23 Aug 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 23 Aug 2022:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. India, Iran sign pact to aid movement of seafarers
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Executions in Myanmar
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
1. Factoring in the risk
ECONOMY
1. A Centre-State skew further widened
EDUCATION
1. Not centres of learning yet
F. Prelims Facts
1. Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
G. Tidbits
1. Parliamentary panel’s summons for tech giants
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Factoring in the risk

Syllabus: GS-3, Disaster and Disaster Management

Mains: Vulnerability of mountainous states to natural disasters – Contributing factors and mitigating actions

Context:

• Recently, around 25 people have died in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand due to flash floods and landslips triggered by torrential rains in the region.
  • Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh were the worst-affected districts.

Impact of the natural disaster:

• Apart from the loss of life, there has been severe damage imposed on the infrastructure of the states. Several bridges have been damaged and important roads remain blocked by the debris.
• Apart from these visible damages of the disaster, there is a range of secondary effects with the long-term downstream impacts caused by this natural disaster.
  • There has been damage to the property of the common citizenry. This will have an economic impact on such families.
  • Farmers have lost their crops and cattle to the rains. This will have an adverse impact on the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable sections.
  • Also, the damage caused by the disaster to public infrastructure and the required reconstruction and rehabilitation of the affected people will result in strain on the finances of the state exchequer.
  • The lack of transport facilities will impact economic activities and the closure of schools will lead to a loss of productive hours for the children.

Factors contributing to the vulnerability of mountainous regions to disasters:

• The Hill States such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have unique topography which is naturally vulnerable to natural disasters such as landslides and earthquakes. Owing to their unique topography they have an unstable terrain making these states far more vulnerable to natural disasters.

For more related information on this topic refer to the following article:

CNA dated Aug 21, 2022: Himachal prone to natural disasters, says study

• The monsoon rainfall in India sheds around 75% of the total rainfall within four months. This concentrated rainfall on a temporal basis leads to high rainfall within a short duration, thus increasing the chances of floods and associated disasters such as landslides.
• Climate change is also an important factor here. Monsoon rain patterns are being disrupted leading to a rise in cloudburst-like events as well as a rise in the frequency of high-energy cyclones and droughts.
  • Monsoon rainfall over India is 8% more than what is usual for this time of the year.
• Unsustainable development of mountain areas over the years has increased the vulnerability of these regions to natural disasters by upsetting the ecological balance of various physical processes.

Recommendations:

• Need to improve the system of early warning forecasts with respect to weather forecasts and warnings about flash floods and lightning. They need to be accurate and timely to provide enough time for the authorities to prepare themselves.
• When it comes to the development of infrastructure in this region, sustainability should be the most important guiding factor. Infrastructural development in the region cannot come at a heavy environmental cost, given that such growth and development will not be sustainable.
• The increased risk and cost of infrastructure projects in the region should be factored in when they are tendered out by the government, and scientific advice regarding development ought to be strictly adhered to.

Nut Graf: The Hill States such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand remain extremely vulnerable to natural disasters owing to both natural as well as man-made reasons. Given the impact that such disasters have on human life, all measures must be taken to mitigate the impact of these natural disasters.
Category: ECONOMY

1. A Centre-State skew further widened

Syllabus: GS-3, Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment

Mains: Concerns with respect to fiscal federalism in India.

Context:

• Recently at a NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, the Chief Ministers of some states have expressed their concern about dwindling State revenues and have sought a higher share payable to states in the divisible pool of taxes and an extension of GST compensation.

Factors adversely impacting the state’s financial health:

• Implementation of the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana.
  • Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana is the financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies of India initiated by the Government of India.
• Farm loan waivers implemented by some state governments.
• The slowdown in economic growth in 2019-20 affecting the tax revenue prospects of the states.
• Heightened expenses during the pandemic.

Concerns associated with the current form of fiscal federalism:

Lower resource raising powers despite larger expenditure responsibility:

• The share of the States in the divisible pool remains low despite them having to carry a higher burden of expenditure in terms of development and welfare-related responsibilities.
• The Union government has higher taxation powers as compared to the states. According to the 15th Finance Commission’s report, the Union government raised 62.7% of the total resources raised by the Union government and States, while States had borne 62.4% of the aggregate expenditure for the 2019 fiscal year.

Image source: The Hindu

Failure to ensure mandated devolution to states as per Finance Commission recommendations:

• Despite the Finance Commission’s recommendations for increasing the States’ share in Central taxes, the actual share of states has never reached the mandated level as per Finance Commission recommendations. In fact, the gap between the actual devolution and the level recommended by the Finance Commission has widened to more than 11 percentage points, the highest in at least two decades.
• Though successive Finance Commissions have recommended an increase in the divisible pool, the share of the States in the divisible pool has been almost stagnant at around 29% after having reached a peak of 36.6% in FY19.

Image source: The Hindu

Increasing use of cesses and surcharges:

• In the past few years, the share of cesses and surcharges in gross tax revenue has risen significantly. The Union government has been able to beef up its revenue by levying cesses and surcharges which are not shareable with the States.
• This is the reason why States’ share of gross tax revenue witnessed a sharp decline in the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years, though the share of the Union government’s share continued to rise.

Image source: The Hindu

• Notably, over the years, a large chunk of the cesses levied have not been transferred to the Reserve Funds for their intended purpose.

For more related information on the topic of fiscal federalism in India and associated concerns refer to the following article:

CNA dated July 28, 2022: The poor state of India’s fiscal federalism

Nut Graf: The lower share of the States in the divisible pool despite them having to carry a higher burden of expenditure results in an imbalance which does not augur well for the growth and development of India. The concerns raised by the Chief Ministers appear to be valid and require redressal.
Category: EDUCATION

1. Not centres of learning yet

Syllabus: GS-2, Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education.

Mains: Importance of the Early childhood care and education; Functioning of the Anganwadi services scheme.

Context:

• The article evaluates the functioning of the Anganwadis centres.

Background:

• The Anganwadi system is a part of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the government.
  • The Umbrella ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The ICDS scheme is designed to support all children under six with their health, nutrition, and education needs.
• Anganwadi Services Scheme is a programme for early childhood care and development of 0 to 6-year-olds. The other beneficiaries under the Scheme are pregnant women and lactating mothers. It provides a package of six services namely supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition & health education, immunisation, health check-up and referral services.
• The Anganwadi system serves over 30 million children in the age group of 3-6 in 1.3 million centres across the country.

Concerns:

The Anganwadi scheme is yet to fulfil its potential due to the following reasons.

Issue of low attendance:

• While across India over 70% of children are enrolled in Anganwadis, they are plagued by the issue of low attendance. This can adversely impact the development process of the children as they fail to develop early language, early numeracy, socio-emotional, executive function, and motor skills.

Poor perception of anganwadis among the parents:

• Most parents do not perceive Anganwadi centres as centres of learning.
• As against the perception among parents, that learning English and maths skills are essential for meaningful education of their children, the Anganwadi system instead focuses on local language-driven, play-based and activity-based learning for the children in the age group of 3-6 years.

Diversion towards private preschools:

• Parents are leaving the Anganwadi system and are sending their children to private preschools. The excessive focus on rote-based learning and memorisation of letters and numbers does not augur well for the development of the child.
  • Over 7 million children in India attend private preschools.

Recommendations:

Ensuring cognitive, literacy and numeracy skills among children:

• Anganwadi centres apart from following their regular daily schedules based on self-directed free play should also try and inculcate teacher-led activities focused on developing cognitive, literacy and numeracy skills.
  • Respecting the aspirations and demands of the parents for English language skills, children enrolled in anganwadis must be exposed to the English language at an early age in an age-appropriate, non-intimidating way — while also recognising that the language spoken at home is the best way to reach fluency in any other language.
  • With respect to writing, the children must be made to use pencils for a few minutes a day. This will help support fine motor skills and later writing in the children.
  • With respect to maths skills, the educators must try and exhibit the wonder of maths through fun activities like estimation, comparison, sorting, and seriation. This will go a long way in reducing the fear and paralysis of maths that gets in their way of succeeding in STEM in later years.

Engaging with parents:

• Anganwadis must conduct regular Shiksha Choupals (parent-teacher meetings) to showcase the learning happening in the Anganwadi to the parent community. This will help build trust in the Anganwadi system in the parent community.
• Also, regular engagement with the parents will help them support the learning process of the children in the confines of home as well.

Nut Graf: Given the importance of early childhood care & education in the development of the child and the society at large and the role of the Anganwadi system in it, all efforts must be made to improve the functioning of the Anganwadi centres.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with regards to Commission for Agricultural Costs 
and Prices: (Level – Medium)

1. The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.
2. CACP submits its recommendations to the government in the form of Price Policy Reports every year, separately for five groups of commodities namely Kharif crops, Rabi crops, Sugarcane, Raw Jute and Copra.
3. MSP for major agricultural products are fixed by the government, each year, after taking into account the recommendations of the Commission.

Choose the correct code:

1. 1 & 2 only
2. 2 & 3 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. All of the above

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.
• Statement 2 is correct, CACP submits its recommendations to the government in the form of Price Policy Reports every year, separately for five groups of commodities namely Kharif crops, Rabi crops, Sugarcane, Raw Jute and Copra.
• Statement 3 is correct, MSP for major agricultural products are fixed by the government, each year, after taking into account the recommendations of the Commission.
  • As of now, CACP recommends MSPs of 23 commodities, which comprise 7 kinds of cereal, 5 pulses, 7 oilseeds and 4 commercial crops.

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to the Zonal Councils in India: 
(Level – Easy)

1. Zonal Councils are statutory bodies set up under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
2. All the Zonal Councils are headed by the Prime Minister.
3. The Central Zonal Council comprises the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Choose the correct code:

1. 1 & 2 only
2. 2 & 3 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. All of the above

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, Zonal Councils are statutory bodies and are established by the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Union Home Minister is the common chairman of zonal councils.
• Statement 3 is correct, The Central Zonal Council comprises the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Q3. Consider the following statements with regards to the Gorkha soldiers of Nepal: 
(Level – Difficult)

1. The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, for which, the soldiers are recruited from Nepal.
2. Traditionally, the Chief of the Army Staff of the Nepali Army visits India at the earliest after assumption of the post, during which he is conferred with the rank of an ‘Honorary General’ of the Indian Army by the President of India.
3. The Gorkha soldiers of Nepal serving in the Indian army aren’t eligible for gallantry medals such as the Param Vir Chakra since they aren’t Indian citizens.

Choose the correct code:

1. 1 & 3 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 & 2 only
4. All of the above

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, for which, the soldiers are recruited from Nepal.
• Statement 2 is correct, Based on an age-old tradition existing between the armies of both countries, the Nepal Army Chief after assumption of the post visits India and will be conferred with the Honorary Rank of “General of Indian Army” by the President of India.
• Statement 3 is not correct,  The Gorkha soldiers serving in the Indian army are eligible for gallantry medals such as the Param Vir Chakra and have won several such medals in the past.

Q4. Consider the following statements with regards to Bharat Stage – VI emission 
norms: (Level – Medium)

1. In BS-VI fuel, the volume of PM 2.5 ranges from 20 to 40 micrograms per cubic metre whereas in BS-IV fuel it is up to 120 micrograms per cubic metre.
2. The cost of producing BS VI grade fuels is higher compared to BS IV fuels.
3. Retrofitment of CNG & LPG kit is not allowed in BS – VI compliant petrol and diesel vehicles.

Choose the correct code:

1. 1 & 2 only
2. 2 & 3 only
3. 1 & 3 only
4. All of the above

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, In BS-VI fuel, the volume of PM 2.5 ranges from 20 to 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Whereas in BS-IV fuel it is up to 120 micrograms per cubic metre.
• Statement 2 is correct, BS-VI grade fuels will cost marginally higher than the BS-IV fuels.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The government has allowed retrofitment of CNG and LPG kits in petrol and diesel vehicles that are compliant with BS-VI emission norms.

Q5. With reference to ‘Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology’, which of the following 
statements is/are correct? (Level – Easy) PYQ (2015)

1. It is a contactless communication technology that uses electromagnetic radio fields.
2. NFC is designed for use by devices which can be at a distance of even a metre from each other.
3. NFC can use encryption when sending sensitive information.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct, Near Field Communication (NFC) is a contactless communication technology based on an electromagnetic radio frequency (RF).
• Statement 2 is not correct, It uses a base frequency of 13.56 MHz. NFC technology is perfectly designed to exchange data between two devices through a simple touch gesture. NFC technology is designed for an operating distance of a few centimetres.
• Statement 3 is correct, NFC can use encryption when sending sensitive information.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Rampant development of mountain areas over the years has upset the sensitive ecological balance of the Himalayas. Illustrate the consequences with examples. (250 words; 15 marks) (GS III – Disaster Management)
2. The share of the States in the divisible pool of taxes is shrinking despite their carrying a higher burden of expenditure. Examine. (250 words; 15 marks) (GS III – Economy)

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 23 Aug 2022:- Download PDF Here