08 Dec 2018: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

Context

• Kashmir-based literary bodies are up in arms against a move by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to withdraw Kashmiri translations from its language-promoting portal, Bhasha Sangam, after Kashmiri Pandits objected to the “regional script” of the language.
• The MHRD website, Bhasha Sangam, took down the Persian script, which is written from right to left like Urdu, and is widely used by the Muslim population of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Pandits prefer the Sharda script, which was in vogue around the 8th Century and is influenced by Sanskrit.
• Writer M.K. Kaw was the first Kashmiri Pandit to push a proposal in 2005 before the HRD Minister to change the script. However, it was opposed in Kashmir and the proposal was shelved.

Bhasha Sangam

• The government has launched a unique initiative called Bhasha Sangam to introduce school students to 22 Indian languages.
• The initiative under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat; Bhasha Sangam is a programme for schools and educational institutions to provide multilingual exposure to students in Indian languages.
• Another objective of Bhasha Sangam is to enhance linguistic tolerance and respect and promote national integration.
• There are 22 languages listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution but most students are familiar with only one or two languages.

 Ek  Bharat  Shreshtha  Bharat

• Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat was announced on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 31st October (Ekta Divas).
• Through this innovative measure, the knowledge of the culture, traditions and practices of different states & UTs will lead to an enhanced understanding and bonding between the states, thereby strengthening the unity and integrity of India.

 The Broad Objectives of the initiative are

• To celebrate the unity in diversity of our nation and to maintain and strengthen the fabric of traditionally existing emotional bonds between the people of our country
• To promote the spirit of national integration through a deep and structured engagement between all states and union territories through a year-long planned engagement between states.
• To showcase the rich heritage and culture, customs and traditions of either state for enabling people to understand and appreciate the diversity that is India, thus fostering a sense of common identity.
• To create an environment which promotes learning between states by sharing best practices and experiences.

C. GS3 Related

• Current account deficit (CA) widened to 2.9% of GDP for the July-September quarter due to higher trade deficit compared with 1.1% during the same period of the previous year, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.
• “The deficit widened due to sharp rise in oil prices. But now prices have corrected 31% from peak levels. Exports also picked up after rupee weakened against the dollar.
• The central bank had intervened in the currency market by selling dollars to arrest the sharp fall in rupee. In 2018 till October, the rupee had weakened 15% against the dollar but reversed trend in November as oil prices softened. Latest data released on Friday showed foreign exchange reserves increased by $ 932.8 million to $393.718 billion in the week to November 30.
• Overall, the country’s balance of payments was in deficit of $1.9 billion in the July-September quarter as compared with a surplus of $9.5 billion in the year ago period.

Balance of Payments

• Countries trade with one another to buy and sell the goods. With the advent of globalization, investment to and from have also increased many fold. A country’s trade and other economic exchanges with the world are recorded on its external account in the form of balance of payment (BoP) transactions.
• There are two components of BoP – Current Account  and Capital Account

 Current Account

• It deals with current, ongoing, short term transactions like trade in goods, services (invisible) etc. It reflects the nation’s net income.

The components of Current Account

• Goods – trade in goods
• Services (invisible) – trade in services e.g. tourism
• Income – investment income
• Current unilateral transfers – donations, gifts, grants, remittances Note that grants might appear as component of capital account but are included in current account as they are unilateral, create no liability. Recipient does not have to give anything back in return.

Capital Account

• It deals with capital transactions i.e. those transactions which create assets or liabilities. It reflects the net changes in the ownership of national assets.

Components of Capital Account

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
• Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI)
• External Borrowings such as ECB
• Reserve Account with the Central Bank

The foreign investment is under capital account but dividends and income from investment comes under current account in the category income from abroad as dividend is transferred periodically, does not result in creation of asset or liability.

Context

• A breakaway faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), led by Khango Konyak, has decided to revoke its decision of unilaterally abrogating the ceasefire agreement with the Union government with immediate effect.

Details of the issue

• The chairman and general secretary of the NSCN(K) faction, Konyak and Isak Sumi, said in a joint statement that the outfit resolved to revoke the unilateral decision after holding wide consultations with NGOs and civil society groups of Nagaland in the past one month.
• The statement said that the appeal made by various organisations and the “positive response” by the Government of India were also factors that led to its decision.
• The NSCN(K) expects the Centre to respond positively by honouring its decision to revive the ceasefire in the interest of peace in Nagaland and the Naga people in general, the statement said.

NSCM

• Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland, was formed to advance the Naga cause for sovereignty.
• This organisation has operations in the Naga inhabited regions of India & Myanmar, with easy cross border access.
• This group has had major splits. Issac-Muivah faction (NSCN – IM) is currently involved in peace talks with the Indian government, while the Kaplang faction with its major operations in Myanmar is designated as a terror outfit by India.

Greater Nagalim

• A “Greater Nagalim” comprising “all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas”, along with Nagaland. That included several districts of Assam, Arunachal and Manipur, as also a large tract of Myanmar. The map of “Greater Nagalim” has about 1,20,000 sq km, while the state of Nagaland consists of 16,527 sq km.
• The claims have always kept Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh wary of a peace settlement that might affect their territories.
• The Nagaland Assembly has endorsed the ‘Greater Nagalim’ demand — “Integration of all Naga-inhabited contiguous areas under one administrative umbrella” — as many as five times: in December 1964, August 1970, September 1994, December 2003 and as recently as on July 27, 2015.
• The NSCN (Isak-Muivah) has been engaged in peace talks with the interlocutor of the Central government since 1997, when it announced a ceasefire agreement after an insurgency movement that started in Nagaland soon after India’s Independence.
• The NSCN(K) had signed ceasefire with the Centre in 2001 but unilaterally abrogated (repeal or do away) it in March 2015 when the then chairman of the group, S.S. Khaplang, was alive.
• In 2015, the Centre signed a framework agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) to end the long- drawn Naga insurgency after it agreed to give up the demand for sovereignty. Six Naga political groups joined the discussions later.
• The Union government has also started separate talks with working committees of six Naga nationalist political groups since 2017.

Context

• A research paper co-authored by leading agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, which describes Bt cotton as a ‘failure,’ was criticised by India’s Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA), K. VijayRaghavan as ‘deeply flawed’.

Details of the issue

• The paper, ‘Modern Technologies for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security’, appears in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Current Science. It is authored by P.C. Kesavan and Prof. Swaminathan, senior functionaries of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
• The article is a review of crop development in India and transgenic crops — particularly Bt cotton, the stalled Bt brinjal as well as DMH-11, a transgenic mustard hybrid. The latter two have been cleared by scientific regulators but not by the Centre.
• “There is no doubt that GE (genetically engineered) Bt cotton has failed in India. It has failed as a sustainable agriculture technology and has, therefore, also failed to provide livelihood security for cotton farmers who are mainly resource-poor, small and marginal farmers,” according to the paper, “…The precautionary principle (PP) has been done away with and no science-based and rigorous biosafety protocols and evaluation of GM crops are in place.”
• The piece also raises questions on the genetic engineering technology itself on the grounds that it raises the cost of sowing. Also, the insertion of foreign genes (in the plant) could lead to “molecular and cellular events not precisely understood.”
• “The Kesavan and Swaminathan ‘Review’ (sic) is deeply flawed and full of errors. Needs scientific rebuttal,” Mr. VijayRaghavan tweeted from his personal account. Before being appointed the PSA, Mr. VijayRaghavan, a biologist, was Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, which funds a variety of molecular biology projects. Mr. Kesavan, who is the lead author of the piece, told The Hindu that he was unaware of Mr. VijayRaghavan’s comment but was expecting a “scientific, point-by-point response (of any flaws).”
• Swaminathan, credited with leading India’s Green Revolution, has in recent years advocated ‘sustainable agriculture’ and said the government should only use genetic engineering as a last resort. “…Swaminathan emphasised that genetic engineering technology is supplementary and must be need based. Only in very rare circumstance (less than 1%) may there arise a need for the use of this technology,” according to the paper.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)

• Genetically Modified Organisms, are the ones in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way as to get the required quality.
• The technology is often called ‘gene technology’, or ‘recombinant DNA technology’ or ‘genetic engineering’ and the resulting organism is said to be ‘genetically modified’, ‘genetically engineered’ or ‘transgenic’.

Advantages of GM crops

• Crop Protection: The initial objective for developing GM plants was to improve crop protection. GM crops have improved resistance to diseases, pest, insects and herbicides. They also have improved tolerance to cold/heat, drought and salinity.
• Insect resistance is achieved by incorporating into the food plant the gene for toxin production from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).
• Virus resistance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from certain viruses which cause disease in plants.
• Herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene from a bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides.
• Economic benefits: GM crops can increase yield and thus income.
• Genetically modified foods have a longer shelf life. This improves how long they last and stay fresh during transportation and storage.
• Food Security: Given the increased growth of global population and increased urbanisation, GM crops offer one of the promising solutions to meet the world’s food security needs.

 Issues with GM crops

• Human Health Risks – Potential impact on human health including allergens and transfer of antibiotic resistance markers
• Environmental concerns: They can reduce species diversity. For example, Insect-resistant plants might harm insects that are not their intended target and thus result in destruction of that particular species.
• GM technology could also allow the transfer of genes from one crop to another, creating “super weeds”, which will be immune to common control methods.
• Viral genes added to crops to confer resistance might be transferred to other viral pathogens, which can lead to new and more virulent virus strains.
• Economic Concerns: Introduction of a GM crop to market is a lengthy and costly process.
• It does not result in high yields as promised. For instance, the highest yields in mustard are from the five countries which do not grow GM mustard — U.K., France, Poland, Germany and Czech Republic — and not from the GM-growing U.S. or Canada.
• Critics claim that patent laws give developers of the GM crops a dangerous degree of control over the food supply. The concern is over domination of world food production by a few companies.
• Ethical Concerns: Violation of natural organisms’ intrinsic values by mixing among species There have also been objections to consuming animal genes in plants.

Context

• The committee constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to enquire into the death of tiger T-1 (the official name of the tigress known as Avni) in Pandharkawada on November 2, has concluded that the dart shot to immobilise the big cat had been used about 56 hours after it was prepared, well past the recommended 24 hours.
• The probe panel also faulted the planning and conduct of the operation that resulted in the tigress being shot and killed.

National Tiger Conservation Authority     

• NTCA is a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change.
• It was provided statutory status by the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006 which had amended Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It addresses the administrative as well as ecological concerns for conserving tigers, by providing a statutory basis for protection of tiger reserves.
• It also provides strengthened institutional mechanisms for the protection of ecologically sensitive areas and endangered species.
• It ensures enforcing of guidelines for tiger conservation and monitoring compliance of the same.
• It also places motivated and trained officers having good track record as Field Directors of tiger reserves.

Related Concept – Project Tiger

• Aims at conserving India’s national animal i.e. Tiger.
• Launched in 1973
• Currently there are 50 tiger reserves
• The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy.
• The core areas have the legal status of a national park or a sanctuary, whereas the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land, managed as a multiple use area.
• The Project Tiger aims to foster an exclusive tiger agenda in the core areas of tiger reserves, with an inclusive people oriented agenda in the buffer.
• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change providing central assistance to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory / coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Wild tigers are found in 18 States in India.
• The All India tiger estimation is carried out once in every four years.

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Larger Background:

• The term, ‘De-notified and Nomadic Tribes’, can be traced to the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871.
• The colonial government notified nearly 200 tribal communities to be hereditary criminals, cementing their societal identity as outcasts and subjecting them to constant harassment by the administration.
• After India gained Independence, these tribes were ‘de-notified’ from the list of Criminal Tribes, and, hence, the term.

Editorial Analysis:

• Experts point out that several reasons can be ascribed to the state-sanctioned stigmatisation of the DNTs in India under British rule, including the strategy to identify their allies and at the same time, subdue and monitor activities of rebellious tribal communities in India.

A Look at the Draconian Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871

• It is important to note that the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) of 1871 allowed for close supervision and control over the mobility of the tribes which were notified by the provincial governments.
• The Act was amended in 1897, 1908 and 1911 to give sweeping powers to the authorities, some as draconian as allowing the state to remove any child of the age of six and above from its ‘criminal’ parents. By 1924, certain provisions were amended, and the Act was finally applicable to the whole of British India. Along with the introduction of laws such as the Forest Acts and the Salt Tax Act, the British threw a noose around the the lives of DNTs using stringent regulations.
• It is only in independent India that the need was felt to shift the collective burden of criminality to the individual, which led to the CTA being repealed and the Habitual Offenders Act (HOA) being enacted in various States. However, not all States enacted it.  

A Look at the Present Situation

• Currently, a variant of the HOA Model Bill as proposed by the Union Government then stands enforced in 10 States across the country, having been enacted in many more.
• However, critics point out that the HOA functioned as a mere extension of the CTA. Nomadic and semi-nomadic communities continued to face harassment at the hands of law enforcement agencies.
• Critics add that the mere repeal of the CTA could not change the mindset of government officials or members of society. The fact is that even in the 21st century, DNTs continue to face ostracisation by society at large.
• Also, given their centuries-old tradition of constant movement, they often do not possess any residential proof, which leaves them out of the majority of the government’s developmental schemes. Those deemed eligible for such schemes were randomly grouped under the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes categories. As a result, most members of the DNTs continue to be out of the orbit of steps being taken to end discrimination (picture shows DNTs staging a demonstration in Madurai, Tamil Nadu).

The Way Forward

• • To address these issues, the first National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) was constituted in 2003, and reconstituted two years later under the chairpersonship of Balkrishna Renke, which submitted its report in 2008.
  • The recommendations put forward found an echo in the Idate Commission, constituted with the similar mandate in 2015, and currently withholding public release of its report. However, denied funding by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in fulfilling its mandate of carrying out survey and field validation work, some experts have pointed out that the Idate Commission Report lacks the scientific data necessary to introduce reforms to address the plight of DNTs.
  • It is important to note that the NCDNT report clearly recommends repealing the various HOAs. This has also been the constant refrain of community leaders, representatives and civil society organisations — as the Act still casts its shadow of the state on communities.

• Experts have pointed out that the onus is thus upon the lawmakers, who are at the helm of democratic institutions that govern the country, to finally bring down the curtains on this age-old, state-sanctioned stigmatisation, and act upon the demands put forth by the DNTs.

• However, it is important to learn from previous mistakes. A mere repeal of the law will not address their need for establishing society-wide changes to gain access to political-social-economic welfare. Thus, the repeal of the HOA has to be accompanied by a slew of legal reforms to address the multitude of issues DNT communities face.
• It is important to note that their unique lifestyle requires positive affirmation and development policies that cater to their long-standing and overlooked needs.
• Further, it should be the duty of the government to be proactive and reach out to the DNTs since the latter would understandably refrain from seeking state help.

1. Luxembourg offers free mass transit for all

2. ‘Issue caste certificate for Hanuman’

3. ‘Religious education can counter terror’

4. Social media sites told to filter content using AI

5. HC stays Art of Living event at Big Temple

1. Mechanism to allow cultivation of GM crops in India

2. BT Cotton

3. BT Brinjal

4. HT Mustard

Question 1. The PJ Nayak Committee report which was published in May 2014 is related to reforms in 

1. Banking sector
2. Agricultural sector
3. Education sector
4. Industrial sector

See

Question 2. Consider the statements regarding the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP):

1. India is the first country in the world to develop a document on ICAP
2. Ministry of Environment and Forest Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released the draft on ICAP.

Choose the correct option:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 and 2

See

Question 3. Consider the following statements regarding ‘e-Sahaj’ portal:

1. It has been made to grant security clearance to private business individuals
2. It comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Choose the right code:

1. 1 Only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

See

I. Practice Questions for UPSC Mains Exam