The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 8 November 2022 -

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 7 November 2022

10% reservation to the ‘poorest of poor’ among forward castes does not affect Basic Structure of the Constitution, say three judges of the five-member Bench; CJI, another judge hold that exclusion of other communities is avowedly discriminatory.
103rd Constitutional Amendment, which provides 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society but excludes the “poorest of poor” among Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) from its scope.
Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M. Trivedi and J.B. Pardiwala delivered the majority opinions on the five-judge Bench in an hour-long session.
Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, on his last working day, and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat gave the minority view, which Justice Bhat authored.

The Hindu Editorial Today

Justice P.B. Pardiwala says real solution lies in eliminating the causes that have led to the social, educational and economic backwardness of the weaker sections of the community
She pointed out that quota for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in State Legislative Assemblies would cease 80 years from the commencement of the Constitution. The representation of Anglo-Indian communities in Parliament and Assemblies has already stopped by virtue of the 104th Constitutional Amendment from January 25, 2020.
In his minority view on the Bench, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat reminded Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s observations that reservations should be seen as temporary and exceptional “or else they would eat up the rule of equality”.

full-blown attack on the State government

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday unleashed a full-blown attack on the State government, alleging that “they have initiated the process of collapse of constitutional machinery” by threatening him with dire consequences and not permitting the Vice-Chancellors appointed by him to perform their duties.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told countries gathered at the start of the COP-27 summit in Egypt on Monday that they face a stark choice: work together now to cut emissions or condemn future generations to climate catastrophe.
“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,”
Guterres called for a pact between the world’s richest and poorest countries to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels and funding to ensure poorer countries can reduce emissions and cope with the climate impacts that have already occurred.
climate and energy security went “hand in hand”

Youth under the age of 18 in relationships within or outside marriage run foul of the stringent provisions of the Act; many of them are unaware of law and end up in prison for a crime they did not know they were committing.
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act
“In most cases, the families agree to get the couple married, but when the girl becomes pregnant and visits the village health nurse, and they find out that she is a minor, or was married before she turned 18, they inform child welfare services or the local police,”

About Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012:

It was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children.
It was amended in August 2019 to provide more stringent punishment, including the death penalty, for sexual crimes against children.
It defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child.
It deems a sexual assault to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances, such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority like a family member, police officer, teacher, or doctor.
It also casts the police in the role of child protectors during the investigative process.
The Act stipulates that a case of child sexual abuse must be disposed of within one year from the date the offence is reported.

Neelakurinji Flowers?

About:
- In Neelakurinji, ‘Neela’ means blue, and ‘Kurinji’ refers to the flowers.
  - At maturity, the light blue color of the flowers changes to purple bluish.
- The flowers give the ‘Nilgiri Mountain Range’ its name.
- The plant is named after the famous Kunthi River which flows through Kerala’s Silent Valley National Park, where the plant occurs abundantly
- It usually grows at an elevation of 1,300-2,400m.
- Tamil Nadu’s ‘Paliyan’ tribe used the Neelakurinji flowers to calculate age.

There is very little bilateral contact today, even fewer expectations of a bilateral breakthrough, and hardly any warmth in the relationship.
The September 2016 terror attack in Uri, which led to the ‘Surgical Strikes’ by India, practically froze the relationship.
The current arrangement, wherein there is little contact between New Delhi and Islamabad but between Rawalpindi and New Delhi, has not only corrected the structural problem in India-Pakistan relations, it also appears that the Pakistan Army takes this direct approach more seriously.

Addressing malnutrition is critical to laying a strong foundation for human development.
In fact, 80% of brain development takes place in the first 1,000 days of life.
Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyaan (launched in April 2018) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD).
The criticality of preconception care, i.e., care before pregnancy, is acknowledged. In 2018, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare worked with Maharashtra and UNICEF to introduce the first ever primary health-care innovation programme to promote the health of women during the preconception period, in the Peth and Sinnar blocks of Nashik district, Maharashtra.

Global and regional food security have been deliberated upon as one of the priority agendas of the G20 for many years now.
The situation has worsened with growing conflicts, and spiralling climate crises marked by droughts, floods, cyclones, and economic downturns in the past few years.
In this context, India’s presidency of the G20 offers a historical opportunity for the country to share its successful journey in moving from a food-deficit nation to a food-surplus nation, and address the growing challenges of food security for creating resilient and equitable food systems.
In 2021, through the Matera Declaration, G20 ministers recognised that poverty alleviation, food security, and sustainable food systems are key to ending hunger.
One of India’s greatest contributions to equity in food is the National Food Security Act, 2013, which anchors the targeted public distribution system, the mid-day meal scheme, and the Integrated Child Development Services. Today, India’s food safety nets collectively reach over a billion people.
The summit created a mechanism focused on five identified action tracks: Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all; shift to sustainable consumption patterns; boost nature-positive production; advance equitable livelihoods, and build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stress.
About:
- The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular.
- It aims to secure global financial stability by involving middle-income countries.
- Together, the G20 countries include 60 % of the world’s population, 80 % of global GDP, and 75 % of global trade.
Members:Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU.

Consumer demand started to decline before the pandemic and worsened after outbreak
In September, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was anguished that industry was holding back from investing in manufacturing despite a significant cut in corporate tax rates in 2019.
The slowdown in corporate investment did not happen because companies were making losses. In fact, private companies, boosted by considerable tax cuts, made windfall profits.
However, instead of investing in buildings, plants and machinery, they invested in equity shares and debt instruments. So, both before and after the outbreak, they shied away from capital investments.

There is a need to update the National Population Register (NPR) again to incorporate the changes due to birth, death and migration for which demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be collected, the Union Home Ministry said in its 2021-22 annual report, which was published on Monday.
The NPR, first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015 by collecting information of all usual residents of the country, has been opposed by many States ruled by BJP rivals as the register, according to the Citizenship Rules, 2003, is the first step towards compilation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The report said the NPR is prepared under various provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

What is National Population Register (NPR)?

It is a Register of usual residents of the country.

It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.

Who is a Usual Resident?

A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

Ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections, the Centre on Monday amended the electoral bond scheme to grant itself the power to provide an extra fortnight of bond sales in years when the States and Union Territories with a legislature have polls, and used the power to open a fresh one-week window for issuing such bonds starting Tuesday.
The scheme was introduced in 2018 as an alternative to cash donations to political parties, and the government had notified a 10-day window in October for the 22nd tranche of such bonds issued and encashed solely by the State Bank of India (SBI).

What are Electoral Bonds?

Electoral Bond is a financial instrument for making donations to political parties.
The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore without any maximum limit.
State Bank of India is authorised to issue and encash these bonds, which are valid for fifteen days from the date of issuance.
These bonds are redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party.
Every party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 and has secured at least 1% of the votes polled in the most recent Lok Sabha or State election will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India.
A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.

Q) With reference to the Malabar Exercise, consider the following statements:

It is a multilateral naval exercise that began in 2012 as a bilateral exercise between the navy fleets of India and the United States.
Currently, the Malabar exercise is among the navies of India, Japan, the US and Australia.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

मालाबार अभ्यास के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिएः

यह एक बहुपक्षीय नौसैनिक अभ्यास है जो 2012 में भारत और संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका के नौसेना बेड़े के बीच द्विपक्षीय अभ्यास के रूप में शुरू हुआ था।
वर्तमान में, मालाबार अभ्यास भारत, जापान, अमेरिका और ऑस्ट्रेलिया की नौसेनाओं में से एक है।

उपरोक्त में से कौन सा/से कथन सही है/हैं?

केवल 1
केवल 2
दोनों 1 और 2
न तो 1 और न ही 2

Explanation :

The Navy chiefs of India, Australia, Japan and the U.S., which comprise the Quadrilateral (Quad) grouping, met in Japan recently and exchanged views on “further enhancing interoperability” in future editions of the Malabar multilateral naval exercise.

Malabar is a multilateral naval exercise that began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between the navy fleets of India and the United States.
It includes simulated war games and combat manoeuvres.
Since 2007, MALABAR has been held alternatively off Indian Coast and in the Western Pacific.
The exercise has been held every year since 2002 (there was a gap after the 1992, 1995, and 1996 editions due to India’s nuclear testing).
It was expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.
Currently, the Malabar exercise is among the navies of India, Japan, the US and Australia.

Q) Hunger Hotspots Outlook (2022-23) report is released by

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
World Food Programme (WFP)
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Both a and b

हंगर हॉटस्पॉट आउटलुक (2022-23) रिपोर्ट द्वारा जारी की गई है

खाद्य और कृषि संगठन (FAO)
विश्व खाद्य कार्यक्रम (WFP)
कृषि विकास के लिए अंतर्राष्ट्रीय कोष (IFAD)
ए और बी दोनों

The Hunger Hotspots Outlook (2022-23) — a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).

Q) The Protection of language, script and culture of minorities is provided under which of the following rights?

Right to freedom
Right to freedom of religion
Right against exploitation
Cultural and educational rights

अल्पसंख्यकों की भाषा, लिपि और संस्कृति का संरक्षण निम्नलिखित में से किस अधिकार के तहत प्रदान किया जाता है?

स्वतंत्रता का अधिकार
धर्म की स्वतंत्रता का अधिकार
शोषण के खिलाफ अधिकार
सांस्कृतिक और शैक्षिक अधिकार

Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29–30)
- Protection of language, script and culture of minorities (Article 29).

Q) Consider the following statements regarding Ryotwari System.

It was introduced by Thomas Munro.
The ownership rights were handed over to the peasants.
Major areas of introduction include Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces of British India.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1, 2
1, 3
2, 3
1, 2, 3

रैयतवाड़ी व्यवस्था के संबंध में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार करें।

इसे थॉमस मुनरो ने पेश किया था।
स्वामित्व के अधिकार किसानों को सौंप दिए गए।
परिचय के प्रमुख क्षेत्रों में मद्रास, बॉम्बे, असम के कुछ हिस्सों और ब्रिटिश भारत के कूर्ग प्रांत शामिल हैं।

उपरोक्त में से कौन सा/से कथन सही है/हैं?

1, 2
1, 3
2, 3
1, 2, 3

The Ryotwari system was a land revenue system in British India, introduced by Sir Thomas Munro in 1820 based on system administered by Captain Alexander Read. This system was exactly opposite to the Zamindari system. In this system, peasants were given the ownership. It was first introduced in Madras presidency. It was later extended to Bombay, Parts of Bengal, Assam, Coorg etc.

Q) With reference to the Governor, consider the following statements:

Under Article 155 and 156 of the Constitution, a Governor is appointed by the President and holds office “during the pleasure of the President”.
Article 72 of the Constitution says the Governor will normally be aided and advised by the Council of Ministers except in those functions which require his discretion.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

राज्यपाल के संदर्भ में निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिएः

संविधान के अनुच्छेद 155 और 156 के तहत, एक राज्यपाल को राष्ट्रपति द्वारा नियुक्त किया जाता है और वह “राष्ट्रपति के प्रसाद पर्यंत” पद धारण करता है।
संविधान के अनुच्छेद 72 में कहा गया है कि राज्यपाल को सामान्य रूप से मंत्रिपरिषद द्वारा सहायता और सलाह दी जाएगी, सिवाय उन कार्यों के जिनमें उनके विवेक की आवश्यकता होती है।

उपरोक्त में से कौन सा/से कथन सही है/हैं?

केवल 1
केवल 2
दोनों 1 और 2
न तो 1 और न ही 2

Governor’s appointment, removal:

Article 155 and 156: Under Article 155 and 156 of the Constitution, a Governor is appointed by the President and holds office “during the pleasure of the President”.
If this pleasure is withdrawn before completion of the five-year term, the Governor has to step down.
As the President works on the aid and advice of the Prime Minister and the council of ministers, in effect, the Governor can be appointed and removed by the central government.
Thus, a Governor is a representative of the Union government in states.
Article 163: Article 163 of the Constitution says the Governor will normally be aided and advised by the Council of Ministers except in those functions which require his discretion.
While the Governor’s duties and responsibilities lie in a particular state, there is no provision for impeaching the Governor.

Mains Practice Question:

Q) Discuss the interrelationship between an outbreak of a disease and economy of a country. (150 words)

किसी देश की बीमारी के प्रकोप और अर्थव्यवस्था के बीच अंतर्संबंधों की विवेचना कीजिए। (150 शब्द)

Introduction:

The outbreak of a new virus in China has sent shivers through world financial markets, with investors drawing comparisons to the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in order to assess its potential economic impact.
An IMF paper by David Bloom, Daniel Cadarette, and JP Sevilla notes that even when the health impact of an outbreak is relatively limited, economic consequences can be quickly magnified

Body:

A 2017 paper by economists Victoria Fan, Dean Jamison and Lawrence Summers estimated that the expected annual losses from pandemic risk to be about $500 billion — or 0.6% of global income — per year, accounting for both lost income and the intrinsic cost of elevated mortality.
Another 2016 study by the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future estimated that pandemic disease events would cost the global economy over $6 trillion in the 21st century — over $60 billion per year.
A paper by Jong-Wha Lee and Warwick McKibbin estimates the global economic loss due at SARS at $40 billion in 2003. A May 2006 economic briefing by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that world gross domestic product suffered a 0.1% hit due to the outbreak.
Further, in the long-term perspective, a well-researched pandemic/epidemic management strategy delineating the roles of different authorities and action points at various stages need to be formulated.

Mains Practice Question:

Q) Myanmar is geopolitically significant to India as it stands at the center of the India-Southeast Asia geography. Explain (150 words)

म्यांमार भारत के लिए भू-राजनीतिक रूप से महत्वपूर्ण है क्योंकि यह भारत-दक्षिण पूर्व एशिया भूगोल के केंद्र में स्थित है। समझाएं (150 शब्द)