04 Nov 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

4 Nov 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. ‘Governor can rule on Rajiv convicts’ plea’
2. More children to get fortified rice
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Indian Navy matches skills with three foreign fleets off Vizag
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Sri Lanka rescues 120 stranded whales
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Hitting fossil fuel companies where it hurts
EDUCATION
1. Academia and the free will
F. Prelims Facts
1. Mercury dips to 10°C, IMD may declare a cold wave
2. Trade Union Congress
3. A lifetime of anti-apartheid struggle
G. Tidbits
1. ‘States cannot make isolated plans for vaccine distribution’
2. PM to meet 20 large global investors
3. The south tops in governance
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. More children to get fortified rice

Context:

The government is planning to distribute fortified rice to children in anganwadis and government schools.

Details:

  • The rice would be infused (fortified) with iron, folic acid and vitamin B-12.
  • The government is planning to distribute fortified rice through the Integrated Child Development Services and Mid-Day Meal schemes across the country.
    • An existing pilot scheme to distribute fortified rice through the Public Distribution System in 15 districts has only been implemented in five districts so far, despite the lapse in more than half the project duration.
    • The Centrally sponsored pilot scheme was approved in February 2019.
    • Only Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have started distribution of fortified rice in their identified pilot districts.
    • Read more about this pilot scheme in PIB dated 3rd Nov 2020.
  • The food ministry said that it would lay special focus on 112 aspirational districts.
  • The Food Corporation of India has been asked to come up with a comprehensive plan to scale up the annual supply of fortified rice from the current 15,000 tonnes to at least 1.3 lakh tonnes.

Fortification of Rice:

  • Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in food, so as to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply.
  • Generally, fortified rice contains Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc.
  • Fortifying rice involves grinding broken rice into powder, mixing it with nutrients, and then shaping it into rice-like kernels using an extrusion process.
  • These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.
  • Currently, there are only 15,000 tonnes of these kernels available per year in India.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Indian Navy matches skills with three foreign fleets off Vizag

Context:

Phase I of the Malabar 2020 naval exercise by India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. has begun off the coast of Visakhapatnam in the Bay of Bengal.

Details:

  • Exercise Malabar is an important opportunity to work in concert with like-minded nations to support a secure, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
  • This is the first time Australia has joined Malabar since 2007.
  • This is the 24th edition of the exercise that began in 1992.
  • This time, it is being held in two phases, in the Bay of Bengal and in the Arabian Sea.
  • The four Navies would conduct a range of high-end training, including air-defence and anti-submarine exercises, aviation, communications and at-sea replenishment between ships.

Read more about the Malabar Exercise.

Mission Sagar-II:

  • The Navy began Mission Sagar-II.
  • Under the mission, INS Airavat entered the Sudan port carrying 100 tonnes of food.
  • Mission Sagar-II is a follow-up of Mission Sagar undertaken in May-June 2020, during which India delivered food and medicines to the Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros.

This topic has been covered in the 2nd November 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis.

2. Trade Union Congress

  • The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is one of the oldest trade union federations in India. It was founded in 1920 with Lala Lajpat Rai as its first president.
  • Some of the important members include Joseph Baptista, N. M. Joshi, Diwan Chaman Lall, etc.
  • The All India Trade Union Congress marked a distinct stage of growth in the labour movement in India.
  • AITUC is a founder member of the World Federation of Trade Unions.

3. A lifetime of anti-apartheid struggle

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

  • Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist.

Freedom struggle:

  • Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay is most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement.
    • Kamaladevi returned to India from London in 1923 to take part in Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement. She joined the Seva Dal, a Gandhian organisation set up to promote social upliftment. Made in charge of the women’s section of the Dal, she got involved in recruiting, training and organising girls and women of all ages across India, to become voluntary workers, ‘sevikas’.
    • Kamaladevi was a part of the seven-member lead team, announced by Mahatma Gandhi, in the famous Salt Satyagraha (1930), to prepare salt at the Bombay beachfront.

Social causes:

  • Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay played a significant role in the upliftment of the socio-economic standard of Indian women by pioneering the co-operation movement among Indian women.
  • She became the first woman to run for a legislative seat in India (Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly).
  • She played an active role in the All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC).

Indian art and culture:

  • Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay played a major role in the renaissance of Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India. She played a stellar role in institutes such as the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India. She stressed the significant role which handicrafts and cooperative grassroots movements play in the social and economic upliftment of the Indian people.

Aruna Asaf Ali:

  • Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian political activist and freedom movement activist.
  • An active participant in the Indian independence movement, Aruna Asaf Ali participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha and was arrested.
  • She rose to prominence during the Quit India movement when she hoisted the Indian National flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942. In fact, when all the major leaders and all members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested, young Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the remainder of the Congress session.
  • She was called the Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement in her later years.
  • She also edited Inquilab, a monthly magazine of the Congress Party, along with Ram Manohar Lohia.
  • Post-independence, she remained active in politics, becoming Delhi’s first Mayor.

G. Tidbits

1. ‘States cannot make isolated plans for vaccine distribution’

Context:

The Health Ministry has said that it has asked the State governments to refrain from making isolated plans for vaccine distribution.

  • The States have been asked to work with the Central government and to adhere to its directions.
    • The Central government has set up an expert committee on vaccine administration.
  • The states have been advised to create a database according to the blueprint issued by the Central government and also take stock of the storage and transport facility for the distribution.
  • They have been asked to set up committees under Chief Secretaries for administration to ensure time-bound implementation of the Central government direction.

2. PM to meet 20 large global investors

What’s in News?

Prime Minister will chair a virtual meeting with 20 large global investors managing assets of more than $6 trillion with the objective of reiterating India’s attractiveness as an investment destination.

This topic has been covered in the 3rd November 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis.

3. The south tops in governance

  • The Public Affairs Index 2020 was released recently.
  • The index measures the quality of governance at the state/U.T. level on three dimensions of development – Equity, growth and sustainability, using 50 indicators.
    • Equity index – Uses social, economic and gender-related indicators such as malnutrition, women in legislature, slum population and crimes against SCs/STs.
    • Growth index – Uses indicators such as expense on agriculture, student-teacher ratio, electricity availability, fiscal deficit and unemployment rate.
    • Sustainability index – Uses indicators such as renewable energy, land degradation, waste management and air quality.
  • States in the south ranked high in the index while those in the east and some northern states ranked low. Kerala was the best-governed state while Uttar Pradesh was the poorest in 2019 among the large states.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Khudai Khidmatgar movement was led by:
  1. Mohammad Ali Jinnah
  2. Abdul Ghaffar Khan
  3. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
  4. Syed Ahmed Barelvi
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

The Khudai Khidmatgar was a non-violent movement against British occupation of the Indian subcontinent. It was led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun freedom fighter, in the North-West Frontier Province.

Q2. Which of the following is another term that describes “Whale Beaching”?
  1. Cetacean Stranding
  2. Whaling
  3. Aqua Stranding
  4. None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

Whales are known to strand themselves on beaches across the world and they do so singularly or in groups. Whale beaching, also called Cetacean Stranding is the phenomenon in which cetaceans strand themselves on land (generally beaches).

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to Aruna Asaf Ali:
  1. She hoisted the national flag in Bombay during the Quit India Movement.
  2. She was the editor of the “Inquilab” monthly magazine.
  3. She is known as the Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement.

Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?

  1. 1 only
  2. 1, 2 and 3
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Aruna Asaf Ali was an Indian political activist and freedom movement activist.
  • She hoisted the Indian National Flag at the Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
  • She also edited Inquilab, a monthly magazine of the Congress Party, along with Ram Manohar Lohia.
  • She was called the Grand Old Lady of the Independence Movement.
Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay:
  1. She became the first woman to contest for and win a legislative seat in India.
  2. She is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

  • Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay was an Indian social reformer and freedom activist.
  • She is most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement.
  • She became the first woman to run for a legislative seat in India (Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly). Though she could campaign for only a few days, she lost only by a small margin of 55 votes.
  • She is a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. Climate action would not only help address the challenges posed by climate change but will also help capitalize on the long-term economic and environmental benefits of a low-carbon world. Comment. (10 marks, 150 words)(GS Paper 3/Environment and Ecology)
  2. The low score of India in the international Academic Freedom Index (AFI) is a reflection of the critical issues plaguing the country’s education system, particularly the higher education sector. Analyze. (10 marks, 150 words)(GS Paper 2/Education)

Read the previous CNA here.

4 Nov 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

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