07 Nov 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

7 Nov 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. ‘It is a long journey to distribute fortified rice at govt. schools’
2. Haryana clears Bill on right to recall panchayat member
3. SC asks for written submissions from builders in Maradu case
C. GS 3 Related
ECONOMY
1. Finance panel warns of rising GST dues for States
2. NBFCs with high systemic risks need more regulation: RBI DG
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. ‘Meet targets to get air pollution funds’
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. Alimony guidelines
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Biden, India and comfort in the old normal
F. Tidbits
1. U.K. to face Brexit trade disruption
G. Prelims Facts
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. ‘It is a long journey to distribute fortified rice at govt. schools’

Context:

The government is planning to expand supply of rice fortified with iron, vitamin B-12 and folic acid on a pilot basis from 15 districts to 15 States with the aim to curb anaemia.

This topic has been covered in 4^th November 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

Concerns:

• Experts have warned that a long journey lies ahead to implement distribution of fortified rice at government schools and anganwadi centres as there is need to bring millers and snack manufacturers on board and improve quality control.
• Some are also apprehensive about its nutritional outcomes.
• Some caution that fortification of staples such as cereals may hurt local economies.
• Some public health experts also warn of adverse consequences of the corporatisation of the food system by insisting on processes that demand a centralisation of supplies.

2. Haryana clears Bill on right to recall panchayat member

Context:

The Haryana Assembly passed the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Details:

• It gives women 50% reservation in the rural bodies.
  • It is aimed at enhancing participation of women in the three-tier panchayati raj system.
  • It allows 50% reservation to them in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads
• The Bill allows the recall of village sarpanches and members of the block-level panchayat samitis and district-level zila parishads if they fail to perform.
  • The right to recall gives the power to ensure accountability of a person in a democracy.
  • To recall a sarpanch and members of the two bodies, 50% members of a ward or gram sabha have to give in writing that they want to initiate proceedings. This will be followed by a secret ballot, in which their recall will require two-third members voting against them.
  • The amendment is aimed at increasing their accountability to the voters.
• The Bill also proposed 8% reservation to the “more disadvantaged” among the Backward Classes.

3. SC asks for written submissions from builders in Maradu case

Context:

The Supreme Court has asked the Maradu builders’ lawyers to file their written submissions for a detailed hearing.

Background:

• The Maradu flats in Kochi were demolished for being built illegally in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

The Maradu Flat Demolition Controversy has been covered in 24^th September 2019 Comprehensive News Analysis. 

C. GS 3 Related

Category: ECONOMY

1. Finance panel warns of rising GST dues for States

Context:

The Fifteenth Finance commission has finalised its report proposing a framework for sharing revenues between the Centre and the States for the next five years i.e, 2020-21 to 2025-26.

Read about the Fifteenth Finance Commission covered in 31^st October 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

Details:

• Given the uncertainty created by the pandemic and the economic slowdown, the panel has had to rely on variable growth projections for each of the five years rather than assuming a steady trend.
• The panel has also delivered on its more unusual terms of reference, including the question of creating a separate mechanism for funding defence and internal security proposed by the Centre.
• The Commission has examined and responded to the proposal:
  • To set up a non-lapsable fund for security-related expenditure.
  • Whether it should be funded by a cess or a surcharge and supplemented by monetisation of surplus defence land, issue of tax-free defence bonds and disinvestment of defence public sector units.
• The commission is learnt to have recommended a unique fiscal glide path for each State for the five year period, in a separate volume dedicated to the States.

Concerns:

• According to the finance commission, the gap between GST cess collections and the revenue shortfall faced by the States for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) could snowball to anywhere between ₹5 lakh crore to ₹7 lakh crore by June 2022 from the ₹2.35 lakh crore estimated for the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21.
• The Centre has allowed States to borrow from the market to meet part of the shortfall for the current FY, with the assurance that loans will be serviced and repaid from future GST cess collections.

This topic has been covered in 28^th August 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

2. NBFCs with high systemic risks need more regulation: RBI DG

Context:

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor said that Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with significant externalities and which contribute substantially to systemic risks must be identified and subjected to a higher degree of regulation.

Details:

• Observing that the NBFCs currently enjoy a great degree of regulatory arbitrage vis-a-vis banks, he said these entities could contribute to a build-up of systemic risks because of such arbitrage and hence there was a need to revise the regulations.
• He opined that the design of prudential regulatory framework for such NBFCs can be comparable with banks – so that beyond a point of criticality to systemic risks, such NBFCs should have incentives either:
  • To convert into a commercial bank (or)
  • Scale down their network externalities within the financial system.
• He asserted that it would make the financial sector sound and resilient while allowing a majority of NBFCs to continue under the regulation-light structure.
• Also, the share of NBFC-MFIs (microfinance institutions) in the overall microfinance sector has come down to a little more than 30% as several large MFIs had converted into Small Finance Banks.
• He asserted that there is a need to re-prioritise regulatory tools in the microfinance sector so that our regulations are activity-based rather than entity-based.

Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. ‘Meet targets to get air pollution funds’

Context:

Based on the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the Centre has released exactly half (₹ 2,200 crore) of the budgetary allotment for combating air pollution, to 15 States. The States, in turn, have to release money to local municipal bodies in 42 cities to take steps to monitor and mitigate air pollution.

Details:

• ₹ 4,400 crore was allocated as a budgetary allotment for combating air pollution for 2020-2021.
• The decision to release only half of the budgetary allotment was because of the Centre’s plan to link the money disbursed to the States achieving certain performance targets.
• The parameters for the incentives would be notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change.
• The funds are being disbursed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Environment Ministry’s role is to set the performance parameters.

National Clean Air Programme:

• The National Clean Air Programme or NCAP is a government programme launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2019.
• The NCAP envisages 102 of India’s most polluted cities reducing air pollution by 20-30% by 2024 with a reference year of 2017.
• The States, where these cities are located, have submitted a road map on how they would go about this reduction.

Read more about National Clean Air Programme.

D. GS 4 Related

Category: SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Alimony guidelines

Context:

The Supreme Court while hearing a dispute between a Mumbai-based couple, has set down comprehensive guidelines on alimony.

Details:

• The court ruled that an abandoned wife and children will be entitled to ‘maintenance’ from the date she applies for it in a court of law.

This topic has been covered in 5^th November 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

Issue:

• In India, for many girls, marriage before completion of higher education is an inevitable reality.
• Girls are married off early and bear children long before they should.
• This results in poor maternal health which is one of the root causes of high levels of child stunting and wasting in India.
• There is also the possibility of a marriage not working out for varied reasons, leaving the girl or young woman in extreme distress because often, she is not financially independent.

Legislations and constitutional provisions that protect women’s rights:

• Parliament and the courts have persistently enacted legislation to give women better rights.
• The two key constitutional safeguards are Article 15(3), which states ‘nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children’, read together with Article 39, which directs state policy towards equal pay and opportunities for both men and women, and protecting the health of women and children.

Read more about Right to Equality (Article 14-18) here.

Significance of the Recent Judgement:

• In the recent judgment, a Bench of Justices Indu Malhotra and R. Subhash Reddy, outlined specifics, including reasonable needs of a wife and dependent children, her educational qualification, whether she has an independent source of income, and if she does, if it is sufficient, to follow for family courts, magistrates and lower courts on alimony cases.
• Given the large and growing percentage of matrimonial litigation, some clarity was necessary.
• The bench laid down criteria that must be considered while calculating the quantum of maintenance.
• The Court laid down that while women can make a claim for alimony under different laws, including the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and Section 125 of the CrPC, or under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, it would be inequitable to direct the husband to pay maintenance under each of the proceedings, urging civil and family courts to take note of previous settlements.
• Keeping in mind the vastness of India and its inequities, the Court also added how an “order or decree of maintenance” may be enforced under various laws and Section 128 of the CrPC.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Biden, India and comfort in the old normal

Context:

• With the results of the U.S. Democratic candidate Joe Biden seizing the lead in the presidential elections the attention in India turns to what kind of foreign policy changes he will bring to India-U.S. relations.
• The article analyses how in general; India could still be in a sweet spot / stand to benefit if there is a political change and a new administration in the U.S.

How will Mr. Biden’s Victory affect India – U.S Relations?

• Specific policies of Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump in the international arena may not differ as much as their political styles and their ideologies do. For example:
  • In 2009, building an alternative plan to Afghanistan, to present to U.S. Generals pushing for the surge of up to 400,000 troops to win the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Biden suggested that the U.S. did not need more troops; instead it needed to pull out, and focus on a five-point agenda for what he called “Counter-terrorism Plus”.
  • A decade later, it was President Donald Trump who picked up ideas similar to the Biden plan, when he ordered a large-scale pullout of U.S. troops, limited U.S. presence at bases and its mission in Afghanistan.
• While Mr. Trump owned the Indo-Pacific policy later, the policy owes its origins to the Obama-Biden administration.
  • It first focused on “Asia-Pacific” in order to build a coalition to counter Chinese inroads in the region.
  • During his visit to New Delhi in 2015, Mr. Obama signed the first India-U.S. vision statement on the subject.
• It is also likely that Mr. Biden will strengthen military cooperation and push the sale of U.S. military hardware while also building on the military foundational agreements with India.
• While Mr. Biden cannot undo many of the measures put into motion by the Trump administration (with respect to trade), he could restore India’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status for exporters.
• If he chooses to be more flexible, the U.S could wrap up a mini-trade deal that the U.S. Trade Representative and Indian Commerce Minister have been working on.
• With respect to visas, Mr. Biden gave Indian-Americans some assurances at a campaign speech.
  • He already has an in-house understanding of the value of Indian immigrants to the U.S., and the importance of India’s outsourcing industry to the U.S.

What are the Friction Areas?

• In a speech in 2013 during a visit to Mumbai, Mr. Biden had said: “We admire the way you’ve melded ethnicities, faiths and tongues into a single, proud nation; the way entrepreneurship seems almost hard-wired into Indian society, from rickshaw-wallas to web programmers; and maybe most of all, we admire your democracy and the message that your democracy sends to people everywhere in the world.”
• Where there is likely to be some friction, especially given India’s pending review by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, is where the Democratic Party leadership, have been particularly vocal, i.e, the issues relating to:
  • Jammu-Kashmir
  • The Citizenship (Amendment) Act
  • Communal and caste-based violence
  • Actions against non-governmental organisations and media freedoms.
• These are areas Mr. Trump ignored for most part but are areas where Mr. Biden once said the U.S. admired India the most.

International outlook:

• Biden’s foreign policy will be watched for how many of Mr. Trump’s decisions would be reversed, including the pull-out from the multilateral world order such as:
  • The World Health Organisation, UNESCO, Human Rights Council.
  • Agreements such as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris Climate Accord.
  • Traditional trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific alliances.
• He will also be watched for what concrete measures he takes in order to strengthen the rules-based international order to ensure the countries that go against it the most, including China, Russia, and even the United States are held accountable.

F. Tidbits

1. U.K. to face Brexit trade disruption

What’s in News?

The National Audit Office (NAO) has said that Northern Ireland will not be ready on January 1, 2021 to implement the systems needed to keep trade moving with the rest of the United Kingdom as required by the Brexit divorce deal.

• From January 1, 2021, exporters will need to file customs and safety declarations, even if Britain does secure an agreement.
• The audit office said that all U.K. borders would face widespread disruption when Britain finally leaves the European Union’s orbit, whether or not it strikes a deal with the bloc.
• One of the most challenging areas would be Northern Ireland.
  • It will require some goods arriving from the rest of the U.K to be checked in order to protect trade with EU member, Ireland.

G. Prelims Facts

Nothing here for today!!!

 Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Commission for 
Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas:

 Q2. Pakke Tiger Reserve is located in:

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to Kalapani:

Q4. Which of the following vitamins are added in fortified Rice?

Read the previous CNA here.

7 Nov 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here