08 Dec 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

08 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. Data of transgender prisoners to be included in reports: Centre
B. GS 2 Related
HEALTH
1. After SII, Bharat Biotech seeks DCGI approval
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. IMA to protest against new amendment
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. Investing in India's youth
ECONOMY
1. The ground has fallen out from beneath the farmer's feet
POVERTY/DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES
1. A 'duet' for India's urban women
F. Prelims Facts
G. Tidbits
1. India bucks China’s record export show
2. Only organic farming allowed in Lakshadweep
3. U.S., China dominate arms market: report
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. IMA to protest against new amendment

Context:

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will protest (following the COVID protocols) against the notification of the amendment to the post-graduate Ayurveda education regulations by the Central Council of Indian Medicine enabling post-graduate Ayurveda surgery students to study and practise modern medicine surgical procedures and techniques.

Background:

Recently, a Gazette of India notification was issued by the Central Council of Indian Medicine identifying surgical procedures that can be performed by post-graduate Ayurvedic doctors in Shalya (surgery).

This topic has been covered in 27^th November 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

Category: ECONOMY

1. The ground has fallen out from beneath the farmer’s feet

Context: Farmers’ march to Delhi protesting the recently passed Farm Acts.

Background: The passing of the following farm acts are believed to bring about a massive transformation in the way agriculture is going to be conducted in the future.

1. Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020.
2. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.
3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

 Details:

The criticism levelled against the above-mentioned acts ranges from being farmer unfriendly to the lack of deliberation over the legislation, from the absence of consultation with farmer groups to legality of such laws.

1. Federal nature of agriculture
   1. Agriculture is an item under state list, several legal experts believe it was wrong on the part of the central government to have taken the concurrent list route.
   2. Though the Concurrent list enabled the Central Government to make laws on agriculture, the federal nature of agriculture meant that the Centre should have taken the states on board and arrived at a conclusion.
   3. The recent example of Goods and Services Act legislation highlighted that to ensure a scheme to be functional on a pan India basis, it requires a great deal of cooperation from states, especially in areas such as agriculture where they have a central role.
   4. The farm acts will dispossess states of revenue via cess or levy, and the fact that three state governments headed by opposition parties have come up with their own farm laws to negate the central farm acts has led to a roadblock.
   5. Therefore it is imperative that there is a need to have a robust consultative mechanism to discuss legislations which have pan-India ramifications and this is very much essential to have cooperative federalism.
2. Power differential
   1. Acts have transformed buying and selling farm produce into a form of stock exchange trade.
   2. The digital contractual terms are alien to most small and marginal farmers.
   3. The lack of experience and capability to deal with this may bring in ‘middlemen’ into the equation.
   4. There is a possibility of hefty legal costs associated with drafting a contract especially when it is with a multinational company to be offloaded on the farmers.
   5. The legal language can be vague, open-ended, tortuous which may lead to further exploitation of farmers. There have been multiple usages of terms like “extraordinary circumstances”, “extraordinary price rise”, this could probably be the doorway to multiple interpretations leading to disputes.
   6. The fundamental right to carry out trade under Article 19(1)(f) is impeded, farmers’ livelihood is being threatened, which can be taken as a threat to Article 21.
3. Bounded definition of “farmer”
   1. The Acts in their definition of a farmer tend to leave out cropper, tiller, labourer, etc.
   2. This will leave certain individuals involved in cultivation to be excluded from the purview of the acts.
   3. Such exclusion will restrict the farmers from enjoying certain rights that they should be ideally entitled to.
   4. The “farming agreement”, places power in the hand of a sponsor to refuse the yield. This includes refusing the produce of the farmer without having to provide a legitimate reason.
   5. The conflict of interest has been ignored, the sponsor is also given the powers to check legal compliance, this will lead to nothing but the exploitation of farmers by such sponsors.
4. Conditional trade
   1. The Acts permit trade to take place only when the product is of “mutually acceptable quality, grade and standard”.
   2. The above clause is open-ended and pushes farmers to go the extra mile to achieve the acceptable standards which might pace way to over-usage of land either by excess plantation or by excess use of chemicals. This may in longer run lead to land degradation.
   3. The quality assessment is carried out by a “third party”. This provision doesn’t have any precaution against favouritism and prejudice. This “third party” quality assessment is vulnerable to be overpowered by big MNCs and place the farmers at a disadvantage.
5. Dispute resolution provisions
   1. The acts have created ambiguity over who can represent the parties involved in a dispute.
   2. The act makes the Sub-Divisional Magistrate responsible if there is no explicit provision of a conciliation process in the farming agreement.
6. Right to appeal
   1. The farmers are bereft of a right to appeal a decision given by the Sub-Divisional authority.
   2. The total absence of a window to appeal is against the spirit of rule of law.

Conclusion

The Farm acts have to place the best interests of the farmers above everything. It has to be kept in mind that the farmers represent a vulnerable community, vulnerable to price shocks and weather patterns and the acts have opened them up to new forms of exploitation in the form of contractual issues, quality standards, lack of appeal mechanism.
Category: POVERTY/DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES

1. A ‘duet’ for India’s urban women

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions over the insecurities faced by the poor, especially the urban poor.
• The migrant crisis which saw thousands of migrants caught between the workplace and home highlighted the difficulties faced by them.

Context:

• The urban poor face vulnerability on two fronts, i.e, at the individual level like unemployment, health issues; and at the community level with events like lockdown, floods, etc.
• Social protection for this section of the population is desired; the designs of social protection are yet to be finalized.

Details

• The Indian urban poor constitute rural migrant population within the state, interstate migrants, and the local population.
• The push factors of rural setup and pull factors of urban centres have contributed to high immigration to cities.
• The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. More than half of the world’s population now lives in towns and cities, and by 2030 this number will swell to about 5 billion. Much of this urbanization will unfold in Africa and Asia, bringing huge social, economic and environmental transformations.
• The 2011 census states that around 31.74% population reside in the urban cities. The flocking of people to cities have accentuated the vulnerabilities of the urban poor.
• The cut-throat completion at the job market, want of space to live and a strained urban infrastructure have exposed the urban poor to several vulnerabilities.

Social protection in urban centres

• The options seem to be limited, the universalization of Public Distribution System (PDS) under the National Food Security Act, 2013 is one way, but it doesn’t provide a complete cushion.
• Employment-based support is another way; this is a more attractive option given its multiplier effect on the economy as well as on the individual.

Decentralised Urban Employment Training (DUET)

• This is a proposal by Jean Dreze, an economist and a social scientist.
• The DUET works on the concept of ‘Job stamps’. This is a unique concept that can help in job creation for the urban poor.
• The working principle behind “Job stamp” is that each stamp represents one day of work at the minimum wages.
• These stamps would be issued by the government, state or union and distributed liberally to certain designated public institutions like schools, colleges, hostels, health centres, railway stations, public sector enterprises, urban local bodies, etc.
• The above-mentioned institutions will have the freedom to use these stamps to hire labour for odd jobs and minuscule projects that do not fit into the regular budgets and systems.
• Wages paid by the government will go directly to the worker’s bank account and avoid any malpractices or collusion. An independent placement agency would be established to take charge of assigning workers to employers.

Women empowerment, a key component of DUET

• Women are to be given priority. India has been ranked 112^th among 153 countries in the annual Global Gender Gap Index for 2020, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
• A National Sample Survey data suggests that only 20% of urban women in the age bracket 15 to 59 years spend time in “employment and related activities”.
• Wage employment to women can be a shot in the arm for women empowerment.
• Economic independence will foster a great degree of dignity and autonomy to women. This has the possibility of lifting the status of women at the societal, household level and also at the individual level.
• Gender inequality, female oppression and domestic violence can be tackled with increased economic independence of women.

Advantages of DUET

• Employment at minimum wages to the urban poor.
• Avoiding the need to maintain special staff.
• Can tackle the chronic problem of poor maintenance of public premises.
• A gradual expansion of the nature of jobs to include skilled workers like masons, carpenters, electricians would widen the range of jobs available.

Service voucher scheme in European countries

• The “service voucher” is not very dissimilar to “job stamps”, the point of divergence between the two is, in case of “service voucher”, it is used by the households in place of public institutions.
• Cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc. are examples of usage of “service voucher”, these vouchers are heavily subsidized, hence it incentivizes the household to get the work done at a lower than market price and in effect, it creates wage employment to poor.
• The DUET scheme requires the head of public institutions to exercise responsibility.

Conclusion:

• Wage employment enables the poor to live a dignified life, by creating employment opportunities. There can be multiple benefits such as an increase in consumption in the economy, better standard of living, lower crime rates, etc.

2. Only organic farming allowed in Lakshadweep

What’s in News?

With the entire Lakshadweep group of islands being declared an organic agricultural area, the island administration is eyeing an expansion of the traditional business in coconuts and coconut products through value addition, better marketing, and round-the-year processing.

Note:

• Lakshadweep is the first Union Territory to become 100 per cent organic as all farming is carried out without the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, providing access to safer food choices and making agriculture a more environment-friendly activity.
• The Ministry of Agriculture has declared the island as organic.
• In September 2020, Lakshadweep administration formally declared that its entire farming community was practising organic agriculture and using organic inputs such as compost, poultry manure, green leaf manure. The UT was following organic or biological methods for plant protection as well.
• Under the union government’s ‘One District One Product’ programme of food processing, the entire island is being considered as a single district and coconut oil has been identified as the product.

Ensuring the quality of the raw material through the declaration of the islands as an organic agricultural area and augmented processing facilities and marketing support will go a long way in giving a boost to the business.

3. U.S., China dominate arms market: report

What’s in News?

A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on the global arms market.

Key Findings:

• U.S. and Chinese companies dominated the global arms market in 2019.
  • The U.S. arms industry accounted for 61% of sales by the world’s “Top 25” manufacturers, ahead of China’s 15.7%.
  • The U.S. has dominated the market for decades.
• West Asia made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers.
• Total sales by the “Top 25” rose by 8.5% to $361 billion, or 50 times the annual budget of the UN’s peacekeeping operations.

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Lakshadweep:

Q2. Consider the following statements:

Q3. Consider the following statements:

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to the National Crime Records 
Bureau (NCRB):

08 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here