The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 10th September 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

Beijing’s comments suggested difficulties may still lie ahead for both sides as they look to resolve differences in the remaining friction areas in Demchok and Depsang. Only after full disengagement and subsequent de-escalation of the more than 50,000 troops on each side that remain deployed in forward areas, India has made clear, can relations return to normalcy.
India and China have completed disengagement in five other areas — PP15 being the latest — creating buffer zones in Galwan Valley, north and south of Pangong Lake, and in PP17A in Hot Springs.

Citizens need to back politicians and bureaucrats who bring development and environmental protection to the fore
Useful discussions that involve water and climate experts have them repeatedly highlight how we have encroached into lakes and watersheds, destroyed wetlands, reduced greenery and concretised lands, thus facing the consequences of our actions.

The Bench of the Supreme Court of India, that included Justice M.M. Sundresh, also brought to the counsel’s notice the possibility of exploring divorce through mubarat or mutual consent.
A Muslim man can divorce his wife by uttering Talaq once for three months. This practice is called Talaq-e-Hasan.
“Triple talaq” allows a husband to divorce his wife by repeating the word “talaq” (divorce) three times in any form, including email or text message.
In Islam, talaq and khula are two terms for divorce for men and women respectively. A man can part ways through ‘talaq’ while a woman can separate with her husband through ‘Khula’.
While the widely-acclaimed invalidation of instant triple talaq by a five-judge Bench of the Court, in 2017, is well documented, there was a Kerala High Court judgment of 2021 which upheld the validity of khula.
The court called khula, “the form of divorce conferred upon the wife similar to talaq conferred upon the husband”.

Inflation may have moderated a bit, but remains a threat that warrants constant vigil
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke at length on India’s inflation battle, signalling it is no longer as ‘red-lettered’ a priority as there are more big picture pursuits such as creating jobs, sustaining growth and ensuring equitable wealth distribution.
While headline monthly numbers affect sentiment, a prolonged spell of high inflation is more deleterious for households’ ability and propensity to spend, denting demand and growth impulses that may catalyse fresh investments from industry.

Key Provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act

It underlines the need to protect the liberty of faith and worship.
It was passed in 1991 by the P V Narasimha Rao-led Congress government.
Objective:
- To provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship.
- To prohibit conversion of any place of worship.
- To curb communal tension.
Major Provisions:
- Section 3 of the Act: It bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination, or even a different segment of the same religious denomination.
- Section 4(1): It declares that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it existed on August 15, 1947.
- Section 4(2): Any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship existing on August 15, 1947, pending before any court, shall abate — and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted.
Section 5: The Act shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.
Section 6: It prescribes a punishment of maximum three-years imprisonment along with a fine for contravening the provisions of the Act
Exemptions:
- Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid
  - Under Section 5 of the Act, it does not apply to Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid.
  - Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid situated in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) and to any suit, appeal or other proceeding relating to it.
- Any place of worship that is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site, or is covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
- Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.
- A suit that has been finally settled or disposed of.

Rice production may fall due to a drop in paddy sowing area this kharif season.
The Centre has banned the export of broken rice, mostly used as animal feed and as a component for ethanol production, in view of the domestic demand and the production scenario of rice.
India exports broken rice mainly to China, Senegal, Vietnam, Djibouti and Indonesia. It exported about 21.31 lakh tonne of broken rice in the past five months.
the move would ensure adequate availability of broken rice for the domestic poultry industry and for other animal feedstock and for producing ethanol under the ethanol blending programme.
Referring to the imposition of 20 per export duty on all non-basmati rice except par-boiled rice, Pandey said that it would lead to lowering of prices of rice in the domestic market.

President Droupadi Murmu virtually launched the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan on Friday.
Tuberculosis caused the largest number of deaths among all other infectious diseases in the country. India has a little less than 20% of the world’s population, but has more than 25% of the total TB patients of the world.
“According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, all nations have set the goal of eradicating TB by the year 2030. But the Government of India has set the target of eradicating TB by the year 2025 and efforts are being made at every level to fulfil this resolution,”

Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

Vision:
- It has been envisioned to bring together all community stakeholders to support those on TB treatment and accelerate the country’s progress towards TB elimination.
- This is aimed at working towards TB elimination from the country by 2025.
Components of the scheme:
- The Ni-kshay Mitra initiative which forms a vital component of the `Abhiyaan’ is also launched along with the Abhiyaan.
- This portal provides a platform for donors to provide various forms of support to those undergoing TB treatment.
- The three-pronged support includes:
  - Nutritional,
  - Additional diagnostic, and
  - Vocational support.
- Adoption Provision for Corporates and NGOs:
  - Under the scheme, individuals, NGOs and corporates can adopt TB patients by committing support for 1-3 years.
  - To join the initiative, they have to register on the site, which has an anonymous list of TB patients, categorized according to the primary health centres, blocks, districts and states.
  - The sponsors can select the number of patients as per their capacity.
- Global Efforts:
  - Global Tuberculosis Programme and Report, 1+1 initiative & Multisectoral Accountability Framework for TB by WHO.
  - Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 under UN SDG target 3.3.
  - Moscow Declaration to End TB.
- Indian Efforts:
  - The government aims to have a TB-free India by 2025, five years ahead of the global target of 2030.
  - National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme: National Strategic Plan to end TB by 2025 under pillars of Detect-Treat-Prevent-Build (DTPB).
  - Universal Immunisation Programme.
  - Revised National TB Control Programme under the National Health Mission.
  - NIKSHAY portal and TB Sample Transport Network.
  - Development of National Framework for Gender-Responsive approach to TB.

Foundational learning of students in Hindi is poor but their performance in regional languages in some States was even worse, according to a survey carried out by the Union Ministry of Education and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Around 53% of Class 3 students in 18 States surveyed for Hindi proficiency either lacked or had limited knowledge and skills in reading and comprehending the language.
But proficiency of regional languages, which was analysed in States such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, was poorer with 59% students either lacking or displaying limited skills.
The National Education Policy, 2022, which advocates for a three-language formula where two of the languages are native to India, says the medium of instruction till at least Class 5 or preferably till Class 8 should be in the mother tongue, after which it can be taught as a language.
The government has launched NIPUN as a national mission to enable all children at the end of Class 3 to attain foundational skills by the year 2026-27 and these benchmarks will provide a baseline for subsequent surveys.
Approximately, 86,000 Class 3 students from 10,000 schools were covered for the study.

National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat).

Implemented by: Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), the Ministry of Education.
Vision: It aims to achieve the goal of universal proficiency in foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27, as envisaged by National Education Policy 2020.
- It aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.