a 10% GDP growth rate was challenging and would depend on how the world is moving.
• Jaitley said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) started with different tax rates and had rationalised the rates on many items.
• Going forward, future rationalisation of rates would depend on revenue collections, he said, indicating the merger of 12% and 18% rates into one while keeping a “thin” line of luxury and demerit items in the top 28% band.
• Currently, the GST has four rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
• The Finance Minister said a cogent GST mechanism had been developed and no country in the world had a 5% tax rate.

• The Centre is set to announce on December 5 its mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), with the focus expected to be on policy measures to boost the exports of goods and services and to increase employment generation and value-addition in the country.
• Specifically, the spotlight of the review is likely to be on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and labour-intensive segments, according to official sources.
• The contraction in October has been linked by trade officials to the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on exporters.
• Exports should be kept out of the purview of GST as paying the tax first and getting refund later was cumbersome, in turn, affecting exports.
• The FTP for the period 2015-2020 had set a target for India’s exports of goods and services to touch $900 billion by 2019-20 and that of raising India’s share in world exports from 2% to 3.5%.
• Though the mid-term review was to be released prior to July 1, in line with the introduction of GST, it was postponed as the government wanted to take into account the exporters’ feedback regarding GST.
• One great strategy we have is to bring economic development, take our manufacturing to at least 20% of the GDP.
• In the next few years time we will have $5 trillion of GDP, so $1 trillion of that will come from manufacturing.
• The Centre aimed to help SMEs become a part of global supply chains by identifying opportunities.

• When a tiger dies in a national park, it makes it to the front pages of newspapers, and bureaucrats and animal lovers go into a huddle to avert another tiger death.
• There is similar concern over the death and destruction of habitats of other large mammals like elephants, rhinos, leopards and snow leopards because they attract tourists and bring in revenue. These larger-than-life species are also our window to the outside world.
• However, several smaller species die, or are near extinction, or are threatened in India.
• These include the the Great Indian Bustard, the house sparrow, the shy Indian pangolin, the caracal, the slender loris and the star tortoise, which do not evoke the same public outcry or action.
• The National Board for Wildlife in 2012 identified more than 15 species, including the magnificent Hangul of Kashmir and the Barasingha of Madhya Pradesh, as critically endangered.
• Are we suffering from what M.K. Ranjitsinh, one of India’s leading authorities on wildlife, calls mega species myopia? No one wants to remove the tiger from its exalted position as the first among equals.
• It is true that in protecting the tiger we are protecting an ecosystem. The big cat dominates the high grasslands. But what about the animals in the dry grasslands, the mountains? It is true that excellent conservation work has led to greater siting of the snow leopard in the snowy reaches of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, but should not this support extend to its prey base and the less glamorous species of the region?
• The hog deer, which are prolific breeders, were the principal food of the tiger in the grasslands of Corbett National Park in the sixties.
• There was an abundance of them and it was a major species of the park, vital for the survival of the tiger.
• Now there may be just 20 of them in Corbett and no one seems concerned. Though the preferred food of the tiger is the chital, there were not enough of them in the sixties to provide sustenance for the tiger, so the focus was on the hog deer.
• One of the rarest species and undoubtedly one of the most endangered is the Great Indian Bustard, which is the State bird of Rajasthan.
• Endemic to Jaisalmer and Pokhran, its habitat was severely damaged by the nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. Their numbers may be down to 60 in their home turf, says Mr. Ranjitsinh.
• In Gujarat, not a single adult male has been sited. In the Naliya area of Kutch, the last bastion of the bustard in the State, power lines are pushing out the bird. In Maharashtra too, they are missing. The world population of the bird may be just 80.
• The mouse deer (scientific name Chevrotain) is a miniature, just a foot high and tiptoes like a ballerina. It can be found in the Sal forests of south India, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
• Mouse deer meat is said to be delectable and before the Wildlife Act came into existence, it cost thrice the price of any other meat. The mouse deer raises its young in the hollow of the fallen Sal, but unfortunately these trees are used as fuel wood.
• The caracal has disappeared from the Kuno sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh. However, there are records of it being seen in Ranthambore in Rajasthan and in Kutch, Gujarat. It is feared that the Malabar civet cat may have gone into extinction.
• The pangolin, which can be found all over India, seems doomed because its scales, which are said to have medicinal value and are more expensive than gold, are sheared ruthlessly.
• Its meat too is in demand in China. Illegal trade continues not just in parts where there are tigers but also in parts where there are musk deer, otter, mongoose and other animals.
• The slender loris, a nocturnal animal found in the Western Ghats, and the tortoise are traded in the pet market.
• Now with reports of nomadic Gujjars making forays into Dachigam, the Hangul, the only deer species of its kind, is down to around 200.
• Manipur’s State animal, the brow-antlered deer or Sangai, which lives on the floating morass of Loktak Lake, is also fighting for survival with numbers down to around 200.
• However, with Sangai festivals and Sangai tour services, Manipur is going all out to protect them.
• With so many small animals on the verge of extinction, it is time we gave priority to animals on the basis of the threat perception to them.
• Today, we have the expertise to save them but lack the political will. They are perched on a precipice and unless we act, they will become as dead as the dodo.

D. GS4 Related

E. PRELIMS FACT

F. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam

• Data Protection is a critical part of the Government’s security architecture. Examine the need for a Data Protection Law in India.

GS Paper III

• The Rohingya Crisis poses a challenge to India’s internal security and Indian diplomacy. Elaborate the challenges ahead for India in dealing with the issue of Rohingyan crisis.

Also, check previous Daily News Analysis

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