03 July 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 03rd July 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. House panel awaits States’ surveys on learning losses
2. Can’t act against NGO for not submitting returns, Centre told
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Unjust green
2. In centenary backdrop, this is no hand of peace
GOVERNANCE
1. Net Loss
ECONOMY
1. Rural power solutions even other States can emulate
F. Prelims Facts
1. Rawat resigns, BJP legislators to meet today to elect new leader
G. Tidbits
1. Goods exports touch record $95 bn in Q1
2. Pandemic increased vulnerability to human trafficking: U.S. report
3. After 2 decades, U.S. exits key Afghan base
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. Can’t act against NGO for not submitting returns, Centre told

Context:

The Delhi High Court has restrained the Centre from taking any coercive steps against an NGO for being unable to submit its annual return due to a discrepancy in the new form prescribed for declaring foreign contributions.

Details:

• The court’s order came on a petition by an NGO receiving foreign contributions in accordance with the protocol set out in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA).
• Section 18 of the FCRA requires the beneficiary of the foreign contribution to file an intimation before the Central government regarding the contributions received.
• It complained of the peculiarities in the new FC-4 form, in which returns regarding foreign contributions received by it are required to be filed.
• Also, in September 2020, the Centre made it mandatory for all NGOs to receive foreign contributions only at the New Delhi Main Branch of the State Bank of India (SBI).
• The Delhi HC said that the citizen cannot be penalised for a discrepancy in the form prescribed by the Centre.

Read more on Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 covered in  September 25th, 2020 CNA

2. In centenary backdrop, this is no hand of peace

Context:

As the Communist Party of China celebrates the 100th-anniversary celebrations of its foundation, an atmosphere of unpredictability persists as regards India-China relations.

Issues:

• While the situation in Eastern Ladakh currently remains tense, the bloodiest clash in recent decades that occurred in the Galwan Heights is still fresh in India’s memory.
• After some progress in talks, matters have since reached a stalemate.
• Meanwhile, there is new information on China’s operations in the border regions across Ladakh.
  • China is raising new militia units comprising local Tibetan youth for high-altitude warfare near Eastern Ladakh.
  • The new Mimang Cheton units are similar to India’s elite and decades-old Special Frontier Force consisting of persons of Tibetan origin.

Global concerns:

• Many nations have begun expressing concern about the threat posed by China to the existing world order.
• In the recent past, G-7 and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have criticised China for its military ambitions and the threat it posed to world peace.
• It has been condemned globally for its actions in the South and East China Seas, its treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority, and its actions in Hong Kong.

Finding explanation for China’s behaviour vis-à-vis India:

• In the late 1950s and 1960s, China’s then Chairman, Mao Zedong, dealing with a difficult situation on account of his ill-conceived policies and programmes, embarked on his campaign to attack India.
  • Mao’s actions were intended partly to divert attention from China’s internal turmoil at the time.
• Another instance of this kind would be Deng Xiaoping’s behaviour following the Tiananmen Square movement in the 1980s.

Current Scenario:

• Xi Jinping is seen as Mao’s clone, someone who seeks to achieve the same kind of dominance over the CPC.
• He is seeking to consolidate his power and achieve a pre-eminence of the kind enjoyed by Chinese Emperors in the past.
• However, China’s misadventure in the Ladakh heights in 2020, exposed certain shortfalls with regard to the mechanisation of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
• It diminished China’s hopes of becoming fully mechanised by the time the PLA celebrates its centenary in 2027. 
• Much of the blame for the situation is being attributed to Mr. Xi, given the extent of concentration of power in his hands.
• Besides, several of Mr. Xi’s other ideas have run into difficulties.  However, the extent of inner-party tensions is little known to the world outside, given the opacity of Chinese society, but the existence of dissidence within the CPC is known.
• What may be aggravating Chinese leadership concerns at this time is that the world is seemingly tilting towards India at this juncture.
  • India is regarded as more sophisticated, diplomatically, and more flexible, ideologically, compared to China.

Conclusion:

All the events in the recent past, tensions between India and China, Xi’s ambitious foreign policy suggest that India should expect, prepare for, more situations of this kind, with many more provocations coming from China.
Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Net Loss

In the light of the stark digital divide in India’s school education system, the article talks about the need for the Centre to provide Internet links to all schools as an essential service.

Details:

• Education Ministry’s Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 highlights the country’s digital divide in school education, reflected by the absence of computers and Internet access on campus.
• With the advent of hybrid learning even ahead of the coronavirus crisis online access and computers are essential to make the learning process more engaging.

Read more on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 report covered in  July 2nd, 2021 CNA.

Issue:

• When the pandemic hit, it became painfully evident that most students had to rely on remote learning.
• Many students faced the double jeopardy of not possessing their own computing devices and smartphones at home, and their schools struggling without adequate digital infrastructure.
• In remote areas, particularly in the Northeast, many had to travel closer to mobile phone towers to access the Internet on shared phones to get their lessons.

Findings of the UDISE+ Report:

• The latest data confirm that a mere 22% of schools across the country on average had Internet access, while government institutions fared much worse at 11%.
• On the second metric of functional computer access, the national average was 37% and for government schools, 28.5%.
• Also, the range of deficits reflects deep asymmetries: 87.84% of Kerala schools and 85.69% in Delhi had an Internet facility, compared to 6.46% in Odisha, 8.5% in Bihar, 10% in West Bengal and 13.62% in Uttar Pradesh.

Way Forward:

• Pandemic has compelled all countries to evaluate hybrid education models, with a mix of lessons delivered virtually now and on campus later.
• Students and teachers not being able to use computers and the Internet is acknowledged to be a form of deprivation just as the inability to attend in-person classes.
• In such a multi-layered process, there should not be a further delay in bringing computers and the Internet to all schools.
• The Centre must explore all options, such as the National Broadband Mission, the BSNL network and other service providers, to connect schools.
• Besides public funding, communities, corporates and hardware makers can use recycling and donation options.
• The upcoming 5G standard with the benefit of high wireless bandwidth may also be able to help bridge the gap quickly.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Rural power solutions even other States can emulate

The article talks about the need to ensure energy access beyond rural homes alone, considering the Rajasthan example.

Context:

• The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has ordered the State’s three power distribution companies, or discoms to solarise unelectrified public schools.
• This has the potential to electrify about 1,500 government-run schools in the remote parts of the State with roof-top solar panels and generate about 15 megawatts (MW) of power.
• The RERC has also suggested the installation of batteries to ensure storage of power.

Significance of the Ruling:

• Government schools serve as public spaces in rural areas. They doubled up as COVID-19 care centres during the pandemic.
• They have housed villagers protecting them from extreme weather such as storms and floods, apart from turning into polling centres during the election season.
• Besides enabling education, the ruling would benefit several other crucial aspects of rural life. 
• Battery storage of power ensures that they cater to children’s after-school activities.
• Schools could also extend power supply to mid-day meal kitchens, toilets, and motorised water pumps.
• The order directs Rajasthan’s cash-strapped discoms to seek corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the solarising drive. It also allows schools’ ownership of the power systems in a phased manner.
• This removes the burden of infrastructure development expenses on discoms, while also ensuring clean energy for the schools.
• The power that is generated could also be counted towards the discoms’ Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).
  • RPO is the proportion of power that distribution companies must procure from renewable sources.
  • This ratio is a gradual annual progression to encourage greater use of renewable energy and to provide for a phased manner to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Rajasthan’s Model:

• In 2019, Rajasthan launched an ambitious target of producing 30 GW of solar energy by 2025.
• It currently has an installed capacity of about 5 GW most of which are from large-scale utility plants, or solar parks with ground-mounted panels.
• The State must install at least 7 GW every year for the next four years to achieve this target.
• Rajasthan is India’s largest state in terms of landmass with vast, sparsely populated tracts available to install solar parks. However, bulk infrastructure of this scale is susceptible to extreme weather events.
• In such a scenario, a decentralised model of power generation would prove to be more climate-resilient.
• Climate proofing is another measure that can be taken.
  • Buildings such as primary health centres, panchayat offices, railway stations and bus stops could easily be transitioned to utilising clean energy.
  • With battery storage, the susceptibility of grid infrastructure to extreme weather events could be mitigated. This is called climate proofing.

Way Forward:

• As solar installations become inexpensive and with rapidly advancing battery storage technologies, decentralised solar power generation has become a reality.
• A State such as Rajasthan, which is most exposed to solar irradiation, could set an example by making its urban and rural centres, power generators, consumers, and suppliers in the same breath.
• Rajasthan government has a plan to become a power exporter. While it is an ambitious plan, it should consider achieving this without destroying the environment.
• Convergence between government departments will also help in achieving the goal.

2. Pandemic increased vulnerability to human trafficking: U.S. report

What’s in News?

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report, the pandemic resulted in an increase in vulnerability to human trafficking and interrupted existing anti-traffic efforts.

• Trafficking in Persons Report is an annual study released by the U.S. State Department.

Details:

• Twelve governments were determined to have a “policy or pattern” of human trafficking resulting in their countries being assigned a ‘Tier 3’ rating.
  • Afghanistan, Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, North Korea, Iran, Russia, South Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan were on this list.
• The U.S. has determined that governments of twelve countries, including China, had a policy of trafficking in the reporting period.
  • It said that the Chinese government engaged in widespread forced labour, including through the continued mass arbitrary detention of more than one million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and other Muslims in Xinjiang.
• On India, the report says that while it did not meet the minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, the government was making significant efforts especially when it came to bonded labour.
  • India is retained in Tier 2 classification.

3. After 2 decades, U.S. exits key Afghan base

What’s in News?

After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicentre of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaeda perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America.

• The airfield has been handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defence Force in its entirety.

This issue has been covered in  April 17th, 2021 CNA.

Read more on Afghanistan Peace Process.

Q1. Which of the following are the literary works of Kalidasa? 

Q2. With reference to Solicitor General, which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q3. Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) sometimes seen in the news refers to

Q4. Consider the following pairs:

Q5. With reference to 'IFC Masala Bonds', sometimes seen in the news, which of the statements 
given below is/are correct?

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 03rd July 2021:- Download PDF Here