11 Feb 2023: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 11 Feb 2023:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
GEOGRAPHY
1. Lithium Deposits in India
INDIAN SOCIETY
1. Dawoodi Bohra Practice
B. GS 2 Related
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
SOCIAL JUSTICE
1. The battle against child marriage
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. India’s law and order matrix needs a reboot
F. Prelims Facts
1. Animal Welfare Board of India
G. Tidbits
1. Khelo India Winter Games
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
FIP Magazine

Category: INDIAN SOCIETY

1. Dawoodi Bohra Practice

Syllabus: Inequality and Exclusion

Mains: Judiciary on essential religious practice doctrine

Context: Larger Bench to hear plea against Dawoodi Bohra practice.

Introduction:

  • A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court referred to a larger Bench of nine judges a series of petitions challenging the authority of Dawoodi Bohra community leaders to excommunicate their members.
  • The five-judge Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul was dealing with the question of whether the practice of excommunication in the Dawoodi Bohra community could continue as a β€œprotected practice” despite the coming into force of the Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2016.
  • The reference to the five-judge Bench led by Justice Kaul was based on a 1962 judgement in the Sardar Syedna Taher Saifuddin vs The State Of Bombay case.Β 
  • Based on the doctrine of essential practices, the judiciary struck down the law that prohibited excommunications made by the Dai of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
    • The Bench had held that the religious faith and tenets of the Dawoodi Bohra community gave its religious heads the power of excommunication as part of their β€œmanagement of religious affairs” under Article 26(b) of the Constitution.

Doctrine of essential practices:

  • The doctrine of β€œessentiality” was invented by a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the β€˜Shirur Mutt’ case in 1954. The court held that the term β€œreligion” will cover all rituals and practices β€œintegral” to a religion, and took upon itself the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of a religion.
  • The essential religious practice test is a contentious doctrine evolved by the court to protect only such religious practices which were essential and integral to the religion.
  • The essential practices doctrine owes its existence to a speech made by B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly.
  • Ambedkar was striving to distinguish the religious from the secular, by arguing that the state should be allowed to intervene in matters that are connected to religion but are not intrinsically religious.

Read more on Judicial Doctrines

Who are the Dawoodi Bohras?

  • The Dawoodi Bohras are Shia Muslims whose leader is known as the Al-Dai-Al-Mutlaq. According to members of the community, there are around 1 million Dawoodi Bohras spread around the world.
  • For over 400 years, the leader of the community has been based in India, including the current and 53rd leader, His Holiness Dr Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin.
  • The leader of the community is recognised by the members as having the right to excommunicate its members. The practice was claimed to be essential to the Dawoodi Bohra faith.
    • In practical terms, excommunication means not being allowed to access a mosque belonging to the community or a burial dedicated to the community.
  • Among the members of the community who have faced excommunication in the past are those who contested the headship of the leaders.

Nut Graf: A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court referred a series of petitions to a larger Bench of nine judges to consider the broad issues on the interpretation of Articles 25 and 26 and the issue of challenging the constitutionality of the practice of excommunication of Dawoodi Bohra members by its community leaders.

G. Tidbits

1. Khelo India Winter Games

  • Khelo India Winter Games 2023 will take place in Gulmarg, Jammu and Kashmir from February 10 to 14.
  • The third edition of Khelo India Winter Games will feature over 1,500 athletes from across the nation, competing in 11 sports.
  • Alpine skiing, curling, bobsleigh, skeleton, snowshoe, Nordic skiing, snowboarding, ski mountaineering, ice skating, ice hockey and bandy will feature at the games.
  • Khelo India Winter Games is part of the Union government’s Khelo India program, which aims to promote sports at the grassroots level in the country.
  • Gulmarg and Leh were the joint hosts for the first two editions in 2020 and 2021. Jammu and Kashmir topped the medal tally in both years.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Which of the following is/are correctly matched? (Level-Difficult)
  1. Operation Devi Shakti – India’s evacuation mission from Afghanistan.
  2. Operation Dost – search and rescue operation initiated by the Government of India to aid Syria and Turkey.
  3. Operation Ganga – initiative to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.
  4. Operation Maitri – rescue and relief operation in Nepal by the Government of India.

Options:

  1. 1 and 3 only
  2. 2, 3 and 4 only
  3. 2 and 4 only
  4. 1, 2, 3 and 4
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Pair 01 is correctly matched, Operation Devi Shakti was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
  • Pair 02 is correctly matched, Operation Dost is an ongoing search and rescue operation initiated by the Government of India to aid Syria and Turkey, after a violent earthquake devastated both countries on 6 February 2023.
  • Pair 03 is correctly matched, Operation Ganga was an evacuation mission carried out by the Indian government to rescue its citizens stranded in neighbouring countries of Ukraine and Russia during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.Β 
  • Pair 04 is correctly matched, Operation Maitri was a rescue and relief operation in Nepal by the government of India and Indian armed forces in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Q2. India is a signatory to/part of, which of the following Conventions/Groups? 
(Level-Medium)
  1. Australia Group
  2. Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)
  3. Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
  4. Convention on Cluster Munitions
  5. Wassenaar Arrangement

Options:

  1. 1, 2 and 3 only
  2. 3, 4 and 5 only
  3. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
  4. 2, 3, 4 and 5 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:Β 

  • The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) is an international treaty that prohibits all use, transfer, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs. Additionally, the convention establishes a framework to support victim assistance, clearance of contaminated sites, risk reduction education, and stockpile destruction. The convention was adopted on 30 May 2008 in Dublin. It entered into force on 1 August 2010.Β 
    • As of February 2022, a total of 123 states are committed to the goal of the convention, with 110 states that have ratified it, and 13 states that have signed the convention but not yet ratified it.
    • India is not a signatory to this convention.
  • India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group on 19 January 2018.
  • India ratified the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) in 1974.
  • India is a signatory of the Chemical Weapons ConventionΒ 
  • India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017 as its 42nd participating state.
Q3. The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM) was 
constituted under the Chairmanship of (Level-difficult)
  1. Justice Markandey Katju
  2. Justice S. Rajendra Babu
  3. Justice Ranganath Misra
  4. Justice R.M.Lodha
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:Β  The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCRLM) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Justice Ranganath Misra to recommend measures for the welfare of socially and economically backward sections among religious and linguistic minorities. It submitted its report in 2007 and the same was laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament in December 2009.Β 

Q4. With respect to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT), which of the following 
statements is/are correct? (Level-Difficult)
  1. It is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45-metre diameter.
  2. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

Options:

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

Answer: a

Explanation:Β 

  • GMRT is a very versatile instrument for investigating a variety of radio astrophysical problems ranging from the nearby Solar system to the edge of the observable Universe.
  • It is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45-metre diameter.Β 
  • It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
  • The observatory of the GMRT is located north of Pune at Khodad, while its office is located at Savitribai Phule University.Β 
Q5. Consider the following statements: (PYQ-CSE-2007) (Level-Medium)
  1. Either of the two belts over the oceans at about 30Β° to 35Β° N and S Latitudes is known as Horse Latitude.
  2. Horse Latitudes are low-pressure belts.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • Statement 01 is correct, The horse latitudes are regions located at about 30Β° to 35Β° north and south of the equator.
  • Statement 02 is incorrect, They are characterised by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges or highs. It is a high-pressure area at the divergence of trade winds and the westerlies.

CNA 11 Feb 2023:- Download PDF Here

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