CNA 27 Dec 2019:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A.GS1 Related GEOGRAPHY 1. Annular Solar Eclipse B.GS2 Related POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. NPR: house to house verification planned INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Violent protests rock Iraq over PM pick C.GS3 Related ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY 1. Gujarat battles locust swarms with pesticides DEFENCE 1. Civil – Military Relations (CMR) in India D.GS4 Related E. Editorials POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. The Data Protection Bill only weakens user rights INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Cracks in the relic: on U.S.-Turkey relations F. Tidbits 1. China, Russia and Iran to hold naval drills in Gulf of Oman G. Prelims Fact H. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam I. Practice Questions for UPSC Mains Exam
A. GS1 Related
What is an Eclipse?
- An eclipse happens when the moon while orbiting the Earth, comes in between the sun and the Earth, due to which the moon blocks the sun’s light from reaching the Earth, causing an eclipse of the sun or a solar eclipse.
Three types of eclipses
- Total Solar Eclipse-Moon completely covers the Sun.
- It is visible only from a small area on Earth.
- A total solar eclipse happens when the Sun, Moon and Earth are in a direct line.
- The second type of a solar eclipse is a partial solar eclipse, in which the shadow of the Moon appears on a small part of the Sun.
- The third kind is an Annular Solar Eclipse, which happens when the Moon is farthest from the Earth, which is why it seems smaller.
- The Moon covers the centre of the Sun, giving the appearance of a bright ring.
- The key difference between Annular and Total is that the Moon is further away from the Earth during an Annular as compared to a Total Eclipse.
- There are no annular lunar eclipses because Earth is much bigger than the Moon, and its shadow will never be small enough to leave a ring.
Shadows
During a solar eclipse, the Moon casts two shadows on the Earth:
- The first one is called the umbra, which gets smaller as it reaches the Earth.
- The second one is called the penumbra, which gets larger as it reaches the Earth.
Is it safe to view solar eclipses?
- NASA maintains that the Sun can be viewed safely using the naked eye only during a total eclipse, while during partial and annular solar eclipses, the Sun should not be viewed without proper equipment and techniques.
- Not using proper methods and equipment for viewing can cause permanent eye damage or severe visual loss, it says.
- Safety equipment includes eclipse glasses and using appropriate solar filters for covering binoculars, telescopes and cameras.
Context
- Different stages of the annular solar eclipse as seen from Dindigul in Tamil Nadu.
B. GS2 Related
Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. NPR: house to house verification planned
- The National Population Register (NPR) is a register of the usual residents of the country.
- It contains information collected at the local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
- The process of updating NPR will be carried out under the aegis of the Registrar General and ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.
Who is Usual Resident of India?
- A usual resident is defined, for the purposes of the NPR, as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months.
What information will be collected under NPR?
The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic particulars such as:
- Name
- Relationship to head of household
- Father’s name
- Mother’s name
- Spouse’s name (if married)
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Marital status
- Place of birth
- Nationality (as declared)
- Present address of usual residence
- Duration of stay at present address
- Permanent residential address
- Occupation
- Educational qualification
What type of questions could be asked?
For more on this issue refer:
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Violent protests rock Iraq over PM pick
For more on this issue refer:
C. GS3 Related
Category: ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY
1. Gujarat battles locust swarms with pesticides
For more on this issue refer:
1. Civil – Military Relations (CMR) in India
Introduction
- The Constitution of India lays down the framework within which the Union, i.e. the Government of India, and the States are required to carry out their respective responsibilities. List 1 of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India enumerates the subjects which are to be dealt with by the Government of India. In this list, the Government of India has been assigned responsibility for ensuring the “Defence of India and every part thereof”.
- The Supreme Command of the Armed Forces rests with the President.
- The responsibility for national defence rests with the Cabinet.
- This responsibility is discharged through the Ministry of Defence, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in the context of the defence of the country.
- The Raksha Mantri is the head of the Ministry of Defence.
- The principal task of the Defence Ministry is to obtain policy directions of the Government on all defence- and security-related matters and see that these are implemented by the services headquarters, inter-service organisations, production establishments and research and development organisations.
- As provided by the Constitution, the various subjects in List 1 are distributed among the different departments in accordance with the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961. Under these Rules, the various matters relating to the Defence of India have been allocated to the Ministry of Defence, which comprises the Department of Defence, Department of Defence Production, Department of Defence Research and Development and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare.
What is CMR?
- The term “Civil–Military Relations” refers broadly to the interaction between the armed force of a state as an institution, and the political class and its machinery.
How has it helped India?
As a young democracy that saw many surrounding nations succumb to military interventions, the initial political leadership was wary of the military and kept the armed forces at an arm’s length in national affairs.
- The success of CMR in the Indian context is that we haven’t had a military takeover.
Unresolved issues
- In India, the military has been kept away from the national strategic decision-making process, which has been dominated by civil services.
- Using civilian control as a lever, the bureaucracy has arrogated to itself a massive role – one that is not practised around the globe. It has given a fillip to a bureaucratic system which seeks to exercise control over the military by isolating soldiers from their political masters through a layered tangle.
- This has harmed the national cause in two respects –
- Creation of a military leadership insular in its thought process and
- Consequently a nation deficit in a strategic planning process.
- The world over, national security strategic planning is the domain of the military under political leadership with the civilian bureaucracies participating and this can be recognized where the majority of people are with military background dominating the national security apparatus both in the west as well as in authoritarian regimes.
Conclusion
- The military men, especially the officer corps, which is the soul of any military, is specially selected by psychological profiling and trained by a lifetime of submitting to military discipline.
- Therefore senior military officers should be given exposure in government bureaucracies and be made a part of the strategic planning process.
- A certain amount of tension between the principal (the political class) and the agent (the military) is inevitable; creative tensions, as evident in civil-military disputes across the globe, may be helpful in refining existing structures and responses.
Context
- Army chief: leading crowds for arson is not leadership.
D. GS4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Cracks in the relic: on U.S.-Turkey relations
Context
- There are growing tensions in U.S.-Turkey relations which have the possibility to upset the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) unity.
- Turkish President Erdoğan has threatened to shut down two U.S. bases in retaliation for the proposed American sanctions on Ankara over purchasing Russian weapons.
Background
- U.S.-Turkey ties began slumping in recent years after Washington’s refusal to extradite Fethullah Gülen, a U.S.-based Turkish Islamic preacher who is accused by Ankara of orchestrating the failed 2016 coup against Mr. Erdoğan.
- Turkey’s decision to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system despite U.S.-NATO opposition was the tipping point.
- The Trump administration has suspended Turkey from the F-35 programme, citing concerns over Russia spying on the fighter jet’s capabilities using the S-400 system’s radar.
But turkey seems determined to go ahead with the S-400 deal and even buy advanced Russian aircraft if the U.S. does not deliver the F-35s.
America’s presence in Turkey
- The U.S. and Turkey are the largest and second-largest standing armies of NATO, respectively.
- There are U.S. nuclear warheads in the Incirlik airb̥ase, a critical facility for American operations in West Asia.
- It is a Turkish airbase.
- Constructed in 1955 with US assistance, the facility was NATO’s most important “southeast wing” airbase during the Cold War.
- Excluding Turkish forces, the US has the most troops deployed at the Incirlik airbase, with around 1,500 US military personnel on the ground, followed by the UK.
- Kürecik Radar Station is a military installation.
- It was established in 2012 for use by NATO as an early-warning radar against ballistic missile attacks.
Now Turkey has threatened to shut down Incirlik and Kurecik bases.
Impact on US operations
- It would change U.S. projections in the region as the base is of vital geopolitical significance for the Middle East.
Conclusion
The question the Atlantic alliance faces in this hour of crisis is not just whether the U.S. and Turkey would manage to resolve their differences, but also whether NATO, a Cold War relic, could stay relevant in a post-Cold War era where bilateral ties are fast-changing.
F. Tidbits
1. China, Russia and Iran to hold naval drills in Gulf of Oman
G. Prelims Facts
Nothing here for today!!!
H. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam
Q 1: Which of the following is/are correctly matched?
- Global Competitiveness Index- World Economic Forum
- Human Capital Index- World Bank
- World Economic Outlook- IMF
- Global Hunger Index- WHO
- Gender Inequality Index- UNDP
Options:
a. 1, 4 and 5 only
b. 2, 3 and 4 only
c. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
d. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
See
Q 2: Incirlik Air Base is in which country?
a. Djibouti
b. Saudi Arabia
c. Turkey
d. Indonesia
See Ans: c Explanation: Options: a. 1 and 2 only See
Options: a. 1 and 2 only See
Q 3: India is not a party to which of the following Pacts?
b. 1, 2 and 3 only
c. 3 and 4 only
d. 2, 3 and 4 onlyQ 4: Which of the following is/are the protected areas within Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve?
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 3 only
d. 1, 2 and 3
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Does the Data protection bill strike a balance between Personal privacy and National Security? Critically Analyze.
- The concentration of power in the hands of Civilian bureaucracy in defence should give way to power distribution with higher echelons in the military. Discuss.
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CNA 27 Dec 2019:- Download PDF Here
really very heaifull to achive the goal
You are awesome guys