9th March 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Military Cooperation Group dialogue with the U.S. postponed EDUCATION 1. ‘Over 40% govt. schools don’t have power, playgrounds’ C. GS 3 Related ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 1. Though hunters lose interest in Red Panda, traps still snare endangered mammal ECONOMY 1. RBI assures customers that their bank deposits are safe D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials SOCIAL ISSUES 1. Missing at birth: on sex selective abortion and infanticide 2. Having an ear to Adivasi ground F. Prelims Facts G. Tidbits 1. ‘We welcome private sector competition’ 2. Doctors’ forum dispels beliefs on commercial cord blood banking 3. Arunachal bans entry of foreign tourists 4. After 15 hours of questioning, Rana Kapoor arrested by ED H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Military Cooperation Group dialogue with the U.S. postponed
Context:
- India-U.S. Defence cooperation.
Background:
- The India-U.S. Military Cooperation Group (MCG) dialogue is a forum to review the progress of defence cooperation between India’s Integrated Defence Staff and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) at the strategic and operational levels.
- The Integrated Defence Staff was responsible for coordination among the armed forces before the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff.
- As part of the agreement reached at the 2+2 Dialogue of December 2019, with the intent to further military liaison relationships, India has already posted a liaison officer at the U.S. Navy Central Command in Bahrain and a U.S. liaison officer has joined the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region at Gurugram.
Details:
- The India-U.S. Military Cooperation Group (MCG) dialogue scheduled to be held in the U.S., has been cancelled given the COVID-19 outbreak.
- As part of improving defence cooperation and interoperability between India and the U.S., India is considering a U.S. request for posting liaison officers at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This was to be discussed at the dialogue.
- The MCG dialogue was to follow up on the U.S. President’s India visit and fast-track the decisions, including that on 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters.
1. ‘Over 40% govt. schools don’t have power, playgrounds’
Context:
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development’s (HRD) report on the 2020-2021 demand for grants for school education submitted to the Rajya Sabha.
Details:
Budget allocations and expenditure:
- The Standing Committee has expressed concerns over the fact that the budgetary allocations have observed a 27% cut over the budgetary proposals made by the School Education Department.
- For the core Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the department had only spent 71% of revised estimates by December 31, 2019.
For more information on Samagra Shiksha Scheme refer to the linked article.
Critical infrastructure gaps:
- The Parliamentary panel has identified and expressed concerns over critical infrastructure gaps in the government schools.
- The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2017-18 survey reports that only 56% of government schools have electricity. Manipur and Madhya Pradesh have reported less than 20% having access to power.
- The latest survey has reported that less than 57% of schools have playgrounds, including less than 30% of schools in Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir.
- The parliamentary panel has come down heavily on the very slow rate of progress in building classrooms, labs and libraries to strengthen government higher secondary schools.
- The panel noted that out of 2,613 sanctioned projects for 2019-20, only three had been completed in the first nine months of the financial year.
Concerns:
- The findings of the parliamentary panel point to the lack of political will in developing this critical sector.
- The lack of appropriate infrastructure at government schools may impact the learning outcome of its students and may also alienate students from government schools.
Way forward:
- The parliamentary panel has recommended that core schemes like the Samagra Shiksha Scheme get additional funds at the revised estimates stage.
- The panel has recommended that the HRD Ministry collaborate with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to provide solar and other energy sources so that schools have access to power.
C. GS 3 Related
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Though hunters lose interest in Red Panda, traps still snare endangered mammal
Context:
- A study by wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC.
TRAFFIC:
- TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network, is a joint program of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It was founded in 1976.
- TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organization working globally on the trade of wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity and sustainable development.
- The organization works to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature. Through research, analysis, guidance and influence, it promotes sustainable wildlife trade (the green stream work) and combats wildlife crime and trafficking (the red stream work).
- The organization’s priority is to promote international cooperation to address wildlife trade issues, with particular emphasis on CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Red Panda:
- The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China.
- It is also sometimes referred to as the lesser panda, the red bear-cat, and the red cat-bear.
- The reddish-brown arboreal mammal is the only living member of the genus Ailurus. It feeds mainly on bamboo but also eats eggs, birds, and insects.
Range:
- It is endemic to the temperate forests of the Himalayas. An estimated 14,500 animals are left in the wild across Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar.
- India accounts for the second largest population of Red Pandas after China. About 5,000-6,000 red pandas are estimated to be present in the four Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal.
- Red pandas have been reported from 11 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, which is presumed to hold the largest red panda population in the country.
Threats:
- The population of the Red Panda continues to decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression. The animal has been hunted for meat and fur, besides illegal capture for the pet trade.
Conservation status:
- It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is also listed in CITES Appendix I.
- It is listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and has the highest legal protection at par with other threatened species in India.
Details:
Study:
- The findings of the study on wildlife trade by TRAFFIC have been compiled in the report titled “Assessment of illegal trade-related threats to Red Panda in India and selected neighbouring range countries”.
- The study considered a ten-year period from July 2010 to June 2019 and analyzed poaching and illegal trade of the species.
Findings:
- The study has revealed that the poaching of the Red Panda has decreased in India and Bhutan. The researchers found no incidents of poaching or illegal trade of Red Pandas in either India or Bhutan in the study period.
- The study attributes this trend to the decreasing traditional demand for animal products among the younger generation of people across the animal’s Himalayan habitat. This might be indicative of the success of awareness campaigns undertaken in the areas.
- Though there has been a decline in interest for Red Pandas among poachers, worryingly, however, the Red Panda is falling to traps laid for other animals, such as the musk deer and wild pigs.
Way forward:
- Given the fact that the red panda’s survival is crucial for the eastern and north-eastern and the eastern Himalayan forests, there is a need for community-based conservation and protection for the species as its habitat stretches across remote areas.
- The report recommends trans-boundary law enforcement co-operation through the use of multi-government platforms like SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network).
Additional information:
- Red Panda is the state animal of Sikkim.
1. RBI assures customers that their bank deposits are safe
Context:
- Reserve Bank of India and the Chief Economic Adviser of India reassuring customers about the safety of their deposits.
Details:
- In the wake of the moratorium on private sector lender Yes Bank, and the concerns being raised in certain sections of media about the safety of deposits, the RBI has clarified that deposits of customers are safe.
- The concerns were based on assessing the lender’s health based on the ratio of deposit to m-cap (market capitalization). The RBI has claimed that the concern being expressed is based on analysis which is flawed since internationally, the solvency of banks is based on Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets (CRAR) and not on market cap.
- Allaying concerns over the banking sector health, the Chief Economic Adviser has stated that the Indian banks are well-capitalized.
- As against the international norms for CRAR of 8%, Indian banks on an average have a CRAR of 14.3%. This translates to Indian banks having 80% greater capital than the international norms.
- The RBI mandates the banks to keep CRAR at 9%. The average CRAR of Indian banks is almost 60% higher than that mandated by the RBI.
- Though the State Bank of India (SBI) has an order of magnitude of higher m-cap ratio, it continues to be safe and is part of the top 100 banks internationally.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. Missing at birth: on sex selective abortion and infanticide
Introduction
- Sex-selective abortion is the practice of ending a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant.
- It is a problem in India where there is a cultural preference for sons, coupled with political and economic influences.
- Instances of sex discrimination committed via abortion and infanticide have resulted in millions of “missing” girls in some societies.
Context
- There was a case of infanticide in Tamil Nadu’s Usilampatti, which is historically notorious for its crude methods of killing female babies.
- In this region, there is an inhuman practice of feeding female infants with toxic milk.
What are the causes of sex-selective abortions in India?
- Son Preference – Throughout much of India, sons are often valued to carry on the family name and receive the inheritance.
- According to traditional Hindu customs, important religious rituals, such as the lighting of the funeral pyre, must be performed by a son to assure that parents have a good afterlife.
- Sons also provide parents with the assurance that they will be cared for—physically, emotionally, and financially—in sickness and old age.
- Daughters, on the other hand, are often seen as a burden and a net financial loss.
- Although illegal, the practice of dowry is still common in India, and couples will often spend a substantial amount of their savings on their daughter’s dowry.
- Moreover, marriage in India is typically patrilocal.
- Upon marriage, women become part of their husband’s family and lineage and typically care for their husband’s parents in old age, leaving sonless couples with little support from their children in old age.
Initiatives taken by the Government
- Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PC-PNDT) was enacted and amended to arm the state to wage a war against this practice.
- It is an Act of the Parliament enacted to stop female feticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India.
- The main purpose of enacting the Act is to ban the use of sex-selection techniques after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic techniques for sex-selective abortions.
- The Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
- The campaign is aimed at preventing gender-biased sex selection and ensuring the survival & protection of the girl child. Read more on the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign at the linked article.
- Tamil Nadu, under the leadership of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, effectively employed the Cradle Baby Scheme to counter infanticide, along with effective awareness campaigns.
Some possible solutions for ending India’s sex-selective abortion crisis
- Effective Enforcement of Laws Banning Sex-Selective Abortion – In order to reduce the number of sex-selective abortions in India, the central, state, and union territory governments must ensure full and effective implementation of the PC-PNDT Act, including promptly holding medical practitioners that violate the law accountable.
- The government must ensure that all ultrasound clinics are registered, and that accurate, up-to-date records are kept.
- Promote the Equal Dignity and Status of Women – Studies have shown that men and women with gender-equitable attitudes and husbands who display low relationship control are significantly less likely to express a strong preference for sons.
- Promoting the equal dignity and status of women will reduce son preference and thus reduce the motivation for couples to engage in sex selection practices.
- Public and non-governmental stakeholders seeking to combat sex-selective abortions must promote the dignity of girls through public awareness messaging.
- Such messaging should not only reinforce cultural-based reasons why Indian couples desire daughters, but should also seek to advocate for the equal status of girls and their equal potential to contribute to their families.
Conclusion
- It is time for the government to ramp up awareness building exercises, and this time use technology to monitor every single pregnant woman right down to taluk levels until at least one year after birth.
- While punitive aspects might offer a measure of deterrence, true change can only be brought about by a change in attitude.
- The weapon that the government needs to use now is one that will be powerful enough to eliminate the perversion of son preference from people’s minds.
2. Having an ear to Adivasi ground
Context
- This article discusses issues faced by the Adivasi community and how we need to adopt forward-looking policies to bring a difference in their lives.
Issues
- The Adivasi community is assumed to be underdeveloped. With this view in policymaking, they are recognized as ‘takers/receivers’ of governmental benefits.
- Policies and practices rooted in this approach, fail, in most cases, to accommodate the question of the participation of the Adivasis in the ongoing processes of the nation as co-citizens.
- This results in a top-down approach, where there is unilateral enforcement of policies. What this means is that, the participation which is required for socio-economic progress is denied to the Adivasis which results in loss to them as their input is not taken, and loss to the society as well.
- The rich moral, cultural and social values, and linguistic and other practice-acquired developments that the Adivasis have been nurturing throughout history could have added immensely toward strengthening our democracy.
- Mutual cooperation, decision making through discussion, peaceful cohabitation with others and with nature, age-old and time-tested practices of environmental protection, and other such high civic qualities observed by them could have added to the country’s “democratic curriculum”.
- Generally, people from outside the community have no idea about the Adivasis’ social, cultural and linguistic practices. They lack information about who Adivasis are, where they live and what they do.
- This knowledge gap leads to democratic denial for the Adivasis.
- The imposed superiority of the outside world has resulted in the Adivasis considering themselves as inferior, primitive and even taking a fatalistic view of their subjugated life.
- This pushes them to the margins, even making them abandon some of their socially unifying customs and cultural practices — particularly democratic norms and human values that have evolved through a protracted journey of collective living and struggles for existence.
- One outcome of this is the erosion of their great linguistic heritage (in some sections).
- Even if the Adivasi community accepts the ‘imposed modern’ view, it has not guaranteed them inclusion in the apparent mainstream. Rather, the opposite happens.
- They are often reminded of their primitive roots and kept alienated.
- Again, pushed to the side by exploitation and oppression, marginalization and subjugation, Adivasis, in many cases, cling to oppressive behaviours such as witchcraft which only make the label of them being primitive even more indelible.
- The vicious cycle of political-economic deprivation and social alienation continues to keep them subjugated to the ruling modern.
Steps to be taken
- Therefore, it is important to go beyond the administrative convention of bracketing Adivasis into a single category. Rather, policy framing requires mandatory recognition of their wide diversity so as to address the different problems faced by different groups — by community as well as by region.
- It is also important to abide by the general constitutional rules which are often violated by the state.
- In other words, the very common instances of violations of the Forest Rights Act, the Right to Education Act, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act — which affect them — have to be eliminated.
- For implementing these public programs there should be the active involvement of the communities concerned.
- Instead of being considered as mere passive recipients, Adivasis must be respected as active agents of change and involved in all spheres of policy, from planning to implementation.
Conclusion
- The Adivasi community is seen as a source of cheap labour and they are half-fed with no opportunities to flourish and develop their human capabilities. It is now imperative that the entire outlook on the Adivasi question is reversed.
- Instead of considering Adivasis to be a problem, the entire country can benefit a great deal by considering them as co-citizens and sharing their historically constructed cultural values which often manifest the best forms of democracy and uphold the notions of higher levels of justice, fairness, and equality — better than those prevalent in seemingly mainstream societies.
- By ensuring their right to live their own lives, the country can, in fact, guarantee itself a flourishing democracy.
- As Nehru once said, “We should judge results not by statistics or amount of money spent but the quality of human character that is evolved.”
F. Prelims Facts
Nothing here for today!!!
G. Tidbits
1. ‘We welcome private sector competition’
- NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL), the Department of Space’s second commercial arm after Antrix Corporation, was formed to market products and services of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- NSIL’s mandate is to work with Indian industry and create a high technology manufacturing base, especially for space activities.
- The immediate goal is to realize ISRO’s two satellite launch vehicles, the PSLV and the new SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) through domestic industries.
- Getting small spacecraft and satellite communication services are other thrust areas. NSIL will be focusing on ensuring technology transfer from ISRO to interested private players.
- In recent years, in what is being touted as a good development, many Indian private sector companies and start-ups have come up in the space business and are offering to innovatively make small satellites and launch vehicles, etc. at low costs.
2. Doctors’ forum dispels beliefs on commercial cord blood banking
- Cord blood banking involves taking the umbilical cord blood, which is a rich source of stem cells, and preserving it for future use.
- Globally, cord blood banking is recommended as a source of hematopoietic stem cell (derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood) transplantation for haematological cancers and disorders. For all other conditions, the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells is not yet established. The stem cell use is still in experimental stages.
- Despite this, a nexus of doctors and stem cell banking companies continue to thrive based on emotional marketing tactics employed by stem cell banking companies. Companies convince parents to bank the cells for several years promising future therapeutic use.
- The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) does not recommend commercial stem cell banking. Since there is no scientific basis for preservation of cord blood for future self-use, the practice of promoting cord blood banking, therefore, raises ethical and social concerns.
3. Arunachal bans entry of foreign tourists
- After Sikkim, the Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to ban entry of foreign tourists to eliminate any possibility of the COVID-19 outbreak in the State.
- The State government of Arunachal Pradesh has stopped issuing Protected Area Permits (PAPs) to foreigners temporarily.
- Arunachal Pradesh is one of the four north-eastern States that a foreign tourist can visit only if he or she possesses a PAP. The other three states are Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.
- Meanwhile, the Konyak (Naga tribe) Union in Nagaland has banned the entry of foreign as well as domestic tourists in the State’s Mon district in the light of the upcoming Konyak spring festival.
4. After 15 hours of questioning, Rana Kapoor arrested by ED
- The Enforcement Directorate arrested Yes Bank founder under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
- Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent money-laundering (legalizing the income/profits from an illegal source).
- The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 enables the Government or the public authority to confiscate the property derived from money-laundering.
- The Enforcement Directorate in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, is responsible for investigating the offences of money laundering under the PMLA.
- The Act and Rules impose an obligation on banking companies, financial institutions and intermediaries to verify the identity of clients, maintain records and furnish information in the prescribed form to Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND).
- Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND), under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, is an independent body reporting directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the Finance Minister. FIU-IND is the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing, and disseminating the information relating to suspect financial transactions.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a separate offence of cheating under the IPC, along with accepting illegal gratification and misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Which of the following statements is/are correct?
- TRAFFIC is a joint program of the World Wide Fund for Nature and the United Nations Environment Programme.
- TRAFFIC works towards the complete elimination of global wildlife trade.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Q2. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Red Panda?
- It is native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China.
- It is a herbivore arboreal mammal.
- It is listed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Options:
- 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 only
Q3. The Military Cooperation Group (MCG) dialogue of India is associated with which of the following countries/groups?
- Russia
- Indian Ocean Rim Association
- United States
- Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Q4. Which of the following statements is/are incorrect?
- Lower Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) indicates that a bank is better capitalized.
- The RBI mandates a CRAR of 8% as against the Basel III norms which stipulate a capital to risk-weighted assets of 9%.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- The politics of dominance, the economics of immediate gain, and a social outlook of separateness have charted a very different path for the Adivasis. Analyze. (15 marks, 250 words)
- The widespread practice of sex-selective abortion has created serious demographic consequences in India. Discuss if the legal approach is sufficient in eliminating sex-selective abortions. (15 marks, 250 words)
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9th March 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
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