04 September 2023 CNA
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related SOCIAL JUSTICE 1. Measuring Hunger across states POLITY 1. The debate around 'One Nation, One Election' C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials GOVERNANCE 1. Court’s order and the ASI survey are flawed 2. Status of the Right to Information Act F. Prelims Facts 1. Aditya L1 in new orbit 2. DIKSHA portal to offer AI help 3. Bank Credit to real estate at record high G. Tidbits H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
1. Measuring Hunger across states
Syllabus: Issues related to poverty and hunger
Prelims: Global hunger index
Mains: Issues with Global and State Hunger Index
Context: An India-specific hunger index at the level of States and Union Territories helps evaluate the extent of undernourishment at a more localised scale.
Background:
- Despite being a major food producer with extensive food security schemes and the largest public distribution system in the world, India still grapples with significant levels of food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition.
- The Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2022, ranked India 107 among 121 countries, behind Nigeria (103) and Pakistan (99).
- The GHI provides a composite measurement and tracks undernourishment and hunger at the national level across three dimensions: calorie undernourishment, child malnutrition, and under-five mortality.
- According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report of 2022, India is home to 224.3 million undernourished people.
- Disparities are evident among States. Leveraging subnational data that encompasses the three dimensions of the GHI enables the development of an India-specific hunger index at the level of States and Union Territories.
The State Hunger Index:
- The GHI is computed using four indicators: the prevalence of calorie undernourishment; and of stunting, wasting, and mortality among children below the age of five and under-five mortality rate.
- The State Hunger Index (SHI) is calculated using the same indicators except calorie undernourishment, which is replaced by body mass index (BMI) undernourishment among the working-age population, as data on calorie undernourishment are not available since 2012.
- Data for stunting, wasting, and mortality among children below the age of five are sourced from the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), while the prevalence of BMI undernourishment is computed using NFHS-5 (2019-21) and Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (2017-18).
- The calculation of the SHI score involves combining the normalised values of the four indicators using the techniques recommended by the GHI.
- The SHI scores range between 0 and 100, with higher scores indicating more hunger. Scores below 10 signify low hunger, 10-20 moderate, 20-30 serious, 30-40 alarming, and 50 or above extremely alarming.
- In the SHI, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh scored 35, which places them in the ‘alarming’ category. Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, and West Bengal all scored above the national average (29).
- The performance of these States resembles that of African nations such as Haiti, Niger, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
- On the other hand, Chandigarh scored 12, and Sikkim, Puducherry, and Kerala all scored below 16.
- These States, along with Manipur, Mizoram, Punjab, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Tamil Nadu, fall under the ‘moderate hunger’ category.
- All the other States, which scored below the national average and above 20, have a problem of ‘serious hunger’.
- No State falls under the ‘low hunger’ category. The impact of COVID-19 on the SHI is not captured here since post-pandemic estimates are not yet available.
Issues:
- Over the last half a decade, India’s GHI score has deteriorated primarily due to the increasing prevalence of calorie undernourishment.
- According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the proportion of calorie undernourishment in India has been escalating since 2017, reaching 16.3% in 2020, equivalent to the 2009 statistic.
- The Indian government has disputed these conclusions by raising concerns about the data and methodology used in calculating the GHI.
- However, it has not been able to provide empirical evidence to support its claims. Notably, no National Sample Survey (NSS) round on nutritional intake has been conducted by the government since 2011-12, which used to offer insights into the prevalence of calorie undernourishment at national and subnational levels.
- In the 78th round of the NSS conducted in 2020-21, four key questions were included to gauge household food insecurity. Unfortunately, information on these is missing from the NSS report.
Facing the reality
- The GHI has faced significant criticism from experts regarding its conceptualisation, indicator selection, and aggregation methods; it does provide critical insight into the state of undernourishment and child nutrition.
- India’s poor performance in the GHI is primarily attributed to its high prevalence of undernourishment and child malnutrition.
- India ranks unfavourably in child wasting, performing worse than many low-income African nations.
- The NFHS-5 indicated that one-third of children under the age of five are stunted and underweight, while every fifth child suffers from wasting.
- Despite India’s notable progress in alleviating extreme poverty over the last 15 years, as indicated by the recent National Multidimensional Poverty Index, challenges persist in addressing the disparity in food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition.
Conclusion: Therefore preparing India-specific hunger index at the level of States and Union Territories will give us local status of undernourishment.
Nut Graf: India should continue to follow the comprehensive strategy to address the disparity in food insecurity, hunger, and child malnutrition.
1. The debate around ‘One Nation, One Election’
Syllabus: Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure
Prelims: Simultaneous elections
Mains: Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, Impact of Simultaneous polls on federal structure
Context: On September 1,2023, the Central government set up a panel headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the feasibility of the ‘one nation, one election’ (ONOE) plan.
What is the ONOE plan?
- The idea of ONOE centres around the concept of synchronising the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States to reduce the frequency of polls throughout the country.
- After the enforcement of the Constitution on January 26, 1950, the first-ever general elections to Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies were conducted simultaneously in 1951-1952.
- The practice continued into the three subsequent Lok Sabha elections until 1967, after which it was disrupted.
- The cycle was first broken in 1959 after the Centre invoked Article 356 (failure of constitutional machinery) of the Constitution to dismiss the then-Kerala government. Subsequently, due to defections and counter-defections between parties, several Legislative Assemblies dissolved post-1960, which eventually led to separate polls for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
- Currently, the assembly polls in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are held together with the Lok Sabha elections.
Read more on One Nation One Election.
What do reports say about ONOE?
- In 2018, the Law Commission of India (LCI), chaired by Justice B. S. Chauhan, submitted that simultaneous elections are not feasible within the existing framework of the Constitution.
- It said that the Constitution, the Representation of the People’s Act 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies would require appropriate amendments to conduct simultaneous polls.
- The commission also recommended it receive ratification from at least 50% of the States.
- However, with respect to the advantages of holding simultaneous polls, the commission said that ONOE will lead to the saving of public money, reducing the strain on the administrative setup and security forces, timely implementation of government policies, and administrative focus on development activities rather than electioneering.
- In 1999, the LCI headed by Justice B. P. Jeevan Reddy advocated for simultaneous elections.
What are the concerns?
- Feasibility:
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- Article 83(2) and 172 of the Constitution stipulates that the tenure of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies respectively will last for five years unless dissolved earlier and there can be circumstances, as in Article 356, wherein assemblies can be dissolved earlier.
- Therefore, the ONOE plan raises serious questions:
- What would happen if the Central or State government collapses mid-tenure?
- Would elections be held again in every State or will the President’s rule be imposed?
- Amending the Constitution for such a significant change would not only necessitate extensive consideration of various situations and provisions but would also set a concerning precedent for more constitutional amendments.
- Against Article 1: It does not square with the concept of ‘federalism’ as it is established on the notion that the entire nation is “one” contradicting the content of Article 1 which envisages India as a “Union of States”.
- Less frequency of elections: The present form of recurrent elections is beneficial in a democracy as it allows voters to have their voices heard more frequently. As the underlying issues of national and State polls are different, the present framework prevents the blending of issues, ensuring greater accountability.
- Cost: The Central government has also highlighted the substantial costs associated with frequent elections. However, this notion is misleading. The Election Commission’s expenditure of ₹8,000 crore over five years, amounting to ₹1,500 crore annually, or ₹27 per voter per year, can be considered a ‘massive’ expense for maintaining the pride of being the world’s largest electoral democracy.
Conclusion: This is an important issue for Indian democracy so there is a need to bring all the political parties into confidence with transparency and openness to ensure consensus on this crucial issue which has important implications for both parliamentary democracy and federal government
Nut Graf: The idea has been gaining traction in recent years due to its potential benefits, such as reduced expenditure and improved governance. However, there are also challenges associated with simultaneous elections, such as the difficulty in addressing state-specific issues and the marginalization of smaller parties. Transparent dialogue is the need of the hour to build consensus among parties.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. Court’s order and the ASI survey are flawed
Syllabus: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Mains: Places of Worship Act and Gyanvapi mosque issue
Background
- In the Ram Janmabhoomi temple case, the Supreme Court of India’s Constitution Bench recently provided an interpretation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
- In accordance with Article 141 of the Indian Constitution, the Court rendered a legally binding interpretation of the Act that is now enforceable in all courts located on Indian territory.
- In later instances, all courts must adhere to its rulings in accordance with the doctrines of precedent and stare decisis.
Why Parliament enacted the Places of Worship Act?
- The essential principles of the Constitution are safeguarded and protected by the Places of Worship Act, which was passed by Parliament in 1991.
- The law offers protection for the maintenance of the religious identity of places of public worship and guards against their conversion.
- The Parliament concluded that freedom from colonial authority provides a constitutional framework for redressing historical injustices by instilling faith in every religious group.
Constitutional Basis to an Assurance
- An Act to prevent the conversion of any house of worship and to make provisions for the maintenance of the religious character of any house of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, according to the Preamble to the Act.
- By requiring that a place of public worship’s nature not be changed, it speaks to the future.
- The law aims to establish a constructive responsibility to preserve each place of worship’s religious identity as it was on August 15, 1947, when India became independent.
- Conversion, with its grammatical variants, involves alteration or change of any kind, according to the Act’s definition.
Supreme Court’s Order and Concerns associated with it
- Serious doubts about its legality, propriety, and justice are raised by the Supreme Court’s decision to decline to stay the order of the Allahabad High Court from the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee.
- The Bench granted permission for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey on the grounds that the primary consideration in any Act of 1991 determination is the religious nature of a place of worship as it was on August 15, 1947.
- In the Ram Janmabhoomi temple case, Justice Chandrachud himself was a party to a binding precedent that the Bench has egregiously disregarded.
- There can be no question in anyone’s mind that the Gyanvapi mosque has served as a Muslim community center for public prayer for many years.
- Therefore, it is unclear whether or how it may be transformed into a house of worship for a different religious sect.
- The Supreme Court entirely disregarded the fact that the Act imposed duties on the state, every citizen, and those in charge of overseeing national affairs at all levels.
Conclusion
The law speaks to both the nation’s present and future. The purpose of conserving the nature of places of public worship is to ensure that the past is not used to oppress the present or the future. The ultimate keeper of morals and constitutional principles is the Supreme Court. Applying the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Case ruling’s ethos, the three judges should have been incredibly sensitive to the rights and sentiments of the minority population. Any majoritarian strategy might really raise concerns in the minds of some segments of society at a key moment when elections are near.
Nut Graf: The Supreme Court of India’s decision in the Gyanvapi mosque issue calls into question its legality, appropriateness, and justice.
2. Status of the Right to Information Act
Syllabus: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Mains: Amendments to Right to Information Act and concerns associated with it
Background
- The Right to Information Act of 2005 assisted individuals in obtaining information and data from Central and State agencies that were not easily accessible in the public domain.
- Any citizen may submit requests under the RTI Act for access to data, documents, and other information held by the government.
- The RTI Act of India has frequently been regarded as one of the most comprehensive public records access laws in the world.
- Activists are concerned that the system is becoming less and less effective in recent years, cutting off an essential tool for holding public officials responsible.
Amendments to the RTI Act and Concerns
- The Right to Information Act forbids the government from disclosing citizens’ personal information unless there is a compelling public interest in doing so. It enables some facts to be kept secret for the sake of national security and sovereignty.
- This conditional ban was changed to an absolute prohibition by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023.
- There are also fears that strong public officials would use this blanket restriction on sharing personal information to avoid accountability.
- Previous RTI Act changes have also prompted concerns.
- The Right to Information (Amendment) Act of 2019 granted the Union Government unilateral authority over how long information commissioners, who review appeals against inadequate or missing RTI replies, can serve and how much they are paid.
Other Concerns with RTI Act
- Dependency: The RTI Act isn’t the only way campaigners see the transparency it has brought about undercut. The execution of the RTI Act is contingent on subordinate regulations issued by the Union Government and state governments.
- For example, it is up to the states to select which payment methods a public authority can take. Some states, such as Tamil Nadu, do not accept Indian Postal Orders (IPOs), which are checks that may be purchased at post offices and attached as payment to an application.
- Unnecessary Delays: Inadequate nominations to information commissioners — the Central Information Commission (CIC) and State Information commissioners (SICs) — have further eroded trust in the RTI structure, since appeals often take months or even years to be considered, if at all.
- For example, the Jharkhand SIC has been without commissioners to hear appeals since May 2020, thereby banning the power to challenge inadequate RTI Act administration in the state.
- Online RTIs
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- Allowing RTI applications to be completed online removes several hurdles; rather than procuring unusual financial instruments, individuals may simply register a request online and pay using UPI.
- Many states, however, do not have an online RTI portal, and even if they have, many State Government agencies are not enrolled on the platform.
- While numerous Union Government agencies are on the RTI site, filing applications on it has gotten more difficult.
- Having an account on the RTIOnline platform enables users to have their personal information automatically filled in on each application.
- However, the option to establish an account is no longer available, and all users must enter their information again each time they submit an application.
- Furthermore, historical application data has been skipping in and out of the platform.
Conclusion
- Beyond the obvious structural issues that RTI institutions and websites provide, discontent is developing at the most fundamental level.
- This shows that individuals are becoming increasingly unsatisfied with the information they receive from public representatives.
- The campaigners have long warned of the RTI Act’s weakening, and the majority of the harm they have witnessed is not due to changes in the law’s language.
- Furthermore, multiple institutions across several Government apparatuses perform their roles, resulting in a narrowing of avenues to efficiently make requests and acquire information after doing so, and having appeals fall on unstaffed appellate bodies.
Nut Graf: Although activists have long expressed concern about the RTI Act’s deterioration, the majority of the harm they have observed does not simply result from modifications to the law’s language.
F. Prelims Facts
- ISTRAC in Bengaluru injected the mission into an earth-bound orbit; it will stay on such orbits for 16 days.
Source: The Hindu
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed the first earth-bound firing to raise the orbit of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar observatory mission, which was launched recently.
- The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network Work (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru performed the manoeuvre.
- The satellite was “healthy” and operating nominally. The new orbit attained was 245 km x 22,459 km.
- After the successful launch, the ISRO said that Aditya-L1 started generating power as the solar panels were deployed.
- Aditya-L1 will stay on earth-bound orbits for 16 days, during which it will undergo five manoeuvres to gain the necessary velocity for its journey.
- Subsequently, Aditya-L1 undergoes a Trans-Lagrangian1 insertion manoeuvre, marking the beginning of its 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 Lagrange point.
- Upon arrival at the L1 point, another manoeuvre binds Aditya-L1 to an orbit around the L1, a balanced gravitational location between the earth and the sun.
- The satellite spends its whole mission life orbiting around L1 in an irregularly shaped orbit in a plane roughly perpendicular to the line joining the earth and the sun.
2. DIKSHA portal to offer AI help
- The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is set to integrate Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) into its existing Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform.
- The PAL’s software-based approach is expected to allow each student to have an individualised learning experience over the course of the curriculum based on their unique needs and abilities.
- DIKSHA is a national platform for school education launched on September 5th 2017
- It is an initiative in the domain of digital learning by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development – MHRD
- It was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing diversity, choice and autonomy as outlined in the Strategy and Approach Paper for the National Teacher Platform.
- DIKSHA is available for the use of all states and UTs of India. Currently, it supports 18+ languages and the various curriculum of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs across India.
- Building the PAL is a massive exercise. Content from across subjects will have to be categorised and different chunks will have to be tagged. New content may also have to be created.
- Experiments in States:
- Andhra Pradesh has signed contracts with three privately owned edtech companies: Reliance Jio Platform’s start-up Embibe, ConveGenius, and Mindspark for training teachers to use IT applications in the classroom, provide analytics for remedial learning, and help students improve their conceptual understanding.
- In Assam, the PAL was adopted in 200 schools from Classes 6 to 10. Each school had nearly 200 students, and Embibe provided 10 devices per school. After implementing the project for two years, Assam discontinued it, citing lack of funds.
- In Haryana, after floating the tender, the State government said Embibe’s quote for streaming content was too high, and the process of adopting PAL came to a standstill. For implementing the PAL project in the whole State, it had estimated a yearly streaming cost of ₹27 crore, considering on an average one child in a week sees four videos of 15 minutes on the platform. This cost was felt to be very high by the government.
- The process of making PAL is time consuming and it will still take three to four years to develop the tech and roll it out for use. The NeGD will float an Expression of Interest to assess the market for edtech companies that can help launch PAL and possibly integrate it with DIKSHA 2.0.
3. Bank Credit to real estate at record high
- According to the RBI data Bank credit to housing as well as commercial real estate witnessed a nearly 38% annual growth in July 2023, taking the loan outstanding to the realty sector to a record ₹28 lakh crore.
- It is evident from the Reserve Bank’s loan outstanding data as well as property consultants data on housing sales and new launches across major cities that the real estate sector is moving at a fast pace.
- The credit outstanding in housing (including priority sector housing) rose 37.4% annually in July crossing ₹24.28 lakh crore, according to the RBI’s data on ‘Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Which of these statements best describe the ‘Lagrange Point 1 (L1)’ recently in the news?
- L1 is a point in space where gravitational forces are in equilibrium.
- L1 is where Earth’s gravitational force overpowers the Sun’s.
- L1 is a point where the Sun’s gravity dominates.
- L1 is a point where there is no gravitational force.
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation: L1 is a location in space where the gravitational forces of two celestial bodies, such as the Sun and Earth, are in equilibrium. This allows an object placed there to remain relatively stable with respect to both celestial bodies.
Q2. Consider the following statements about the DIKSHA platform:
- DIKSHA primarily serves higher education institutions.
- DIKSHA is a dynamic content repository with constantly updated materials.
- DIKSHA falls under the Education Ministry and offers e-content and supports knowledge sharing.
How many of the statements given above are incorrect?
- Only one
- Only two
- All three
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation: Statement 1 & 2 are incorrect; DIKSHA mainly focuses on school education, and it is a static content repository.
Q3. Whenever an Information Commissioner is appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner under the Right to Information Act, 2005, his term of office shall not exceed:
- Four years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the Chief Information Commissioner.
- Five years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the Chief Information Commissioner.
- Six years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the the Chief Information Commissioner
- Seven years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the the Chief Information Commissioner
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation: Five years in aggregate as the Information Commissioner and the Chief Information Commissioner.
Q4. Consider the following categories:
- Export Credit
- Small and Marginal Farmers
- Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
- Large Corporation loans
- Housing
How many of the above-mentioned categories fall under Priority Sector Lending in India?
- Only two
- Only three
- Only four
- All five
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation: It includes sectors such as Export credit, small and marginal farmers, Housing loans, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It does not cover large corporations.
Q5. Consider the following statements, with reference to the Global Hunger Index (GHI):
- It measures undernourishment, child malnutrition, and under-five mortality.
- The GHI is an annual report published by Oxfam.
- India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the 2022 GHI.
How many of the statements given above are incorrect?
- Only one
- Only two
- All three
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation: Statement 2 is incorrect; It is an annual report published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Discuss the parameters used to determine the global hunger index. Elaborate upon the performance of India in the index and the criticism levelled against the mechanism. (10 marks, 150 words) (Gs-2; Social Justice )
- Discuss the concept of ‘One Nation, One Election’. Critically analyze the requirement as well as the concerns raised around the issue. (10 marks, 150 words) (Gs-2; Polity )
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