05 Jan 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 05 Jan 2022:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
C. GS 3 Related
INTERNAL SECURITY
1. States told to share intel on common grid
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. The hint of a ‘one nation one NGO’ regime
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. The bottom line in Blinken’s foray into Southeast Asia
F. Prelims Facts
1. Western disturbances to bring rain in Capital
2. ‘Order on CCTVs in spas against SC verdict on privacy’
G. Tidbits
1. Sri Lanka Cabinet clears oil tank deal
2. China to ‘modernise’ nuclear arsenal
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
FIP Magazine

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The hint of a ‘one nation one NGO’ regime

Syllabus: Development processes and the development industry —the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.

Mains: Challenges faced by the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in India

Context:

This article talks about the issues associated with NGOs in India.

What are the challenges faced by civil society organizations (CSOs) in India?

  • Increase in restrictions:
    • The amount of due diligence and information requested, as well as the yearly disclosures required of board members of civil society groups, has greatly grown.
    • The State Bank of India has consolidated the necessary establishment of bank accounts for foreign contributions in one location.
  • Impact on Humanitarian Assistance:
    • This has had an influence on the people who are or have been involved in civil society groups that serve a social or cultural cause.
  • Hindrance in Financing:
    • Many specialized groups were working in very distant places that didn’t have direct access to foreign financing.
    • Many bigger non-governmental organizations died as a result of the FCRA changes that limited the capacity to sub-grant.
    • This limited the amount of money that could be spent on administration, suffocating groups that advocated for the rights of the oppressed.
  • Strict Governance
    • Many organizations have lost personnel on their governance structures as a result of the increased degree of monitoring and type of data requested, resulting in financial issues.

Why do we need civil society organizations?

  • According to the author, we need civil society organizations precisely because they work on an unreasonable agenda in that:
    • They ask the government to be more efficient, offer more, and be more accountable.
    • They work to correct the extractive nature of markets.
    • They work in very niche areas where the state cannot necessarily reach and intervene.
  • These activities are unable to be incorporated into specific company strategies, spreadsheets, or government programmes. As a result, they require a grant-based, cause-based income model.
  • A state’s ability to do humanitarian work is limited.
  • Specialty financing may come from organizations that may be located outside of the country. They must be bolstered.

Way Forward:

  • The breadth and complexity of a civil society organization’s operations cannot be conveyed in annual reports submitted to the FCRA website.
  • Research should be conducted to determine how many civil society groups had their permits expired because the pre-populated dropdowns provided by the FCRA interface were unable to capture the organizations’ activities.
  • We are confronted with the paradox of encouraging foreign investment while aggressively limiting foreign funding to NGOs.
Nut Graf
NGOs/civil society organizations play an important role in the last-mile delivery of essential services. Increased surveillance on such organizations should be based on genuine security concerns and not create bureaucratic hurdles in their functioning as this can severely affect the most vulnerable sections of society that are dependent on such organizations.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The bottom line in Blinken’s foray into Southeast Asia

Syllabus: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Mains:  US interests in Southeast Asia; Implications on India

Context:

This article talks about the US interests in Southeast Asia in the context of a visit by the United States Secretary of State in the region.

United States in Southeast Asia:

  • The United States’ Indo-Pacific policy isn’t merely about restraining Chinese aggression and rising power.
  • The goal is to portray the United States as a trustworthy partner in addressing the Indo-Pacific region’s difficulties.
  • Individual countries will be entitled to pick their own route and partners, according to the United States.

Significant Aspects in Southeast Asia:

  1. China’s Threat:
  • The competition between the United States and China in Southeast Asia is particularly obvious in two areas: the South China Sea and investment in meeting Southeast Asian countries’ infrastructure development demands.
  • China is accused of aggressive behaviour, including claiming open seas as their own, distorting open markets through subsidies to state-owned enterprises, denying exports or terminating agreements with countries whose policies it disagrees with, and engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
  • China and the United States are both attempting to persuade the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to join their side.
  1. Investments in Infrastructure:
  • Southeast Asia has been one of the leading recipients of Chinese funding in infrastructure development as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
  • Besides this, China has made significant investments in port and railway infrastructure in nations like Indonesia and Vietnam.
  • These investments have compelled nations like Cambodia and Laos to do China’s bidding in ASEAN, even if it means jeopardizing their cohesiveness.
  • The United States is dedicated to bridging the infrastructural deficit.
  1. Financing Quad
  • The Quad members (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States) have contributed government-backed infrastructure finance for the area.
  • The Quad members’ infrastructure coordination committee is hoping to accelerate even more investment and work with Southeast Asia on infrastructure and a variety of other shared goals.
  1. US framework in Indo-Pacific:
  • Under the Build Back Better World project and the Blue Dot Network, the United States promises to do more.
  • In the Indo-Pacific, the US is attempting to present a complete economic framework that focuses on “trade and the digital economy, technology, resilient supply chains, decarbonization and renewable energy, infrastructure, labor standards, and other areas of mutual interest.”
  1. Concerns with ASEAN countries:
  • When it comes to dealing with the United States and China, the ASEAN members do not have a consistent strategy.
  • These divergent approaches are also posing a threat to ASEAN’s much-touted primacy in the Indo-Pacific.

Way Forward:

The connection between the United States’ vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Outlook was highlighted. The US’s economic framework, investment plans, and commitments must be implemented fast if the US is to prove that it is serious about a long-term commitment to the Indo-Pacific.

Nut Graf
Southeast Asia is the major theatre where competition between the U.S. and China will play out which in turn has severe implications on the geopolitics of India.

F. Prelims Facts

1. Western disturbances to bring rain in Capital

Western Disturbances:

  • The western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
  • These travel eastwards on westerly jet streams – high-altitude fast winds traversing the earth from west to east.
  • Western Disturbances are the cause of the most winter and pre-monsoon season rainfall across North-West India. This phenomenon is usually associated with a cloudy sky, higher night temperatures, and rains. It is estimated that India gets close to 5-10% of its total annual rainfall from western disturbances.
  • Since it brings pre-monsoon rain, it is considered important for the development of the Rabi crop in the Northern subcontinent.

Context:

  • The Indian Meteorological Department has forecasted fairly widespread light/moderate rain over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, north Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh under the influence of western disturbance. A second intense western disturbance is also likely to affect northwest India as well.

2. ‘Order on CCTVs in spas against SC verdict on privacy’

Right to Privacy:

  • Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to privacy. The right to life and personal liberty guaranteed in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution also includes implicitly a right to privacy.
  • As per the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the landmark Justice K.S. Puttaswamy case on the Right to Privacy, privacy as guaranteed in Article 21 includes a right to bodily autonomy, a right to informational privacy and a right to privacy of choice.

Context:

  • Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madras High Court has noted that a recent order passed by another judge of the same court, mandating the installation of CCTV cameras inside spas would infringe upon a person’s bodily autonomy and hence go against his/her right to privacy provided by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
  • The Judge also noted that though no right can be absolute, restrictions can be put in place only by the legislature or the executive. The Supreme Court can however intervene in the exercise of its power under Article 142.
    • Article 142 of the Constitution of India deals with the Enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court. It states that the Apex Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing “complete justice” in any case pending before it.

G. Tidbits

1. Sri Lanka Cabinet clears oil tank deal

  • Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has given its nod for the deal to jointly develop the Trincomalee oil tank farm with India.
  • The signing of the agreement will mark a milestone for India in a long-stalled, controversial project in Sri Lanka’s eastern Trincomalee district. This could also be indicative of a revival of the bilateral relationship between the two countries given that in the recent past this relationship was under stress due to the anti-India stance taken up by the newly elected government in Sri Lanka.

Also read: India – Sri Lanka relations

2. China to ‘modernise’ nuclear arsenal

  • China defending its nuclear weapons policy has stated that it will continue to “modernise” its nuclear arsenal for reliability and safety issues.
  • China has called upon the U.S. and Russia (accounting for 90% of the global nuclear warheads) to reduce their own stockpiles and make the first move on disarmament.
  • There are growing global concerns about China’s rapid military modernisation.
    • Its armed forces last year announced they had developed a hypersonic missile that can fly at five times the speed of sound.
    • The U.S. has also said China is expanding its nuclear arsenal with as many as 700 warheads by 2027 and possibly 1,000 by 2030.
  • The irony is that this statement comes a day after global powers including China recently committed to preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and avoiding a nuclear conflict. The five nuclear powers also committed to full future disarmament from nuclear weapons. This shows that the commitment made by the nuclear powers won’t be easy to comply with at a time of spiralling tensions between those same global powers not seen since the Cold War.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with regards to the tribal rights in India:
  1. 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act makes it mandatory for the seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their population.
  2. Under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, one-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs are also reserved for women.
  3. States with population up to 20 lakh are exempted from providing reservations to STs at all levels of panchayats.

Choose the correct code:

  1. 1 & 2 only
  2. 2 & 3 only
  3. 1 & 3 only
  4. All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • 243B of the Indian Constitution states that there shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels. However, it also states that panchayats at the intermediate level may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lakhs.
  • There is no such provision regarding the reservation of seats for tribals.
Q2. “S-gene Target Failure Strategy”, often seen in the news, is related to which of the 
following?
  1. It is used to ascertain if an individual has developed antimicrobial resistance
  2. It is used to identify the success rate of gene therapy
  3. It is used to detect the Omicron variant of Covid19
  4. It is used to produce the latest anti-covid pills
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a testing kit for detecting the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. The kit will be used to confirm Omicron in patients with its S-Gene Target Failure (SGTF) strategy.
Q3. Consider the following statements with regards to Cotton Cultivation:
  1. Gujarat leads the states in India in terms of cotton production.
  2. Cotton requires well-drained black soil for cultivation.
  3. There is no MSP protection for cotton in India.

Choose the correct code:

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

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • Gujarat is the largest cotton-producing state in India. The state accounts for around 30% of the total cotton production in the country.
  • Cotton requires well-drained black soil for cultivation. Black soils are very fine-grained and dark and contain a high proportion of calcium and magnesium carbonates. They also have a high moisture retention capacity which is required for cotton plants.
  • Government announces minimum support price (MSP) for raw cotton as well.
Q4. Consider the following statements with regards to the famous social reformer Saint Chavara:
  1. He led the Pallikkoodam movement which involved setting up schools in church premises, thus enabling universal access to education.
  2. In 1846, he established a Sanskrit school in Mannanam in Kerala, that enabled ordinary people to study the sacred Hindu literature in Sanskrit.
  3. He started free mid-day meals to reduce drop-outs among the poor and Dalit students, a practice which influenced the diwan of Travancore, CP Ramaswamy Iyer, to plan mid-day meals in government schools in 1936.

Which of these statements is/are correct?

  1. 1 & 2 only
  2. 2 & 3 only
  3. 1 & 3 only
  4. All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Saint Chavara was an Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic priest, philosopher and social reformer.
  • He led the Pallikkoodam movement which involved setting up schools on church premises. He also started free mid-day meals to reduce drop-outs among the poor and Dalit students.
  • In 1846, he established a Sanskrit school in Mannanam in Kerala.
Q5. Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant 'blackholes' billions of light-years 
away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation? (UPSC-2019)
  1. ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.
  2. ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.
  3. Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.
  4. It enabled the scientists to understand ‘singularity’.
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

  • The observation involved the merging of two black holes. Upon merging they twisted together to form a single spinning hole. The missing mass after merging, became energy, expelled as gravitational waves.
  • In the experiment, it was observed that gravitational wave detectors detected signals. Whereas black holes emit no electromagnetic radiation and are impossible to directly observe, gravitational waves provide an opportunity to study and understand them.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. America’s Indo­-Pacific policy and its foray into South-East Asia is not just aimed at deterring China’s rise. Discuss. (250 words; 15 marks)[GS-2, International Relations]
  2. The 103rd Constitution Amendment was introduced to extend the benefits of reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS). But the annual income limit criterion fixed to identify the beneficiaries has not been reasonably explained by the Government leading to legal and constitutional issues. Critically examine. (250 words; 15 marks)[GS-2, Polity]

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 05 Jan 2022:- Download PDF Here

IAS General Studies Notes Links
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