29 Mar 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Protest in LS as Bill envisages lifting biometrics of detainees
2. The Startup India initiative
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT
1. The phenomenon of coral bleaching
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. A subregional grouping that must get back on course
1. The JCPOA continues to be elusive
F. Prelims Facts
1. Decision on Malabar Rebellion martyrs deferred
G. Tidbits
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

A. GS 1 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

B. GS 2 Related

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Protest in LS as Bill envisages lifting biometrics of detainees

Syllabus: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Prelims: Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022

Mains: Critical Evaluation of Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022

Context: 

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 was introduced in the Lok Sabha amid strong protests from Opposition members.

Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022

• As per the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill of 2022, Police and prison officials would be able to collect, retain, and analyze physical and biological evidence, including retina and iris scans.
• According to the bill, these procedures would also apply to anybody detained under any preventative detention law.
• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will store physical and biological samples, as well as signature and handwriting data, for at least 75 years.
• The Identification of Prisoners Act of 1920 is set to be replaced by the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill of 2022.
• Officers in charge of police stations or those not below the rank of head constable are also required to take “measures,” with records of these measurements being kept for 75 years from the date of collection.

Evaluation of Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022

• Benefits:
  • The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 involved only finger impressions and footprint impressions. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 has expanded its coverage to include palm-print impressions, iris and retina scans, physical and biological samples, behavioural attributes, etc. This will ease the process of identification and investigations in criminal matters.
  • The Bill also expands the individuals it seeks to cover which will ensure that a thorough investigation can be carried out by investigating suspected and accused persons.
• Concerns:
  • Lack of Clarity: 
    • Several provisions are not defined in the Bill itself. For instance, the statement of objects says it provides for the collection of measurements for “convicts and other persons” but the expression “other persons” is not defined. 
  • Tool of Harassment:
    • The Bill allows those “ordered to give security for his good behaviour or maintaining peace under section 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973” to be compelled to share biometric data. 
    • These provisions can be used to harass a wide range of individuals who are simply “suspected” of committing an offence or “likely” to commit one.
  • Conflict with Fundamental Rights:
    • Bill is beyond the legislative competence of Parliament as it violates the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy under Article 21.
    • The proposed law will be debated against Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which is a fundamental right that guarantees the right against self-incrimination.
  • Fear of Misuse of Provisions:
    • To the extent that the proposed Bill brings a legal framework for police surveillance using technology, experts fear that it could be expanded or misused.
  • Right To Be Forgotten: 
    • The Bill brings to focus the rights of prisoners and the right to be forgotten since biometric data can be stored for 75 years. 
    • While the jurisprudence around the right to be forgotten is still in an early stage in India, the Puttaswamy judgment discusses it as a facet of the fundamental right to privacy.

C. GS 3 Related

Category: ENVIRONMENT

1. The phenomenon of coral bleaching

Syllabus: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Prelims: About Coral Reefs and Coral bleaching

Mains: Concerns with increased Coral bleaching

Context: 

The management authority of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef confirmed that the reef is experiencing a mass coral bleaching event. 

Coral Reefs:

• Corals are invertebrates or animals without a spine that live in the sea. Each coral is called a polyp, and a colony is made up of thousands of polyps.
• There are two types of coral: hard coral and soft coral.
  • Hard corals use calcium carbonate from the seawater to create hard, white exoskeletons.
  • Soft coral polyps imitate plant skeletons and attach themselves to them as well as older skeletons built by their forefathers.
• Symbiotic relationship: 
  • Corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, which are single-celled algae.
  • The algae provide the coral with food and nutrients, which they produce using the sun’s light in a process called photosynthesis.
  • As a result, the corals provide a home for the algae as well as essential nutrients. Corals’ bright color is also due to the zooxanthellae.
• Know more about Coral Reefs.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.  Reef 2050: The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is the overarching framework for protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef to 2050 developed by the Australian and Queensland governments.

What is coral bleaching? 

• When corals are stressed in their environment, such as by changes in temperature, pollution, or high levels of ocean acidity, they bleach.
• When coral polyps are stressed, the zooxanthellae, or food-producing algae, inside them begin to produce reactive oxygen species, which are harmful to the corals.
• Bleached corals can survive depending on the severity of the bleaching and the return of normal sea temperatures.
• Know more about Coral Bleaching.

Mass Bleaching: 

• When the El Nino weather pattern caused sea surfaces in the Pacific Ocean to heat up, the first mass bleaching event occurred in 1998, killing 8% of the world’s coral.
• In 2002, the second event took place.
• Between 2014 and 2017, the most damaging bleaching event occurred. Reefs in Guam, in the Western Pacific, were the first to be affected, followed by reefs in the North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

D. GS 4 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. A subregional grouping that must get back on course

Syllabus: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Prelims: BIMSTEC; Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) and Bay Of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project.

Mains: Significance and challenges of the Bay of Bengal region

Context:

• Sri Lanka is set to hold a summit meeting of the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The meeting is to be held in virtual mode.

BIMSTEC:

• The seven-member regional organization consisting of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan, BIMSTEC was founded in 1997.
• BIMSTEC has identified the following 14 areas for cooperation and collaboration.
  • Trade and investment
  • Transport and communication
  • Energy
  • Tourism
  • Technology
  • Fisheries
  • Agriculture
  • Public health
  • Poverty alleviation
  • Counter terrorism and transnational crime
  • Environment and disaster management
  • People-to-people contact
  • Cultural cooperation
  • Climate change

Significance of the Bay of Bengal region:

Ecological:

• Bay of Bengal region is home to a large network of estuaries, mangrove forests, coral reefs, sea grass meadows and mass nesting sites of sea turtles. This makes the region ecologically critical.

Social:

• The region supports a coastal population of approximately 185 million people. The fishermen population alone is estimated to be around 3.7 million.

Economic:

• The blue economy potential of the Bay of Bengal is huge. There are many opportunities to develop maritime trade, shipping, aquaculture and tourism.
• The annual fish catch in the region is around six million tonnes. This constitutes around 7% of the world’s annual fish catch and is valued at around $4 billion USD.

Concerns/challenges:

Ecological degradation:

• The rich marine ecosystem of the Bay of Bengal region remains extremely fragile and vulnerable to degradation and damage.
• The annual loss of mangrove areas and coral reefs remains substantial. The destruction of such natural protection against floods and sea erosion threatens the submergence of coastal areas. This becomes all the more concerning given that the sea levels are predicted to increase by 0.5 metres in the next 50 years.
• The growing population pressure and industrial growth in the coastal areas have resulted in huge quantities of untreated waste flowing into the waters of the region. This is leading to the emergence of dead zones in the region.
  • Dead zones are areas of water bodies where aquatic life cannot survive because of low oxygen levels. Dead zones are generally caused by significant nutrient pollution, and are primarily a problem for bays, lakes and coastal waters since they receive excess nutrients from upstream sources.
• The leaching of plastic from rivers into the waters of the region is contributing to plastic pollution and the consequent adverse effects on the marine ecosystem.

Unsustainable fishing practices:

• Around 4,15,000 fishing boats operate in the Bay of Bengal region and it is estimated that 33% of fish stocks are fished unsustainably.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Bay of Bengal is one of the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing hotspots in the Asia-Pacific.

Vulnerability to disasters:

• The region is prone to natural disasters. There have been 13 cyclonic storms in the last five years alone. Given that the region houses a long coastline, it is prone to disasters such as tsunamis as well.
• Also given that the region has high-density shipping lanes, it is also prone to man-made disasters like oil spills as is observed in Sri Lankan waters.

Security threats:

• Security threats such as terrorism, piracy and tensions between countries caused by the arrests of fishermen who cross maritime boundaries into the territorial waters of other countries are the major challenges.
  • The problem of fishermen crossing into the territorial waters of neighbouring countries affects India’s relationship with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Recommendations:

• Given the serious challenges that confront the Bay of Bengal region and the need for coordinated and concerted action by governments, scientists and other experts of the countries in the region, BIMSTEC, the regional organization must lead the efforts in addressing these challenges.
• BIMSTEC must come up with a new regional mechanism for coordinated activities on maritime issues of a transboundary nature.
• The upcoming BIMSTEC summit must come out with substantive initiatives to tackle illegal and unsustainable fishing as well as prevent the further environmental degradation of the Bay of Bengal region.
  • Setting up an international vessel tracking system and making it mandatory for vessels to be equipped with automatic identification system (AIS) trackers; establishing a regional fishing vessel registry system and publishing vessel licence lists to help identify illegal vessels; increasing monitoring, control and surveillance in IUU fishing hotspots; improving the implementation of joint regional patrols, and regional fishing moratoriums and outreach programmes targeted at fishermen can help in tackling illegal and unsustainable fishing.
  • Establishing protected areas and developing frameworks to prevent and manage pollution, especially industrial and agricultural waste as well as oil spills with strict enforcement can help ensure marine environmental protection.
• The upcoming BIMSTEC summit must express support for initiatives like the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) and the Bay Of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project.
  • The Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP) is an inter-governmental organisation based in Chennai. It is mandated to enhance cooperation among countries in the region and provide technical and management advisory services for sustainable coastal fisheries development and management.
  • The Bay Of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) project is being launched by the FAO with funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and others. Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are collaborating through the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project to better the lives of their coastal populations by improving regional management of the Bay of Bengal environment and its fisheries.
• Greater scientific research on the impact of climate change would help the member countries adapt better to the challenges posed by climate change.

F. Prelims Facts

1. Decision on Malabar Rebellion martyrs deferred

Syllabus: GS1: Modern history: The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country.

Prelims: Malabar Rebellion

Context: The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred a decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs from the list of India’s freedom fighters, including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji.

About Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji:

Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji was a prominent leader of the Moplah uprising in Malabar in 1921.

Know more about the Moplah Rebellion of 1921.

G. Tidbits

Nothing here for today!!!

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Cantonment Boards:

1. It is created by the Central Government but administered by the State Government.
2. It consists of partly elected and partly nominated members.
3. The elected and nominated members hold office for a term of five years

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

• Cantonment Boards are established by the Municipal administration for the civilian population in the cantonment area.
• It works under the administrative control of the Defense Ministry of the Government of India. Thus, it is created as well as administered by the central govt. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• A cantonment board is made up of members who are partly elected and partly appointed. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The elected members serve for a five-year term, while the nominated members (i.e., ex-officio members) serve for as long as they hold the office in the station. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

Q2. With respect to Alopecia areata, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is a common autoimmune disorder that often results in unpredictable hair loss.
2. This can develop anywhere on the body.
3. The condition can affect anyone regardless of age and gender.

Options:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss, often in clumps the size and shape of a quarter. The amount of hair loss is different for everyone.
• Alopecia areata can affect just your scalp or your entire body, and it can be temporary or permanent.
• The condition can affect anyone regardless of age and gender, though most cases occur before the age of 30.
• Hence all the statements are correct.

Q3. Which of the following differences between hard and soft corals is/are correct?

1. Hard corals secrete calcium-based skeletons, soft corals do not.
2. Hard corals are referred to as reef-building corals whereas soft corals do not contribute to the reef-building activity.

Options:

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both
4. None

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Hard corals, also known as scleractinian and stony corals, produce a rigid skeleton made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in crystal form called aragonite. 
• Hard corals tend to secrete calcium carbonate underneath their bodies. This turns into a hard, rock-like structure upon which other coral larvae can settle. Soft corals do not secrete calcium-based skeletons. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Hard corals are the primary reef-building corals. Soft coral, also known as Alcyonacea and ahermatypic corals, do not produce a rigid calcium carbonate skeleton and do not form reefs. Hence statement 2 is correct.

Q4. Consider the following statements:

1. The right to strike is a fundamental right.
2. Parliament and the State legislatures have the power to restrict or abrogate the fundamental rights of members of the armed forces.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both
4. None

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• In India, the right to protest is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. But the right to strike is not a fundamental right but a legal right and with this right statutory restriction is attached in the industrial dispute Act, 1947. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Parliament (Not State Legislature) may, by law, determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by this Part shall, in their application to,
  • the members of the Armed Forces; or
  • the members of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order; or
  • persons employed in any bureau or other organization established by the State for purposes of intelligence or counterintelligence; or
  • persons employed in, or in connection with, the telecommunication systems set up for the purposes of any Force, bureau or organization referred to in clauses (a) to (c), be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them.
• Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Q5. Which one of the following is a reason why astronomical distances are measured in 
light-years? [UPSC 2021]

1. Distances among stellar bodies do not change
2. Gravity of stellar bodies does not change
3. Light always travels in a straight line
4. Speed of light is always the same

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

• A light-year is a unit of measurement for the distance between two points in space.  
• Because the speed of light is constant throughout the universe and is known to a high degree of precision, astronomical distances are measured in light-years.
• Astronomers can also determine how far back in time they are viewing by measuring in light-years. Everything we see in the night sky has already happened because light takes time to reach our eyes.
• Hence option D is correct.