02 Jan 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 02 Jan 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
HEALTH
1. Three sites selected for vaccine dry run in Delhi
2. Health Ministry plans communication strategy
POLITY
1. PM unveils project for affordable housing
2. In 2020, RS saw lowest number of sittings ever
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ECONOMY
1. Clear connection
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. An ill-conceived, overbroad and vague ordinance
F. Prelims Facts
1. No value limit on trade in vaccine
2. RBI’s digital payments index unveiled
G. Tidbits
1. ‘Technolgy, skilling vital for aerospace, defence’
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Nothing here for today!!!

Category: HEALTH

1. Three sites selected for vaccine dry run in Delhi

Context:

A dry run is being planned in the national capital to gear up for the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dry Run:

• To assess the readiness for India’s biggest immunisation programme, a dry run has been planned by the Centre.
• This activity will include activities from the necessary data entries in Co-WIN to vaccine receipt & allocation to the deployment of team members, mock drill of session sites with test beneficiaries to reporting and evening meeting.
• This will also include testing for cold storage and transportation arrangements for the COVID-19 vaccine, management of crowd at the session sites with proper physical distancing.

Read more on COVID-19 vaccine dry run covered in 28^th December 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

2. Health Ministry plans communication strategy

Context:

The Union Ministry of Health has come up with an elaborate communication strategy to counter issues arising out of vaccine hesitancy, and ‘eagerness’ among the people.

Details:

• The strategy is structured to guide national, state and district level communication channels.
• The idea is to make sure that the information on the COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination process reaches all people, across all states in the country.
• The strategy seeks to disseminate timely, accurate and transparent information about the vaccine(s) to alleviate apprehensions.
• The strategy also seeks to build trust and enable greater confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine amongst all people by employing transparency in communication, while also managing any mis/disinformation and rumours around it.
• It hopes to take on the challenging task of managing and mitigating any potential disappointment expressed by unmet demand for the vaccine or ‘eagerness’ amongst people.

Implementation:

• The entire strategy will be implemented across three main platforms — influencers/celebrities, through community groups, and all forms of media from social media to hoardings and wall posters.
• A media rapid response cell at the Ministry will be tasked with media monitoring and social listening and responding real-time, the document said.

Need for a communication strategy:

The communication strategy is absolutely necessary at this point to inform people about the details as there is still a lot of vaccine hesitancy.
Category: POLITY

1. PM unveils project for affordable housing

Context:

Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of six Light House Projects in six cities as part of the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC-India) initiative.

2. In 2020, RS saw lowest number of sittings ever

Context:

With the government refusing to call the winter session of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha sat for just 33 days in 2020, its lowest-ever tally of sittings in a year.

Details:

• There are only three other occasions when the sittings were below 50 days in a year: 48 in 1999 and 46 each in 2004 and 2008.
• The last time the winter session was cancelled was 36 years ago in 1984. In overall parliamentary history, there have been only two other instances, in 1979 and 1975 when the winter session was cancelled.
• As per an analysis by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, the limited number of sittings did not hurt the productivity.
• During the year 2020, the annual productivity has been 82.7%, the highest annual productivity during the last 11 years.
• A total of 39 Bills have been passed by the House during 2020, including 12 during the Budget session and 27 during the monsoon session.
• The list of legislation includes the three controversial farm laws, which according to the Opposition parties, were passed without any credible discussion.

Read more on the productivity of Rajya Sabha and the need for a second chamber covered in 13^th May 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

D. GS 4 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

Category: ECONOMY

1. Clear connection

What’s in News?

The termination charge for wireless to wireless domestic calls has been zeroed from January 1, 2021 onwards. Until now operators paid Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC) of 6 paise per minute on mobile calls.

• TRAI has introduced an arrangement called bill and keep, which does away with the IUC.
• The measure was delayed by the regulator – TRAI due to concerns that not all operators were ready, and the shift to more efficient 4G networks and compatible subscriber handsets was slower than anticipated.

Significance:

• The end of IUC creates a new era in which these companies can focus on upgrading their networks and service.
• For the subscriber, other than those who had to pay higher access tariffs on one wireless network due to the IUC system, the latest measure may not carry a significant impact, since providers sold unlimited call packs even earlier.
• With this change, the imbalance has reduced.

Challenges in the Telecom Sector and way forward:

• India’s high-density telecom market is poised for further growth as it awaits expansion through 5G and Internet-connected devices.
• As the Economic Survey of 2019-20 pointed out, intense competition has reduced the number of private players.
• Public sector operators BSNL and MTNL still face a challenge.
  • Their future must be clarified early, with efforts to improve their technological capabilities and service levels.
• The end of the IUC should facilitate an expansion of high-capacity networks, going beyond 2G and 3G that some telcos continue to use.
  • The removal of interconnection charges was opposed by them just a year ago.
• For TRAI, which has stressed the importance of consumer welfare through adequate choice, affordable tariff and quality service, it is important to deal cautiously on claims made on behalf of the sector, that higher tariffs alone can ensure the health of telecoms.
• India is a mass market for voice and data services that fuel the digital economy.
• Badly priced spectrum could lead to auction failures and lack of genuine competition is bound to hamper the growth of the next big wave of telecoms, of which the 5G piece is critical for new services.
• On the consumer side, helping more people migrate to 4G services quickly through affordable handsets will help telcos put their infrastructure to better use.
• Now that the need to monitor call termination data and make IUC payments no longer exists and spectrum auction is scheduled in 2021, the focus must shift to giving the users a better deal — as reliable call quality and competitive tariffs.

Category: SOCIAL ISSUES

1. An ill-conceived, overbroad and vague ordinance

The article talks about the U.P. religious conversion ordinance and examines how it violates key rights.

Ordinance-making powers of the Governor under Article 213 of the Indian Constitution:

• Governor of an Indian state draws ordinance making powers from Article 213 of the Constitution.
• This Article empowers the Governor to promulgate an ordinance on urgent matters during the recess of the legislature.
• There are three pre-conditions to be satisfied before the Governor promulgates an ordinance:
  • The State Legislature should not be in session.
  • Circumstances should exist for promulgating an ordinance.
  • Those circumstances must warrant immediate action.

Circumstances, urgency:

• There is no established practice requiring the Governor (or the President under Article 123 of the Constitution) to state the circumstances for immediate action.
• The reason for immediate action is, as yet, not justiciable.
• However, the court can inquire whether circumstances existed that enabled the Governor to be satisfied of the necessity of promulgating an ordinance.

Suggestion:

• A healthy convention must develop and the preamble to any ordinance should state the immediacy for promulgating it when the Legislature is not in session.
• This would greatly enhance transparency in legislation.
• More importantly, it would enable legislators to understand why they are, in a sense, by-passed and why a debate and discussion in the Legislature could not be awaited.
• Besides, in the normal course, reasons are unlikely to be a state secret.

The U.P. ordinance:

• The preamble to the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance commonly called the anti-love jihad ordinance, merely indicates what it provides for.
• Namely, unlawful conversion from one religion to another by coercion, misrepresentation and so on “or by marriage”.
• It then proceeds to record the satisfaction of the Governor of the existence of circumstances and the necessity for “him/her to take immediate action”.

In the case of the U.P. religious conversion ordinance, the need for immediate action is difficult to be justified.

Provisions and impact:

• Section 3 prohibits conversion or attempt to convert any person from one religion to another by coercion or fraud, etc. or by marriage.
  • To the extent of conversion by coercion or fraud, etc. there is no problem, the issue is with “conversion by marriage”.
  • If an adult person desires to get converted to the religion of the other before marriage, this should not raise objections.
• The offence of attempting to convert poses a bigger rights issue.
• Section 7 provides that upon receiving information (it may be fake news) that a religious conversion is designed to take place, a police officer is authorised under the CrPC without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, to arrest the person so designing, if it appears that the commission of the offence cannot be otherwise prevented.
  • The nature of information includes an allegation of allurement which includes an offer of any temptation in the form of a gift or gratification.
  • This could trigger the arrest of the boy offering the allurement, his friends and family (as conspirators) with no questions asked.
• Section 12 provides that the burden to prove the conversion was not on account of coercion, fraud, etc. or by marriage will be on the person who has caused the conversion.

Conclusion:

• The ordinance is prone to abuse and its consequences have ranged from intimidation, bullying, arbitrary arrests, etc.
• It vilifies all inter-faith marriages and places unreasonable obstacles on consenting adults in exercising their personal choice of a partner.
• It mocks the right to privacy and violates the right to life, liberty and dignity.
• The ordinance is ill-conceived, overbroad and vague in many respects.

This topic has been covered on 27^th November 2020 and 4^th December 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

2. RBI’s digital payments index unveiled

What’s in News?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI).

• The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters, including Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors and Supply-side factors, Payment Performance and Consumer Centricity.
• The index has been constructed to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country.
• It has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period.
• The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84 respectively.
  • This indicates appreciable growth.

Q1.Which of the following statements best describes Interconnection Usage Charges (IUC)?

Q2.Which of the following statements is correct with respect to CoWIN?

1. It is a digitalised platform to be used to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for COVID Vaccine Distribution System in India.
2. It is a COVID-19 contact tracing, syndromic mapping and self-assessment digital service.
3. It is a Vaccine Alliance for increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.
4. It is the first vaccine candidate to be approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

Q3.Consider the following statements:

1. It has 12 pairs of exquisitely ornamented wheels pulled by seven horses.
2. It was built by King Narasimhadeva I, the great ruler of Ganga dynasty.
3. The temple is also known as ‘Black Pagoda’.

The world heritage site described in the above statements is:

1. Airavateshwara Temple, Thanjavur
2. Hampi Stone Chariot, Hampi
3. Sun Temple, Konark
4. Dharamaraja Ratha, Mahabalipuram

Q4.Consider the following statements with respect to National Human Rights Commission:

1. It is a constitutional body.
2. The chairperson is a retired chief justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court.
3. Chairpersons of National Commission for Minorities, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and National Commission for Women are the ex-officio members of NHRC.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. 2 and 3 only

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 02 Jan 2021:- Download PDF Here