5 Aug 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related SOCIAL ISSUES 1. Army to convene selection board for women personnel B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Trump bars H-1B visa holders from federal jobs 2. Ahead of FATF meet, India to highlight Pakistan’s inaction C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials EDUCATION 1. Language of unity F. Prelims Facts 1. COVAX Facility 2. Violating human rights in the Valley G. Tidbits 1. Ayodhya awaits Modi’s launch of Ram temple construction 2. Haryana to link welfare schemes through ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’, says CM 3. ‘Hawala route used in gold smuggling case’ 4. 24 million may drop out of school due to pandemic: UN 5. Pak. map an absurd exercise, says India 6. ‘Entire B2C online sector to come within new consumer law ambit’ 7. India looks to screen for re-routed Chinese goods H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
1. Army to convene selection board for women personnel
Context:
- Army headquarters is in the process of convening a special selection board for screening women officers for grant of Permanent Commission (PC).
- Women officers who joined the Army through the Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) and Short Service Commission Women (SSCW) are being considered.
Background:
- The Supreme Court in February 2020 had given a verdict that directed the government that women officers be granted PC and command postings in all services other than combat.
- In July 2020, a formal Government Sanction Letter was issued by the Ministry of Defence for the grant of PC to women officers in the Army.
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Trump bars H-1B visa holders from federal jobs
Context:
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order preventing federal agencies from contracting or subcontracting foreign workers — mainly those on H-1B visas.
Background:
- The move follows an announcement by the federally-owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that it would outsource 20% of its technology jobs to companies based in foreign countries.
- In June 2020, H-1B visas, along with other types of foreign work visas were suspended until the end of 2020 to protect American workers in a crucial election year.
This topic has been covered in the 24th June 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.
Also read: Important U.S Visas
Details:
- The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) said the order comes at a time when there is a huge shortage of skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Management (STEM) in the U.S., that workers on short-term, non-immigrant visas such as H-1B and L-1 help bridge.
- NASSCOM is the association that represents the Indian IT services and ITES industry.
- It is opined that this measure would hit recovery when the world opens up post the COVID-19 induced lockdowns, as it is important for the U.S. to be able to access talent critical to the recovery phase.
2. Ahead of FATF meet, India to highlight Pakistan’s inaction
Context:
In the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meetings scheduled in October 2020, Pakistan’s performance in acting against terror-financing infrastructure will be assessed.
Details:
- The Pakistani establishment has to prove that it is serious about dismantling the terror-funding infrastructure.
- Pakistan has to ensure that cases against key figures and organisations involved in raising funds and masterminding terror attacks attain finality and such elements are punished.
- Ahead of the crucial FATF meetings, Indian agencies plan to highlight its inaction in the Pulwama, 26/11 Mumbai attack and Daniel Pearl murder cases.
- The United States has also repeatedly asked Pakistan to bring four accused persons, Mazhar Iqbal, Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, to justice.
Read more about the mandate and functioning of FATF covered in the 28th June 2020 CNA.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
Context:
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has rejected the possibility of implementing the three-language formula advocated in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Background:
Three language formula:
- The three-language formula for language learning was formulated in 1968 by the Ministry of Education of the Government of India and made part of the National Policy on Education, 1968.
- The three-language formula provides for the study of “Hindi, English and modern Indian language (preferably one of the southern languages) in the Hindi speaking states and Hindi, English and the Regional language in the non-Hindi speaking States”.
The issue of language:
- The language of education has been an emotive and political issue over the years. There have been agitations against the imposition of Hindi in the southern states in general and Tamil Nadu in particular. Tamil Nadu has been traditionally opposed to any attempt to introduce Hindi as a compulsory language of learning or administration.
- The origin of the linguistic row goes back to the debate on the official language. In the Constituent Assembly, Hindi was voted as the official language by a single vote and English was allowed to continue to be used as an associate official language for 15 years. The Official Languages Act came into effect on the expiry of this 15-year period in 1965. This was the background in which the anti-Hindi agitation took place.
- Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread agitations in 1965 when the then Congress state government had attempted to make Hindi the state’s official language.
- Opposition from Tamil Nadu in 2019 had forced the Centre to amend the draft NEP and withdraw a proposal to teach Hindi as a third language in schools in non-Hindi speaking States. Yet in the recently approved NEP, the three-language formula finds a place.
- Despite the clarification that the NEP, 2020 would not lead to the imposition of any language, this has failed to convince some sections.
- Currently, the three language system is not followed in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu follows the two-language policy of Tamil and English.
Note: Education is a concurrent list subject.
Relevant constitutional provisions:
- Article 29 of the Constitution of India states that any section of the citizens who have a “…distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.”
- Article 351 gives power to the union government to issue a directive for the development of the Hindi language.
Arguments in favour of the three-language formula:
Cognitive development of the child:
- Important committees with respect to the issue have noted that learning languages are an important part of a child’s cognitive development. Its implementation promotes multilingualism and multilingual skills would add to the cognitive skills of the children.
Promoting national unity:
- The proponents favouring the three-language formula argue that its implementation promotes national unity by having a common link language.
- The adoption of the two language formula in states like Tamil Nadu and Tripura is criticized for depriving students of an opportunity to learn Hindi, often touted as a national link language.
Promotion of Hindi Language:
- Article 351 of the Constitution notes that efforts should be made to promote the Hindi language as the link language and as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India.
Arguments against the three language formula:
Burden on the students:
- The three-language formula is also a bad idea in the present form with regard to children actually acquiring language skills.
- The three-language formula will have a very heavy cognitive burden on a young child of five to seven years as each of the Indian languages has a very large number of visual units (aksharas) between 400 and 700, to be mastered in a limited time frame. This formulation is developmentally inappropriate for young children.
- Several surveys, like ASER, have shown that a vast majority of children are failing to learn to read with comprehension even in one language.
Homogenizing move:
- The critics of the three-language formula have alleged that its implementation is an attempt to ‘homogenize’ the diverse linguistic fabric of the country which consists of many regional languages.
Opposition from states:
- The three-language formula faces implementational challenges in a multi-lingual country like India. A few states have not adopted the formula in principle. Hindi is not taught in the States of Tamil Nadu and Tripura and Puducherry.
Politicization:
- Language being an emotive issue can be misused by the regional political parties to whip up regional sentiments. This could prove to be detrimental to national unity.
Implementational challenges:
- The three-language formula is also not implemented effectively in states where it is in place.
- The state governments often do not have adequate resources to implement the three-language formula. The lack of an adequate number of teachers and teachers with the necessary language skills remains a challenge.
Way forward:
Age-appropriate learning:
- The focus in primary education should be on using the children’s home language, ensuring that they develop strong oral and reading and writing proficiency in the language used as the medium of instruction (the state language).
- English should, initially, be taught only in an oral, communicative manner until Grade 3.
- Additional languages could be formally introduced at subsequent stages like from middle school. The target could be for developing some oral proficiency through natural and communication-oriented exposure to the language in Grade 6 or later. Also, this additional language should not be a mandatory requirement and the choice should depend on the child or parent or the school.
Choosing the link language:
- Any language that’s supposed to become a unifier language for the country must have the necessary pull factors.
- English could act as the necessary link language, with English also emerging as a global link language.
Voluntary learning over imposition:
- Given that compulsion is often met with resistance, instead of imposing new languages, voluntary learning of Hindi should be promoted through schools and institutes like Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha. There would be no opposition to the voluntary learning of Hindi.
- The Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha was established in Chennai by Mahatma Gandhi in 1918. The institution imparts Hindi teaching at various levels to anyone who enrols for its programme.
- There has also been the increasing multilingualism being observed across the country given the high internal migration. This can be encouraged further.
- Out of necessity, many in the State of Tamil Nadu have picked up conversational Hindi to engage with the migrant population that supplies the labour needs of the state.
Consultation with states:
- The three-language formula has to be implemented in consultation with the State Governments. India’s federal nature and diversity demand that no language is given supremacy over another.
- The States could be allowed to follow their own language policy.
F. Prelims Facts
- ACT Accelerator is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
- It is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.
- COVAX aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.
- COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO.
- The goal of COVAX is by the end of 2021 to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification. These vaccines will be delivered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their populations.
2. Violating human rights in the Valley
Preventive detention:
- Preventive detention is the imprisonment of a person with the aim of preventing them from committing further offences or of maintaining public order.
- A police officer can arrest an individual without orders from a Magistrate and without any warrant.
- Article 22 of the Indian Constitution provides protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.
- The Constitution provides important procedural safeguards that must be followed by the state, failing which the detention order would be quashed. This involves the fundamental right to be communicated, as soon as may be, the grounds on which the order has been made and the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.
- Clause (4) of the Article states that no individual can be detained for more than 3 months unless a bench of high court judges or an advisory board decides to extend the date.
- Preventive detention orders can be challenged through habeas corpus petitions.
G. Tidbits
1. Ayodhya awaits Modi’s launch of Ram temple construction
What’s in News?
Twenty-eight years after Babri Masjid was demolished (1992) by kar sevaks, construction of a temple at the spot is formally being launched, where Hindus believe Lord Ram was born.
- The Supreme Court in November 2019 permitted the construction of a Ram Temple at the site where the Babri Masjid stood till December 6, 1992.
2. Haryana to link welfare schemes through ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’, says CM
What’s in News?
Haryana Chief Minister has announced that welfare schemes of all departments would be linked to the ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’ (PPP) being distributed to eligible families.
- PPP is an e-governance initiative that will enable the citizens to get the benefit of various Central and State government schemes at their door-step in a fair and transparent manner.
- A separate Citizen Resources Information Department (CRID) has been established to give further momentum to the PPP programme.
- The State has taken several e-governance initiatives such as ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora Yojana’, digitalisation of revenue records and the Haryana Udhyam Memorandum (HUM) Portal, among others.
3. ‘Hawala route used in gold smuggling case’
What’s in News?
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing the diplomatic baggage gold smuggling case in Kerala, has stated that the initial funds for obtaining gold were raised by persons with dubious antecedents and the funds were sent abroad through hawala channel.
- The NIA invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on the apprehension that the proceeds from the racket could be used for financing terrorism in India.
Hawala:
- Hawala is an informal method by which money can change hands without the use of banks.
- This works through codes, contacts and trust with no paperwork at all.
Read more about Hawala.
4. 24 million may drop out of school due to pandemic: UN
What’s in News?
According to the United Nation’s policy brief on the pandemic’s impact on education, almost 24 million children are at risk of not returning to school next year due to the economic fallout of COVID-19.
Concerns:
- The educational financing gap is likely to increase by one third.
- The pandemic has exacerbated the existing disparities, with vulnerable populations in low-income countries taking a harder and longer hit.
- For example, during the second quarter of 2020, 86% of children at the primary level have been effectively out of school in poor countries, compared to just 20% in highly developed countries.
- Girls and young women are likely to be disproportionately affected as school closures make them more vulnerable to child marriage, early pregnancy and gender-based violence.
- Simulations on developing countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) suggest that without remediation, a loss of learning by one-third during Grade 3 might result in 72% of students falling so far behind that by Grade 10 they will have dropped out or will not be able to learn anything in school.
PISA:
- The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years.
- First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle.
5. Pak. map an absurd exercise, says India
What’s in News?
On the eve of the first anniversary of the special status of Jammu & Kashmir being withdrawn, the Pakistan Government has claimed to have unveiled a ‘new political map’.
- It includes the entire Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Gujarat, including Junagadh.
- The map shows a part of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, with the lines emblazoned on it stating, “Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir”.
- The text reads, “Disputed Territory – Final Status will be decided in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions”.
- Junagadh in Gujarat is also shown as part of Pakistan.
- Junagadh was a Hindu majority princely state whose Muslim ruler opted to join Pakistan in 1947 but whose Hindu subjects said they wanted to join India.
India’s reaction:
- Ministry of External Affairs has called the unveiling of Pakistan’s new political map, an exercise in political absurdity.
- The press statement of the Ministry states that there is neither legal validity nor international credibility in such an exercise.
Also Read: Article 370 – Explained.
6. ‘Entire B2C online sector to come within new consumer law ambit’
The new Consumer Protection Act will regulate the operations of e-commerce players, with the entire B2C online sector strictly within its ambit.
- All kinds of B2C online services, irrespective of their size and reach, all mobile app-based services and all businesses running on social media platforms, will come within the bill’s purview.
Read more about the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
7. India looks to screen for re-routed Chinese goods
What’s in News?
Amid strained ties with Beijing and a push for self-reliance, India is considering measures to prevent trade partners, mainly in Southeast Asia, from re-routing Chinese goods to India with little added value.
- India is planning to raise quality standards of imports, impose quantity restrictions, mandate stringent disclosure norms and initiate more frequent checks at ports of entry for goods coming from many Asian countries.
- The moves will mainly target imports of base metals, electronic components for laptops and mobile phones, furniture, leather goods, toys, rubber, textiles, air conditioners and televisions, among other items.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Sir Creek:
- It is a strip of water disputed between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands.
- The Creek opens up in the Arabian Sea.
- The Creek was originally called Ban Ganga.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
All the statements are correct.
Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to Kharai camels:
- These camels can swim.
- They are found only in Rajasthan.
- Kharai Camels can live in both coastal and dry ecosystems.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
- None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
- Kharai Camels or Swimming Camels are found only in Gujarat’s Bhuj area.
- This camel is adapted to the extreme climate of the Rann of Kutch where shallow seas and high salinity is prevalent. Kharai Camel can live in both coastal and dry ecosystems.
- It grazes on saline/mangrove trees and is tolerant to high saline water.
- It can swim up to three kilometers into the sea in search of mangroves, its primary food.
- The camel is distinct from other camels because of its rounded back, long and thin legs and small feet.
Q3. Namdapha National Park is located in:
- Assam
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Manipur
- Sikkim
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
- Namdapha National Park is a protected area in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India.
- Namdapha was originally declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1972, then a National Park in 1983 and became a Tiger Reserve under the Project Tiger scheme in the same year.
Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to River Son:
- The river rises in the hills of the Chota Nagpur plateau.
- It passes along the Kaimur Range.
- It is a left-bank tributary of River Ganga.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 2 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
The Son River rises in the Amarkantak Plateau. It passes along the Kaimur Range. Major right-bank tributaries of the Ganga include Yamuna river, Son river and Damodar river.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Discuss the arguments both in favour of and against the three-language formula advocated in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). Suggest a suitable way forward with respect to this provision. (15 marks, 250 words)(GS paper 2/Education)
- Discuss the provision of preventive detention in India and the constitutional safeguards in place to address the possible misuse of this provision. (10 marks, 150 words)(GS paper 2/Polity and Governance)
Read the previous CNA here.
5 Aug 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
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