21 Jun 2018: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

F. Tidbits

• Scientists at the Berkeley Lab in the US have pioneered a new way to synthesise DNA sequences (biological process by which a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule is created) through a creative use of enzymes that promises to be faster, cheaper, does not require the use of toxic chemicals and more accurate.
• With greater accuracy, the technique could produce DNA strands 10 times longer than today’s methods.
• The new technique relies on a DNA-synthesizing enzyme found in cells of the immune system that naturally has the ability to add nucleotides to an existing DNA molecule in water, where DNA is most stable.

Old method

• Current DNA synthesis, which dates from 1981 and uses techniques from organic chemistry labs is time consuming, often requires multiple attempts and sometimes fails completely.

Significance

• Increased access to DNA constructs can speed up the development of new cures for diseases and simplify the production of new medicines
• Synthesizing DNA is a growing business as companies order custom-made genes so they can produce biologic drugs, industrial enzymes or useful chemicals in vats of microbes.
• Researchers purchase synthetic genes to insert into plants or animals or try out new CRISPR-based disease therapies.
• The discovery could address a critical bottleneck in biology research.

• The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) of Bhutan has warned Bhutanese citizens of the risks of holding Indian currency, saying that it would not be responsible for any future actions — such as demonetisation — taken by the Reserve Bank of India.
• RMA has advised the citizens to deposit all their Indian currency in the banks and not to hold it in cash.
• The Bhutanese central bank also warned citizens of counterfeit ₹500 notes in the Indian currency and requested the public to be careful while accepting notes of this denomination.
• Indian currency is legal tender in Bhutan.

Reason for notification

• These instructions [regarding the limits on the movement of the currency] are the reason behind the notification being issued.
• There has been no new information about any other action by the RBI.
• The instruction regarding the Indian notes were just as a matter of precaution.

• A peak tax rate of 28%, plus States levying some amount of local sales tax or VAT on petrol and diesel, is likely to be the tax structure when the two auto fuels are covered under the GST regime.
• The peak GST rate plus VAT would be equal to the present tax incidence, which is made up of excise duty levied by the Central Government and VAT charged by the States.

Centre to decide

• But before the two fuels are put under GST, the Centre has to decide if it is willing to let go of the Rs.20,000-crore input tax credit it currently pockets by keeping petrol, diesel, natural gas, jet fuel and crude oil out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime which came into force from July 1, 2017.
• There is no pure GST on petrol and diesel anywhere in the world and so in India too, it will have to be a combination of GST and VAT.
• The timing of including petro products in GST will be a political call which the Centre and States will have to take collectively.
• The Centre currently levies a total of Rs.19.48 per litre as excise duty on petrol.

• The recent rise in oil prices could impact private consumption adversely, Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel said at the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.
• The six-member MPC had unanimously decided to raise the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, citing inflation fanned by a sharp increase in oil prices.
• Private consumption expenditure contributed almost 60% to the gross domestic product last fiscal.
• RBI has raised its inflation projection for the fourth quarter to 4.7% from 4.4% it had estimated in April.
• A normal monsoon could however act as a mitigating factor to the uncertain inflation path by keeping food inflation benign.

• While India is not in favour of oil prices as low as $30 a barrel, the prevailing price levels are too high and stand to hurt the country’s fiscal situation, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
• He urged the OPEC countries to commit towards ensuring more sustainable prices.

Concerns

• Globally, crude prices have gone beyond the threshold, which can be sustained by the world, particularly countries like India, which is a key driver of world economy.
• These prices are creating stress throughout global economy, as it is giving pain to people in India.
• The global economic outlook already has threats from trade wars, geopolitical events and the threat of instability coming back to the Eurozone.
• The already fragile world economic growth will be at threat if oil prices persist at these levels.
• This might lead to energy poverty in many parts of the world.
• It also causes undue hardships, particularly to those at the bottom of the pyramid in developing and least developed countries.

• Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s visit to China will focus on advancing cross-border connectivity, including through a railway corridor to Kathmandu, which could be extended to India in the future.
• Nepal has been seeking improved connectivity with China via Tibet, after New Delhi was accused of blockading essential supplies across the India-Nepal border in 2015.

A balancing act

• Oli has been trying to establish a balance between Nepal’s ties with India and China, which has also included symbolic gestures such as choosing to visit New Delhi first after becoming Prime Minster for the second time.
• Oli pointed out that Nepal had recently proposed some infrastructure projects covering roads, railway, energy, transmission lines with China under the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• In April, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had alluded to the formation of the Trans-Himalayan economic corridor that could be extended to India.
• China’s security concerns demanded that appropriate safeguards were in before Tibet-Nepal transit was fully developed.

• The U.S. Senate has ignored the Donald Trump administration’s request for inclusion of waiver provisions in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
• The act requires the Congress to impose sanctions on countries that have significant defence relations with Russia.
• The Senate version of the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for 2019 was passed and has no waiver provisions.
• The version of the NDAA 2019 passed earlier by the House of Representatives had provisions for waiver, but that is inadequate to address India’s concerns about the law.

Setback for India

• The House version allows for waivers for 180 days, provided the administration certifies that the country in question is scaling back its ties with Russia.
• This formulation is inadequate as it links waiver to India rolling back its ties with Russia.
• India is currently caught in the crossfire of the bipartisan law against Russia, due to its defence relations with Kremlin.
• The House and Senate versions of the Bill are usually reconciled through a conference process, but any hope of a legislative resolution to the CAATSA headache now appears out of reach.
• People lobbying for changes in the law in order to ensure that India’s increasing defence purchases from America won’t be interrupted by sanctions said lawmakers would be more amenable to change after the November 2018 midterm elections.

• India and South Korea will align their policies (Modi’s Act East policy and Moon’s New Southern policy) for the region during the visit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to India next month.
• Last November, Mr. Moon unveiled the “New Southern policy” aimed at deepening ties with southeast Asia as part of efforts to diversify trade.
• This complements the Modi government’s Act East Policy of deepening strategic ties with southeast Asian nations.
• The two countries are looking for expanding cooperation in security and defence industries and they expect the summit to produce substantial outcomes.
• There are many initiatives to be agreed to at the summit; around 20 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among other outcomes.

• As the Smart Cities Mission enters its fourth year, the Centre has finally announced the 100th and the last city which will be part of the project: Shillong.
• This announcement also sets the end date for the mission as June 2023, as every city gets five years to complete its projects.
• The first 20 cities were selected in January 2016, and they should now be at the halfway point of their mission.

2.5% fund spent

• The total proposed investment in the 100 cities will be Rs.2.05 lakh crore, according to a statement by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Until May 2018, about 2.5% of that amount — Rs.5,225 crore — has been spent on 316 completed projects.
• Another 632 projects are under implementation, at a cost of about Rs.25,000 crore.
• Each selected city is required to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle which will actually carry out the mission, a process that takes at least six months.

• With the NITI Aayog giving an improved ranking to Rajasthan in water management index, the State has laid emphasis on restoration of irrigation potential of waterbodies and revival of the traditional water sources, besides expediting the ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project to interlink three major rivers.
• The NITI Aayog, which had ranked Rajasthan 13th in the country in the base year, 2015-16, has given 10th spot to the State in the composite water management index in 2016-17, making the improvement in ranking the highest in the country.

Water index indicators

• The NITI Aayog gave rankings to the States based on the first-ever assessment and analysis of its kind for the composite water sector scenario, for which the data was collected for two years. The comprehensive document was published last month.
• The indicators in water index were grouped into nine broad themes, which included the source augmentation and restoration of waterbodies, major and medium irrigation supply side management, rural drinking water arrangement, urban water supply and sanitation.
• Rajasthan ranked top on some of these parameters.

Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan

• The Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan of the state launched for the water sector in 2016 had helped restore most of the irrigation potential of the identified water bodies largely through community-managed ponds and tanks.
• A total of 12,000 villages had been covered with the Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan in its three phases, while the survey for the fourth phase had started.

• Governor N.N. Vohra took over the reins of the administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a day after coalition partners Peoples Democratic Party and the BJP parted ways.
• He reviewed security preparedness in the militancy-hit State.

Actions

• Vohra issued the proclamation to impose Governor’s rule under Section 92 of the Constitution of J&K, immediately after getting the President’s approval.
• He placed the Legislative Assembly under suspended animation.
• The Governor held a meeting with senior administrative officers and key officials of the security forces.
• All orders issued by government departments on June 19 were kept in abeyance, as he issued fresh administrative orders.
• The Governor called for cohesive action to enforce constant vigil on the International Border and the Line of Control, effectively maintain internal security and ensure the safety of the people, sensitive establishments and installations.
• He asked representatives of all the security forces to identify existing gaps and ensure coordinated action on the ground for prompt and strong counter-terror responses.

• Without explicitly proposing a trilateral dialogue among India, Pakistan and China, Beijing offered to strengthen its cooperation with New Delhi and Islamabad to bolster stability in the region.
• Without abandoning the prospects of a trilateral meeting altogether, the Chinese Foreign Ministry seemed to step back from explicit offer of a meeting among China, India and Pakistan, made by its Ambassador in New Delhi, Luo Zhaohui.
• In reference to the recently concluded SCO summit in Qingdao, where India and Pakistan participated as full members, Mr. Zhaohui had said that some Indian friends suggested that India, China, and Pakistan may have some kind of trilateral summit on the sidelines of the SCO.
• So, if China, Russia and Mongolia can have a trilateral summit, then why not India, China, and Pakistan, he added.
• India was exploring the possibility of connectivity to Central Asia through the Pakistan-Afghan corridor, under the SCO framework.
• However, another official said that New Delhi had not been considering the SCO as a forum where bilateral differences between India and Pakistan were to be addressed.

• The United States announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) terming it hypocritical and self-serving.
• S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley blamed the UNHRC for bias against Israel and refusing to eject members who are violators of human rights.
• Announcing the decision at the State Department, the officials named Russia, China, Cuba and Egypt for thwarting U.S. efforts to reform the Council.
• The U.N. body also focused on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir in a report recently.

Background

• The UNHRC has been among the targets of President Donald Trump’s politics against global organisations and treaties.
• Under his presidency, the U.S. has withdrawn from the U.N. climate treaty and the UNESCO.
• UNHRC was founded in 2006. Then President George W. Bush was dismissive of the body. Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. joined it in 2009.
• The latest confrontation between the U.S. and UNHRC followed the body’s criticism of Israel in the aftermath of the recent killing of protesters in the Gaza Strip.
• The U.S. decision also comes against the backdrop of global criticism of the Trump administration’s policy of separating children and parents detained for illegally entering the U.S.
• UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein asked to halt America’s unconscionable policy.

• Veerappa Moily, former Union Minister and Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) during the UPA government, has rung alarm bells over the manner in which the current government is bringing in lateral entrants into the Civil Services.
• Lateral entry into the government is not new, it has happened in an ad hoc manner in the past.
• But the current government should come out with a framework policy since they want to institutionalise it; they haven’t done that, simply issued advertisements.

Objective process

• At the outset, selection process should be objective.
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has been in charge of recruitment of civil servants, and there is a process in place, which is strict and objective.
• The Indian Administrative Service selection as such has not been questioned till today, except perhaps to say that there is a colonial overhang in the system.

Concerns

• The way in which this government is going about the matter, straightaway advertising posts to be filled, is akin to opening a Pandora’s box.
• It will hurt the current set of bureaucrats, who may have to report to these lateral appointees, and which is opposite of the continuity that is there in the Indian Civil Services system.
• Indian system is different from the ‘spoils’ system of the United States where whenever a new President is elected, he brings his civil servants with him, a committed bureaucracy that works with a directly recruited one.
• The current move of the government is a back entry being granted to the ‘spoils’ system.
• As far as the requirement of specialised personnel to deal with Finance and other Ministries is concerned, as suggested in the 10th report of the ARC, at the time of training, those with some aptitude for specialised positions could be trained in that line.
• The reservation policy in government jobs has to be kept in mind as well.
• Most important, this kind of lateral entry might lead to politicisation of the civil services.
• The danger of saffronisation is very much present as there is already a pre-Civil Services exam training institute run by the RSS.

• India has questioned Britain’s assessment of the number of Indians overstaying their visa in the U.K. and called for policies based on statistics, amid an ongoing controversy over Britain’s failure to include Indian students in the relaxation of visa norms, and whether it was linked to India’s failure to sign an MoU on the return of illegal immigrants.

Exclusion slammed

• The exclusion of Indian students has also been condemned by the main political parties.
• Allegations that India and visitors have misused the system is an enormous roadblock in the way of having some kind of special trade relationship.
• The Labour Party has also condemned the exclusion of India.

G. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam