09 Mar 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 09 Mar 2022:-Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY
1. The office of the Governor
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Bangladesh, India, Nepal to move ahead on MVA pact
C. GS 3 Related
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. China’s takeaways from the war
ECONOMY
1. Revive tax increases, stub out tobacco product use
F. Prelims Facts
1. The rules around guardianship of minors
G. Tidbits
1. Biden bans Russian oil imports to U.S.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
FIP Magazine

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Bangladesh, India, Nepal to move ahead on MVA pact

Syllabus: India and its Neighbourhood – Relations

Prelims: Motor vehicles agreement – provisions

Mains: Initiatives being taken by India to foster greater sub-regional co-operation

Context:

  • Meeting between the officials from India, Bangladesh and Nepal regarding the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) of the sub-regional Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) grouping.

BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement:

  • The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) was signed in 2015 at the BBIN transport ministers meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan to ensure the free flow of goods and people between them.
    • The agreement would permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers. Cargo vehicles will be able to enter any of the four nations without the need for trans-shipment of goods from one country’s truck to another’s at the border.
    • Notably, each vehicle would require an electronic permit to enter another country’s territory, and border security arrangements between nations’ borders would also remain.
  • Though the original BBIN MVA was signed by all four countries, after objections in Bhutan over sustainability and environmental concerns, the Bhutanese Parliament decided not to endorse the plan.
  • Progress on the project has been slow, despite several trial runs being held.

Details:

  • The BBIN meeting was the first such in-person meeting since February 2020 to discuss the MVA since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
  • The meeting discussed the steps to be taken in operationalising the agreement. The officials finalised the wording of two separate protocols on passenger and cargo movement with an “enabling” agreement.
  • Notably, Bhutan continues to sit out of the Motor Vehicles Agreement.

Nut Graf
The Motor Vehicles Agreement of the sub-regional Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal grouping would help realise the full potential of trade and people to people connectivity between the BBIN countries by fostering greater sub-regional cooperation.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Revive tax increases, stub out tobacco product use

Syllabus: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Mains: Concerns with the tobacco epidemic and tax impact tobacco products

Context: This article discusses the imposition of taxes and their impact on tobacco products.

Concerns with the tobacco epidemic:

  • Research from many countries shows that a price increase induces people to quit or reduce tobacco use as well as discourages non-users from getting into the habit of tobacco use. 

How does the lack of tax impacts tobacco products?

  • There has been no significant tax increase on any tobacco product for four years in a row which is quite unlike the pre-GST years where the Union government and many State governments used to effect regular tax increases on tobacco products. 
  • The lack of tax increase over these years has made all tobacco products increasingly more affordable.
  • There has been no significant tax increase on any tobacco product barring a minor increase in the National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) during the Union Budget 2020-21 which only had the effect of increasing cigarette prices by roughly 5%.
  • While the lack of tax hikes has helped the bottom line of ITC, the Budget has dealt a significant blow to tobacco control efforts in India in particular. 
  • The absence of a tax increase on tobacco has the potential to reverse the reduction in tobacco use prevalence that India saw during the last decade and now push more people into harm’s way. 
  • There is no rationale why the specific cess applied on cigarettes has remained unchanged for four years in the face of increasing inflation.

Recommendations:

  • There is overwhelming consensus within the research community that taxation is one of the most cost-effective measures to reduce the demand for tobacco products.
  • The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council could well raise either the GST rate or the compensation cess levied on tobacco products especially when the Government is looking to rationalize GST rates and increase them for certain items. 
  • Since a specific cess is applied as a fixed amount per stick of cigarette, increasing inflation will decrease the significance of this particular tax component making cigarette prices more affordable and reducing its effective tax burden. 

Conclusion:

  • GST Council meetings must strive to keep public health ahead of the interests of the tobacco industry and significantly increase either the GST rates or the GST compensation cess rates applied on all tobacco products. 
  • The aim should be to arrest the increasing affordability of tobacco products in India and also rationalize tobacco taxation under the GST.
Nut Graf
With no major tax hikes for tobacco products in the last four years, they have become increasingly affordable. This is a huge blow to the efforts of civil society and the government itself to reduce the consumption of tobacco products in the country. Unless tax on tobacco products is raised and their demand reduced, the health of a whole generation would be in peril. 

F. Prelims Facts

1. The rules around guardianship of minors

Syllabus: Role of Women and Women’s Organization

Prelims: Guardianship related laws in India; Githa Hariharan vs RBI case
  • Indian laws accord superiority to the father in case of guardianship of a minor. This is observed in the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, (HMGA) 1956, as well as the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. Both these acts recognize the father as the natural guardian of the child even as they provide the custody of a young child to a mother.
  • The fact that guardianship rests primarily with the father in the law ensures that mothers are perceived as caregivers, but not as decision makers for children.
  • The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India in 1999 provides partial relief in this respect. In this case, the HMGA was challenged for violating the guarantee of equality of sexes under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

G. Tidbits

1. Biden bans Russian oil imports to U.S.

  • Targeting “the main artery of Russia’s economy”, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would ban the import of all Russian oil, gas and energy, in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • This comes in the backdrop of the U.S. Congress calling for ending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, in addition to potential action against Russia at the World Trade Organization.
  • Given that the U.S. imported just about 8% of its total volume of crude and refined products in 2021 from Russia, it can afford to ban Russian energy imports, its allies in Europe will not be able to undertake such sanctions on energy imports from Russia due to their large energy dependency on Russia. However, other EU countries and the UK too have committed to phasing out Russian oil and gas in the long run.
    • Russia is one of the largest exporters of oil globally. Some 60% of Russia’s exported oil goes to Europe. Forty percent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia.
  • Crude prices rocketed upwards as the U.S. banned Russian oil imports.
  • The rise in crude oil prices is going to have a marked impact on countries like India, which imports almost 85% of its energy requirements.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with regards to Rat Hole Mining:
  1. Rat hole mining involves digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high, which workers (often children) enter and extract coal.
  2. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it in 2014, on grounds of it being unscientific and unsafe for workers.
  3. Since the coal seam is extremely thin in Meghalaya, no other method would be economically viable.

Choose the correct code:

  1. 1 & 3 only
  2. 2 & 3 only
  3. 1 & 2 only
  4. All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Commercial open mining is not practised in the North-Eastern regions of Assam and Meghalaya because of the terrain’s unsuitability as well as the nature of coal deposits. The coal found in North-East contains lots of sulphur and this type of coal is categorized as bad quality of coal. Here, rat hole mining is prevalent. A rat-hole mine involves digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet deep, in which workers, more often children, enter and extract coal.
  • Since the coal seam is extremely thin in Meghalaya, no other method would be economically viable in such areas.
  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it in 2014, and retained the ban in 2015, on grounds of it being unscientific and unsafe for workers.
Q2. Consider the following statements with regards to BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement:
  1. The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative is a sub-regional architecture of countries in Eastern South Asia.
  2. The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement was signed in 2015 at the BBIN transport ministers meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.
  3. Apart from Nepal, all other nations have ratified the agreement already.

Choose the correct code:

  1. 1 & 2 only
  2. 2 & 3 only
  3. 1 & 3 only
  4. All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • The BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) was signed in 2015 at the BBIN transport ministers meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan to ensure the free flow of goods and people between them.
  • The agreement would permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers. Cargo vehicles will be able to enter any of the four nations without the need for trans-shipment of goods from one country’s truck to another’s at the border.
  • Notably, each vehicle would require an electronic permit to enter another country’s territory, and border security arrangements between nations’ borders would also remain.
  • Though the original BBIN MVA was signed by all four countries, after objections in Bhutan over sustainability and environmental concerns, the Bhutanese Parliament decided not to endorse the plan.
Q3. Consider the following statements:
  1. Under the present rules for getting a PAN card, an applicant can furnish only their mother’s name, without giving their father’s name, if she is a single parent.
  2. Under the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, (HMGA) 1956, the natural guardian of a Hindu minor in respect of the minor’s person or property “is the father, and after him, the mother”.
  3. The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 says that the Shariat or the religious law will apply in case of guardianship according to which the father is the natural guardian.

Choose the correct code:

  1. 1 & 2 only
  2. 2 & 3 only
  3. 1 & 3 only
  4. All of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Under the new Income Tax Rules, giving the father’s name is optional but only for those with single mothers.
  • Indian laws accord superiority to the father in case of guardianship of a minor. This is observed in the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, (HMGA) 1956, as well as the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. Both these acts recognize the father as the natural guardian of the child even as they provide the custody of a young child to a mother.
Q4. Which of the following statements about NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) 
is not correct?
  1. NATO constitutes a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.
  2. The most recent member state to be added to NATO was Moldova on 27 March 2020.
  3. The September 11 attacks in the United States caused NATO to invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter for the first time in the organization’s history.
  4. Article 5 of the treaty commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state, in Europe or North America, to be an armed attack against them all.
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

  • Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined in 2004, Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017, and North Macedonia in 2020, taking the membership of the NATO alliance to 30.
Q5. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of 
G20? [UPSC 2020]
  1. Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey
  2. Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand
  3. Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam
  4. Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • G20 is an international forum for global economic cooperation.
  • It has 20 members, and these countries are as follows:
    • Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and the European Union.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. Illustrate the constitutional debates on the role of the Governor and how the position has fared in Centre-­State relations. (250 words; 15 marks)(GS Paper 2/Polity)
  2. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the economic costs of the conflict in Eastern Europe threaten to stall the shaky global recovery from the COVID-­19 pandemic. In this context, examine the risk of global stagflation and measures that need to be taken by India.  (250 words; 15 marks)(GS Paper 3/Economy)

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 09 Mar 2022:-Download PDF Here

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