Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TFR, Demographic Dividends
Mains level: Population explosion in India
When this century ends, India may no longer be a country of a billion, says a projection that appears in the online edition of the Lancet. The reference forecasts for China and India peaked before 2050 and both countries thereafter had steep declining trajectories.
Try this question from CSP 2011:
Q.India is regarded as a country with ‘Demographic Dividend’. This is due to
(a) Its high population in the age group below 15 years
(b) Its high population in the age group of 15-64 years
(c) Its high population in the age group above 65 years
(d) Its high total population
World to see the peak
- A new analysis published in The Lancet has projected that the world population will peak much earlier than previously estimated.
- It projects the peak at 9.73 billion in 2064, which is 36 years earlier than the 11 billion peaks projected for 2100 by last year’s UN report World Population Prospects.
- For 2100, the new report projects a decline to 8.79 billion from the 2064 peak.
5 most populated countries
- The five largest countries in 2100 are projected to be India, Nigeria, China, the U.S. and Pakistan.
- However, these forecasts showed different future trajectories between countries.
- Nigeria is forecast to have continued population growth through 2100 and was expected to be the second-most populous country by then.
Predictions on India’s population
- For India, the report projects a peak population of 1.6 billion in 2048, up from 1.38 billion in 2017.
- By 2100, the population is projected to decline by 32% to 1.09 billion.
- However, meeting UN Sustainable Goal Development targets, the peak would be earlier and see a population decline to 929 million.
- Conventional wisdom is that though a decline in population is expected, it is expected to begin only around 2046.
- The fall according to the latest 2019 assessment by the UNDP calculation, is expected to see India’s population settle at a little over 1.4 billion.
Reasons for fall
- The sharper fall is due to the assumption that all women globally will have much higher access to contraception and education.
- This scenario will lead to a sharper reduction in the Total Fertility Rate, a metric that shows on average how many children a woman must have to keep replenishing the population.
- A TFR is lower than 2.1leads to a decline in a country’s population.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Trans-persons rights
After facing flak from the transgender community, the Centre has done away with the requirement of a medical examination for trans persons applying for a certificate of identity in its latest draft rules framed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What are the salient features of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019? Also, discuss the loopholes.
What are the new rules?
- The draft of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, published stated that a District Magistrate would issue a transgender identity certificate and card based on an affidavit by the applicant, but without any medical examination.
Issue with the earlier draft
- An earlier draft of the rules had mandated a report from a psychologist along with the affidavit for the application.
- The transgender rights movement had opposed this, as it was seen as going against a trans person’s right to self-identification, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014.
Change of gender is permissible
- In case of change of gender, the application for new identification would require a certificate from the medical superintendent or chief medical officer of the medical institution where the applicant the surgery.
- For this, the Centre has proposed a series of welfare schemes, including making at least one hospital in each State equipped to provide safe and free gender-affirming surgery and counselling and hormone replacement therapy among others.
Back2Basics: The 2014 Judgement on Trans-persons Rights
- The Supreme Court in 2014 recognized transgenders as the third gender in a landmark ruling, saying it was addressing a “human rights issue”.
- The ruling came after it heard a PIL filed by National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) demanding equal rights.
- The judgements said that non-recognition of gender identity amounts to discrimination under Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
- The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender said justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri in their ruling.
- Self-identification as man or woman, irrespective of sexual reassignment surgery, was now protected by law.
- The judges said rights such as the right to vote, own property, marry and to “claim a formal identity” would be made available “more meaningfully” to the transgender community as a result of the ruling.
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019
The Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019.
Key Features
- Definition of a transgender person: The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes transmen and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.
- Certificate of identity: A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.
- Prohibition against discrimination: The Bill prohibits discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to:
- Education, employment, healthcare.
- Access to or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public.
- Right to movement, right to reside, rent, or otherwise occupy property.
- Opportunity to hold public or private office.
- Access to a government or private establishment in whose care or custody a transgender person is.
- Health care
- The Bill also seeks to provide rights of health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.
- It also states that the government shall review medical curriculum to address health issues of transgender persons, and provide comprehensive medical insurance schemes for them.
- It calls for establishing a National Council for Transgender persons (NCT).
- Punishment: It states that the offences against transgender persons will attract imprisonment between six months and two years, in addition to a fine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hope Mission
Mains level: Quest for Mars and its possibility to host life
The launch of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) first mission to Mars has been delayed by two days due to bad weather conditions which were scheduled to take off from its launch site, Tanegashima Space Center, in Japan.
Try this question from CSP 2014:
Q.Which of the following pair is/are correctly matched?
| Spacecraft |
Purpose |
| 1. Cassini-Huygens |
Orbiting the Venus and transmitting data to the Earth |
| 2. Messenger |
Mapping and investigating the Mercury |
| 3. Voyager 1 and 2 |
Exploring the outer solar system |
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Hope Mission
- The Emirates Mars Mission called “Hope” was announced in 2015 with the aim of creating mankind’s first integrated model of the Red planet’s atmosphere.
- Hope weighs over 1500 kg and will carry scientific instruments mounted on one side of the spacecraft, including the Emirates exploration Imager (EXI), which is a high-resolution camera among others.
- The spacecraft will orbit Mars to study the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with outer space and solar winds.
- Hope will collect data on Martian climate dynamics, which should help scientists understand why Mars’ atmosphere is decaying into space.
Objectives of the mission
- Once it launches, Hope will orbit Mars for around 200 days, after which it will enter the Red planet’s orbit by 2021, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the founding of UAE.
- The mission is being executed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, UAE’s space agency.
- It will help answer key questions about the global Martian atmosphere and the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gases into space over the span of one Martian year.
Back2Basics: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)
- The MOM also called Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- It aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scans its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).
- It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
- It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
- It was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently, ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last “many years.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cestrum nocturnum
Mains level: Invasive alien species
Nilgiris forest officials are restoring native Shola habitats in places overrun by the invasive species ‘Cestrum nocturnum’.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2018:
Q.Why is a plant called Prosopis juliflora often mentioned in the news?
(a) Its extract is widely used in cosmetics.
(b) It tends to reduce the biodiversity in the area in which it grows
(c) Its extract is used in the pesticides.
(d) None of the above
Cestrum nocturnum
- Cestrum nocturnum is commonly known by the names night-blooming jasmine and raatrani.
- It is native to the West Indies but naturalized in South Asia.
- Its spread is a threat to all Shola and grassland habitats as it does not allow any native flora to thrive.
- The plants unless completely removed with their roots, keep sprouting and keep taking over Shola and native grasslands.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Melghat Tiger Reserve
Mains level: Tiger conservation
Maharashtra CM has sought alternative routes for the proposed broad gauge conversion of a railway line passing through the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Amravati district.
Try this question from CSP 2012:
Consider the following protected areas:
1. Bandipur 2. Bhitarkanika 3. Manas 4. Sunderbans
Which of the above are declared Tiger Reserves?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Melghat Tiger Reserve
- Melghat, part of the Satpura-Maikal landscape was among the first nine tiger reserves notified in 1973-74 under the Project Tiger.
- The Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundary of the reserve.
- The forest is tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak.
- The reserve is a catchment area for five major rivers: the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga and Dolar. These all rivers are tributaries of the river Tapti.
Back2Basics: Project Tiger
- Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
- In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers and Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
- The project is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- It aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction etc.
- Under this project the govt. has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Azad Pattan hydel project
Mains level: Dams in PoK
Pakistan and China have signed an agreement for the 700 MW Azad Pattan hydel power project on the Jhelum River in Sudhoti district of PoK.
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Q.What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?
(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits
(b) Tropical rain forests
(c) Underground cave systems
(d) Water reservoirs
Azad Pattan hydel project
- The project is a run-of-the-river scheme with a reservoir located near Muslimabad village, 7 km upstream from the Azad Pattan bridge, in district Sudhnoti, one of the eight districts of PoK.
- It is one of five hydropower schemes on the Jhelum.
- Upstream from Azad Pattan are the Mahl, Kohala, and Chakothi Hattian projects; Karot is downstream. Like Kohala and Azad Pattan, Karot too is being developed under the CPEC framework.
- The project will comprise a 90-metre-high dam, with a 3.8 sq km reservoir.
- The $ 1.5-billion project is the second power project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Other projects in PoK
- Kohala project is a 1,124 MW hydel project that will come upon the Jhelum near Muzaffarabad. This project is one of the biggest investments by China in PoK.
- The Karot Hydropower station, the third project being executed by China on the Jhelum is on the boundaries of Kotli district in PoK and Rawalpindi district in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
- Two hydel projects are planned in Gilgit Baltistan – Phandar Hydro Power, and Gilgit KIU.
- Most recent in the news was Diamer-Bhasha dam in the PoK.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Major ports of India
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Shipping has reviewed the development activities of the Vallarpadam Terminal of Cochin Port, envisaged as first trans-shipment port of India.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.Recently, which of the following States has explored the possibility of constructing an artificial inland port to be connected to the sea by a long navigational channel?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Chhattisgarh
(c) Karnataka
(d) Rajasthan
Vallarpadam Terminal
- The Kochi International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT), locally known as the Vallarpadam Terminal is located strategically on the Indian coastline.
- It is the terminal at the port which handles containers, stores them temporarily and transfers them to other ships for the onward destination.
- It is proposed to be developed as the most preferred gateway for South India and leading transhipment hub of South Asia.
It successfully fulfils all the criteria which are needed to develop it as trans-shipment hub which include:
- It is best positioned Indian port with regard to proximity to International sea routes;
- It is located at least average nautical distance from all Indian feeder ports;
- It entails connectivity which has multiple weekly feeder connections to all ports on West & East Coast of India, From Mundra to Kolkata;
- It has proximity to key hinterland markets of India;
- It has the infrastructure to manage large ships and capacity to scale it up as per requirement.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Overview of trade statistics
Mains level: India and China trade comparison; Strategy for trade policy
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PRAGYATA Guidelines
Mains level: Limitations of Digital learning
Union HRD Ministry has released PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education through online medium.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss the impact of the COVID induced lockdowns on the education system in India. Give some solutions for it.
PRAGYATA guidelines
- The guidelines include eight steps of online/ digital learning that is, Plan- Review- Arrange- Guide- Yak(talk)- Assign- Track- Appreciate.
- These guidelines have been developed from the perspective of learners, with a focus on online/blended/digital education for students who are presently at home due to lockdown.
- It provides a roadmap or pointers for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education.
- The guidelines will be relevant and useful for a diverse set of stakeholders including school heads, teachers, parents, teacher educators and students.
- It stresses upon the use of an alternative academic calendar of NCERT, for both, learners having access to digital devices and learners having limited or no access.
Major highlights
The guidelines highlight 3 modes of online education:
The guidelines outline suggestions for administrators, school heads, teachers, parents and students in the following areas:
- Need assessment
- Concerns while planning online and digital education like duration, screen time, inclusiveness, balanced online and offline activities etc level-wise
- Modalities of intervention including resource curation, level-wise delivery etc.
- Physical, mental health and wellbeing during digital education
- Cyber safety and ethical practices including precautions and measures for maintaining cyber safety
- Collaboration and convergence with various initiatives
Recommended screen time
| Class |
Recommendation |
| Pre Primary |
Not more than 30 minutes. |
| Classes 1 to 12 |
Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT |
| Classes 1 to 8 |
Not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days |
| Classes 9 to 12 |
Not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days |
Guidelines for parents
- For parents, the guideline helps to understand the need for physical, mental health and wellbeing along with the cyber safety measures for children at home.
- Guidelines for physical health and mental wellness is stressed so that children do not get overly stretched or stressed, or get affected owing to prolonged use of digital devices.
- Also, it provides sufficient Dos and Don’ts regarding ergonomics and cyber safety.
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The NITI Aayog has recently presented India’s second Voluntary National Review at the UN’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development, 2020.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss the institutional approach adopted by NITI Aayog for the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.
About the UN Forum on SDGs
- The HLPF is the foremost international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- The HLPF meets annually in July for eight days under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN.
- The VNRs presented by the Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.
- The reviews are voluntary and state-led and are aimed at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned.
India VNR 2020
- NITI Aayog prepared and presented India’s first VNR in 2017.
- The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda in India.
- India’s VNR this year has undertaken a paradigm shift in terms of embodying a “whole-of-society” approach in letter and spirit.
- Apart from presenting a review of progress on the 17 SDGs, the report discusses at length the policy and enabling environment, India’s approach to localizing SDGs, and strengthening means of implementation.
- Leveraging science, technology and innovation for SDGs, and costing and financing of SDGs are the two levers of strengthening means of implementation which have been introduced this year.
Consultations made for the VNR 2020
From Global to Local -key steps of localisation of SDGs in India
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ex. Surya Kiran
Mains level: India-Nepal military ties
Soldiers from Nepal form a significant part of the Indian Army’s legendary Gurkha regiment. Here is a brief explainer on the origin and evolution of these ties.
Practice question for mains:
Q.“India has special and time-tested military ties with Nepal”. Analyse.
India’s military ties with Nepal: The origin
- India’s military connection with the Himalayan country goes back to the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh whose army in Lahore enlisted Nepalese soldiers called Lahure or soldiers of fortune.
- British India raised the first battalion of the Gurkha Regiment as the Nasiri regiment on April 24, 1815.
- By the time the First World War started, there were 10 Gurkha regiments in the British Indian Army.
- When India got freedom, these regiments were divided between the British and Indian armies as per the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement signed in November 1947.
- Six Gurkha regiments with a lakh-odd soldier came to India, which went on to raise another regiment called 11 Gurkha Rifles who chose not to transfer to the British Army.
Can Nepali citizens join the Indian Army?
- Yes, any Nepali can join the Indian Army, both as a jawan and as an officer.
- A citizen of Nepal can take the NDA or CDS exams and join the Indian Army as an officer.
- Col Lalit Rai, who received a Vir Chakra for the bravery of his battalion, the 1/11 Gurkha Rifles, during the Kargil war, is one such officer of Nepalese descent.
- The Nepalese army also sends its officers for training to India’s military academies and combat colleges.
Do the soldiers from Nepal enjoy the same rights as the Indian troops?
- Yes, they enjoy the same benefits as the India troops both during service and after retirement.
- They get the same medical facilities as the Indian soldiers, and often medical teams from the Indian Army tour Nepal.
- Unlike the British, who started giving the Nepalese soldiers pension only a few years ago, the Indian Army has never discriminated against the Nepalese soldiers, who can avail of healthcare facilities in India as well.
- The Indian Army also runs welfare projects in Nepal villages, including small water and power projects.
The honorary chief of the Nepalese army
- Yes, this convention dates back to 1972 when then Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, a Gurkha regiment officer, fondly called Sam Bahadur by his troops, was made the honorary chief of the Nepalese army.
- Ever since the Army chief of India is the honorary chief of the Nepalese army and vice-versa.
Joint exercises
- Joint military exercise ‘SURYA KIRAN is an annual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India.
- It is an important exercise in terms of the security challenges faced by both nations in the realm of changing facets of global terrorism.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Google for India Digitization Fund (GIDF)
Mains level: Digital India
Technology giant Google will invest $10 billion (₹75,000 crores) in India as part of the ‘Google for India Digitization Fund (GIDF)’.
Practice question for mains:
Q.Discuss the role of foreign investment in the digital transformation of India.
About GIDF
- The GIDF focuses on digitizing the economy and building India-first products and services.
- The plan is in line with big-tech’s bullish outlook on India. Earlier this year, Amazon said it would invest an additional $1 billion in India.
- This was followed by a marquee investment announcement of $5.7 billion by Facebook in the country’s largest telecom company Reliance Jio.
- Last month, Microsoft’s venture fund M12 said it would open an office in India to pursue investment opportunities focusing on B2B software startups.
Focus areas
The investment will focus on four areas important to digitization including:
- Enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language,
- Building products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs,
- Empowering businesses in their digital transformation journey and
- Leveraging technology and AI for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APTTA
Mains level: India-Afghanistan trade facilitation
Pakistan has allowed Afghanistan to send goods to India using the Wagah border. The decision is a part of Islamabad’s commitment under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
A statement based question can be asked upon the agreement on terms like:
1. Reciprocal trade with India
2. Railways/Road/Air transit whether allowed
About the agreement
- The APTTA is a bilateral trade agreement signed in 2010 by Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- It calls for greater facilitation in the movement of goods amongst the two countries.
- The 2010 agreement supersedes the 1965 Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement, which granted Afghanistan the right to import duty-free goods through Pakistani seaports, mostly notably from Karachi.
Features of the agreement
- Trade-in goods smuggled into Pakistan once constituted a major source of revenue for Afghanistan.
- The 2010 APTTA allows for both countries to use each other’s airports, railways, roads, and ports for transit trade along designated transit corridors.
- The agreement does not cover road transport vehicles from any third country, be it from India or any Central Asia country.
- However, the signed Agreement permits Afghanistan trucks access to the Wagah border with India, where Afghan goods will be offloaded onto Indian trucks.
- This agreement does not permit Indian goods to be loaded onto trucks for transit back to Afghanistan.
- Instead, Afghan trucks offloaded at Wagah may return to Afghanistan loaded only with Pakistani, rather than Indian goods in an attempt to prevent the formation of a black market for Indian goods in Pakistan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with the governance, importance of decentralisation.
The article examines the issues exposed by the pandemic with the current system of governance in India as well as the global level. Strengthening the local governments is suggested as the need of the hour.
How pandemic exposed the limits of systems
- Governance systems at all levels, i.e. global, national, and local, have experienced stress as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- There was a breakdown in many subsystems in health care, logistics, business, finance, and administration.
- Solutions for one subsystem backfired on other subsystems.
- For example, lockdowns to make it easier to manage the health crisis have made but it was disastrous for the economy.
Following 3 are the problems exposed in the governance
1) Mismatch in abilities and functions
- Human civilisation advances with the evolution of better institutions to manage public affairs.
- Institutions of parliamentary democracy did not exist 400 years ago.
- Institutions of global governance, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, did not exist even 100 years ago.
- These institutions were invented to enable human societies to produce better outcomes for their citizens.
- The pandemic has revealed a fundamental flaw in their design.
- There is a mismatch in the design of governance institutions at the global level with the challenges they are required to manage.
2) Interconnected issues
- All 17 Sustainable Development Goal are interconnected with each other.
- Environmental, economic, and social issues cannot be separated from each other.
- Experts working in silos or by agencies focused only on their own problems cannot solve these problems.
- As government responses to the novel coronavirus pandemic have revealed, a good solution to one can create more problems for others.
3) Local solution requires local problems
- Even if experts in different discipline arrives at silo-ed solutions at the global level, they will not be able to solve the systemic problems of the SDGs.
- Because, their solutions must fit the specific conditions of each country, and of each locality within countries too, to fit the shape of the environment and the condition of society there.
- Solutions for environmental sustainability along with sustainable livelihoods cannot be the same in Kerala and Ladakh.
- Solutions must be local.
- For the local people to support the implementation of solutions, they must believe the solution is the right one for them.
Decentralisation of governance
- Governance of the people must be not only for the people. It must be by the people too.
- There are scientific explanations for why local systems solutions are the best.
- Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics, had developed the principles for self-governing communities from research on the ground in many countries, including India.
- Indian Constitution requires devolution of powers to local government too.
- During pandemic States in India, such as Kerala, have weathered the storm better than others.
- A hypothesis is that those States and countries in which local governance was stronger have done much better than others.
Consider the question “Examine the issues with the current system of governance which were exposed by the pandemic. Also explain why decentralisation could improve many problems the governance faces.
Conclusion
The government has to support and enable people to govern themselves, to realise the vision of ‘government of the people, for the people, by the people’. Which is also the only way humanity will be able to meet the ecological and humanitarian challenges looming over it in the 21st century.
Original article:
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/enabling-people-to-govern-themselves/article32071943.ece
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Police reforms and criminalisation of politics.
The root cause of impunity with which police perpetrated crimes lies in the in a nexus. The nexus between politicians, criminals and government functionaries needs to be broken down. This article suggests the ways to do that.
The context
- The recent custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu and encounter of a criminal by the UP police showed the police in a bad light.
- However, when we dig deeper into the problem we realise that its root lies in the nexus of politicians, criminals and the government functionaries.
Past attempt to break the nexus
- In 1993, the Vohra Committee had submitted a report on the nexus between the criminals, politicians and government functionaries.
- DIB suggested that an institution be set up to effectively deal with the menace.
- There were discussions in parliament, but the matter ended there.
- There was hardly any follow-up action.
Criminalisation of politics
- The number of members of parliament with criminal background has been going up with every successive election.
- It was, according to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 30 per cent in 2009, 34 per cent in 2014 and 43 per cent in 2019.
- The present UP Assembly has 36 per cent or 143 MLAs with criminal cases against them.
- This lead to the administration turning a blind eye to the illegal activities of the criminals.
- The nexus has proliferated and grown in strength down the years.
- It creates an environment where the criminals who are part of the nexus are able to dodge the due processes of law.
Suggestions
- 1) We must have a law which debars persons with serious criminal cases from entering the assemblies and the Parliament.
- 2) The criminal justice system must be revamped as recommended by the Malimath Committee.
- 3) The Supreme Court’s directions on police reforms must be implemented.
- 4) An institution comprising representatives of the police/CBI/NIA, IB, IT department, Revenue Intelligence and Enforcement Directorate should be set up to monitor the activities of the mafia and criminal syndicates in the country.
- 5) A Central act on the lines of MCOCA should be enacted to curb the activities of organised criminal gangs.
- 6) The concept of federal crime, as recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, should be accepted.
- Crimes with all-India ramifications or are trans-national in character, like those of terrorism and organised crimes, should be brought within the ambit of federal crimes.
Consider the question “The nexus of criminals, politicians and government functionaries is at the root of many problems the country faces today. Examine the problems created by the nexus and suggest ways to deal with the problem.”
Conclusion
We must, without further delay, build an environment where police become an instrument of service to the people, where monsters like Dubey do not thrive and become a menace to society.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Managing religious institutions in India, Devsom Boards etc.
Reversing the 2011 Kerala High Court decision, the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Travancore royal family to manage the property of deity at Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.In the context of the history of India, consider the following pairs
| Term |
Description |
| 1. |
Eripatti |
Land, revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank |
| 2. |
Taniyurs |
Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins |
| 3. |
Ghatikas |
Colleges generally attached to the temples |
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
a) 1 and 2
b) 3 only
c) 2 and 3
d) 1 and 3
What did the apex Court say?
- The court said that as per customary law, the shebait rights (right to manage the financial affairs of the deity) survive with the members of the family even after the death of the last ruler.
- The ruling ends the legal battle the temple and members of the royal family have fought with the government for decades over control of one of the richest temples in the world.
What is the case about?
- The central legal question was whether the heirs of the last Ruler of Travancore could claim to be the “Ruler of Travancore” after the death of the ruler in 1991.
- The court examined this claim within the limited meaning of that term according to the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950 to claim ownership, control and management of the ancient Temple.
Earlier cases of ownership: A background
- All the temples which were under the control and management of the erstwhile Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were under the control of the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards before 1947.
- However, as per the Instrument of Accession signed, since 1949, the administration of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple was “vested in trust” in the Ruler of Travancore.
- The state of Kerala was carved out in 1956 but the temple continued to be managed by the erstwhile royals.
The legal battle
- In 1971, privy purses to the former royals were abolished through a constitutional amendment stripping their entitlements and privileges.
- The move was upheld in court in 1993 and the last ruler of Travancore who died during the pendency of this case continued to manage the affairs of the temple till then.
- In 1991, when the last ruler’s brother took over the temple management, it created a furore among devotees who moved the courts leading to a long-drawn legal battle.
Is the temple the property of the royal family?
- The character of the temple was always recognised as a public institution governed by a statute.
- The argument of the royal family is that the temple management would vest with them for perpetuity, as per custom.
- Even though the last ruler executed a detailed will bequeathing his personal properties, he had not included the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple as his personal property or dealt with it in his will.
What about the treasure in the vaults?
- A consequence of who has administrative rights over the temple is whether the vaults of the temple will be opened.
- In 2007, the heir claimed that the treasures of the temple were the family property of the royals.
- Several suits were filed objecting to this claim and a lower court in Kerala passed an injunction against the opening of the vaults.
- The Kerala High Court in the 2011 ruling passed an order that a board be constituted to manage the affairs of the temple, ruling against the royal family.
What impact would this ruling have?
- Since 2011, the process of opening the vaults has led to the discovery of treasures within the Padmanabhaswamy temple, prompting a debate on who owns temple property and how it should be regulated.
- Despite being a secular country that separates religion from the affairs of the state, Hindu temples, its assets are governed through statutory laws and boards heavily controlled by state governments.
- This system came into being mainly through the development of a legal framework to outlaw untouchability by treating temples as public land; it has resulted in many legal battles.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ports along the strait of hormuz
Mains level: India-Iran relations soured in recent times
The Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction of Chabahar Rail Project on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.
What is the issue?
- Four years ago, India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan.
- The Iranian Railways will proceed without India’s assistance, using approximately $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund.
- The development comes as China finalizes a massive 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India’s plans.
The Chabahar Rail Project
- It is a 628 km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan.
- The entire project would be completed by March 2022.
- It was meant to be part of India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Why did Iran omit India from the project?
- Despite several site visits by engineers, and preparations by Iranian railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these could attract U.S. sanctions.
- The U.S. had provided a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find equipment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the U.S.
- India has already “zeroed out” its oil imports from Iran due to U.S. sanctions.
The contentious partnership with China
- Iran and China are close to finalising a 25-year Strategic Partnership which will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar’s duty-free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well.
- The cooperation will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries and other installations.
- It is also rumoured that the Chabahar port will be leased to China surpassing India.
- Iran had proposed a tie-up between the port at Gwadar and Chabahar last year and has offered interests to China in the Bandar-e-Jask port 350km away from Chabahar, as well as in the Chabahar duty-free zone.
Back2Basics: India-Iran Partnership over Chabahar Port
- In 2016, India signed a deal with Iran entailing $8 billion investment in Chabahar port and industries in Chabahar Special Economic Zone.
- The port is being developed as a transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
- India has already built a 240-km road connecting Afghanistan with Iran.
- All this were expected to bring cargo to Bandar Abbas port and Chabahar port, and free Kabul from its dependence on Pakistan to reach the outer world.
- Completion of this project would give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dehing Patkai WLS
Mains level: Wildlife conservation and various policy efforts
The Assam government has decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a National Park.
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?
(a) Manas National Park
(b) Namdapha National Park
(c) Neora Valley National Park
(d) Valley of Flowers National Park
Dehing Patkai WLS
- Dehing Patkai WLS is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 sq. km rainforest.
- It is located in the Dehing Patkai landscape which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest.
- It spreads across the coal- and oil-rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar) and is believed to be the last remaining contiguous patch of lowland rainforest area in Assam.
- The WLS due to their importance for elephant habitat was declared as Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant.
- Post upgradation, Dehing Patkai will be the sixth national park in Assam — the other five being Kaziranga, Nameri, Manas, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.
Back2Basics:
[Prelims Spotlight] National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries in India – Part 2
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tangam tribe
Mains level: Tribal issues in the NE
Last week Arunachal CM released a book titled “Tangams: An Ethnolinguistic Study Of The Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh”.
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Q.Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:
- PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
- A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
- There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
- Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 2 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 4
Who are the Tangams?
- The Tangams is a little-known community within the larger Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and resides in the hamlet of Kugging in Upper Siang district’s Paindem circle.
- In 1975, the community’s population was pegged at 2,000 spread across 25 villages.
- From 2016 to 2020, a team from the Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL) of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), carried out extensive field research and documented the community.
- Their survey revealed that Tangams were now concentrated in only one village (Kugging), with only 253 reported speakers.
- As per the UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages (2009), Tangam — an oral language that belongs to the Tani group, under the greater Tibeto-Burman language family — is marked ‘critically endangered’.
Why are there only a few speakers?
- Kugging is surrounded by a number of villages inhabited by Adi subgroups such as Shimong, Minyongs, as well as the Buddhist tribal community of Khambas, among others.
- To communicate with their neighbours over the years, the Tangams have become multilingual, speaking not just Tangam, but other tongues such as Shimong, Khamba and Hindi.
- They rarely speak their own language now since their population is restricted to a single village. Moreover, the Tangams are relatively unknown — even within their state.
- The village lacks proper infrastructure in all basic sectors of education, health, drinking water facilities, road and electricity. Roads have reached Kugging only in 2018.
- Not a single person from the community has gone to university.
Why are the languages at risk?
- The diversity of languages has led various communities to depend on English, Assamese and colloquial variety of Hindi called Arunachalee Hindi as the link languages.
- Many believe this shift has led to the loss of native languages of the tribal communities.
- Even the numerically larger tribes like Nyishi, Galo, Mishmi, Tangsa etc. whose population exceed the ten thousand mark are also not safe from endangerment, hence marked unsafe.
- The younger generation of these tribes especially in the urban areas has mostly discarded the use of their mother tongue.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Islands of Polynesia
Mains level: NA
How did the Polynesian peoples come to live on the far-flung islands of the Pacific? The question has intrigued researchers for centuries.
The newscard contains some trivial facts. However, aspirants are advised to observe the map.
Study on Polynesia
- Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought the topic to public attention when he sailed a balsa-wood raft called the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.
- His goal was to demonstrate such voyages were possible, supporting theories linking Polynesian origins to the Americas.
- Decades of research in archaeology, linguistics and genetics now show that Polynesian origins lie to the west, ultimately in the islands of Southeast Asia.
New evidence for American interlopers
- A new study published in Nature reports genetic evidence of Native American ancestry in several Polynesian populations.
- Other researchers have previously found evidence of indigenous American DNA in the genomes of the modern inhabitants of Rapa Nui.
- Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is the part of Polynesia closest to South America.
- This suggests the “Amerindian” genetic component was likely introduced later via Chilean colonists.
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