21 Nov 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 21 Nov 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Why no special status to A.P., HC asks Centre
2. Indore keeps cleanest city tag for fifth year
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT
1. Study Reveals Pollution In Water Bodies Around Thermal Power Plant
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. ‘Paxlovid may be huge advancement for all Coronaviruses’
2. Can this portable robot end septic tank deaths once it is deployed?
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ENVIRONMENT
1. Why is India’s coal usage under scrutiny?
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. What are the ramifications of the Biden-Xi summit?
2. Will Pak. law on Kulbhushan Jadhav help India’s position?
JUDICIARY
1. Flaws in the system
F. Prelims Facts
1. Assam to be language lab for country
2. Nihangs share in the joy of ‘farmer brothers’
G. Tidbits
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. Indore keeps cleanest city tag for fifth year

Context:

Recently, the Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021 was handed out by the President of India.

Details:

Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021

• For the sixth year in a row, Indore was declared the cleanest city.
• Chhattisgarh has been named the cleanest state in the category of states having more than 100 urban local bodies for the third time.
• Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh were placed second and third, respectively, among states having more than 100 urban local bodies (ULBs).
• Varanasi was named the cleanest “Ganga city.”
• Surat and Vijayawada were in second and third place, respectively, among cities.
• With less than 100 ULBs, Jharkhand was deemed the cleanest state, followed by Haryana and Goa.

Additional Information:

Swachh Survekshan Report

• The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) released the Swachh Survekshan Urban report, while the Jal Shakti Ministry published the Grameen (Rural) report.
• It is one of the world’s largest sanitation surveys.
• The survey helps to broaden the scope of the ranking process while also motivating cities and communities to actively pursue mission projects in a timely and innovative manner.

Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. ‘Paxlovid may be huge advancement for all Coronaviruses’

Context:

Recently, Pfizer announced encouraging results of an interim analysis of a phase-2/3 trial of the antiviral drug paxlovid.

Details:

What is Paxlovid?

• Paxlovid is an antiviral medication that is taken orally and inhibits the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to proliferate in the body.
• Ritonavir is believed to enable Paxlovid to stay in the human body for longer periods of time, allowing the medicine to retain larger concentrations to aid in the fight against the virus.
• The medicine is predicted to lessen the requirement for hospitalisation in COVID-19 patients.
• Paxlovid is being developed to treat non-hospitalized, symptomatic people with COVID-19 who are at high risk of developing severe disease that might lead to hospitalisation or death.
• These drugs will especially matter for those people in whom 
  • (i) an immune response to infection or vaccination is not mounted because of immunocompromise and 
  • (ii) for infection in the unvaccinated or breakthrough infection in the vaccinated.

2. Can this portable robot end septic tank deaths once it is deployed?

Context:

A group from the IIT Madras has developed a HomoSEP robot to put an end to the practice of manual scavenging.

Details:

HomoSEP:

• HomoSEP is an abbreviation for “homogeniser of septic tanks.”
• When inserted into a septic tank, HomoSEP has a shaft linked to blades that can open like an inverted umbrella.
• This is advantageous since the septic tank entrances are tiny and the tank interiors are larger.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. What are the ramifications of the Biden-Xi summit?

Context

Recently, U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a virtual summit earlier this week touching upon a range of policy concerns in the bilateral space.

Background:

• The tensions between the United States and China have risen across a range of global and regional issues, including trade, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, as well as technology, particularly 5G.
• The recent summit exchange saw the two Presidents express their positions on each of these issues, but there was no major announcement.
• This implies that the job ahead for both countries will be to manage tensions so that they do not spill over and harm the global economy.

Core Areas of Tension between US and China:-

1. Trade Disputes: –

• Trade and tariffs are at the top of the agenda of policy matters causing bilateral friction.
• After the globally damaging trade war with China through 2019 and 2020, a dispute that was exacerbated on a vast swathe of Chinese exports, a temporary reprieve came with the Phase One Trade Agreement.

2. Taiwan Issue: –

• A second key area of tension is Taiwan’s independence.
• The U.S. is holding firm to its long-standing policy on this complex subject, which it acknowledges but does not recognise China’s claim to Taiwan under the One China policy.
• In contrast, China will likely respond aggressively to any moves by Western powers seen as strengthening Taiwanese independence, including direct arms sales to Taipei and visits by Western lawmakers to the island territory.

3. Technology: –

• A third major bilateral subject that has proved to be contentious is technology.
• On the one hand, the US used the trade war with China to bluntly accuse China of “unfair trade practices for technology and intellectual property”, and U.S. policymakers relied on a matrix of export restrictions to target China’s semiconductor supply chain in a bid to safeguard critical infrastructure in the telecommunications sector.
• On the other hand, Chinese nationals in the U.S. on allegations of industrial espionage, hint at the deep chasm between the U.S. and Chinese governments on the broad question of technology and surveillance.

Conclusion:

Although the 2021 U.S.-China virtual summit meeting China reiterates its claim on Taiwan independence,” China would have gone some way towards uplifting its prospects. But no quick victory has come out of the latest dialogue.

2. Will Pak. law on Kulbhushan Jadhav help India’s position?

Context

Recently, Pakistan’s Parliament passed the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2021, granting the right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Background:

• The International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Bill, 2021, granted the right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav, former Indian Navy officer on death row on espionage and other charges.
• India expressed misgivings about the law, saying it still does not fulfil the terms laid down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which included the provision that India be allowed consular access to Jadhav.

Kulbhushan Jadhav Case

1. When was he Arrested?

• Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 and charged with espionage and sabotage against Pakistan’s security installations.
• The case received attention as it came soon after the January 2016 Pathankot terror strike that India blamed on Pakistan-based terrorists.

2. India’s arguments at the ICJ

• In 2017 Jadhav was sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan for alleged acts of sabotage. India moved the ICJ and pointed out that Pakistan had failed to provide consular access to Jadhav.
• India had argued at the ICJ in 2017 that Jadhav had been denied his rights under the Vienna Convention and Pakistan had “failed to inform” New Delhi about his arrest.
• The law passed by Pakistan’s parliament is being presented as proof of Islamabad complying with the ICJ ruling.

3. What did the ICJ rule?

• In its observations of 2017, the ICJ asked Pakistan to take “all measures at its disposal” to ensure that Jadhav is not executed pending its final decision.
• It observed that Pakistan had violated Article 36 of the Vienna Convention by not allowing India consular access to Jadhav and by denying his right to a proper legal representation.

Arguments Against the Recent Law

• The law will end up as mere paperwork if Pakistan fails to provide verifiable legal access to Jadhav. India has already expressed its misgivings.
• The law is a repeat of the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020, that Delhi had rejected as inadequate for meeting the goals stated in the ICJ’s observations of 2019.
• India said the ordinance did not “create the machinery of an effective review and reconsideration” as mandated by the ICJ.

Conclusion

• Pakistan predicted that India would return to the ICJ to bring a contempt notice against Pakistan, and that this law would preempt such a move.
• Pakistan is expected to claim that it has not only complied with the ICJ’s decision, but has also made it law.
• The bill is also an attempt to resolve a domestic political spat in Pakistan.

For detailed information on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) refer to the following article:

International Court of Justice (ICJ) – UPSC Notes

Category: JUDICIARY

1. Flaws in the system

Context

Recently, there is a controversy  over the transfer of judges from Madras High Court.

Background:

• The transfer of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee from the Madras High Court to the Meghalaya High Court has given rise to a controversy over the question of judicial transfers.
• Judicial transfers are criticised for being made only for administrative reasons or to have any element of ‘punishment’ behind them.

Constitution safeguard on the transfer of judges: –

• Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of High Court judges, including the Chief Justice.
• It says the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, may transfer a judge from one High Court to any other High Court.
• It also provides for a compensatory allowance to the transferred judge.
• This means that the executive could transfer a judge, but only after consulting the Chief Justice of India.

What is the Supreme Court’s view on the issue?

1. In Union of India vs. Sankalchand Himatlal Sheth (1977)
   1. The Supreme Court rejected the idea that High Court judges can be transferred only with their consent.
   2. It reasoned that the transfer of power can be exercised only in public interest.
   3. The President is under an obligation to consult the Chief Justice of India
   4. The Chief Justice of India had the right and duty to elicit and ascertain further facts from the judge concerned or others.
2. In S.P. Gupta vs. President of India (1981) – ‘Judges’ Transfer Case’
   1. The First Judges Case considered the validity of the transfer of two Chief Justices as well as a circular from the Law Minister proposing that additional judges in all High Courts may be asked for their consent to be appointed as permanent judges in any other High Court, and to name three preferences.
   2. This position was overruled in the ‘Second Judges Case’ (1993). The opinion of the Chief Justice of India  was to have primacy. Since then, appointments have been made by the Collegium.

What is the current procedure for transfers?

• The ‘Second Judges Case’ made the opinion of the Chief Justice of India ought to mean the views of a plurality of judges; the concept of a ‘Collegium of Judges’ came into being.
• In the college era, the proposal for transferring a High Court judge, including a Chief Justice, should be initiated by the Chief Justice of India.
• For transferring a judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of India should take the views of the Chief Justice of the court concerned, as well as the Chief Justice of the court to which the transfer is taking place.
• The Chief Justice of India should also take into account the views of one or more Supreme Court judges who are in a position to offer their views in the process of deciding whether a proposed transfer should take place.
• In the case of transfer of a Chief Justice, only the views of one or more knowledgeable Supreme Court judges need to be taken into account.
• The recommendation is sent to the Union Law Minister who should submit the relevant papers to the Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister then advises the President on approving the transfer.

Controversies in Judicial Transfers: –

• Transfer orders become controversial when the Bar or sections of the public feel that there is a punitive element behind the decision to move a judge from one High Court to another.
• As a matter of practice, the Supreme Court and the government do not disclose the reason for a transfer.
• Some adverse opinions on a judge’s functioning disclosure would impinge on the judge’s performance and independence in the court to which he is transferred.
• On the other hand, the absence of a reason sometimes gives rise to speculation whether it was affected because of complaints against the judge.

2. Nihangs share in the joy of ‘farmer brothers’

Context:

Recently, Nihang Sikhs rejoiced when the PM announced the scrapping of the three farm laws. 

Details:

Nihang Sikhs:

• Nihang Sikhs are also known as Sikh warriors.
• The Nihangs are descended from the Khalsa Panth, which was created in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikhs’ ninth guru.
• Many people believe the cult is the “guru di ladli fauj” (the guru’s preferred army).
• The Akaal Sena, a band of soldiers commanded by Guru Hargobind, the sixth guru, is said to have given birth to the armed sect.
• The Akaal Sena then became the 10th guru’s ‘Khalsa Fauj.’
• During the numerous attacks of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Abdali in the mid-18th century, Nihangs were vital in safeguarding the Sikhs.
• They were also important members of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army.

Q1. Which of the following are the four holy places related to the life of Lord Buddha?

Q2. Which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q3. With respect to the Sickle Cell Disease, which of the following statements is/are 
incorrect ?

Q4. Consider the following Pairs:

Q.5.With reference to river Teesta, consider the following statements: