27 Sep 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

Sept 27th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. CJI backs 50% quota for women in judiciary
2. Going digital for better health solutions: Centre
C. GS 3 Related
SECURITY
1. Maoist influence down from 96 to 41 districts: Home Ministry
ECONOMY
1. Govt.-industry panel drives policy to revive manufacturing
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. Needless row
EDUCATION
1. Stopping short of social justice
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Identity and public policy
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Flood management that cannot be watered down
F. Prelims Facts
1. Gulab crosses coast near Kalingapatnam
G. Tidbits
1. Beijing-Lhasa key road link completed
2. GoM set up to rationalise GST rates
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. Going digital for better health solutions: Centre

Context:

PM Digital Health Mission (PM-DHM) has been launched.

Details:

  • The project will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
  • It will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services by leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems, while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.
  • The mission aims to create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in revolutionising payments.
  • It will allow people to access health facilities more easily.
  • The key components of PM-DHM include:
    • A health ID for every citizen: this would work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application.
    • A Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR): that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. This will ensure ease of doing business for doctors/hospitals and healthcare service providers.
  • The PM-DHM is being implemented in a pilot phase in six Union Territories.

Note:

  • PM-DHM Sandbox created as a part of the Mission will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organisations, including private players intending to be a part of the National Digital Health Ecosystem, become a ‘Health Information Provider’ or ‘Health Information User’.
  • The nationwide rollout of PM-DHM coincides with the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

Also read: National Digital Health Mission

Category: ECONOMY

1. Govt.-industry panel drives policy to revive manufacturing

Context:

The Steering Committee for Local Value Addition, Manufacturing and Exports (SCALE) was set up in 2020 as a joint government-industry panel for fast-tracking growth of the Indian manufacturing sector.

Details:

  • It is aimed at bringing the Indian manufacturing industries out of the import-dependence pitfalls exposed by the pandemic.
  • It looks at ways to increase localisation, component manufacturing and employment in the country.
  • The group is working on ideas to tap the global sentiment against China and strengthen Indian manufacturing for 17 sectors ranging from toys, textiles, furniture and e-cycles to drones and fisheries.
  • It has no deadlines, drafts or voluminous reports. All its proposals are laid out in a presentation at best.
  • It follows a rigorous process of consultations to align different factions of the industry with varying agendas at multiple levels and tries to nudge an alignment of interests where differences seem unmanageable, before it takes up the relevant issues with the government.

G. Tidbits

1. Beijing-Lhasa key road link completed

What’s in News?

China has completed a key section of the Beijing-Lhasa expressway, a 295-km stretch from Lhasa to Nagqu.

Details:

  • The recently completed section is located at an average altitude of 4,500 metres above sea level, which Chinese media have termed the world’s highest expressway.
  • Earlier, China had launched a high-speed bullet train connecting Lhasa with Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan town located close to Arunachal Pradesh.

Read more on this topic covered in  May 21st, 2021 CNA.

2. GoM set up to rationalise GST rates

What’s in News?

The government has tasked a Group of Ministers (GoM), led by the Karnataka Chief Minister to propose a rationalisation of tax rates and considering the merger of different tax slabs, within two months.

GST Rates:

  • Currently, the GST regime has five broad tax rate slabs of zero, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with a cess levied over and above the 28% on some goods, and special rates for items like precious stones and diamonds.
  • The GoM shall review the current tax slab rates and recommend changes in the same as may be needed to garner required resources (and) review the current rate slab structure of GST, including special rates, and recommend rationalisation measures, including the merger of tax rate slabs, required for a simpler rate structure in GST.
  • This sets the stage for an overhaul of the multiple tax rates under the Goods and Services Tax regime.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q.1 Which of the following correctly describes the mandate of the Justice A.K. Rajan 
committee that was recently constituted?
  1. To recommend a policy to the MOEFCC for clearing illegal encroachments in wetlands
  2. To study the impact of NEET on medical admissions in Tamil Nadu
  3. To suggest changes to the farm laws
  4. To investigate financing routes of Naxals in Dantewada and Bastar
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

A special high-level committee of 9 members headed by the former Justice A. K. Rajan was formed to conduct a detailed review regarding the extent to which the NEET system for admission to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu has affected the students and its impact on them and in case the students have been facing excessive hardships, the new procedure to alleviate these problems to be devised.

Q.2 Consider the following statements with regard to PM Digital Health Mission:
  1. It was launched in 2016 to augment India’s digital health infrastructure.
  2. It includes a unique health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked.
  3. It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?

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

Answer: a

Explanation:

  • PM Digital Health Mission was launched in 2021 to help strengthen India’s medical sector and health facilities of the country.
  • It includes a unique health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked.
  • It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
Q.3 Which country recently became the first European country to elect a women­-majority 
Parliament?
  1. France
  2. Norway
  3. Sweden
  4. Iceland
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Recently, Iceland became the first country in Europe to elect a female majority parliament.
  • Unlike some other countries, Iceland does not have legal quotas on female representation in parliament, though some parties do require a minimum number of candidates to be women.
  • Voters elected 33 women to the country’s Althing (national parliament of Iceland), up from 24 in the last election.
  • No other country in Europe had previously surpassed the threshold of 50 per cent.
  • However, Sweden and Finland have 47 per cent and 46 per cent women in parliament, respectively.
Q.4 ‘Judima Rice Wine’, a popular beverage in the North-East, is brewed by which 
indigenous tribe?
  1. Bodos of Assam
  2. Kukis of Mizoram
  3. Dimasa tribe of Assam
  4. Garo tribe of Meghalaya
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • Judima is a rice wine made from sticky rice, which is steamed and mixed with traditional herbs.
  • The wine is a speciality of the Dimasa tribe of Assam.
  • It has a distinct sweet taste, takes about a week to prepare and can be stored for years.
  • It has now been granted the Geographical Indication Tag.
  • It is the first beverage from the northeastern region to earn the GI Tag.
Q5. Which one of the following suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from 
outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or 
should not have taken part in politics in the recent past?
  1. First Administrative Reforms Commission (1966)
  2. Rajamannar Committee (1969)
  3. Sarkaria Commission (1983)
  4. National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2000)
CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • Sarkaria Commission on inter-state relations in its report dealt with the role of Governors.
  • It suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past.

Read more on Sarkaria Commission.

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. Government officials should be held accountable when their actions violate constitutional and civil rights. Explain the statement with relevant examples. (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS 2 Polity and Governance).
  2. Should women be provided reservation in the Indian judiciary? Critically examine. (15 Marks, 250 Words) (GS 2 Polity and Governance).

Read the previous CNA here.

Sept 27th, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here

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