10 July 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 10th July 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Terrain, facilities will affect delimitation in J&K, says ECI
2. Cooperation Ministry will usurp States’ rights: Oppn.
3. Judges should not act like emperors, says SC
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. A perception shift in relations between Sri Lanka and China?
HEALTH
1. Kerala formulates action plan for Zika
2. State resumes immunisation against filariasis
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
POLITY
1. The bar on criticism that muzzles the advocate
ECONOMY
1. In defence of India’s noisy democracy
GOVERNANCE
1. Ending the shift between Jammu and Kashmir
F. Prelims Facts
G. Tidbits
1. Himalayan yaks to be insured
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. Cooperation Ministry will usurp States’ rights: Oppn.

Context:

A new Ministry of Co-operation has been created.

Details:

• A separate ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been created by the government for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’.
• This ministry will provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country.
• The Ministry will work to streamline processes for ‘Ease of doing business’ for co-operatives and enable the development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).
  • Significantly, the MSCBs have now been solely taken under the Reserve Bank of India for regulatory purposes.

Cooperative Societies:

• Cooperatives are organisations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining towards a common goal.
• The history of cooperatives in India goes back to more than a hundred years and they continue to stay relevant due to their grassroots reach and ability to bring economic growth to underserved sections.

Laws governing cooperative societies:

• Cooperatives is a State subject under entry 32 of the State List under Schedule 7 of the Constitution.
• A majority of the cooperative societies are governed by laws in their respective states, with a Cooperation Commissioner and the Registrar of Societies as their governing office.
• In 2002, the Centre passed a Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act that allowed for the registration of societies with operations in more than one state.
  • These are mostly banks, dairies and sugar mills whose area of operation spreads across states.

Issue:

• The cooperative model has been a source of political power in states such as Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
  • Many of these cash-rich cooperatives are controlled by Opposition parties.
• The Opposition has raised concern over the development, stating that the new ministry would hijack the cooperative movement that currently falls under the State governments.

3. Judges should not act like emperors, says SC

Context:

The Supreme Court said that the judges should not behave like emperors and summon government officials instantly without a good reason.

Details:

• The SC bench noticed that a practice had developed in certain High Courts to call officers instantly to exert direct or indirect pressure.
• The SC has prescribed modesty and humility to judges by asking them not to cross the line of separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive and call officers to court unnecessarily.
• It observed that summoning of officers frequently is not appreciable at all and it is liable to be condemned in the strongest words.
• It noted that at times, when officials have to travel great distances and wait for hours in court, their official work was delayed, creating an extra burden on the officer.
• It argued that the courts have the power of the pen, which is more effective than the presence of an officer in Court. If any particular issue arises for consideration before the Court, and the advocate representing the State is not able to answer, it is advised to write such doubt in the order and give time to the State or its officers to respond.

Read more on Separation of Powers – Relationship between Executive, Legislature & Judiciary
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. A perception shift in relations between Sri Lanka and China?

Context:

China is coming under increasing public scrutiny in Sri Lanka.

China’s assistance to Sri Lanka:

• China has topped the charts in providing crucial and timely support for Sri Lanka.
• In addition to sanctioning loans and a currency swap facility worth more than $2 billion since the pandemic struck, China also announced a $90 million grant to Sri Lanka in October 2020.
• China’s earlier grant projects in Sri Lanka are also built as large public spaces. Eg: Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre.
• Former President Maithripala Sirisena had requested China for the grant and the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital facility was built within 30 months.
  • The hospital is built with a Chinese grant of $60 million and is said to be one of the largest in South Asia for nephrology care.

Details:

• China is under more public scrutiny in the island nation than ever before. The growing scepticism of China, in public discourse and the media, is relatively new.
• The sentiment came to the fore when the Sri Lankan government passed a controversial bill governing the China-backed Colombo Port City.

This topic has been covered in  May 21st, 2021 CNA.

• Recently, controversies erupted over signboards in public places and government offices that included mandarin while excluding Tamil, a national language in Sri Lanka.

What has changed in how Sri Lankans perceive their country’s relationship with China?

• Sri Lanka has maintained friendly relations with maritime nations, including China, since ancient times. Such relations have always had a sense of strategic content.
• However, the traditional friendship between Sri Lanka and China has now become more nuanced with unique, unprecedented characteristics in the bilateral relationship, displaying a special partnership, especially at the level of two governments.
• While the port city is a good investment for Sri Lanka, many in the island nation see it as a Chinese colony.
• The port city bill was passed without discussions with all domestic stakeholders and consensus.

Conclusion:

• The Tamils in Sri Lanka acknowledge India’s geopolitical concerns. They are of the sentiment that India is immediate family and China is a distant relative. 
• Opposition parties in Sri Lanka assert that China must acknowledge the Tamils and also that Sri Lanka is a diverse country with different ethnic and religious groups, not an entirely Sinhala-Buddhist country.

Category: HEALTH

1. Kerala formulates action plan for Zika

Context:

The Kerala Health Department has formulated an action plan for coordinated efforts to check the spread of Zika infection in the State.

• The department is set to launch intensive control measures across all districts, with a focus on mosquito control.
• The control measures will concentrate on all geographic localities where high Aedes species density is reported.

Zika Virus:

• Zika Virus infection is caused by the Zika Virus (ZIKV) belonging to the Flaviviridae family.
• It is an infection transmitted through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

Read more on Zika Virus – Causes, Symptoms, Outbreaks

2. State resumes immunisation against filariasis

Context:

The Maharashtra government has flagged off its mass drug administration drive for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis.

Details:

• Maharashtra has 18 filariasis endemic districts.
• The Maharashtra Health Services has organised the drive in coordination with Global Health Strategies, World Health Organization, and Project Concern International.
• Mass drug administration is one of the two pillars of the National Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis.
  • Under this, anti-filaria drugs are administered to the eligible population once a year.

Read more on Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Lymphatic Filariasis:

• Lymphatic Filariasis also called elephantiasis is a vector-borne disease, spread by the bite of mosquitoes and black flies.
• It is a parasitic disease caused by filial worms (parasitic worms).
• In the human body, the disease parasite is acquired during childhood causing gradual damage in the lymphatic system.
• The larvae of the filial worms can live in the human body without showing any symptoms for up to 8 years.

Category: ECONOMY

1. In defence of India’s noisy democracy

Context

• The article draws a comparison between the political system prevalent in India and China. It analyses the authoritarian Chinese model of efficiency, but supports the democratic ideas and values.

China’s Economic Rise

• China’s economy has transformed enormously from being a poor country to a Global Powerhouse with no parallel in history.
• It has recorded high rates of economic growth, focused on capital accumulation, powered an export engine to overcome a limited domestic market, welcomed foreign direct investment, plugged into global supply chains and kept its public finances more or less in order.
• This has resulted in hundreds of millions being lifted out of poverty.

India’s Development Story

• Despite impressive growth since the 1990s, it continues to be behind China in its global competitiveness.

Issue Area

• Poverty has come down, but employment prospects for the majority remain limited to low-wage informal sector jobs.
• India has fallen behind Bangladesh and Pakistan in a few social development indicators as well.

The drop in social development indicators has allowed many to question the democratic model of development; instead they have supported the Chinese model of development.

Arguments in favour of the China Model

• China is able to take decisions quickly as it is not stopped by the contradictory democratic voices. India’s problem is that it is just too democratic.

Arguments against the China Model

East Asian Countries

• China’s model comprises a number of key characteristics, State-guided industrial policy and finance; massive infrastructure investments; rural industrialization and openness to foreign trade and technology.
• Similar standards were also met by countries like Japan and South Korea.
  • Democratic regimes have on balance performed better.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu Model

• Kerala and Tamil Nadu have done more to improve the lives of all their citizens across castes and classes than any other State in India.
• These states have also had the longest and most sustained popular democratic movements and intense party competition in the country.

Conflict resolution

• Democracy is, slow and often contentious. But its deliberative and electoral processes help mitigate conflicts, especially in heterogeneous and conflict-ridden societies.
• Even in a more homogeneous country like China, the absence of open public discourse does the opposite, as evidenced by the State’s mishandling of ethnic unrest among Tibetans and Uighurs.
• Respect for Minorities and diversity.
• India’s democracy may have been quarrelsome, cumbersome and often dominated by elites, but it has preserved individual liberties, group identities and religious and thought freedoms.

Strong civil society

• Without a strong civil society or an independent judiciary to check government power, Chinese leaders have, on many occasions, made errors in judgment.
  • Judicial decisions overturn Government excesses in democratic countries. China lacks such resilience.
• Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution is an example, which has resulted in the loss of lives.
  • The human cost of Chinese success is enormous and unacceptable.

Transparency

• The absence of political checks and institutional mechanisms for public scrutiny has encouraged abuse of power and high levels of corruption, contributing to high inequality, arbitrary land grabs, unsafe working conditions, food safety scares, and toxic pollution, among other problems.
• As China’s economy becomes more complex, the absence of transparent and accountable governance processes, combined with frequent crackdowns on civil society and efforts to enforce conformity and discipline, may stifle entrepreneurship and innovation.

Negotiation

• Democracy may complicate the process leading to needless debates and discussions, but these deliberations allow for forms of negotiation and compromise that can bridge across interests and even balance otherwise conflicting imperatives for growth, justice, sustainability and social inclusion.
• Examples:
  • National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
  • The Right to Information
  • The right to food

Conclusion

• India’s pluralistic democracy has increased political awareness and self-assertion, our independent judiciary, Election Commission and regulatory bodies function with a degree of autonomy.
• Therefore, instead of looking up to China, it is time to defend the noise of Indian democracy.

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Ending the shift between Jammu and Kashmir

Durbar Move

• It is a bi-annual shifting of the Civil Secretariat and other offices of the state government from Jammu to Srinagar in summer, and vice versa in winter.
• Jammu is the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, while Srinagar is its summer capital.

Background

• The tradition of switching the capitals twice a year is believed to have been started during Dogra rule in 1872 by Maharaja Ranbir Singh, who ruled Jammu and Kashmir from 1856 until his death in 1885.
• The main aim of the Darbar Move was to escape the extreme weather conditions – Jammu’s searing heat and Srinagar’s bitter cold.
• The secretariat would function for six months each in Jammu and Srinagar.

Significance

• It helped in generating economic activity in both Jammu and Srinagar and would act as a bridge for the two culturally and linguistically different regions.
• It is generally understood that the Durbar Move was started to take the administration to the doorstep of the people of Kashmir which is closer to Ladakh. During summer, ruling from Kashmir also helped in ensuring adequate supplies to Ladakh.
• The practice also enabled greater interaction and bonding among the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

Concerns

• The exercise would cost the government nearly Rs 200 crore.
• The Jammu & Kashmir High Court in 2020 observed that there was no legal justification or constitutional basis for the Darbar Move tradition.
  • It said Darbar Move resulted in the “wastage of tremendous amount of time, efforts and energy on an inefficient and unnecessary activity.”

Context

• Governor Manoj Sinha has recently confirmed that the administration had completed the transition to e-office. Hence there was no need to continue the practice of the biennial ‘Darbar Move’ of the government offices.
• All officers allotted the ‘Darbar Move’ accommodation at Jammu and Srinagar have been asked to vacate the same.
• The decision to end the biennial ‘Darbar Move’ will save the exchequer Rs 200 crore each year. Government offices will now function normally at both Jammu and Srinagar.

Q1. Consider the following statements about Speaker of Assembly:

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

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to National Green Tribunal:

Q4. Which of the following statements about Chandra Shekhar Azad is/are correct?

Q5. In the context of global oil prices, 'Brent crude oil' is frequently referred to in the 
news. What does this term imply? (2011)

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 10th July 2021:- Download PDF Here