24 Dec 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 24 Dec 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY
1. Understanding the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. India seeks early return of democracy in Myanmar
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ECONOMY
1. This clean cooking fuel plan needs more firing up
2. Do Indians need insurance for bank deposits?
F. Prelims Facts
1. ‘Population not the sole factor in J&K delimitation’
G. Tidbits
1. Why the Indian Rupee is Weakening
2. CM Stalin launches green scheme
3. Not all Muslims oppose marriage Bill
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
FIP Magazine

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. India seeks early return of democracy in Myanmar

Topic: India and its Neighborhood – Relations.

Mains: India-Myanmar bilateral relationship – Significance and challenges

Context:

  • Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit to Myanmar.

Background:

  • The military, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, had displaced a democratically elected government in Myanmar through a military coup.
  • This was followed by protests by citizens demanding the restoration of democracy.
  • The military had launched a campaign against the democratic elements in Myanmar, while the democratic protest has received support from the insurgent groups in Myanmar’s forested regions that border India. This had given rise to a cycle of violence in Myanmar.

Also read: India – Myanmar relations

Details:

  • The visiting Foreign Secretary has called on the Myanmar administration for the early restoration of democracy and has also conveyed India’s offer to mediate between the various stakeholders to end the crisis in Myanmar through dialogue.
  • The foreign secretary raised India’s past engagements with different stakeholders to stabilise the country.
    • India had hosted various democratic groups of Myanmar for many years after the 1988 crackdown that forced them to seek shelter abroad.
  • India emphasized its interest in seeing normalcy return in Myanmar.
    • The large influx of displaced people from Myanmar into India and the escalating narcotic and insurgent movements in the northeastern States has added to India’s problems.
    • Given that India shares a 1700-km long border with Myanmar that runs along the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram, the developments in Myanmar would have a direct impact on India’s bordering regions. Hence peace and stability in Myanmar remain of utmost importance to India.

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

UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis of 22nd Dec 2021

2. Do Indians need insurance for bank deposits?

Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Prelims: Banking

Mains: Indian Economy

Context: 

  • Introduction of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) Amendment Bill, 2021.

About the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) Amendment Bill, 2021:

  • The deposit insurance scheme was upgraded through the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) Amendment Bill, 2021. 
  • It guarantees to compensate depositors up to a limit of ₹5 lakh within a period of 90 days from when a bank fails. 

Causes of raising the deposit insurance limit:

  • In India, the ₹1 lakh limit was set many decades ago. Now, if you do a simple calculation based on the inflation rate, the ₹1 lakh limit that was set in the 1990s is inadequate.
  • India’s insurance limit is much lower than those of several comparable economies, e.g. South Korea, USA, etc.
  • It is a step to try and infuse more confidence in the banking system. Raising the limit of deposit insurance will give confidence to depositors that if a bank does go down, they don’t need to run to the bank. They can keep their money in the bank, and the bank can continue operating without any financial trouble. 

Disadvantages of India’s deposit insurance system:

  • As India has implicit insurance of 100% of deposits, that is why it led to a lack of discipline in depositors and investors.
  • On the other hand, premiums the banks pay to deposit insurance agencies are flat premiums. Hence there is no difference among risky or less risky banks, both pay the same premium. In finance, it is not a fair practice.
  • Due to the lack of a risk-adjusted premium model, investors are not discerning enough to figure out the good banks.
  • In the current risk management system, RBI is always a few steps behind the banks. It always plays a catch-up game in terms of figuring out the true level of risk that banks have taken. 

Way Forward:

  • India needs to move to a more risk-adjusted premium model. Hence, risk information will reach depositors sooner and they will be more wary of investing money.
  • A better monitoring system of banks needs to be established.
  • At the time of a banking crisis, the government should manage this issue. In India specifically, the RBI can do this decent job of regulating the system.
  • The RBI and other regulatory agencies have to be really on top of the precise risk model, the disclosure of that information and quick action before a bank fails. To do this, the Indian banking system needs to have a good model to figure out which bank is under stress. 

F. Prelims Facts

1. ‘Population not the sole factor in J&K delimitation’

  • A provision in the delimitation acts from 1952 onwards states that other than population, factors like physical features, boundaries of administrative units, communication facilities and public convenience should be taken into account while drawing constituency boundaries.
    • Section 9 (1) (a) of the Delimitation Act, 2002, states that all “constituencies shall, as far as practicable, be geographically compact areas, and regard shall be had to physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience”.

G. Tidbits

1. Why the Indian Rupee is Weakening

  • The Indian rupee’s exchange rate has recorded a record slip in its value. The fall in its value is driven mainly by a widening trade deficit and foreign investors pulling out funds from equities.
  • Notably, however, the rupee’s fall is modest when compared to the currencies of other emerging economies.

2. CM Stalin launches green scheme

  • Tamil Nadu government has launched the ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme to promote the usage of cloth bags by the general public and discourage plastic bags.
  • Indiscriminate usage of single use plastic bags is contributing to plastic pollution. Plastic pollution has harmful effects on not only the flora and fauna of the world but is also found to adversely impact human health.

3. Not all Muslims oppose marriage Bill

  • While some political parties have opposed amendments to the child marriage law to raise the age of marriage for women to 21, terming them as an attack on personal laws, voices within the minority communities advocating equal rights, have welcomed the move.
    • The Supreme Court in Independent Thought versus Union of India, 2017, had held that the Prohibition of Child Marriage act will over-rule personal laws.
  • This has brought attention to the need to have a uniform civil code for all communities, as the lack of it is leading to deprivation of legislative protections when it comes to practices like polygamy, or child marriages or divorce in some cases.
  • Experts are of the view that unlike a blanket reform through a move like the Uniform Civil Code, piecemeal reforms in personal laws are more desirable.
    • In 2016, the Ministry of Law and Justice tasked the Law Commission to examine matters in relation to uniform civil code (UCC). In 2018, when the Commission submitted its Consultation Paper on Reform of Family Law it steered clear of making any recommendations on UCC and held that it was “neither necessary nor desirable” and favoured “piecemeal changes to laws”.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Which of the following statements about Lala Lajpat Rai is/are correct?
  1. He was elected President of the Indian National Congress at the Calcutta session.
  2. He was also elected as the President of the All India Trade Union Congress.
  3. In England, he became a member of the British Labour party.

Options:

  1. 2 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 1, 2 and 3
  4. None
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • One of the legendary triumvirates – Lal-Bal-Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal) of India’s freedom movement against the British colonial rule, Lala Lajpat Rai was a multi-faceted personality.
  • He was part of the Arya Samaj, founded and led by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Later on, he set up a Dayanand Anglo-Vedic school in Lahore.
  • As early as 1897, he had founded the Hindu Relief Movement to provide help to the famine-stricken people.
  • He visited USA and Japan where he kept in touch with the Indian revolutionaries. In England, he also became a member of the British Labour party.
  • In recognition of his outstanding role in the freedom movement, he was elected President of the Indian National Congress at the Calcutta session (1920).
  • As he took much interest in the condition of the working-class people, he was also elected as the President of the All India Trade Union Congress.
  • Gifted with a perceptive mind, he was a prolific writer and authored several works like – “Unhappy India”, “Young India: An Interpretation”, “History of Arya Samaj”, “England’s Debt to India” and a series of popular biographies on Mazzini, Garibaldi and Swami Dayanand. As a visionary and man with a mission, he founded the Punjab National Bank, the Lakshmi Insurance Company and the Servants of the Peoples Society at Lahore.
Q2. Special Commissioner appointed to contain the rise of Manyam Rebellion is 
  1. Augustus Abbott
  2. Thomas Adams
  3. T G Rutherford
  4. Robert Hope
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • The Rampa Rebellion of 1922, also known as the Manyam Rebellion, was a tribal uprising, led by Alluri Sitarama Raju in Godavari Agency of Madras Presidency, British India. It began in August 1922 and lasted until the capture and killing of Raju in May 1924.
  • Unable to contain the ‘Manyam’ uprising, the British Government deputed T G Rutherford in April 1924 to quell the movement.
Q3. Pralay recently seen in news is a/an 
  1. Indigenously-developed second generation, Anti-Tank Guided Missile
  2. Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile
  3. Surface-to-surface tactical Short-range Ballistic Missile (SRBM)
  4. All-weather multi-target tracking radar
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • Pralay is a canisterised surface-to-surface tactical short-range ballistic missile for battlefield use developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India
Q4. With respect to National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), which of the following statements
 is/are correct?
  1. It is a premier analytical testing & research organization established as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
  2. It is the only laboratory in the country responsible for human sports dope testing.

Options:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both
  4. None
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) is a premier analytical testing & research organization established as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
  • It is the only laboratory in the country responsible for human sports dope testing. It is accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories, NABL and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) (2008) for testing of urine & blood samples from human sports.
  • NDTL is one of the WADA accredited laboratories in the world.
Q5. With reference to ‘Quality Council of India (QCI)’, consider the following statements:
  1. QCI was set up jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry.
  2. Chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendations of the industry to the Government.

Which of the above statements is/are correct? [UPSC 2017]

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry represented by three premier industry associations i.e. ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI to establish and operate a national accreditation structure and promote quality through a national quality campaign.
  • The chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the industry to the government. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the nodal ministry for QCI.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. What kind of data is captured in the National Family Health Survey? How can such data be helpful in Government’s policymaking? (250 words; 15 marks)[GS-2, Governance]
  2. Evaluate the significance of the India-Myanmar relationship and its importance in ensuring peace in India’s Northeast region. (250 words; 15 marks)[GS-2, International Relations]

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 24 Dec 2021:- Download PDF Here

Comments

Leave a Comment

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published.

*

*