13 Jul 2018: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

F. Tidbits

• The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has said that it is time to stop looking at homosexuality as a mental illness, stating that there is no scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be altered by any treatment.
• Any such attempt may lead to low self-esteem and stigmatisation, it warned.
• Homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder and same sex sexuality is recognised as a normal variant of human sexuality much like heterosexuality and bisexuality.
• The IPS supports de-criminalisation of homosexual behaviour and is in line with the position of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Classification of Diseases of the WHO which removed homosexuality from the list of psychiatric disorders in 1973 and 1992 respectively.

• Justice Indu Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hearing the fight against Section 377 of the IPC, made a strong case against criminalisation of homosexuality.

Views of Justice Malhotra

• Homosexuality is only a variation and not an aberration.
• But the prejudice and stigma piled on the LGBTQ community had denied it even basic medical care in the country.
• The community is so inhibited by societal scorn that it prefers to forego medical care, especially in rural and semi-urban parts of the country.
• There is a pressure on homosexual people from within the home.
• They succumb to marry the opposite sex, leading to a life of mental trauma and bi-sexuality.
• Homosexuality is not against the order of nature, it is nature itself. Hundreds of animal species show same sex orientation.

Other observations

• Chief Justice Misra said stigma is the root cause of suffering for the community.
• Justice D.Y. Chandrachud expressed the hope that social stigma would vanish if Section 377 is struck down by the court.
• The judge said Section 377 creates an environment which is conducive for discrimination of individuals on the ground of their sexuality.
• Senior advocate Ashok Desai submitted that a culture of acceptance has prevailed over all odds.
• Senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal submitted that Section 377 impinges on the right to liberty, dignity and conscience.
• Venugopal spoke of the extent to which LGBTQ persons are denied their fundamental right to express themselves.
• He said a person from the LGBTQ community is unable to express himself in dress, conduct or speech in public view. They are denied the freedom to express their identity.

• A group of Chief Ministers have made a pitch for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme (MGNREGA) funds to be used to pay for farm labour.

Suggestions

• Use of MGNREGA funds in supplementing labour costs in agriculture.
• If MGNREGA can cover costs of agricultural inputs, especially availability of labour during farming season, it will be beneficial for all involved.

• China is preparing to give swift regulatory approvals to India-manufactured drugs as Beijing looks for new commercial partners ahead of what could be a protracted trade war with the United States.
• Indian firms are looking to fill gaps in Chinese demand for generic drugs, software, sugar and some varieties of rice.
• No concrete deals have been signed but the outlook for pharmaceutical sales from India is positive.
• Chinese authorities have issued instructions that EU-approved Indian suppliers should be granted the industrial drug licence in an expeditious manner so they can enter the Chinese market within six months.

Stats

• India dominates the world’s generic drugs market, exporting $17.3 billion of drugs in the 2017/18 (April-March) year, including to the U.S. and the EU.
• But only 1% of that went to China, the world’s second-largest market for pharmaceuticals.
• The EU is already one of India’s key export markets for medicines and accounted for about 15% of overall drug exports in 2016/17.

Significance

• Swift regulatory approvals in China would allow Indian companies to boost revenue at a time when pricing scrutiny and regulatory troubles have hurt U.S. sales.
• It will help India reduce its trade imbalance with China.

Background

• In the month of May, China exempted import tariffs on 28 drugs, including all cancer drugs.
• China has been touting greater access to cancer drugs and pushing to lower prices in a bid to soothe a major social issue in the country, where traditionally many patients with serious illness have had to pay out of their pocket for cutting-edge drugs or have had to buy medicines through unapproved grey market channels.
• China also lags far behind in terms of drug approvals versus developed markets.

• India will sign a pact with Bangladesh to ease visa restrictions for citizens from the neighbouring country.
• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on revised travel arrangements will be signed during Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s three-day visit to Dhaka.
• Bangladesh has demanded that travel restrictions for senior citizens be eased and further concessions be given to Muktijoddhas — those who participated in the 1971 Liberation War.

Background

• In 2014, India decided to relax visa restrictions for Bangladeshis above the age of 65 and below the age of 13. They were allowed five-year multiple entry visas.
• Last year, India announced five-year multiple entry visa to the 1971 war veterans from Bangladesh.
• They could walk into the Indian High Commission in Dhaka and eight other consulates in Barisal, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Khulna, Rangpur, Sylhet Mymensingh and Jessore without prior appointment and submit their visa applications.
• Citizens from over 150 countries can travel to India on e-tourist visas procured online. This facility is not extended to Bangladesh.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pointed to the fiscal stress that States are facing due to several factors including farm loan waivers and said higher borrowing by them could crowd out private investment.

The report

• In a report ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets of 2017-18 and 2018-19,’ the central bank noted that States’ consolidated gross fiscal deficit (GFD) overshot the budget estimates in 2017-18 due to shortfalls in own tax revenues and higher revenue expenditure.
• In contrast, the capital account has helped to contain the GFD.
• While States together have projected a revenue surplus and a lower consolidated GFD of 2.6% of GDP in 2018-19, 11 States have budgeted for fiscal deficits above the threshold of 3% of GDP.

Concerns

• Since the combined GFP to GDP was at 6.4% as compared with the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Committee’s (FRBM) medium-term target of 5%, there is a risk that private investment gets crowded out of the finite pool of financial resources.
• Risks are also likely to emanate from possible higher pre-election expenditure in more than 10 States and implementation of the balance pay commission awards, particularly to the extent that they are not fully provided for under the budgeted expenditure.
• Capital expenditure may have to bear the brunt of the fiscal correction like the past two years.

• Investors can no longer deposit cash in their broker’s account to trade in stocks.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) made it mandatory for stock brokers to accept client funds only by way of bank or electronic transfers such as cheques and mobile banking.
• The capital markets watchdog highlighted the fact that the government had promoted various means for transfer of funds through digital mode for encouraging a cashless economy and financial institutions and banks had introduced various modes of electronic payment.
• The move is in line with SEBI’s plans to encourage paperless and cashless stock market trading.
• Incidentally, applications in an initial public offer (IPO) are now completely done through ASBA – Application Supported by Blocked Amount — a mechanism wherein the bid amount is blocked in the subscriber’s account at the time of bidding and is debited only after the allotment of shares is finalised.

G. Prelims Fact

• The red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae.
• Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching.
• Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements.
• They nest in a ground scrape laying three to four camouflaged eggs.
• It breeds from West Asia (Iraq, SW Iran, Persian Gulf) eastwards across South Asia (Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the entire Indian subcontinent up to Kanyakumari and up to 1800m in Kashmir/Nepal), with another sub-species further east in Southeast Asia.
• May migrate altitudinally in spring and autumn (e.g. in N. Baluchistan or NW Pakistan), and spreads out widely in the monsoons on creation of requisite habitats, but by and large the populations are resident.
• This species is declining in its western range, but is abundant in much of South Asia, being seen at almost any wetland habitat in its range.

Indian tradition

• Hindus in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan consider the Red-wattled lapwing, auspicious and divinely inspired as they predict the monsoon from its egg-laying patterns.
• If the birds lay eggs between March and August at an elevated place, a good monsoon is forecast.
• In parts of India, a local belief is that the bird sleeps on its back with the legs upwards and an associated Hindi metaphor Tithiri se asman thama jayega (“can the lapwing support the heavens?”) is used to refer to persons undertaking tasks beyond their ability or strength.

• Chinnaswami Subramania Bharati, also known as Bharathiyar was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist and a social reformer from Tamil Nadu.
• Popularly known as “Mahakavi Bharati”, he was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and is considered one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time.

Works

• His numerous works included fiery songs kindling patriotism during the Indian Independence movement.
• He covered political, social and spiritual themes.
• Bharati used simple words and rhythms, unlike his previous century works in Tamil, which had complex vocabulary.
• He also employed novel ideas and techniques in his devotional poems.
• His poetry not only includes works on Hindu deities like Shakti, Kali, Vinayagar, Murugan, Sivan, Kannan(Krishna), but also on other religious gods like Allah and Jesus.
• He worked as a journalist with many newspapers, including The Hindu, Bala Bharata, Vijaya, Chakravarthini, the Swadesamitran and India.
• He was well-versed in various languages and translated speeches of Indian National reform leaders like Aurobindo, Bala Gangadar Tilak and Swami Vivekananda.

Women

• Bharati is considered the first to have advocated and campaigned for women’s participation in politics.
• He advocated greater rights for women and their education.
• He visualised a modern Indian woman at the vanguard of society.
• He was of the strong opinion that the world will prosper in knowledge and intellect if both men and women are deemed equal.
• He condemned the Shashtras, the procedures formulated by some orthodox Hindus and weren’t held as holy by most Hindus, that suppressed women’s rights.
• Most of his views are considered contemporary even in modern times.

Caste system

• Bharati also fought against the caste system in Hindu society.
• He openly criticised the preachers for mixing their individual thoughts while teaching the Vedas and the Gita.
• He strongly advocated bringing the Dalits to the Hindu mainstream.

Tribute

• The Government of India in 1987 instituted a highest National Subramanyam Bharti Award conferred along with Ministry of Human Resource Development, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in “Hindi literature’’.

H. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions