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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Who was Khudiram Bose?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Khudiram Bose

Mains level: Various revolutionary activities

Union Home Minister has visited the native village of Bengali revolutionary Khudiram Bose in Midnapore, West Bengal.

One of the youngest leaders of the Independence movement, Khudiram Bose is highly regarded in Bengal for his fearless spirit. He was just 19 when he was hanged!

Who was Khudiram Bose?

  • Bose was born in 1889 at a small village in Midnapore district.
  • From his adolescent years, he was drawn towards revolutionary activities, being inspired by a series of public lectures given by Sri Aurobindo and Sister Nivedita, when the duo visited Midnapore in the early 1900s.
  • In 1905, when Bengal was partitioned, he actively participated in protests against the British.
  • At the age of 15, Bose joined the Anushilan Samiti, an early 20th-century organisation that propounded revolutionary activities in Bengal.
  • Within a year, he had learnt how to make bombs and would plant them in front of police stations.

Revolutionary activities

  • The deciding moment of Bose’s life came in 1908 when he along with another revolutionary, Prafulla Chaki was assigned the task of assassinating the district magistrate of Muzaffarpur, Kingsford.
  • Before being transferred to Muzaffarpur, Kingsford was a magistrate in Bengal.
  • His tortuous clamping down on revolutionaries had earned him the ire of this young group of nationalists who decided to hurl a bomb on him.

Kingsford’s assassination attempt

  • There were multiple attempts to assassinate Kingsford.
  • Initially, the plan was to throw the bomb in the court. However, after much deliberation, it was decided to avoid the court since a lot of civilians might get injured.
  • Thereafter, on April 30, 1908, Bose threw a bomb on a carriage which he suspected was carrying Kingsford.
  • But it turned out that it was carrying the wife and daughter of a barrister named Pringle Kennedy, who lost their lives, as Kingsford escaped.

Arrest and execution

  • By midnight the entire town was aware of the incident and the Calcutta police were summoned to catch the duo.
  • Bose was arrested from a railway station called Waini where he had reached the next morning after having walked 25 miles.
  • Chaki on the other hand, killed himself before he could get arrested.
  • As Bose was brought handcuffed to the police station at Muzaffarpur, the entire town crowded around to take a look at the teenaged boy.
  • On July 13, 1908, he was finally sentenced to death.

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Indian Navy Updates

Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC)

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: IMAC

Mains level: India's maritime security

India is looking at integrating more countries into coastal radar network IMAC.

What is IMAC?

  • The Indian Navy’s IMAC located in Gurugram which was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion.
  • It functions under the National Maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Project.
  • The NMDA project was launched in accordance with the vision of PM on SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).
  • The IMAC monitors movement of more than 120,000 ships a year passing through the Indian Ocean.
  • The cargo carried by these ships accounts for 66 per cent of world crude oil, 50 per cent of container traffic and 33 per cent of bulk cargo.
  • Thus, IMAC performs a very crucial role in collecting shipping information, analysing traffic patterns and sharing the inputs with the user agencies.

Mission SAGAR, unlike other missions, can create confusion with the name and its purpose. Make note of such special cases. UPSC can ask such questions as one liner MCQs.

Expanding IMAC

  • It is meant to enable real-time monitoring of the high seas for threats as also expand India’s assistance for capacity building to Indian Ocean littoral states.
  • Efforts are in advanced stages to set up coastal radar stations in Maldives, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
  • Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already been integrated into the country’s coastal radar chain network.
  • Similar plans are in the pipeline with Maldives and Myanmar and discussions are ongoing with Bangladesh and Thailand.

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New Species of Plants and Animals Discovered

Species in news: Himalayan trillium

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Himalayan trillium

Mains level: Not Much

The Himalayan trillium (Trillium govanianum), a common herb of the Himalayas was declared ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last week.

Try this MCQ:

Q.Recently, there was a growing awareness in our country about the importance of Himalayan nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) because it is found to be a sustainable source of-

(a) Anti-malarial drug

(b) Bio-diesel

(c) Pulp for paper industry

(d) Textile fibre

Himalayan trillium

  • In recent years, the plant has become one of the most traded commercial plants of the Himalayan region, due to its high medicinal quality.
  • It is found in temperate and sub-alpine zones of the Himalayas, at an altitude from 2,400-4,000 metres above sea level.
  • Their existence has also been traced across India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  • In India, it is found in four states only- Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand.
  • Often called Nagchatri, in local areas this herb grows to a height of 15-20 cm.

Various applications

  • It has been used in traditional medicine to cure diseases like dysentery, wounds, skin boils, inflammation, sepsis, as well as menstrual and sexual disorders.
  • Recent experiments have shown that the rhizome of the herb is a source of steroidal saponins and can be used as an anti-cancer and anti-ageing agent.
  • This increased its market value and has now become an easy target for poachers.

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Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

Laying the foundation for faster growth

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Investment rate

Mains level: Paper 3- Steps India needs to take to compensate for the economic loss due to pandemic.

To ease the damage inflicted by the pandemic on the economy, India needs to act on multiple fronts. The article suggests the trajectory India should follow to compensate for the economic loss due to pandemic.

Economy picking up

  • As the restrictions were slowly withdrawn, the economy has also started picking up.
  • There are many indicators such as collection of Goods and Services Tax (GST), the improved output of coal, steel, and cement, and positive growth in manufacturing in October 2020 which point to better performance of the private sector.
  • In Q1, the economy declined by 23.9%; it declined by 7.5% in Q2, when the relaxations were eased.
  • Reductions in the first half of GDP in 2020-21 as compared to the first half of 2019-20 is 7.66% of the 2019-20 GDP.
  • If the Indian economy at least maintains the second half GDP in 2020-21 at the level of the previous year, the full-year contraction can be limited to about 7.7%.

Steps need to be taken

  • If the Indian economy grows at 8% in 2021-22 will we be compensating for the decline in 2020-21.
  • Thus, it is imperative that the Indian economy grows at a minimum of 8% in 2021-22.
  • This should be possible if by that time restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 are withdrawn and the nation goes back to a normal state.
  • Some sectors can act as lead sectors or engines of growth with increased government capital expenditures in them.
  • The private sector seems to be revising its future prospects.
  • Many new issues in the capital market have met with good response.
  • The attitude to trade must also change.
  • Closing borders may appear to be a good short-term policy to promote growth.
  • A strong surge in our exports will greatly facilitate growth, i.e. 2021-22.
  • However, much of Indian’s growth must rest on domestic factors.
  • Growth must not only be consumption-driven but also investment-driven.
  • It is the investment-driven growth in a developing economy that can sustain growth over a long period.

The important role of monetary policy

  • The stance of monetary policy in 2020-21 has been extremely accommodating.
  • Three major elements in the policy are:
  • 1) A reduction in interest rate.
  • 2) Providing liquidity through various measures.
  • 3) Regulatory changes such as moratorium.
  • There has been a substantial injection of liquidity into the system.
  • With a large injection of liquidity, one should expect inflation to remain high.
  • In the final analysis, inflation is determined by the overall liquidity or money supply in the system in conjunction with the availability of goods and services.
  • While there may be sufficient justification for an accommodative monetary policy in a difficult year such as 2020, there will be a need to exercise more caution as we move into the next year.

Role of government expenditure

  • Government expenditures play a key role in a situation such as the one we are facing.
  • The stimulus policies involving higher government expenditures were expected to arrest the contractionary momentum.
  • The government expenditures should be speeded up from now on so that the contraction in the current fiscal year as a whole can be reduced.
  • In 2021-22, government revenues should pick up with the rise in GDP.
  • The process of bringing down the fiscal deficit must also start.
  • What is required is a sharp increase in government capital expenditures which can act as a stimulus for growth.
  • A detailed investment plan of the government and public sector enterprises must be drawn up and presented as part of the coming Budget.

Increasing investment

  • Over the past decade, the investment rate has been falling.
  • In 2018-19, the rate fell to 32.2% of GDP from 38.9% in 2011-12.
  • Some of the recent measures including corporate tax rate changes may help in augmenting investment.
  • A strong effort must be made to improve the investment climate. The National Infrastructure Pipeline is a good initiative.
  • But the government must come forward to invest more on its own.

Reforms with consensus

  • Reforms are important in the context of rapid development.
  • However, timing, sequencing, and consensus-building are equally important while introducing them.
  • Labor reforms, for example, are best introduced when the economy is on the upswing.

Consider the question ” Growth must not only be consumption-driven but also investment-driven. It is the latter which in a developing economy can sustain growth over a long period. In light of this, suggest the policy imperatives that India should follow to make good of the decline in 2020-202.”

Conclusion

To achieve the level of $5 trillion, we need to grow continuously at 9% for six years from now. That is the challenge before the economy. Jobs and employment will come from growth. They are not independent of growth. For that policymakers should eschew other considerations and focus only on growth.

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Foreign Policy Watch: India-Bangladesh

Friend and neighbour: India-Bangladesh relations

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Recent trends in India-Bangladesh ties

India must strengthen ties with Bangladesh and appreciate Sheikh Hasina’s challenges

Virtual summit between India and Bangladesh

  • The virtual summit was conducted recently between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.
  • There was a discussion on issues ranging from the violent border incidents to the COVID-19 fight, demonstrates their desire to reboot India-Bangladesh ties that have faced challenges in recent months.
  • PM Modi called Bangladesh a “major pillar” in India’s neighbourhood first policy, while Ms. Hasina invited him to visit Bangladesh in March for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of its independence.
  • It is a key opportunity for India, which had played a major role in Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, to revive the relations and address the issues adversely affecting the partnership.

Importance of India-Bangladesh relationship

  • Bangladesh and India are at a historic juncture of diplomacy embedded in a rich matrix of history, religion, culture, language and kinship.

(1) ‘Blue Economy’ programme’ –

  • Both countries are looking at strengthening economic cooperation through joint investments and cooperation under the ‘Blue Economy’ programme.
  • The programme entails synergized efforts of littoral states in the exploration of hydrocarbons, marine resources, deep-sea fishing, preservation of marine ecology and disaster management.
  • The industry in India needs to look for opportunities for collaboration in defence, such as in military hardware, space technology, technical assistance, exchange of experience, and development of sea infrastructure.

(2) India’s Act East Policy

  • Connectivity offers a game-changing opportunity for India and Bangladesh. This is pivotal to India’s connectivity with its north-eastern region and with countries of ASEAN.
  • This is particularly important in the context of both the Make in India initiative as well as India’s Act East Policy.
  • The two countries also see themselves converging around a lot of commonalities, not just as neighbours battling the scourge of terrorism, but as leading economic partners.
  • In terms of diplomacy in the South Asian region, both countries have had identical views.
  • From how organizations such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should be going forward in promoting cooperation among its member nations to economic growth.

Challenges in India-Bangladesh relations

(1) Violent border incidents

  • Despite the friendship remaining solid, the border has been sensitive.
  • At least 25 Bangladeshis were killed in the first six months of this year along the border by Indian forces, according to a rights watchdog.

(2) Sharing of River Waters

  • The Teesta water dispute between West Bengal and Bangladesh remains unresolved.

(3) The Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens, which Ms Hasina called “unnecessary”, have created a negative impression about India.

(4) China’s economic footprint is growing

  • China is making deep inroads into Bangladesh by ramping up infrastructure investments and expanding economic cooperation.
  • Bangladesh is overwhelmingly dependent on China for military hardware.
  • Since 2010, India approved three Lines of Credit to Bangladesh of $7.362 billion to finance development projects. But, just $442 million have been disbursed until December 2018.

Way Forward

  • It is imperative for India to bolster ties with this all-weather friend, and there may not be a better time to do so than when Bangladesh is to celebrate the golden jubilee of its independence.
  • India should support Bangladesh’s fight against radical elements. India should also not allow the ideological inclinations of the ruling party to spoil the historic relationship between the two countries.
  • New Delhi should take a broader view of the changing scenario and growing competition in South Asia, and reach out to Dhaka with an open mind.
  • There is much room for course correction in Delhi and to shift the focus from legacy issues to future possibilities.

Practice Question: Discuss the importance of India-Bangladesh relations and various challenges affecting the relations between the two countries. How they can be addressed?

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Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

Government must promote crop diversification by setting MSP for other crops as well

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Read the attached story

Farmers’ genuine concerns must be addressed as soon as possible so that they can continue producing food and fibre needed for the ever-increasing population.

Green revolution and farmer’s contribution to the food sufficiency in India

  • In the early 1960s, near-famine conditions prevailed in India and some 10 million tonnes of wheat had to be imported from the US under the PL480 programme. The country’s situation was like“ship-to-mouth” existence.
  • High-yielding dwarf wheat varieties brought from Mexico were provided to Indian agricultural institutes.
  • The consequent miraculous gains in wheat yield and production ushered in the “Green Revolution.”
  • The Green Revolution occurred due to a confluence of favourable government policies, efforts of agricultural scientists and the adoption of new wheat varieties/selections by farmers.
  • Also, the contributions of farmers of Punjab (Haryana included) was also very important and they became the backbone of the revolution.
  • By 1974, the industrious farmers of the “food-bowl” states of Punjab, Haryana, and western UP had brought about self-sufficiency in foodgrain production, ridding the country of the “begging bowl”.

Practice Question: What are the concerns of the farmers after new agriculture reforms and how they can be addressed?

Farmer’s concerns

  • Consultation with farmers is important before drafting policies
  • There will be resistance no matter which organization enact the policies/rules without taking the affected people on board. A proactive approach is always better than a reactive one.
  • From the farmers’ standpoint, the ordinances were unfairly promulgated in June 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, without consulting them.
  • Loss of Income in the lockdown – Farmers could not sell their vegetables and fruits because of the lockdown causing the loss of income and then the imposition of the new laws aggravated them.
  • Uncertainty in the minds of farmers about the continuation of MSP
  • Farmers have been selling food grains (mainly wheat and rice) at Minimum Support Price (MSP) since the mid-1960s.
  • This has helped to create a central pool of food grains and the Public Distribution System to help poor people.
  • But MSP has not been guaranteed in the newly enacted farm laws, which is the major bone of contention.
  • The APMCs are under threat from the new farm laws as MSP and APMC go hand-in-hand.

New Middleman –

  • The central government has indicated that the new farm laws are meant to eliminate the “middlemen”.
  • But the farmers feel that a new class of middlemen, that is, lawyers belonging to big companies would emerge.
  • Thus, small farmers would be at a distinct disadvantage — more than 80 per cent of farmers own less than five acres of land.

Contract farming

  • According to the central government, the new laws will ensure contract farming.
  • The farmers fear that big companies might usurp their land and might not pay them an agreed price on the pretext of “poor quality” of produce.
  • They feel that big companies might become monopolies, and exploit both farmers and consumers. Farmers fear being made into labourers.

Way forward

MSP is a must

  • A clause should be added in the law to the effect that no matter who buys the produce (government or a private entity), the farmer must be given an MSP.
  • The National Farmers’ Commission’s recommendation of providing an MSP of 50 per cent over and above a farmer’s input expenses must be implemented.
  • APMCs should be continued – The fees that “Mandi Boards” collect (for example the Rural Development Fund) have helped build link roads. No private organization will do this.
  • MSP should be determined on the basis of grain quality.

Crop diversification is needed

  • The government must promote crop diversification by purchasing crops produced other than wheat and rice at MSP. This could help conserve the dwindling supply of underground water.
  • To encourage farmers to grow high-value crops, such as vegetables and fruits, the government should set up the adequate cold-chain infrastructure.
  • The farmers’ staying power must be improved so that they don’t have to sell all of their produce immediately after the harvest.
  • India has produced a number of World Food Laureates, including M S Swaminathan, Gurdev S Khush, Surinder K Vasal, and Rattan Lal. Such intellectuals should be in the “Agricultural Think Tank.”

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Civil Services Reforms

West Bengal IPS Controversy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Read the attached story

Police personnel should not be made instruments of a political battle

Tug of war between political parties in West Bengal

  • The appointment of three IPS officers of the West Bengal cadre to various posts by the Union Home Ministry on Thursday has escalated the confrontation between the State and the Centre.
  • Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has termed the deputation order despite the State’s objection “a colourable exercise of power and blatant misuse of emergency provision of IPS Cadre Rule 1954”.
  • The constant hostility between the State and Central governments is now taking a turn for the worse ahead of the 2021 Assembly election.
  • The tug of war began after a convoy of BJP President J.P. Nadda came under stone pelting in the State on December 10. The BJP apparently holds the IPS officers accountable for the incident.
  • After an initial move to recall these officials was resisted by the State, the Centre has invoked Section 6(1) of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, which says that “in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government….”

Administrative instruments Vs. Political battles

  • The CM’s style of managing the police force has gained attention for the wrong reasons in the past.
  • Senior officials are seen as allied with the ruling govt and the oppositions determined drive to capture power in the State is multi-pronged.
  • The Supreme Court restrained West Bengal from taking any “coercive action” against several opposition leaders in criminal cases registered against them by the State Police.
  • The opposition continues to knock on the doors of the Court and the Election Commission of India to bring pressure on the State government.
  • By enforcing its writ on IPS officers, the Centre is sending a signal to all officers that their conduct will now be under scrutiny.

Never-ending issues between the state and the centre

  • The central schemes, Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi are also a bone of contention.
  • The Bengal government has refused to implement them, demanding that the funds be routed through the State.
  • The CM has also complained of insufficient central assistance to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and cyclone Amphan.
  • The Centre’s earlier demand that the Chief Secretary and DGP attend a meeting in New Delhi on the State’s law-and-order situation increased tensions.
  • The partisan use of the personnel and instruments of the state by parties in power as is happening in this tussle is a disturbing signal for democracy and federalism.

Practice Question: The partisan use of the personnel and instruments of the state by parties in power is a disturbing signal for democracy and federalism. Elaborate.

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President’s Rule

Andhra Pradesh High Court and the CM Row

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Art. 356

Mains level: Presidents' Rule

The Supreme Court has stayed an Andhra Pradesh High Court order intending to embark on a judicial enquiry into whether there is a constitutional breakdown in the State machinery, requiring a declaration of President’s rule.

A backfire from the AP High Court

  • Andhra Pradesh CM had earlier sparked controversy by writing to the CJI complaining about a Supreme Court judge for allegedly influencing posting of cases in the State High Court.
  • The alleged Judge is slated to be the next Chief Justice of India, and some judges of the AP High Court have opened sharp criticism over AP CM’s move.

What did the Supreme Court say?

  • The apex court found the enquiry highly disturbing. Hence it decided to stay the order.
  • Solicitor General Tushar Mehta asked why the High Court “should go into whether there is a constitutional breakdown in the State”.
  • The Solicitor General of the state government argued that it was not up to the High Court to enquire and recommend President’s rule in a State.

Citations for the President’s Rule in a State

  • President’s rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct central government rule in a state.
  • It is Article 356 that deals with the failure of constitutional machinery in a State.
  • This power to impose President’s rule exclusively vests in the Central Executive.
  • Under Article 356, this move can be taken- if the President, on receipt of the report from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen…..
  • The power in this regard, like sending a report either to the President of India or to the Governor of the concerned State or to record a finding in that regard, cannot be exercised by the judiciary.

How did the AP govt respond?

  • The AP govt said that the High Court’s observation violated the Basic Structure doctrine of the Constitution.
  • Under the constitutional framework, it is not for the courts to decide as to whether there is a constitutional breakdown in a State.
  • The said power has been specifically conferred upon a different constitutional authority – and rightly so.
  • It is needless to mention that the constitutional courts do not have any judicially discoverable and manageable standards to determine if there has been a constitutional breakdown,” the petition contended.

Back2Basics:

President’s Rule

  • President’s rule is the suspension of state government and imposition of direct central government rule in a state.

How it is imposed?

  • President’s Rule implies the suspension of a state government and the imposition of direct rule of the Centre.
  • This is achieved through the invocation of Article 356 of the Constitution by the President on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.
  • Under Article 356, this move can be taken “(1) If the President, on receipt of the report from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution…”

How long President’s Rule can last

  • A proclamation of President’s Rule can be revoked through a subsequent proclamation in case the leader of a party produces letters of support from a majority of members of the Assembly, and stakes his claim to form a government.
  • The revocation does not need the approval of Parliament.
  • Any proclamation under Article 356 —which stands for six months — has to be approved by both Houses in the Parliament session following it.
  • This six-month time-frame can be extended in phases, up to three years.

The S.R. Bommai Case

  • R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) was a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, where the Court discussed at length provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India and related issues.
  • The judgement attempted to curb blatant misuse of Article 356 of the Constitution of India, which allowed President’s rule to be imposed over state governments.
  • Article 356 (1) has been deliberately drafted in a narrow language by the Founding Fathers so that political parties in the Centre does not misuse it to subvert federalism, it had noted.
  • The expression used in the Article is ‘if the President is satisfied”, the court had observed.
  • In other words, the President has to be convinced of or should have sufficient proof of information with regard to or has to be free from doubt or uncertainty about the state of things indicating that the situation in question has arisen.
  • The court had stated that although the sufficiency or otherwise of the material cannot be questioned, the legitimacy of inference drawn from such material is “certainly open to judicial review”.

What it directed?

  • The judgment had explained that in a multi-party political system, chances are high that the political parties in the Centre and the State concerned may not be the same.
  • Article 356 cannot be used for the purpose of political one-upmanship by the Centre.
  • Hence there is a need to confine the exercise of power under Article 356[1] strictly to the situation mentioned therein which is a condition precedent to the said exercise,” the court had said.

Conditions for Prez Rule

  • Where after general elections to the assembly, no party secures a majority, that is, Hung Assembly.
  • Where the party having a majority in the assembly declines to form a ministry and the governor cannot find a coalition ministry commanding a majority in the assembly.
  • Where a ministry resigns after its defeat in the assembly and no other party is willing or able to form a ministry commanding a majority in the assembly.
  • Where a constitutional direction of the Central government is disregarded by the state government.
  • Internal subversion where, for example, a government is deliberately acting against the Constitution and the law or is fomenting a violent revolt.
  • Physical breakdown where the government willfully refuses to discharge its constitutional obligations endangering the security of the state.

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Cyber Security – CERTs, Policy, etc

What is the SolarWinds Hack?

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: SolarWinds Hack

Mains level: Cyber attacks and the treats posed to national security

The ‘SolarWinds hack’, a cyberattack recently discovered in the US, has emerged as one of the biggest ever targeted against the US government, its agencies and several other private companies.

Do you know about the ‘Five Eyes’ group of nations?

Solar-Winds Hack

  • It was first discovered by US cybersecurity company FireEye, and since then more developments continue to come to light each day.
  • The US termed it as a highly sophisticated threat actor calling it a state-sponsored attack, although it did not name Russia.
  • It said the attack was carried out by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities and the attacker primarily sought information related to certain government customers.

How dangerous is the attack?

  • This is being called a ‘Supply Chain’ attack.
  • Instead of directly attacking the federal government or a private organization’s network, the hackers target a third-party vendor, which supplies software to them.
  • Once installed, the malware gave a backdoor entry to the hackers to the systems and networks of SolarWinds’ customers.
  • More importantly, the malware was also able to thwart tools such as anti-virus that could detect it.

The deadliest cyber-attack ever in the US

  • The US Energy department which is responsible for managing America’s nuclear weapons is the latest agency to confirm that it has been breached in the SolarWinds cyber attack.

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Global Geological And Climatic Events

Christmas-Star Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Conjunction in space-phenomena

Mains level: Not Much

After nearly 400 years, Saturn and Jupiter – the two largest planets in our solar system – will be brought closest in the night sky by an astronomical event called the “great conjunction” and popularly referred to as the “Christmas Star”.

Try this PYQ:

What is a coma, in the context of Astronomy?

(a) Bright half of material on the comet

(b) Long tail of dust

(c) Two asteroids orbiting each other

(d) Two planets orbiting each other

What are the Conjunctions?

  • A conjunction is not unique to Saturn and Jupiter however, it is the name given to any event where planets or asteroids appear to be very close together in the sky when viewed from the Earth.
  • In June 2005 for instance, as a result of the “spectacular” conjunction, Mercury, Venus and Saturn appeared so close together in the sky that the patch of sky where the three planets were could be covered by a thumb.
  • Astronomers use the word “great” for the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn because of the planets’ sizes.

The “Great Conjunction”

  • It happens once in about 20 years because of the time each of the planets takes to orbit around the Sun.
  • Jupiter takes roughly 12 years to complete one lap around the Sun and Saturn takes 30 years.
  • This is because Saturn has a larger orbit and moves more slowly because it is not as strongly influenced by the Sun’s gravitational force as planets that are closer to the Sun.
  • As the two planets move along their orbits, every two decades, Jupiter catches up with Saturn resulting in what astronomers call the great conjunction.

A ‘rare alignment’

  • Jupiter and Saturn are bright planets and can be typically seen with the naked eye even from cities.
  • But during conjunction, they appear to be close to each other, which is what makes the event noteworthy.
  • The event will coincide with the winter solstice (shortest day of the year in terms of hours of sunlight received) in the Northern Hemisphere and summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • This year, however, the event is rare because the planets will come the closest to each other in nearly four centuries; in what astronomer Henry Throop described is a result of a “rare alignment” of the planets.

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Oil and Gas Sector – HELP, Open Acreage Policy, etc.

Gas Production in Krishna-Godavari Basin

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: KG basin, Natural Gas

Mains level: Oil and gas reserves in KG basin

Reliance Industries Ltd and BP (British Petroleum) have announced the start of gas production from the R cluster of the KG Basin, the deepest off-shore gas field in Asia.

Must read

https://www.civilsdaily.com/burning-issue-natural-gas-marketing-reforms/

Krishna-Godavari Basin

  • The Krishna Godavari Basin is a proven petroliferous basin of continental margin located on the east coast of India.
  • Its onland part covers an area of 15000 sq. km and the offshore part covers an area of 25,000 sq. km up to 1000 m isobath.
  • The basin contains about 5 km thick sediments with several cycles of deposition, ranging in age from Late Carboniferous to Pleistocene.
  • The major geomorphologic units of the Krishna Godavari basin are Upland plains, Coastal plains, Recent Flood and Delta Plains.

Minerals found

  • KG inland and offshore basins have good prospects of tight oil and tight gas reserves from the conducted field studies.
  • The first gas discovery in the basin was in 1983.
  • Most of the conventional wells drilled and operated have a shorter lifespan than envisaged life and with erratic production.
  • This may be due to drilling of conventional wells in tight oil and gas fields without horizontal drilling in the shale rock formations and hydraulic fracturing.

Note: Tight gas and tight oil are produced from reservoir rocks with such low permeability that considerable hydraulic fracturing is required to harvest the well at economic rates.

The KGD6 block

  • Krishna Godavari Dhirubhai 6 (KG-D6) was Reliance’s first offshore gas field development and its first underwater discovery.
  • It was also India’s largest deposit of natural gas and the largest such discovery in the world in 2002.
  • The project takes its name from India’s Krishna-Godavari Basin, which covers more than 19,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometres) in Andhra Pradesh and production block D6 in the Bay of Bengal.

Why is this important?

  • The R cluster, along with the Satellite Cluster and MJ gas fields in the KG Basin is expected to produce around 30 MMSCMD (million standard cubic metres per day) of natural gas.
  • This is about 15% of India’s projected demand for natural gas by 2023.

Do they impact India’s energy security efforts?

  • The three projects are a key part of the plan to boost domestic production of natural gas to increase the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket from 6.2% now to 15% by 2030.
  • Increased domestic production of natural gas is an important aspect of reducing India’s dependence on imports and improves energy security.

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Person in news: Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Guru Tegh Bahadur

Mains level: Not Much

The Prime Minister has paid tributes to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji on his Martyrdom Day.

Try this PYQ:

Q. Consider the following Bhakti Saints:

  1. Dadu Dayal
  2. Guru Nanak
  3. Tyagaraja

Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty fell and Babur took over?

(a) 1 and 3

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3

(d) 1 and 2

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)

  • Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He was born at Amritsar in 1621 and was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
  • His term as Guru ran from 1665 to 1675. One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
  • There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders.
  • He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
  • He was publicly killed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
  • Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.

Impact of his martyrdom

  • The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
  • His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
  • Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Koothambalam of Guruvayur Temple

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Koothambalam

Mains level: Keralan Architecture

The renovated Koothambalam of the Sreekrishna temple, Guruvayur, has been selected for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award for cultural heritage conservation.

Try this PYQ:

Q. Building ‘Kalyana Mandapas’ was a notable feature in the temple construction in the kingdom of-
(a) Chalukya
(b) Chandela
(c) Rashtrakuta
(d) Vijayanagara

What is Koothambalam?

  • Koothambalam meaning temple theatre is a closed hall for staging Koothu, Nangiar koothu and Koodiyattam, the ancient ritualistic art forms of Kerala.
  • Koothambalams are said to be constructed according to the guidelines given in chapter 2 of Nātyasāstra of Bharata Muni.
  • The stage within the hall is considered to be as sacred as the temple sanctum.

Its’ construction

  • It is constructed within the cloister of the Temple; more precisely within the pancaprakaras of the temple. The prescribe location is between the prakaras of bahyahara and maryada.
  • In Kerala tradition, it is considered as one among the panchaprasadas of a temple complex.
  • Its dimension varies from temple to temple.
  • A square platform with a separate pyramidal roof supported by pillars in the centre called natyamandapam is constructed as s separate structure within the large hall of Koothampalam.
  • The floor of the hall is divided into two equal halves and one part is for performance (including stage, instruments, green room etc.) and another half for seating audience.

About Guruvayur Temple

  • It is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu lord, Guruvayurappan (a four-armed form of the Lord Vishnu), located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala.
  • It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and is often referred to as Bhuloka Vaikunta (Holy Abode of Vishnu on Earth).

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Foreign Policy Watch: India – EU

India-UK Relations

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: India-UK ties

India and the U.K. must not allow concerns of the moment to dominate their relationship.

Practice Question: Discuss the opportunities and the challenges in the India-UK relationships. What is the prospectus of India-UK relations after Brexit and Coronavirus pandemic?

Secretary’s Delhi visit

  • British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab’s Delhi visit came with a declaration of immediate and longer-term goals for the India-U.K. relationship.
  • It prepares the way for PM Johnson’s India visit, as the chief guest at Republic Day and to invite PM Modi to the U.K. to the G-7 and the Climate Change (COP26) summits next year.
  • Johnson will be the first head of government to visit India after the spread of COVID-19; this will also be his first bilateral visit anywhere after Brexit signalling the importance of ties with India.

A new page in ties

  • Upgrading the ties – Both countries up for upgrading of the 2004 India-U.K. Strategic Partnership to a “Comprehensive” Strategic Partnership.
  • This will help to envision closer military ties, cooperation in Indo-Pacific strategies, counter-terrorism and fighting climate change.
  • Hoping for FTA – Britain is on a mission to secure free trade partners after Brexit. It has wrapped up nearly 20 trade deals, including most recently with the U.S., Japan, and Vietnam and is hoping for India to sign the same.
  • Corona pandemic and cooperation for vaccine manufacturing – The highlight of India’s relations will be closer cooperation on the coronavirus vaccine.
  • India’s Serum Institute set to produce and distribute the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in India, and then as part of the COVAX project to other developing countries.

Challenges in India-UK relations

  • Stagnancy in the relations – India-UK relations are stagnant for the past five years due to Britain’s Brexit preoccupation.
  • The relationship has failed to progress in this time, despite visits by Mr Modi and former British Prime Minister Theresa May.
  • Other less important issues gained the narrative – Issues such as visas and the fate of fugitive Indian businessmen in the U.K. have been allowed to dominate the narrative.
  • The MEA had responded sharply to protests at the Indian High Commission in London over the Article 370 move in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
  • Britain’s concerns about the farmers’ protests that sparked responses in New Delhi about interference in India’s internal matters.
  • Sometimes, intense interest from the British Indian diaspora makes Indian politics a factor in British politics is a reminder of how closely linked the two countries remain.
  • A new chapter in India-UK relationship would necessarily entail the K. to be more sensitive to India’s concerns, and for India to be less sensitive when Britain expresses its concerns.

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Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

In agri-reforms, go back to the drawing board

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NA

Mains level: Farmers agitation and the fuss

The intended beneficiaries often understand the realities of the systems better; policymakers need to build trust.

Practice Question: The farmers protest against the new farm laws rises the serious concerns about the policymaking and involvement of citizen in the process by experts. What can be done to improve the trust of the public and how the challenge of agricultural income be solved?

Reassessment is needed

  • The purpose of agriculture reforms is to increase farmers’ incomes. Farmers want the laws repealed.
  • The Supreme Court of India has called for discussions between the government and farmers around the country.
  • It is time to go back to the drawing board about the purpose and the process of agriculture reforms.
  • According to economists, fewer people must work on farms for farm productivity and incomes to be improved. Which begs the question of how the millions displaced from farms will earn incomes.
  • Indian industry is not growing much. There too, according to economists, humans should be replaced by technology for improving productivity.

Flipside of productivity

  • Landholdings are too small for mechanization to improve farm productivity. Their solution is to ‘scale-up’ farms.
  • Mechanization requires standardization of work, hence mechanized farming on scale requires monocropping.
  • Large-scale specialization upsets the ecological balance. Reduced diversity of flora enables pests to spread more easily; soil quality is reduced; water resources get depleted.
  • Solutions to these new problems require more industrial inputs, with more costs for farmers.
  • The harmful side-effects of this approach to improve agriculture productivity are very visible in Punjab nowhere farm incomes have grown at the cost of water resources.

Nature’s self-adaptive system

  • The ecological imbalance out of monocropping made the trees more vulnerable to pests.
  • Nature is a complex ‘self-adaptive’ system. It knows how to take care of itself.
  • When Man tries to overpower Nature with his science and industry, without understanding how Nature functions, he harms Nature — and ultimately himself.
  • Challenges of environmental degradation and increasing inequalities require that the economic calculus shifts from ‘economies of scale with standardization’ to ‘economies of scope for sustainability’.
  • This will make large-scale mechanization more difficult. It will require the use of more ‘flexible’ human labour.
  • In the long run, not only will this be good for the ecology, but it will also increase employment and incomes for people in the lower half of the economic pyramid.

Market access

  • Farm incomes can increase with access to wider markets for farm produce, which is an objective of the agricultural reforms.
  • Indian farmers fear that they will not have adequate pricing power when pushed into large supply systems and less regulated markets.
  • Connections into global supply chains can increase volumes of sales which always favour the larger players in the supply chains who have easier access to capital.
  • Studies show that farmers in developed countries formed collectives which enable their voice to be heard by politicians and they could set the rules of global trade.

Strengthen cooperatives

  • Institutions for cooperative ownership and collective bargaining must be strengthened to give power to small farmers before opening markets to large corporations.
  • A very good example is the Indian dairy sector. It’s ‘per person productivity is much lower than in New Zealand and Australian dairy producers’.
  • Still, it provides millions of tiny producers with reasonable incomes which large-scale industrial dairy producers do not.
  • Moreover, with its cooperative aggregation, the Indian dairy sector has also acquired political clout.
  • It has compelled the Indian government not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to connect the Indian economy with larger supply chains.

Low agriculture income

  • The problem of low incomes in India’s agriculture sector is a complex systems problem which cannot be solved by agriculture experts alone.
  • Experts from many disciplines must collaborate to find systemic solutions.
  • The intended beneficiaries of the new policies must be included in the designing of the new policies right at the beginning as they understand the realities of systems better than experts.
  • When policymakers say ‘the people don’t get it’ after the policy is announced and the intended beneficiaries protest, it is an indication that the experts didn’t get it.

The reforms of the 1990s

  • The stand-off in agriculture reforms has caused a flurry of discussions about democracy, consultation, and processes for economic reforms.
  • The immediate beneficiaries of the 1991 reforms were all Indian consumers, rich and poor, who would benefit from access to better quality products from around the world.
  • The principal opponents of the reforms were a few large industrialists whose products citizens were not satisfied with.
  • Governments have more power over a few industrialists than they have over the masses.
  • The 1991 reforms changed industrial licensing and trade policies — both subjects of the Union government.
  • ‘Factor market’ reforms, inland, agriculture, and labour regulations, which are necessary to realize the full benefits of the 1991 reforms are State subjects.
  • They affect the lives of people on the ground, and differently, around the country. Therefore, the central government, no matter how strong it is, must not force these reforms onto the States.

Conclusion:

Silo experts cannot help

  • India’s policymakers must improve their expertise in solving complex, multi-disciplinary problems.
  • They must apply the discipline of systems thinking, and not rely on siloed domain experts.
  • Citizens around the country must be involved in the policymaking throughout the evolution of policies.
  • The policies of the government should create public value and it satisfies the desire of citizens for a well-ordered society, in which fair, efficient, and accountable public institutions exist.
  • Trust is essential for a well-governed society. The lesson for India’s leaders is- good processes for making public policies build trust between citizens and their governments.

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Waste Management – SWM Rules, EWM Rules, etc

Converting waste to energy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)

Mains level: MSW management

The new plant at Bidadi has several advantages but also some operational challenges.

Practice Question: Discuss the various benefits of waste to energy plants and challenges in running them successfully.

The prospectus of new plant

  • The new 5 MW waste-to-energy plant is going to set up near Bidadi, Karnataka.
  • This plant is expected to process 600 tonnes per day of inorganic waste.
  • The inorganic waste, which consists of bad quality plastics and used cloth pieces, can be processed as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). This material has a calorific value of more than 2,500 kJ/kg.
  • This can be used to generate steam energy, which can be converted into electric energy.

A well-planned plant

  • The waste-to-energy plants usually accept the RDF material generated in organic composting plants.
  • They also segregate the wet and inorganic material near the plant, convert organic waste to compost, and inorganic waste to energy.
  • About 50 tonnes of RDF generate 1 MW of power, which indicates that the plant at Bidadi has been appropriately designed.

A permanent solution

  • Handling inorganic waste that is not fit for recycling has always been a challenge.
  • At present, these high-calorific materials are landfilled or left unhandled in waste plants and cause fire accidents.
  • Attempts to send this material to cement kilns have not fructified.
  • The proposed plant can source 600 tonnes per day of this RDF and generate 11.5 MW of power equivalent to 2.4 lakh units of power per day.
  • This will reduce the dependence on unscientific landfills, reduce fire accidents, and provide a permanent solution to recover value from inorganic waste.

Challenges

  • Needed a good demonstration model – Over the last decade, several Indian cities have been trying to set up such plants but a good demonstration model is yet to be established.
  • Nature of waste – Technology suppliers are international organizations who struggle with the change in quality and nature of waste generated in Indian cities. A few plants in India have stopped operations for this reason.
  • The plants require fine inorganic material with less than 5% moisture and less than 5% silt and soil contents, whereas the moisture and inert content in the mixed waste generated is more than 15%-20%.
  • The sticky silt and soil particles can also reduce the calorific value.
  • Economic cost per unit of electricity – The other big challenge for this plant is the power tariff which is around ₹7-8 KwH which is higher than the ₹3-4 per KwH generated through coal and other means.

Way forward

  • For the successful running, the plant needs to ease the challenge of handling inorganic waste, the efficiency of organic waste processing/ composting plants.
  • With the increasing waste generation in the coming years, there is a need for more such plants which are environment friendly. 

Back2Basics: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF)

  • Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a fuel produced from various types of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste or commercial waste.
  • It is selected waste and by-products with recoverable calorific value can be used as fuels in a cement kiln, replacing a portion of conventional fossil fuels, like coal, if they meet strict specifications.
  • Sometimes they can only be used after pre-processing to provide ‘tailor-made’ fuels for the cement process.
  • RDF consists largely of combustible components of such waste, as non-recyclable plastics (not including PVC), paper cardboard, labels, and other corrugated materials.
  • These fractions are separated by different processing steps, such as screening, air classification, ballistic separation, separation of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, glass, stones and other foreign materials and shredding into a uniform grain size, or also pelletized.
  • This produces a homogeneous material which can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels in e.g. cement plants, lime plants, coal-fired power plants or as a reduction agent in steel furnaces.

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Important Judgements In News

Plea in SC against 1975-77 Emergency

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Art. 352

Mains level: National Emergency

The Supreme Court agreed to look into whether it should examine the constitutionality of the proclamation of National Emergency in 1975 by the then Indira Gandhi-led government.

Q.Discuss how the imposition of National Emergency under Art. 352 of the Constitution seek to change India’s federal character.

What is the issue?

  • A 94-year old lady is seeking compensation for the loss she suffered due to the proclamation of emergency.
  • Petitioner has claimed that a number of her immovable properties were illegally occupied for their activities during the Emergency.
  • A bench of the Supreme Court has agreed to examine if the court could examine whether the proclamation of Emergency was constitutional.
  • The court was hesitant to take up the issue as 45 years have passed since the declaration of Emergency and examining such an issue on merits now could be a cumbersome process.

What is a National Emergency?

  • A national emergency can be declared on the basis of “external aggression or war” and “internal disturbance” in the whole of India or a part of its territory under Article 352.
  • Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 war (China war), 1971 war (Pakistan war), and 1975 internal disturbance (declared by Indira Gandhi).
  • But after the 44th amendment act 1978 added the provision for Internal Emergency.
  • The President can declare such an emergency only on the basis of a written request by the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.

The 1975 Emergency

  • On June 12, 1975, the Allahabad High Court had declared the election of then PM Indira Gandhi as null and void.
  • Following the court decision, Gandhi moved the Supreme Court and stayed the high court’s decision allowing her to remain as PM while limiting her right to vote in the parliament till the appeal was decided.
  • Following an opposition rally for the resignation of Indira Gandhi, she made a decision to impose a national Emergency which would give the central government sweeping powers.
  • On June 25, 1975, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed relying on Article 352 of the Constitution declared a national emergency in the country.

What happened after the proclamation of Emergency?

  • From media censorship, suspension of civil liberties and attempts to fundamentally change the Constitution to suit the government, the Emergency is remembered as a dark period in India’s democracy.
  • The 38th- 42nd Constitutional amendments were passed during the Emergency which led to a tussle between the executive and the judiciary that gave the Parliament a power to amend the Constitution.
  • Many of these changes were either overturned by courts or were reversed in the 44th Constitutional amendment in 1978 which was brought in after the Janata government was voted to power.

Series of Amendments

  • Through the 38th Constitutional Amendment, Gandhi sought to expand the power of the President and barred judicial review of the proclamation of Emergency.
  • The 39th amendment was intended to nullify the effect of the Allahabad High Court ruling that declared Gandhi’s election as null and void.
  • The amendment placed any dispute to the election to the office of the Prime Minister, President beyond the scope of judicial review.
  • The 40th amendment placed crucial land reforms in the Ninth schedule, beyond the scope of judicial review.
  • The 41st Amendment said no criminal proceedings “whatsoever” could lie against a President, Prime Minister, or Governor for acts before or during their terms of office.
  • In the 42nd amendment, the Parliament expanded its powers to amend the Constitution, even its ‘basic structure’ and curtail any fundamental rights.

The 44th Amendment

  • Through the 43rd and 44th amendments, many of the amendments made during the Emergency were withdrawn.
  • Article 352- the provisions relating to Emergency itself was strengthened to prevent misuse by the executive.

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Freedom of Speech – Defamation, Sedition, etc.

Back in news: Right to Protest

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Art. 19

Mains level: Right to Protest and limtations over it

The Supreme Court has that said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their “absolutely perfect” protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws did not slip into violence.

Q.It is the abundant duty of the State to aid and limit the exercise of Right to Protest peacefully. Examine.

Right to Protest

  • The right to protest is the manifestation of the right to freedom of assembly, the right to freedom of association, and the right to freedom of speech.
  • The Constitution of India provides the right of freedom, given in Article 19 with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the framers of the constitution.
  • The Right to protest peacefully is enshrined in Article 19(1) (a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression; Article 19(1) (b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
  • Article 19(2) imposes reasonable restrictions on the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

Reasonable restrictions do exist in practice

  • Fundamental rights do not live in isolation. The right of the protester has to be balanced with the right of the commuter. They have to co-exist in mutual respect.
  • The court held it was entirely the responsibility of the administration to prevent encroachments in public spaces.
  • Democracy and dissent go hand in hand, but then the demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated places alone.
  • The present case was not even one of the protests taking place in an undesignated area but was a blockage of a public way which caused grave inconvenience to commuters.

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ISRO Missions and Discoveries

CMS-01 Satellite launched by ISRO

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CMS-01

Mains level: Not Much

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed into a transfer orbit India’s 42nd communications satellite, CMS-01, carried onboard the PSLV-C50.

CMS-01

  • It is a communications satellite envisaged for providing services in extended C Band of the frequency spectrum and its coverage will include the Indian mainland and the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, the ISRO.
  • The satellite is expected to have a life of over seven years.
  • It was injected precisely into its pre-defined sub- geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).
  • CMS-01 is considered to be a replacement of the aged satellite GSAT-12. It provides services like tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster management support and Satellite Internet access.

What is GTO?

  • A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit.
  • Satellites which are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step for reaching their final orbit.
  • A GTO is highly elliptic.
  • Its perigee (closest point to Earth) is typically as high as low Earth orbit (LEO), while its apogee (furthest point from Earth) is as high as geostationary (or equally, a geosynchronous) orbit.

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Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

A-68s: Largest floating Iceberg

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Icebergs

Mains level: Impact of climate changes on Cryosphere

A research mission is held to find out the impact of a giant floating iceberg A-68s on the wildlife and marine life on a sub-Antarctic island.

Q. How does the cryosphere affect global climate? (CSM 2017)

What are Icebergs?

  • An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water.
  • Small bits of disintegrating icebergs are called “growlers” or “bergy bits”.
  • Much of an iceberg is below the surface which led to the expression “tip of the iceberg” to illustrate a small part of a larger unseen issue.
  • Icebergs are considered a serious maritime hazard, especially for shipping industries.

A-68s

  • The iceberg — named A-68s — is travelling at varying speeds depending on local conditions, but at its fastest was travelling about 20 kilometres a day.
  • The huge iceberg — the size of the U.S. state of Delaware — has been floating north since it broke away from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in 2017.
  • It is now about 75 kilometres from the island of South Georgia, and scientists are concerned over the risks it poses to the wildlife in the area if it grounds near the island.
  • South Georgia is home to colonies of tens of thousands of penguins and 6 million fur seals, which could be threatened by the iceberg during their breeding season.
  • The waters near the island are also one of the world’s largest marine protected areas and house more marine species than the Galapagos.
  • Destruction by the iceberg will release this stored carbon back into the water and, potentially, the atmosphere, which would be a further negative impact.

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