Chahal Magazine (September 2022) (Final)

MONTHLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2022
• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

• DEHRADUN • GANDHINAGAR • KANPUR • PATNA • RAIPUR • RAJKOT • RANCHI • SURAT • VADODARA
Whatsapp No. 93132-18734, 82877-76460 (chahalacademy@gmail.com)
INDEX
POLITY & GOVERNANCE...........................01 - 15 • Typhoon Nanmadol
• Bail For Women • Whale Shark
• History and Debates about ‘Socialist’ & ‘Secular’ in • Hilsa Fish
the Preamble • What Are the Big Seven Cats?
• Death Penalty • Spotted Deer/Chital
• POSH Act, 2013 • Moringa Tree
• Ban on PFI • Ocean Observing System Report Card, 2022
• UAPA Tribunal • Rotterdam Convention
• Zero FIR • Aerosol Pollution
• Supreme Court’s Three-Question Test For EWS • Red Sanders
Quota
• Seafloor Spreading & Global Warming
• What is a Constitutional Monarchy?
• Thamirabarani
• Press Council of India
• Central Water Commission
• Rules For Identifying Criminals
• Madhav National Park
• Symbol Order, 1968
• Law Against Animal Cruelty
• Addition Of Four Tribes to ST List
• Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
• Inclusion/Exclusion from the STs List
• Shallow-Water Mining
• Dealing With Objectionable Content on the Social
• World Ozone Day
Media
• International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
ECONOMY.......................................................16 - 23 for Food and Agriculture
• India Overtakes the UK as World’s 5th Largest • Community Seed Banks

Economy • Greenwashing
• National Logistics Policy • Sea Turtles
• Surrogate Advertisements
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY..........................47 - 58
• Leads Survey 2022
• Transplant of a Full-Grown Tree
• Nano Urea
• Cervavac
• Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and
Upskilling Programme • Jigyasa
•
Mandatory Requirements for Packaged • Trachoma
Commodities • MOXIE
• Localization of SDGs • DART Space Mission
• Shrinkflation • Legionellosis Disease
• Conversion Therapy
ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY..............24 - 46
• Dvorak Technique
• Climate Reparation
• Lithium Cell
• Emissions Deadline Extended
• Spark Program
• Zombie Ice
• Sea Cucumber
• Sachet Common Alerting Protocol
• Dark Sky Reserve
• La Ninã Conditions
• System to recover Spent Rocket Stages
• Super Typhoon Hinnamnor

• National Centre for Disease Control DEFENCE & SECURITY...............................88 - 92

• What is NAVIC? • Chinook Helicopters
• Cyber Security Exercise Synergy
CULTURE........................................................59 - 74
• Private Security Agency (PSA) Security
• Mohenjo-Daro’s World Heritage Tag
• Rohini RH-200
• Arya Samaj
• Nuakhai • VSHORADS Missile
• Martand Temple • Exercise Kakadu
• Kedarnath Temple • Vostok-2022
• Mamangam • Exercise – Jimex 2022

• Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan • Exercise Parvat Prahar
• V. O. Chidambaram Pillai • Operation Southern Readiness
• Acharya Vinoba Bhave
• Annabhau Sathe
SOCIAL ISSUES...........................................93 - 103
• M. Visvesvaraya • Mary Roy Case
• Hindi Diwas • Foundational Learning Survey
• Bathukamma Festival • Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling
• Onam • Theory of the Malthusian Trap

• Mahakaleshwar Temple • Decriminalising Adultery
• UNESCO Lists 50 Iconic Indian Textiles • Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
• Music And Cultural Display at Kartavya Path’s • One Health Approach
Inauguration
• Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology
• Subhas Chandra Bose (WEST)
• Surjapuri and Bajjika Dialects • SC Quota for Dalit Muslims & Christians
• Kurmis • Govt’s FY19 Health Spending Dropped
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS..................75 - 87 • Tedious Process of Adoption
• Perestroika and Glasnost

MISCELLANEOUS....................................104 - 115
• India-Bangladesh Ties
• SPARSH
• Kushiyara River Treaty
• Motor Vehicles Non-Transport Vehicles Visiting
• Tibetan Democracy Day
India Rules, 2022
• UN Report on Xinjiang
• EGOT
• IMF’s Staff-Level Agreement
• Mankading
• Elizabeth’s Three Visits to India
• Chilean Referendum for a New Constitution
• India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
• Ram Setu
• Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
• Rosh Hashanah
• Indo-Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF)
• Gender Snapshot 2022
• International Finance Corporation
• G4 Countries • Operation London Bridge
• Colour Revolutions • World’s First CNG Terminal
• Eastern Economic Forum and India’s Balancing • Global Innovation Index 2022
Act • Dadasaheb Phalke Award
• Railway Protection Force (RPF) GOVERNMENT SCHEMES.....................116 - 119

• Global Pandemic Fund to Open for Investment • National Vayoshree and ADIP

Proposals • PM-SHRI Yojana

• Shoonya Campaign • Convergence Module Between AIF, PMFME and

• India Discrimination Report 2022 PMKSY

• UN Human Development Index 2021-22 • Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural

Livelihoods Mission

• Kritagya 3.0
• PM PRANAM Scheme

• Depsang & Demchok

• Manasbal Lake EDITORIAL FROM YOJANA.............................120

• Pacific Islands • Counter-Terrorism Scenario in J&K

• Yellow Sea
GEOGRAPHY SPECIAL...........................121 - 122

• Southwest monsoon

1 MONTHLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2022
POLITY & GOVERNANCE

BAIL FOR WOMEN
Context: During the hearing, the Chief Justice of India made an oral observation that under Section 437 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a woman is entitled to favourable treatment.
The bail provisions

• Section 437 of the CrPC deals with bail in case of non-bailable offences.
 It says a person shall not be released on bail if there is reasonable ground to believe that he has committed
an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment; or,
 if he has been previously been convicted for an offence punishable with death, life imprisonment, or
for a term of seven years or more; or
 been convicted on two or more occasions on other offences with a term between three and seven
years.
• Exceptions:
 The court may grant bail even in
these cases if such person is:

under the age of 16 or
is a woman or

is sick or

infirm

CrPC say on the arrest of a woman

• A police officer may arrest a person who has committed a cognisable offence without a judicial order or a
warrant (Section 41).
 If the person does not submit to custody based on the word or action of the police, Section 46 enables the
police officer to confine the person physically to effect the arrest.
 A proviso was introduced in the CrPC in 2009 to the effect that where a woman is to be arrested, only a
female police officer may touch the woman’s person, unless circumstances otherwise require.
• Through a 2005 amendment, a subsection was added to prohibit the arrest of a woman after sunset or
before sunrise.
 However, in exceptional circumstances, a woman police officer can obtain the prior permission of a
judicial magistrate to make the arrest.
• The police may seek entry into any premises where they suspect that a person who is required to be arrested
is present.
 In a situation where any such place is an apartment in the occupancy of a female (who is not the person to
be arrested) and if the woman is one who, by custom, does not appear in public, the police have to give
notice to her so that she may withdraw before they enter it (Proviso to Section 47).
 It adds that they shall afford her every reasonable facility for withdrawing before they break open and
enter the place.
• A woman who intends to file a defamation case, but is one who does not appear in public according to custom,
can ask someone else to file the complaint on her behalf.
HISTORY AND DEBATES ABOUT ‘SOCIALIST’ & ‘SECULAR’ IN THE PREAMBLE

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court heard a petition filed by a former MP, seeking the removal of the words “socialist”
and “secular” from the preamble of the Indian Constitution.
What is the purpose of the preamble?

• A preamble serves as an introduction to a document and contains its basic principles and goals.

• When the Indian Constitution was being drafted, the ideals behind the preamble were first laid down in the
Objectives Resolution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1947.
• These ideals emerged out of the numerous debates that took place during the drafting of the Constitution.
• Initially, the Preamble said:
 “WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
 JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
 LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
 EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all
 FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation;
 IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT
AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.”
• The violation of any principle mentioned in the preamble cannot be a reason to go to court, meaning the
preamble is “non-justiciable” — however, judgments of courts can cite it as an additional factor in their
reasoning, given that it constitutes the spirit of the Constitution.
Under what circumstances was the preamble amended?

• The 42nd Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1976 when the Emergency was in place, replaced the
words “sovereign democratic republic” with “sovereign socialist secular democratic republic”.
• It also changed “unity of the nation” to “unity and integrity of the nation”.
• Under Article 368(2), Parliament can amend the Constitution by passing a Bill in each House by a majority
of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of
that House present and voting.
• After that, the Bill shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent
Were ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ debated before Independence?

• During the debates in the Constituent Assembly, members such as K T Shah and Brajeshwar Prasad had
raised the demand to add these words to the preamble.
• However, Dr B R Ambedkar argued:
 What should be the policy of the State, how the Society should be organised in its social and economic
side are matters which must be decided by the people themselves according to time and circumstances. It
cannot be laid down in the Constitution itself because that is destroying democracy altogether.
• Many principles affirming secularism and socialism were contained in the Constitution originally, such as in
the Directive Principles of State Policy that is meant to guide the government in its actions.
 Some examples are provisions related to the “equitable distribution of material resources of the
community for the common good”, and protecting the rights of workers.
• Similarly, in the fundamental rights that allow the freedom to profess and propagate one’s religion, as
well as in the government policies that recognise religious occasions across communities, an Indian version
of secularism is followed.
• Unlike western secularism which strictly separates the state and religion, the Indian state has over the years
acknowledged and involved itself in matters related to all religions.
DEATH PENALTY
Context: The Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench the question of how to provide accused in death penalty
cases a “meaningful, real and effective” hearing of their mitigating circumstances before a trial judge.
Key details:
• A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India said the presentation of mitigating factors by an accused
to avoid the extreme penalty of death was a valuable right.

• While the state is given a chance to present aggravating circumstances against the accused throughout the
duration of a trial, the accused is given a chance to show mitigating circumstances only after conviction.
• The accused can scarcely be expected to place mitigating circumstances on the record, for the reason that the
stage for doing so is after conviction.
• This places the convict at a hopeless disadvantage, tilting the scales heavily against him, the court noted.
AGGRAVATING AND MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Aggravating circumstances make a felony more severe or worse. Popular
aggravating factors involve a long criminal record of the offender or
whether the offence inflicted significant harm to the victim.
Mitigating circumstances are facts that appear to mitigate the

seriousness or penalty of a felony by rendering the actions of the
criminal more reasonable or less guilty. Extenuating factors can involve
the early age of the suspect, psychiatric disorder or addiction, or a
small involvement in the case. Individuals often violate the rules, for
example, when acting in accordance with their moral or cultural values, so
this may be called an extenuating situation.
More about the topic

• The judgments in the Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab
play a crucial role in deciding whether any crime deserves
death penalty or not.
 For example, under the Indian Arms Act, 1959,
using, carrying, manufacturing, selling, transferring,
or testing prohibited arms or ammunition had a
mandatory death sentence in case of casualty.
• But a Supreme Court order in February 2012 had ruled
this provision “unconstitutional in light of the judgments
in Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab and Mithu v. State of
Punjab”.
• This suggests that offences resulting in death are
punishable by death only when they meet the “rarest of
rare” standard laid out in the Bachan Singh case.
• Following the 2012 gang rape and murder, the Supreme
Court amended the law in April 2013 to make it more stringent by adding new categories of offences
regarding violence against women and minor girls.
Is death penalty constitutional?

• The Mithu vs State of Punjab judgment states that death penalty is not a mandatory punishment for the
above listed crimes.
• The Supreme Court had also ruled that mandatory death penalty is unconstitutional.
• Section 416 of the CrPC says if a woman sentenced to death is found to be pregnant, the high court shall
order the execution of the sentence to be postponed and may, if it thinks fit, commute the sentence to
imprisonment for life.
• The Supreme Court has also held that mental illness is a mitigating factor sparing those with such disorders
from the gallows.
Mercy petition process

• For a convict to file a mercy petition, his/her death sentence must be confirmed by a high court first.
• Grounds to seek mercy appeal range from physical fitness, age, law was too harsh, or the convict is the sole
breadwinner of the family.

• According to Article 72 of the Constitution, the power to pardon lies with the President.
 The Article also states that he/she can grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment
or to suspend, remit or commute the convict.
• The mercy petition is reviewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which consults the state involved, before
going to the President.
• The powers of the governor of state are very similar to that of the President.
• According to Article 161, the governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment
or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating
to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
POSH ACT, 2013
Context: The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) submitted a report to the city government pointing out the sorry
state of affairs in the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and Redressal) Act.
Key details:
• The law mandates the constitution and proper functioning of a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) in every
district.
• The DCW in its report to the government stated that between 2019 and 2021, only 40 complaints were
received by all the LCCs.
• It added that even the small number of complaints received by the LCCs were not dealt with in a time-bound
manner.
 The Commission also stated that the committees have not been provided dedicated office space,
budget, and staff.
About the law

• The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in
2013.
• It defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be
taken.
• It broadened the Vishaka guidelines, which were already in place.
• The Vishaka guidelines were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997.
Genesis of Vishaka guidelines:

• This was in a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishaka.
• They had filed a public interest litigation over the alleged gangrape of Bhanwari Devi, a social worker from
Rajasthan.
• In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gangrape in an act of
revenge.
Guidelines and the law

• The Visakha guidelines, which were legally binding, defined sexual harassment and imposed three key
obligations on institutions —
 prohibition,
 prevention,
 redress
• The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into
matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
• The 2013 Act broadened these guidelines.

 It mandated that every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office
or branch with 10 or more employees.
 It lay down procedures and defined various aspects of sexual harassment, including:
 the aggrieved victim,
 who could be a woman of any age whether employed or not,
 who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment.

• This meant that the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, were protected
under the Act.
Definition of sexual harassment

• Sexual harassment includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour committed
directly or by implication:
 Physical contact and advances
 A demand or request for sexual favours
 Sexually coloured remarks
 Showing pornography
 Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.
• Additionally, the Act mentions five circumstances that amount to sexual harassment:
 implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment;
 implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment;
 implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment status;
 interference with her work or creating an offensive or hostile work environment;
 humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety.
Procedure for complaint

• Technically, it is not compulsory for the aggrieved victim to file a complaint for the ICC to act.
• The Act says that if she cannot file a complaint, any member of the ICC shall render all reasonable assistance
to her to complain in writing.
• If the woman cannot complain because of physical or mental incapacity or death, her legal heir may do so.
• Under the Act, the complaint must be made within three months from the date of the incident.
• However, the ICC can extend the time limit if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented
the woman from filing a complaint within the said period.
• The ICC may, before inquiry, and at the request of the aggrieved woman, take steps to settle the matter
between her and the respondent through conciliation, provided that “no monetary settlement shall be
made as a basis of conciliation”.
• The ICC may either forward the victim’s complaint to the police, or it can start an inquiry that has to be
completed within 90 days.
• The ICC has powers similar to those of a civil court in respect of summoning and examining any person on
oath, and requiring the discovery and production of documents.
• The identity of the woman, respondent, witness, any information on the inquiry, recommendation and action
taken, the Act states, should not be made public.
• If the allegations of sexual harassment are proved, the ICC recommends that the employer take action in
accordance with the provisions of the service rules of the company.
• Compensation is determined based on five aspects:
 suffering and emotional distress caused to the woman;
 loss in career opportunity;
 her medical expenses;

 income and financial status of the respondent; and
 the feasibility of such payment.
• After the recommendations, the aggrieved woman or the respondent can appeal in court within 90 days
• Section 14 of the Act deals with punishment for false or malicious complaint and false evidence.
BAN ON PFI
Context: The central government has announced a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI), the organisation whose
leaders and offices were raided by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in
states across the country recently.
What does the ban on the PFI mean?

• The UAPA, India’s main law against
terrorism and terrorist activities, allows
the government to declare an organisation
an “unlawful association” or a “terrorist
organisation”, which is often colloquially
described as a “ban” on the organisations.
• Declaring an organisation a terrorist
organisation has serious consequences in
law, which include:
 the criminalisation of its membership
and
 the forfeiture of the properties of the
organisation.
• Besides the 42 organisations, 13 other
entities have been declared as “unlawful
associations” under the UAPA, and 31
individuals have been listed as “terrorists”
under Schedule Four of the Act.
Under what circumstances is an organisation

declared a terrorist organisation?
• Under Section 35 of the UAPA, the central government has the powers to declare an organisation a terrorist
organisation.
• The Schedule can be amended by the government to add or remove organisations from the list.
• The law states that an organisation shall be deemed to be involved in terrorism if it —
 commits or participates in acts of terrorism, or
 prepares for terrorism, or
 promotes or encourages terrorism, or
 is otherwise involved in terrorism.
What happens when an organisation is tagged as a “terrorist organisation”?

• The two major consequences are that:
 the funding of the organisation, and
 the association of individuals with the organisation, are criminalised.
What recourse is available to a terrorist organisation?

• An application can be made to the central government to remove an organisation from the Schedule by the
organisation itself or any person affected by inclusion of the organisation in the Schedule.

• A review committee is then appointed which is headed by a sitting or former judge of a High Court to
“judicially review” the application.
• The organisation will be removed if the review committee considers that the decision to reject was flawed
when considered in the light of the principles applicable on an application for judicial review.
UAPA TRIBUNAL
Context: The Popular Front of India (PFI), declared an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA) by the Centre, will now have the option to present its case before a tribunal that must confirm
the government notification for the ban to continue.
• Constitution of the tribunal
 The tribunal consists of only one person, who has
to be a High Court judge.
 If a vacancy (other than a temporary absence)
occurs in the Tribunal, the Centre appoints
another judge and the proceedings continue from
the stage at which the vacancy is filled.
 The Centre is to provide to the tribunal such staff
as necessary for the discharge of its functions.
 All expenses incurred for a tribunal are borne out
of the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Its powers
 The tribunal has power to regulate its own
procedure, including the place at which it holds
its sittings.
Thus, it can hold hearings in different states for allegations pertaining to those states.

 To make inquiries, the tribunal has the same powers as vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908.
 These can be exercised in:
summoning a witness and examining him on oath;

production of any document or other material object producible as evidence;


the reception of evidence on affidavits;


 the requisitioning of any public record from any court or office; and
the issuing of any commission for the examination of witnesses.


 All proceeding before the Tribunal are deemed to be judicial proceedings.
ZERO FIR
Context: Days after the Delhi Police registered a ‘Zero FIR’ against an IAS officer from Jharkhand, the State police said
they were yet to receive a physical copy of the FIR and yet to re-register the case in its police station.
What is FIR?
• The information given to a police officer and reduced to in writing as per the provisions of Section 154 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) is known as the first information.
• The First Information Report (FIR) has not been defined under the CrPC but must be understood in the
context of the provisions under Section 154.
• The principal object of the first information report from the point of view of the informant is to set the
criminal law into motion, and from the point of view of the investigating authorities is to obtain
information about the alleged criminal activity so as to be able to take suitable steps to bring the guilty
before the court.
Related Landmark Judgments

• Lalita Kumari v. Government of U.P.
 The Supreme Court observed that it is mandatory to register a FIR under Section 154 if the complaint is
related to a cognizable offence.
• State of Andhra Pradesh v. Punati Ramulu and Others
 The court observed the failure of duty of police constable and emphasized on his legal obligation to
record the information and then transfer it to the competent police station.
• Kirti v. State
 The court directed the Commissioner of Delhi police to furnish a standing order to every police station in
the National Capital Territory of Delhi to accept all and any information they receive which discloses the
occurrence of a cognizable offence even if police station is incompetent on grounds of jurisdictional
limitation and thereafter transfer the case to the competent police station.
SUPREME COURT’S THREE-QUESTION TEST FOR EWS QUOTA

Context: The Supreme Court will examine whether The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, which introduced a
10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and admissions, violates the basic
structure of the Constitution.
The issues fixed by the Supreme Court

• The court decided to take up three of them:
 Whether the 103rd Constitution Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the
Constitution by permitting the state to make special provisions, including reservation, based on economic
criteria
 Whether it can be said to breach the basic structure…by permitting the state to make special provisions
in relation to admission to private unaided institutions
 Whether the basic structure is violated by excluding the SEBCs (Socially and Educationally Backward
Classes)/ OBCs (Other Backward Classes)/ SCs (Scheduled Castes)/ STs (Scheduled Tribes) from the
scope of EWS reservation

The 103rd Amendment

• The 103rd Amendment inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) in the Constitution to provide up to 10 per cent
reservation to EWS other than backward classes, SCs, and STs in higher educational institutions and initial
recruitment in government jobs.
• The amendment empowered state governments to provide reservation on the basis of economic
backwardness.
 Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
 Article 16 guarantees equal opportunity in matters of public employment.
• The additional clauses gave Parliament the power to make special laws for EWS like it does for SCs, STs, and
OBCs.
• The EWS reservation was granted based on the recommendations of a commission headed by Major General
(retd) S R Sinho.
 The Sinho Commission recommended that all below-poverty-line (BPL) families within the general
category as notified from time to time, and also all families whose annual family income from all
sources is below the taxable limit, should be identified as EBCs (economically backward classes).
How is EWS status determined under the law?

• Under the 2019 notification, a person who was not covered under the scheme of reservation for SCs, STs,
and OBCs, and whose family had a gross annual income below Rs 8 lakh, was to be identified as EWS for the
benefit of reservation.
• The notification specified what constituted income, and excluded some persons from the EWS category if
their families possessed certain specified assets.
Challenge to the amendment

• When a law is challenged, the burden of proving it is unconstitutional lies on the petitioners.
• The primary argument in this case is that the amendment violates the basic structure of the Constitution.
• Although there is no clear definition of basic structure, any law that violates it is understood to be
unconstitutional.
• It stems from the view that the special protections guaranteed to socially disadvantaged groups is part of
the basic structure, and that the 103rd Amendment departs from this by promising special protections
on the sole basis of economic status.
• The petitioners have also challenged the amendment on the ground that it violates the Supreme Court’s 1992
ruling in Indra Sawhney & Ors v Union of India, which upheld the Mandal report and capped reservations
at 50 per cent.
• The court had held that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for identifying a backward
class.
• Another challenge is on behalf of private, unaided educational institutions.
 They have argued that their fundamental right to practise a trade/ profession is violated when the
state compels them to implement its reservation policy and admit students on any criteria other
than merit.
Government’s stand
• The government argued that under Article 46 of the Constitution, part of Directive Principles of State Policy,
the state has a duty to protect the interests of economically weaker sections
• Against the argument of violation of the basic structure, the government said that to sustain a challenge
against a constitutional amendment, it must be shown that the very identity of the Constitution has been
altered.
• On the Indra Sawhney principle, the government has relied on the SC’s 2008 ruling in Ashoka Kumar Thakur
v Union of India, in which the court upheld the 27 per cent quota for OBCs.
 The argument is that the court accepted that the definition of OBCs was not made on the sole criterion
of caste but a mix of caste and economic factors; thus, there need not be a sole criterion for according
reservation.
WHAT IS A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY?
Context: One topic was at the heart of King Charles III’s address to the British Parliament: upholding Britain’s system
of constitutional monarchy.
Constitutional monarchy
• A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchical government
established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an
elected or hereditary monarch as head of state.
• Modern constitutional monarchies usually implement the concept of

separation of powers, where the monarch either is the head of the
executive branch or simply has a ceremonial role.
• Where a monarch holds absolute power, it is known as an absolute

monarchy.
• In representative democracies that are constitutional monarchies, like

the United Kingdom, the monarch may be regarded as the head
of state but the prime minister, whose power derives directly or
indirectly from elections, is head of government.
• There have been monarchies which have coexisted with constitutions

which were fascist (or quasi-fascist), as was the case in Italy, Japan and Spain, or with military dictatorships,
as is currently the case in Thailand.
• A constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king or queen reigns with limits to their power
along with a governing body (i.e. Parliament), giving rise to the modern adage.
Britain’s Constitutional Monarchy

• While Britain does not have a single constitutional document, it still has laws and carefully documented
traditions that together form a Constitution, one that binds the king.
• These rules have accumulated in centuries of legislation and a surrounding mass of convention.
• Britain’s constitutional monarchy begins with Magna Carta in 1215, and the initial restraints on royal
power, and Parliament’s intervention in the royal succession.
• Together, they make the king a constitutional monarch:
 an embodiment of power and statehood with no personal public role in politics, and tight constraints
even on private influence.
Absolute Monarchy
• In this type of government, the powers of the monarch (aka king or queen) are absolute.
• Their word is law, and their people have no say.
• The best example of an absolute monarchy is Saudi Arabia.
 While the government follows Basic Law of Saudi Arabia, it does not have a constitution.
 The executive powers of the government are hereditary, and the judicial and legislative branches are
appointed by royal decree.
 Anyone appointed by the monarch can only be dismissed by the monarch.

PRESS COUNCIL OF INDIA
Context: TRS floor leader of the Rajya Sabha resigned from the Press Council of India
About the Press Council of India

• The Press Council of India is a statutory, adjudicating organisation formed in 1966 by the parliament.
• It is a self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press
Council Act of 1978.
• Organisation of the PTI:
 The council has a chairman – traditionally, a retired Supreme Court judge and
 28 additional members of which:
20 are members of media, nominated by the newspapers, television channels and other media outlets

operating in India
5 are members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and

3 represent culture literary and legal field as nominees of Sahitya Academy, University Grant

Commission and Bar Council of India.
• The Press Council of India accepts complaints against and by the press in matters relating to a journalist's
or media organisation's ethical failures.
• The council can investigate and issue a report.
• It also can warn, admonish, censure or disapprove those it finds at fault, but it has no powers to enforce
nor impose any penalty on individual journalists and publications.
RULES FOR IDENTIFYING CRIMINALS
Context: Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the rules governing The Criminal Procedure
(Identification) Act, 2022.
What is the legislation about?

• The legislation would enable police and central
investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse
physical and biological samples including retina
and iris scan of arrested persons.
• The Act seeks to repeal the Identification of
Prisoners Act, 1920, which is over 100-years-old.
 The old Act’s scope was limited to capturing of
finger impression, foot-print impressions
and photographs of convicted prisoners and
certain category of arrested and non-convicted
persons on the orders of a Magistrate.
 The 1920 Act does not provide for taking these
body measurements as many of the techniques and technologies had not been developed then.
• The new Act empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give measurements, which till now was reserved
for convicts and those involved in heinous crimes.
• It also enables the police upto the rank of a Head Constable to take measurements of any person who
resists or refuses to give measurements.
• Though it has not been specified, analysis of biological samples could also include DNA profiling.
Concerns
• The Opposition members termed it “unconstitutional” and an attack on privacy as it allowed the record of
samples of even political detainees.
• However, the rules notified recently state that samples of those detained under preventive Sections of the
CrPC shall not be taken unless such person is charged or arrested in connection with any other offence
punishable under any other law.
• It can also be taken if a person has been ordered to give security for his good behaviour for maintaining
peace.
• The rules do not mention the procedure to be adopted for convicted persons.
Who will be the repository of the data?

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under MHA will be the one-stop agency for storing and
preserving the data of arrested persons.
• The State governments can also store the data.
 But it shall provide compatible application programming interfaces for sharing the measurements or
record of measurements with the NCRB.
• The rules state that the NCRB will issue Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for collection of measurements.
• The rules said that in case any measurement is collected in physical form or in a non-standard digital format,
it shall be converted into standard digital format and thereafter uploaded in the database as per the SOP.
• Only authorised users could upload the measurements in the central database in an encrypted format.
Provisions for destruction of records in case a suspect is acquitted

• The procedure for destruction and disposal of records are yet to be specified by the NCRB.
• The rules state that any request for destruction of records shall be made to the Nodal Officer who is to be
nominated by the respective State Government.
• The nodal officer will recommend the destruction after verifying that such record of measurements is not
linked with any other criminal cases.
SYMBOL ORDER, 1968

Context: Election Commission declares 253 Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) as inactive - bars them
from availing benefits of the Symbol Order, 1968.
Provisions under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968
• It provided for specification, reservation, choice and
allotment of symbols at elections in Parliamentary and
State Assemblies’ constituencies.
• It also had provisions regarding the registration and
recognition of political parties as state and national
parties.
• The Election Symbols Order also provided for resolution of
disputes in cases involving splits in recognized parties or
merger of two or more political parties.
• Symbols are reserved for political parties and the
order distinguishes between a reserved and a free
symbol.
 A reserved symbol is one that is allocated to a political
party while a free symbol is available to be allocated
to non-recognized parties and independent candidates.
• Political parties are divided into regional or state and
national parties, or registered and unregistered parties.

ADDITION OF FOUR TRIBES TO ST LIST

Context: The Union Cabinet approved the addition of four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), including those
from Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.
Which tribes have been added?

• The Hatti tribe in Himachal Pradesh
 The Hatti community is largely concentrated in the Trans-Giri area of the Sirmaur district.
 The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown
vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.
 The Hatti communityis cut off from Sirmaur by two rivers called Giri and Tons.
 There is a fairly rigid caste system among the Hattis —
the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes,

the Badhois are below them.

 Inter-caste marriages are rare.
 Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis lag behind in education and employment.
 The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide
community matters.
The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the panchayati raj

system.
• The Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribe of Tamil Nadu:
 It is an indigenous community from Tamil Nadu.
 They speak the unclassified Indo-Aryan language called Vaagri Booli.
Due to this reason, they are also known as Vagris or Vagrivalas.

 Silambam is a stick fighting style that supposedly originated from the Kurinji hills some 5000 years ago,
where the native kuravar used bamboo staves called Silambamboo to defend themselves against wild
animals.
• The Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh
 It was listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh.
 The Binjhia is an ethnic group found in Odisha and Jharkhand.
 The Binjhia are divided into four subgroups.
Asur-Binjhia,

Agaria-Binjhia,

Pahariya Binjhia

Dand-Binjhia.

 The Binjhia settlements are large and homogeneous.

 They do not practise clan exogamy.
 They also allow cross-cousin marriage , levirate, sororate, remarriage of widows and divorcees.
 They practise both burial and burning of the dead.
 They worship a number spirits along with Hindu gods and goddesses such as Jagannath.
 Their village deity is named Budharaja.
 They have the cult of ancestor worship – pitru puja.
 The structure of clan starts at level of an extended family called dibiris.
A cluster of dibiris comprising a local group of families up to three generations form a jama - a minor

lineage.
Several jamas in a village constitute a major lineage - khumuri.


The latter make a small clan - barga.


The clan is composed of bargas and headed by a Gauntia.


• The Cabinet also approved a proposal to bring the Gond community, residing in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh,
under the ST list from the Scheduled Caste list.
 This includes the five subcategories of the Gond community: Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond.
• The Cabinet had also approved the inclusion of synonyms for 11 tribes in Chhattisgarh and one tribe in
Karnataka.
 The Cabinet approved ‘Betta-Kuruba’ as a synonym for the Kadu Kuruba tribe in Karnataka.
 In Chhattisgarh, the Cabinet approved synonyms for tribes like:
Bharia (variations added include Bhumia and Bhuyian)


Gadhwa (Gadwa)

Dhanwar (Dhanawar, Dhanuwar)


Nagesia (Nagasia, Kisan)


Pondh (Pond)

INCLUSION/EXCLUSION FROM THE STS LIST
Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to add several tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes in States
such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
How is a community added or removed from SC, ST lists?

• The process begins at the level of a State or Union Territory, with the concerned government or administration
seeking the addition or exclusion of a particular community from the SC or ST list.
• The final decision rests with the President’s office issuing a notification specifying the changes under
powers vested in it from Articles 341 and 342.
• The inclusion or exclusion of any community in the Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes list come into effect
only after the President assents to a Bill that amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, after it is passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha.
• A State government may choose to recommend certain communities for addition or subtraction from the list
of SCs/STs based on its discretion.
• This recommendation may come from studies it commissions.
• Following this, the proposal to include or remove any community from the Scheduled List is sent to the
Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs from the concerned State government.
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, through its own deliberations, examines the proposal, and sends it to the
Registrar General of India (RGI).
• Once approved by the RGI, the proposal is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes or National
Commission for Scheduled Tribes
• The proposal is sent back to the Union government, which after inter-ministerial deliberations, introduces
it in the Cabinet for final approval.
How many Scheduled Tribes are there officially?

• According to Census 2011, there are said to be 705 ethnic groups listed as
Scheduled Tribes under Article 342.
• Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban
areas.
• The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural
population.
Article 342
• Under Article 342, the President may, with respect to any State or Union territory, and where
it is a state, after consultation with the Governor, specifies the tribes or tribal communities
or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall deemed to be scheduled
tribes in relation to that state or Union Territory.
• Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled tribes, any tribe or
tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community.
• Thus, the first specification of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular State/ Union Territory
is by a notified order of the President, after consultation with the State governments
concerned.
• These orders can be modified subsequently only through an Act of Parliament.
• The above Article also provides for listing of scheduled tribes State/Union Territory wise
and not on an all-India basis.
DEALING WITH OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA

Context: As allegations of an objectionable video of women students of Chandigarh University being leaked surfaced,
it triggered an outrage, challenges are ahead of the Punjab Police to tackle the situation.
Steps to tackle objectionable content that goes viral

• The first task for the investigation agency is to identify the social
media intermediary through which the objectionable content in any
form i.e., picture, video, voice message, is being spread.
 Usually, investigation agencies rely on the disclosure of the first
arrested accused, who discloses about the first method through
which the content was shared.
 In complicated cases in which the content is being shared on multiple
social media platforms, agencies can take up the matter with all
social media intermediaries including Facebook, WhatsApp,
Twitter etc.
• After identifying one or multiple social media intermediaries, the
investigation agency communicates with the regulating authorities/
headquarters of these intermediaries.
Grievance Redressal officer

• According to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines
and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, a victim can directly
approach the grievances redressal officer of any social media site independently or through an investigation
agency.
• All major social sites including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter are bound to place their grievances redressal
officers in India, as per the notified rules.
• The grievances officer is bound to acknowledge the complaint within twenty-four hours and dispose of
such complaint within a period of fifteen days from the date of its receipt.
• The concerned intermediary is also bound to remove or make the content inaccessible for the public.
v v v v v

ECONOMY
INDIA OVERTAKES THE UK AS WORLD’S 5th LARGEST ECONOMY
Context: India has become the world’s fifth-largest economy after it overtook the United Kingdom in end-March
2022
Key Details
• Because of India’s fast-growing economy, there is likely to be a huge gap
between India and the UK within the next few years.
• Population size
 This is one of the most fundamental differences between the two
countries.
 As of 2022, India has a population of 1.41 billion while the UK’s
population is 68.5 million.
India’s population is 20 times that of the UK’s.


This gap is unlikely to be bridged in a hurry.


• Poverty levels
 Low per capita incomes often point to high levels of poverty.
 At the start of the 19th century, the UK’s share in extreme poverty was considerably higher than
India’s.
 However, the relative positions have reversed even though India has made giant strides in curbing
poverty.

• Human Development Index

 The end goal of higher GDP and faster economic growth is to have better human development
parameters.
 The Human Development Index is a composite of health, education and standard of living parameters.
 Despite its secular improvement, India might still take a decade to be where the UK was in 1980.
• Universal Healthcare Coverage

 A crucial element of becoming richer as a country is the quality of life available to citizens.
 The Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Index is measured on a scale from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) based
on the average coverage of essential services including reproductive, maternal, newborn and child
health, infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases and service capacity and access.
 While faster economic growth and the government’s policy focus on healthcare schemes since 2005
have made a distinct improvement for India, there is still a long way to go.
NATIONAL LOGISTICS POLICY

Context: Recently, the Indian Prime Minister announced the National Logistics Policy.
Key details:
• Aim:
 It aimed at easing the movement of goods and boosting the trade sector in the Indian economy.
• Need for the scheme:
 Logistics broadly includes facilities crucial to trade:
transport services for the movement of goods,


storage facilities that are particularly essential for trade in perishable goods such as food items, fruits,

and vegetables, and
smooth functioning of government services that facilitate trade such as licensing and customs.

• A Ministry of Commerce and Industry survey suggested that states should focus on areas such as:
 developing sector-specific skilling infrastructure and
 streamlining logistics-related approval and
 clearance processes.
Features of the National Logistics Policy

• The new logistics policy has four features:
 Integration of Digital System (IDS);
 Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP);
 Ease of Logistics (ELOG);
 System Improvement Group (SIG).
• A Unified Logistics Interface Platform ULIP will bring all
the digital services related to the transportation sector into a
single portal.
• A new digital platform Ease of Logistics Services (E-Logs)
has also been started for industry associations to resolve
issues by reaching out to the government.
Government initiatives on improving logistics

• Previous programmes and schemes aimed at improving logistics aspects:
 the FASTag for electronic toll tax collection
 faceless assessment for customs the Gati Shakti master plan
 A single platform was launched for ministries to monitor the progress of various infrastructure projects.
 The Centre is aiming at adding over 200 airports, helipads, and water aerodromes where aircraft can
land, over the next 4 to 5 years, besides nearly doubling the existing natural gas pipeline network of
around 19,000 km.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: PM GATI SHAKTI SCHEME

• It seeks to ensure integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure projects in the next four
years, with focus on expediting works on the ground, saving costs and creating jobs.
• It will subsume the Rs 110 lakh crore National Infrastructure Pipeline that was launched in 2019.
• Besides cutting logistics costs, the scheme is also aimed at increasing cargo handling capacity and reducing
the turnaround time at ports to boost trade.
• It also aims to have 11 industrial corridors and two new defence corridors - one in Tamil Nadu and
other in Uttar Pradesh.
 Extending 4G connectivity to all villages is another aim. Adding 17,000 kms to the gas pipeline network
is being planned.
• It will help in fulfilling the ambitious targets set by the government for 2024-25, including expanding the
length of the national highway network to 2 lakh kms, creation of more than 200 new airports, heliports and
water aerodromes.

SURROGATE ADVERTISEMENTS
Context: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution directs advertising agencies to ensure strict
compliance of guidelines on surrogate advertisements
Key Details
• The Department of Consumer Affairs has directed various advertising agencies to ensure strict compliance of
the guidelines for prevention of misleading advertisement and endorsement for misleading advertisement
especially the provisions pertaining to surrogate advertisements.
• It noticed that the concerned entities and the prohibited goods are still being advertised through surrogate
goods and services.
• It has been observed that many alcoholic spirits and beverages are being advertised under the garb of
music CDs, club soda and packaged drinking water whereas the chewing tobacco and gutkha has taken the
veil of fennel and cardamom.
• Many such brands are employing major celebrities that accentuates the negative impact on the impressionable
youth amongst others.
• Several instances of direct advertisement of alcoholic beverages on social media platforms were also
observed by the Department.
• Applicability of the guidelines:

 The guidelines are applicable to:
 a manufacturer, service provider or trader whose goods, product or service is the subject of an
advertisement, or
 to an advertising agency or
 endorser whose service is availed for the advertisement of such goods, product or service regardless of
the form, format or medium of the advertisement.
• The guidelines clearly state that no surrogate advertisement or indirect advertisement shall be made for
goods or services whose advertising is otherwise prohibited or restricted by law.
What are surrogate ads?

• These are endorsements in which a good cannot be openly advertised.
• By often roping in celebrities to promote their brands, advertisers use subtle messaging without naming the
real product.
• In India, alcohol and tobacco products cannot be advertised openly.
• Laws like the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 ban direct and indirect advertisements of
tobacco products.
• Now Clause 6 of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) notification prohibits both direct and
indirect surrogate advertising.
• Example:
 Often alcohol companies are seen advertising mineral water and tobacco products are sold as breath
fresheners.
 Liquor companies use music CDs, short films, and big music festivals for promotions during brand
extensions.
 For example, tobacco brand Red & White promotes a bravery award and whisky brand Bagpiper advertises
soda and CDs.

LEADS SURVEY 2022

Context: The logistics division of Ministry of Commerce & Industry undertakes an annual “Logistics Ease Across
Different States (LEADS)” survey in all States/ UTs to assess and suggest various improvements in logistics sector of
the country.
Key Details:
• The LEADS survey assesses viewpoints of various users and stakeholders across value chain (Shippers,
Terminal Infrastructure Service Providers, Logistics Service Providers, Transporters and Government
agencies) to understand the ‘enabler’ and ‘impediments’ to logistics ecosystem in the country.
• The annual survey, processes the data received from stakeholders (perception data) and States/ UTs
(objective data) and ranks logistics ecosystem of each State/ UT using a statistical model.
• In LEADS Report 2021, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab held top three ranks among States respectively while
Jammu Kashmir, Sikkim and Meghalaya were top three in N-E States and Himalayan UTs respectively.
• The LEADS 2022 Survey further propels the transformative approach by of PM-Gati Shakti.
 This will also reflect positively on international indices, such as Logistics Performance Index (LPI)
conducted by the World Bank.
NANO UREA
Context: Nano urea fast-tracked for approval despite incomplete trials
Key details:
• Nano urea, a product developed
by the Indian Farmers and
Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO)
is yet to be fully tested despite
having been fast-tracked for
commercial application.
• Normally, three seasons of
independent assessment by
the Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) is required for
approving a new fertilizer.
 In the case of nano urea this
was reduced to two.
• Scientists are still unclear if
the product can on its own cut
farmers’ dependence on urea.
• Nano urea is a patented and
indigenously made liquid that
contains nanoparticles of
urea, the most crucial chemical
fertilizer for farmers in India.
• A single half-litre bottle of the liquid can compensate for a 45 kg sack of urea that farmers traditionally rely
on, it is claimed.
How urea is used?

• The standard practice in the cultivation of crops such as wheat, rice, mustard is to use at least two 45-kg sacks
of urea, which is an inorganic compound and the crops’ main source of nitrogen.
• The first packet is applied during the early sowing or transplantation stage of the crop.
• The second stage application is done when the plant has sprouted a canopy of leaves, and is approaching the
reproductive phase of plant growth.
SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURS IN TRANSFORMATION AND UPSKILLING PROGRAMME

Context: The Minister of Commerce and Industry launched the US Startup SETU - Supporting Entrepreneurs in
Transformation and Upskilling programme in the Bay Area of San Francisco.
MAARG
• The interaction will be supported through the mentorship
portal under the Startup India initiative MAARG, or the
Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and
Growth program, which is a single-stop solution finder
for startups in India.
• The core functions of MAARG are:
 to improve ease of access,
 use Artificial Intelligence for Matchmaking,
 schedule meetings virtually,
 host masterclasses,
 provide a custom dashboard for relevant information,
analytics, features, etc.,
 host cohort-based programs that will allow startup ecosystem enablers to be become a part of the program
 enable outcome driven activities.
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR PACKAGED COMMODITIES

Context: The Department of Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrology Division has notified a draft amendment to the Legal
Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011.
• All prepackaged commodities should also be
inspected.
• The rules says that the principal display
panel means the total surface area of a
package containing the information required in
accordance with these rules
 the pre-printed information could be
grouped together and given in one place and
the online information in another place.
• The rules provides that the declaration on the
package must be legible and prominent.
 The consumers’ ‘right to be informed’ is violated when important declarations are not prominently
displayed on the package.
• If there is more than one major product the rules states that the name or number of each product shall be
mentioned on the package.
 This sub-rule is not applicable to mechanical or electrical commodities.
Need for the amendments:

• It is common for consumers to assume that brands’ claims are accurate, but such claims are usually misleading.
• The front side of the package must contain the percentage of the composition of the unique selling proposition
(USP).
 A USP also known as a unique selling point, is a marketing strategy designed to inform customers about
the superiority of one’s own brand or product.
 Listing the USP of a product on the front of the package without disclosing its composition percentage
violates consumer rights.
 Also, packages displaying key constituents must display a percentage of the content used to make the
product.

 For example, if a brand sells aloe vera moisturiser or almond milk/biscuits, then the maximum percentage
of the product should be aloe vera and almond, otherwise, the product name is misleading.
The proposed amendments

• The proposed amendments suggest that at least two prime components should be declared on the package’s
front side along with the brand name.
 Currently, manufacturers list the ingredients and nutritional information only on the back of the
packaging.
• This declaration must also include the percentage/quantity of the USPs of the product in the same font size
as the declaration of the USPs.
• Mechanical or electrical commodities are excluded from this.
• When this new provision is added, consumers will not be misled by the fake claims of manufacturers relating
to the content in blended foods and cosmetics.
LOCALIZATION OF SDGS
Context: Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Institute of Rural Management Anand, Gujarat sign MoU to collaborate in Gram
Panchayat Development Planning for Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) through Panchayati Raj
Institutions (PRIs).

SHRINKFLATION
• Shrink inflation is when a product downsizes its quantity while keeping the price the same.
 For example, reducing the scoops of ice cream in a container or reducing the number of chips in a packet
would count as shrinkflation.
• Shrinkflation occurs when goods shrink in size but consumers pay the same price.
• It occurs when manufacturers downsize products to offset higher production costs but keep retail prices
same.
• Shrinkflation deceives consumers into believing that the brands they buy are not affected by inflation,
since container and vessel sizes are reduced by very small amounts, saving manufacturers more money in the
long run.
• Shrinkflation occurs when materials or ingredients used to make products become more expensive and
when there is intense competition in the market.
• As a result, instead of raising prices, they might just give you less of the product so as to maintain their
profit margins.
• Shrinkflation can occur in different ways.
 The weight will be compromised.
 A product can reformulate or remove ingredients while maintaining its price.
 For example, Cadbury Dairy Milk stopped using foil which it used to prevent chocolate from losing its
quality and flavour in order to save expense.
• Implications:
 Though downsizing products reduces costs for manufacturers, it is an unfair practice toward consumers.
 It can lead to a loss of trust if companies fail to properly communicate with them.
 Shrinkflation can lead to customer frustration and deterioration of consumer sentiment towards a
producer’s brand.
 It is more difficult to accurately measure price changes or inflation.
 Price points become misleading when the basket of goods cannot always be measured by considering the
product size.
v v v v v
NOTES

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY
CLIMATE REPARATION
Context: Facing the worst flooding disaster in its history, Pakistan has begun demanding reparations, or compensation,
from the rich countries that are mainly responsible for causing climate change.
What are climate reparations?

• Climate reparations refer to a call for
money to be paid by the Global North to
the Global South as a means of addressing
the historical contributions that the Global
North has made (and continues to make)
toward climate change.
• Countries in the Global North are responsible
for 92% of excess global carbon emissions.
• Despite this, countless studies have
shown that countries across the Global
South are facing the sharpest end of the
consequences when it comes to climate
change—from severe heat waves in India
to flooding in Kenya and hurricanes in Nicaragua.
• In repeated public statements, Pakistan’s Minister for Climate Change has been saying that while her country
makes negligible contribution to global warming, it has been among the most vulnerable to climate change.
• The current floods have already claimed over 1,300 lives, and caused economic damage worth billions of
dollars.
• Pakistan’s demand for reparations appears to be a long shot, but the principles being invoked are fairly
well-established in environmental jurisprudence.
• Almost the entire developing world, particularly the small island states, has for years been insisting on
setting up an international mechanism for financial compensation for loss and damage caused by climate
disasters.
• Significance of Historical responsibility:
 Historical responsibility is important because carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for hundreds
of years, and it is the cumulative accumulation of this carbon dioxide that causes global warming.
 A country like India, currently the third largest emitter, accounts for only 3% of historical emissions.
 China, which is the world’s biggest emitter for over 15 years now, has contributed about 11% to total
emissions since 1850.
• Implications:
 While the impact of climate change is global, it is much more severe on the poorer nations because of
their geographical locations and weaker capacity to cope.
 This is what is giving rise to demands for loss and damage compensation.
 Countries that have had negligible contributions to historical emissions and have severe limitations of
resources are the ones that face the most devastating impacts of climate change.

Admission of responsibility
• The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the
1994 international agreement that lays down the broad principles of
the global effort to fight climate change, explicitly acknowledges
this differentiated responsibility of nations.
• It makes it very clear that rich countries must provide both the finance and the technology to the
developing nations to help them tackle climate change.
• It is this mandate that later evolved into the $100 billion amount that the rich countries agreed to provide
every year to the developing world.
• This $100 billion per year amount is not meant for loss and damage.
• The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damages, set up in 2013, was the first formal
acknowledgment of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.
 The discussions under WIM so far have focused mainly on enhancing knowledge and strengthening
dialogue.
 No funding mechanism, or even a promise to provide funds, has come about.
 At the recent climate conference in Glasgow, a three-year task force was set up to discuss a funding
arrangement.
• According to a recent report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Efforts (UNOCHA),
prepared for the UN General Assembly, annual funding requests related to climate-linked disasters averaged
$15.5 billion in the three-year period between 2019 and 2021.
 The economic loss from cyclone Amphan in India and Bangladesh in 2020 has been assessed at $15
billion.
 The report said that the United States alone is estimated to have inflicted more than $1.9 trillion in
damages to other countries due to its emissions.
 The report said that the unavoidable annual economic losses from climate change were projected to
reach somewhere between $290 billion to $580 billion by the year 2030.
EMISSIONS DEADLINE EXTENDED

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) extended the deadline for
installing pollution control technologies in the country's thermal power plants (TPPs).
Key details:
• This was the third time that the Ministry has extended the deadline for installation of pollution control
technologies.
• The country’s first emission norms for control of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
mercury (Hg) from coal-fired power plants were notified in December 2015, and the thermal plants were
given a timeline of December 2017 to comply.
• In the notification, the Ministry set up three different timelines for three categories of thermal power plants
for ensuring installation of pollution-control technologies.
• The categorisation of power plants was done in April 2021 on the basis of an amendment to The Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986.
 For power plants within a 10 km radius of Delhi-NCR and million plus cities, the deadline has been
extended to December 31, 2024 from the earlier deadline of December 2022.
 In case of power plants within a 10 km radius of critically polluted cities, the deadline has been
extended to December 31, 2025 from the earlier December 31, 2023.
 For all other power plants across the country which had an earlier timeline of December 31, 2024, the
new deadline stands at December 31, 2026.
 The notification also extends the timeline until 2027 for retiring units (power plants which are over 25
years old or more) and 2026 for non-retiring units.

• How thermal plants can be de-sulpharised?
 A thermal power plant converts heat

energy into electric power by burning
fossil fuels (coal) and pumps out a lot of
gases which are by-products of the burning.
 Along with carbon dioxide, thermal power

plants release SO2 (sulphur dioxide) which
is a major contributor to particulate
matter in air pollution.
 The process of eliminating sulphur

compounds from the exhaust emissions of
fossil-fuelled (coal-fired) power plants is
known as flue gas desulfurisation (FGD).
 This is accomplished by including

absorbent materials, which can eliminate
up to 95% of the sulphur from the flue gas by scrubbing.
The challenges
• Constraints in the implementation of FGD technology at thermal power plants.
• Limited availability of vendors.
• There is a price escalation factor too due to the limited supply of components.
• The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the supply chain and manpower availability.
• Supply disruptions in China:

 Only 20-30% of emissions-reducing components are manufactured in India and the country is
dependent on China.
• Reliance on coal-based plants:

 Despite the push for alternative sources of power, major production of electricity in India is achieved
through coal-based thermal power plants which accounts for 75% of the country’s total power
generation.
Way forward:
• Going by India’s commitment made at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, India proposes to achieve
the goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel by the year 2030 and will achieve the net zero emission target by
2070.
• If the MoEF&CC, which should have penalised power plants for not switching to pollution-control technologies,
keeps extending the deadline, the transition to cleaner sources of power will take much longer.
• India’s National Clean Air Programme’s target of reducing air pollution by 20-30% by 2024 will never be
achieved if the government gives repeated leeway to violators.
ZOMBIE ICE
Context: The melting of the Greenland ice sheet will unavoidably raise the global sea levels by at least 10.6 inches or
27 centimetres. This is because of ‘zombie ice’, which is certain to melt away from the ice cap and blend into the ocean.

SACHET COMMON ALERTING PROTOCOL

Context: Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
organise All India Workshop on CAP based Integrated Alert System- SACHET to train state Governments to mitigate
effects of disasters.
Key Details
• C-DOT & NDMA jointly conducted an All-India Workshop centered on Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)
based Integrated Alert System.
• CAP based Integrated Alert System has been implemented as per ITU Standards.
• With the implementation, India has become 6th such country to have nation-wide alert system.
• NDMA’s Integrated Public Alert System has been developed by C-DOT and provides a converged platform for
dissemination of targeted alerts and advisories to people living in disaster-prone areas in vernacular
languages over all available communication media.
• The SACHET platform has been widely used by National and State Disaster Management authorities for
dissemination of alerts, advisories and other useful information to the massses on all available media
during emergencies like floods, cyclones and Covid pandemic.
LA NINÃ CONDITIONS
Context: The current La Ninã phase has been prevailing since September 2020.
Details:
• Since the 1950s, La Ninã lasting for more than two years has been
recorded only on six instances (see graph below).
El Niño and La Ninã

• The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is one of the key climate
drivers for which the sea surface temperatures (SST) along the
central and equatorial Pacific Ocean are constantly observed.
• It is important, as ENSO conditions can alter both the temperatures
and rainfall globally, due to its strong interference on the global
atmospheric circulations.
• It has three phases —
 El Niño,
 neutral and
 La Ninã.
• El Niño is when the SSTs along the central and equatorial Pacific
Ocean are abnormally warmer than normal.
• La Niña, on the other hand, is when cooler SSTs prevail over
these regions.

SUPER TYPHOON HINNAMNOR
Context: The strongest tropical storm of 2022 is raging towards the East China Sea, threatening Japan’s southern
islands.
Key Details:
• Super Typhoon Hinnamnor, which is similar to a category-5 hurricane, is accumulating a sustained wind
speed of about 241 kilometres per hour (kmph).
• The epicentre of the storm was located about 643 kilometres south-southeast of Japan’s Kyushu island and
was swirling west at 30 kmph.
• Hinnamnor is the 11th tropical storm of the year.
• What is a super Typhoon?
 A storm must attain a sustained wind-speed of at least 240 kmph in order to be classified as a super
typhoon.
 A pre-existing meteorological disturbance, warm tropical waters, moisture and relatively mild
winds are the key components of a typhoon.
 Fierce winds, large waves, heavy rains and floods are likely when the appropriate conditions endure for
a long enough time.
TYPHOON NANMADOL
Context: Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in southwestern Japan recently.
Key details:
• The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) designated Nanmadol as a super-typhoon, making it
perhaps the most deadly tropical storm to hit Japan in decades.
• Around 20 typhoons hit Japan annually, and the country is presently in typhoon season.
• These storms frequently bring severe rainfall that results in landslides or flash floods.
• The name Nanmadol has been used to name four tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
 Typhoon Nanmadol (2004) – struck the Philippines and Taiwan.
 Typhoon Nanmadol (2011) – struck the Philippines, Taiwan and China.
 Tropical Storm Nanmadol (2017) – struck Japan.
 Typhoon Nanmadol (2022) – currently active.
• The name was contributed by Micronesia and refers to the Nan Madol archaeological site on Pohnpei.

What is a super typhoon?
• The terms typhoon and hurricane are regional names for the same weather phenomenon, the
tropical cyclone.
• Tropical cyclones are intense circular storms that begin over warm tropical oceans, and they are
characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain.
• Tropical cyclones generate winds that exceed 119 km (74 miles) per hour.
• Indeed, the strongest ones produce sustained winds in excess of 240 km (150 miles) per hour and
gusts surpassing 320 km (200 miles) per hour.
• The term super typhoon is used when a typhoon’s sustained surface-wind strength reaches 240
km (150 miles) per hour, the equivalent of a strong category 4 or category 5 hurricane.
WHALE SHARK
Context: Delhi-based non-profit, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) launched ‘Save the Whale Shark Campaign’ along
Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

HILSA FISH
Context: Recently, the first consignment of Hilsa fish arrived in the markets of Kolkata.
About Hilsa fish

• The Hilsa Fish, also known as Ilisha is a species of fish related to the herring, in the family Clupeidae.
• It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in the Indian Subcontinent, and is the national fish of Bangladesh
and the state fish of West Bengal.
• Bangladesh is the top hilsa-producing country in the world, followed by Myanmar and then India
• The fish is popular food amongst the people of South Asia and in the Middle East, but especially with Bengalis,
Odias and Andhras.
WHAT ARE THE BIG SEVEN CATS?

Context: The cheetah, which is being re-introduced to India from Africa, is not to be confused with the leopard, which
too has spots that look somewhat similar.
The Panthera genus

• This is the genus of large wild cats that can roar, but can’t purr.
• Among them, the lion, the leopard, and the jaguar are more closely related, while the other strand has the
tiger and the snow leopard.
• The snow leopard is an exception to the rest of the group in that it can’t roar.
• Tiger (Panthera Tigris)
 Status: Endangered
 The tiger is the largest of all wild cats and also the earliest Panthera member to exist.
 Primarily a forest animal, they range from the Siberian taiga to the Sunderban delta.
 It is the national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and South Korea.
• Lion (Panthera Leo)
 Status: Vulnerable
 It is native to Africa and Asia.
 It is the most social cat, and lives in groups called prides.
 They prefer open forests such as scrubland.
• Jaguar (Panthera Onca)
 Status: Near Threatened
 The Jaguar has the strongest bite force of all wild cats, enabling it to bite directly through the skull of its
prey.
 Melanistic (black) Jaguars are common and are often called black panthers.
 Jaguar was a powerful motif in the Mayan and Aztec civilisations.
• Leopard (Panthera Pardus)
 It is similar in appearance to the Jaguar.
 It is the most adaptable of all big cats.
 They occupy diverse habitats at all altitudes across Africa and Asia.
 Like black jaguars, melanistic leopards are called black panthers.
• Snow leopard (Panthera Uncia)
 This cat lives above the snow line in Central and South Asia.

 It cannot roar, and has the longest tail of them all

 The snow leopard is the state animal of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
Puma Genus
• Closely related to the domestic cat, this genus has only one extant species, the cougar.
• Cougar (Puma concolor)
 Status: Least Concern
 Cougars are also called ‘mountain lion’ and ‘panther’ across their range from the Canadian Yukon to the
Southern Andes.
 Concolor is latin for “of uniform colour”.
SPOTTED DEER/CHITAL
Context: The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department has denied reports that chital, or spotted deer, from Rajasthan are
being ferried to the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh for the newly acquired cheetahs to prey on
them.
About Chital/spotted dear

• The chital or spotted deer or axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian
subcontinent.
• It is sexually dimorphic.
 Males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males.
• The chital ranges over 8–30°N in India and through Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and
Sri Lanka.
• Habitat:
 The western limit of its range is eastern Rajasthan and Gujarat.
 The northern limit is along the Terai belt of the foothills of the Himalaya and from Uttar Pradesh and
Uttaranchal through to Nepal, northern West Bengal and Sikkim and then to western Assam and the
forested valleys of Bhutan.
 The eastern limit of its range is through western Assam to the Sunderbans of West Bengal and
Bangladesh.
 Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Sri Lanka are the southern limits.
 Chital occur sporadically in the forested areas throughout the rest of the Indian peninsula.
 Within Bangladesh, it currently only exists in the Sundarbans.
• Conservation status
 The chital is listed on the IUCN Red List as least concern because it occurs over a very wide range within
which there are many large populations.

 Currently, no range-wide threats to chitals are present, and they live in many protected areas.
 However, population densities are below ecological carrying capacity in many places due to hunting
and competition with domestic livestock.
 It is protected under Schedule III of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
MORINGA TREE
Context: President of Green Belt and Road Institute, Erik Solheim took to twitter saying that Moringa is a disease
fighting superhero.
About Moringa
• Moringa is found mostly in India and the Philippines.
• Its cultivation is increasing throughout Asia, Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean.
• Every single part of the tree can be eaten and has some benefits.
• Uses and benefits of Moringa:
 The leaves of Moringa can be used as a bio fertiliser.
 It can treat chronic inflammation, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity and bowel disorders.
 Moringa oil could be a good substitute for olive oil in the diet.
 Moringa leaves and pods have chemical compound, which defend it against environmental stress and
pests.
OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM REPORT CARD, 2022
Context: According to the Ocean Observing System Report Card, 2022, the system to observe carbon concentration in
the world’s oceans is extremely inadequate to meet the growing and urgent need for information on oceanic carbon.
Key details:
• This is worrying given that 26 per cent of the 40 gigatonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere annually
because of human activities is absorbed by the oceans.
• Oceanic carbon information is thus critical for designing decarbonisation policies and needs investments.
• The carbon network is immature and only five per cent of the platforms at sea carry a biogeochemical
sensor, including carbon dioxide sensors.
• GOOS is a global system for sustained observations of the ocean.
• The report card also noted that environment monitoring systems, including air and ocean, were affected
during the pandemic years.
• The Ocean Observing System Report Card has been published annually since 2017.
 It focuses on how an integrated observing system adds value to society across the delivery areas of
climate, operational services and ocean health.
 It also identifies key gaps in the system.
 The report card has always highlighted physical and biogeochemical observations.
 But the Ocean Observing System Report Card 2022 has highlighted biological observations for the first
time.
 This will help providing a global view of the state of ocean observations and identifying progress, key
challenges and opportunities to enhance the system.
 The report card also urged investments in areas including strengthening capacity to collect data from a
growing mix of ocean carbon sensors and platforms and ensured access to FAIR data.
 FAIR data means data which meet principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability

The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
• It is a global system for sustained observations of the ocean comprising the oceanographic component of the
Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).
• GOOS is administrated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).
• GOOS is a platform for:
 International cooperation for sustained observations of the oceans.

 Generation of oceanographic products and services.

 Interaction between research, operational, and user communities.

• It is implemented by member states via their government agencies, navies and oceanographic research
institutions working together in a wide range of thematic panels and regional alliances.
Challenges
• Less data from the Argo program:
 The international Argo program maintains a global array of about 3,800 floats that measure pressure,
temperature and salinity of the upper 2,000 metres of the world’s ocean.
 This is a major component of both the GOOS and the Global Climate Observing System, providing near-
real time data (on temperature, salinity) for ocean and atmospheric services.
 But the Argo profiling float array is providing 15 per cent less data as compared to pre-pandemic levels
and has seen a decrease in deployments across the last four years.
• Inequality in operational services:
 The report card pointed at inequality in the operational services of the global tropical moored buoy
array (GTMBA), a vast network of moorings stretching across all the ocean basins.
 Half of the GTMBA is operational in the Atlantic, 75 per cent in the Pacific and only 10 per cent in the
Indian Ocean.
• Under sampling and oversampling:
 The Southern Ocean and some marginal seas (mainly under national jurisdictions) remain largely
under-sampled due to operational challenges.
 The Indian Ocean has experienced a multi-year decline in coverage of floats and drifters while the
Atlantic shows a consistent oversampling.
 This is of concern since the Indian Ocean, in particular, has emerged as the biggest victim of climate
change.
• Rising temperatures and ocean acidification:
 Rising ocean temperatures and acidification are impacting phytoplankton and can lead to important
changes in food webs.
 This will also affect how gasses like oxygen and carbon dioxide are stored or released by the ocean.
ROTTERDAM CONVENTION
Context: International trade of two new hazardous pesticides — Iprodione and Terbufos — has been recommended
for “prior informed consent” (PIC) procedure under the Rotterdam Convention. The chemicals are dangerous for
humans and aquatic animals.
Key details:
• The PIC procedure is a mechanism for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing
parties on their willingness to receive future shipments of hazardous chemicals.
• In India, the use of these chemicals was permitted by the 2015 Anupam Verma committee report.
• The country is among the largest exporters of Terbufos.
• Iprodione, a fungicide used on vines, fruits, trees and vegetables, has been classified as carcinogenic and
toxic for reproduction.
 Iprodione was used for control of fungal diseases in carrots and lettuce in the EU.
 It was banned in the region in March 2018.
• Terbufos is a soil insecticide used commonly on sorghum, maize, beet and potatoes.
 It has also been found to pose risk to aquatic organisms due to its toxicity.
About the Rotterdam Convention:

• The Rotterdam Convention is an international treaty designed to facilitate informed decision-making by
countries with regard to trade in hazardous chemicals.
• It is a legally binding instrument.
• It establishes a list of covered chemicals and requires parties seeking to export a chemical on that list to first
establish that the intended importing country has consented to the import.
• It also requires that a party seeking to export a chemical that is not listed under the Convention but that is
subject to a ban or severe restriction in its own territory must provide notice to the importing country of
the proposed export.
• Signatory nations can decide whether to allow or ban the importation of chemicals listed in the treaty, and
exporting countries are obliged to make sure that producers within their jurisdiction comply.
• The Convention entered into force on February 24, 2004.
• The Prior Informed Consent Procedure Work
 The Rotterdam Convention establishes a prior informed consent (“PIC”) procedure to ensure that
restricted hazardous chemicals are not exported to countries that do not wish to receive them.
 The PIC procedure does not ban or restrict any chemicals, nor does it mean that any individual country
must automatically prohibit their import.
 Parties implement the PIC procedure through:
extensive information exchange,

priority attention to national decisions on imports, and


obligations related to export controls.

What Chemicals Are Covered Under the Rotterdam Convention?

• The Rotterdam Convention applies to industrial chemicals and pesticides that meet the criteria for listing
under the Convention, generally because they have been banned or severely restricted in party countries
or are severely hazardous pesticide formulations.
• Chemicals are subject to the PIC procedure if they are included in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention.
AEROSOL POLLUTION
Context: Excess infant deaths due to aerosols in India were estimated to be three million — the highest among eight
regions evaluated in the study. Crop output declined 12.5 tonnes due to aerosol pollution, the study showed.
What are aerosols?

• Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere.
• When these particles are sufficiently large, we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb sunlight.
• Their scattering of sunlight can reduce visibility (haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets.
• Aerosols interact both directly and indirectly with the Earth's radiation budget and climate.
 As a direct effect, the aerosols scatter sunlight directly back into space.
 As an indirect effect, aerosols in the lower atmosphere can modify the size of cloud particles, changing
how the clouds reflect and absorb sunlight, thereby affecting the Earth's energy budget.
• Aerosols also can act as sites for chemical reactions to take place (heterogeneous chemistry).
 The most significant of these reactions are those that lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone.
 During winter in the polar regions, aerosols grow to form polar stratospheric clouds.
 The large surface areas of these cloud particles provide sites for chemical reactions to take place.
 These reactions lead to the formation of large amounts of reactive chlorine and, ultimately, to the
destruction of ozone in the stratosphere.
• Aerosols such as black carbon, organic carbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic
compounds and sulfur dioxide are known to hurt the climate and human health.
• They stick around in the atmosphere for weeks.
Topographical disadvantage
• These short-lived pollutants can inflict different levels of damage based on where they originate.
• India, for example, faces higher impacts on infants and crop productivity because aerosols that are emitted in
the country are also much more likely to stay local because of regional weather patterns and topography.
• Regional weather patterns can determine how far the aerosols travel from the place of origin.
• Also, the Himalayas partially act as a geographic barrier to ventilation.
• The country is also vulnerable to global aerosol emissions.
 Because of where India is in the global atmospheric circulation, emissions from other regions can more
easily change the temperature and rainfall patterns in India.
 Adding to this is India’s large and vulnerable infant population and extensive areas under agricultural
production.
 Together, they lead to more considerable societal damage.
• China and India are currently the largest sources of aerosol emissions.
• Indonesia, East Africa, South Africa and Brazil are projected to see an increase in aerosol emissions.
Findings on infant deaths

• The findings state that India and East Africa had the highest number of infant deaths from aerosols.
• Europe was responsible for four times as many excess infant deaths outside its borders compared to regional
impacts.
• European aerosol emissions happen to get widely distributed by atmospheric circulation patterns over
many parts of the African subcontinent, where lots of children live who are highly vulnerable to disease
from poor air quality.
• Within Europe, the impacts are not as high because there aren't as many infants and the infants aren't as
vulnerable
Findings on Crop Productivity

• Declines in crop productivity were observed in northern Africa, West Asia and South Asia.
• Aerosol emissions hit the GDP of the United States and China the most.
• For India, the researchers recorded economic benefits.
• These pollutants can have a cooling effect as they reflect sunlight into space.
• Studies have shown a link between temperature and maximum economic productivity.
• Hot countries like India benefit from a little cooling.
• A slight dip in temperature can help boost the growth of temperature-sensitive crops like wheat.
• For places like the United States, which may be at the colder end of the optimal growing conditions for a given
crop, further cooling can be damaging.

RED SANDERS
Context: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has recovered 10.23 MT of Red Sanders, estimated at Rs 6
crore in the international market.
About Red Sanders

• Red Sanders, botanical name Pterocarpus santalinus, is a non-fragrant variety of sandalwood that mostly
grows in rocky, hilly regions.
• The trunks are slender, and it takes at least 20-25 years for the tree’s beautiful, deep red wood to be of use.
 The Red Sanders of Andhra Pradesh is a particular type of species that grows nowhere else in the
world.
Where does it grow?

• In the thorny scrub/dry deciduous forests of the central Deccan, between 500 ft and 3000 ft.
• Geographically, only in a small pocket roughly 5,200 sq km in the Palakonda and Seshachalam hills.
• Some contiguous patches in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka see some wild growth.
Why is it coveted?
• There is very little supply. PROTECTION STATUS
IUCN Red List:
• Red Sanders is a fast-disappearing species restricted to a tiny geographical Endangered.
area. CITES: Appendix II

Wildlife (Protection)
Act 1972: Schedule II
• Felling is illegal, export is highly restricted.
• Permission is required to fell and sell even trees in private farms.
• But there is big demand overseas, especially in China and Japan, where Red
Sanders furniture, chess sets and musical instruments are status symbols.
How is the trade controlled?

• Red Sanders is a protected species under the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.
• Until 2014, auction or trade of even seized logs was banned.
• The ban was lifted because over 10,000 tonnes of logs had accumulated in
Andhra Pradesh government godowns.
• Only e-auction is allowed.
SEAFLOOR SPREADING & GLOBAL WARMING
Context Seafloor spreading, caused by an upwelling of magma, has led to episodes of global warming in the geologic
past; the spread rate has slowed down in last 19 million years, but could gather momentum
Past experiences:
• Between 14 and 17 million years ago, known as the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO) period, temperatures
soared (around 10°C higher than today) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rose to 1,000 parts per million
(PPM) against the current 419 PPM, leading to the disappearance of glacial masses and several species.

• Humans were not responsible for this warming as they arrived about 15 million years after MCO.
• What triggered these changes?
 Understanding these factors is important at a time
when human activities are already spewing
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, pushing the
planet towards a climate tipping point.
 Scientists have been trying to solve this riddle by
peering into underwater volcanoes that are spread
across the seabed for 75,000 km along divergent
plate boundaries, where tectonic plates drift apart.
 These volcanoes, known as the mid-ocean ridge
system, spew molten magma from the Earth’s
interiors, which gradually moves away from the
ridge and cools down to form rocks.
 Since new ocean floor or crust is created during such seafloor spreading, to maintain the planetary
balance, the Earth returns a similar area into the deep mantle elsewhere by pushing the older seafloor
towards subduction zones, where the heavier tectonic plate sinks below a lighter one into the Earth’s
interiors.
 Faster spreading plates have more volcanic activity and inject more CO2 into the water, some of which
eventually ends up in the atmosphere.
 When plates spread rapidly, the entire base of the seafloor rises, as do sea levels.
Implications of the study

• Studying seafloor spreading rates will show how tectonic
forces contribute to the global carbon budget.
• Tectonic plates are known to recycle carbon.
• During volcanic eruptions at the ocean ridges, CO2
trapped in the lava escapes into the atmosphere.
• At subduction zones, the gas is removed from the
surface when organisms such as corals and plankton die
and sink to the bottom of the seafloor.
 Their shells, made of calcium carbonate, combine with sediments to form limestone that ferry the
trapped carbon into the mantle.
 Even here, some of the carbon escapes into the atmosphere when rocks melt at subduction zones.
 The CO2 in the interiors then charts its journey back into the atmosphere at mid-ocean ridges, continuing
the cycle.
• It is not known whether the CO2 release is more at mid-ocean ridges or at the subduction zones.
THAMIRABARANI
Context: The district administration of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu along with Bengaluru-based non-profit Ashoka Trust
for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) are using a ‘hyper local’ approach to restore one of south Asia’s
oldest rivers, the Thamirabarani.
Key details:
• The restoration project is called TamiraSES.
• The Thamiraparani is the only perennial river in Tamil Nadu.
• It originates in the Pothigai Hills of the Western Ghats in Tirunelveli district.
• The river flows through Tirunelveli and then neighbouring Thoothukudi and ends in the Gulf of Mannar at
Punakayil.
• It thus originates and ends in the same state.

• The river supports wildlife such as the Nilgiri marten, slender loris, lion-tailed macaque, white spotted
bush frog, galaxy frog, Sri Lankan Atlas moth and the great hornbill.
• Besides the ecosystem services it provides, the river also has historical value for the people of the state.
 It is mentioned extensively in Sangam Era literature.
CENTRAL WATER COMMISSION

Context: At least 26 of the 123 reservoirs monitored by the Central Water Commission (CWC) were full.
About Central Water Commission

• Central Water Commission (CWC) is a technical organisation that functions as part of the Ministry of Jal
Shakti in the Government of India.
• They are entrusted with the responsibilities of:
 providing consultation to various state governments on water bodies related issues,
 coordinate various governmental schemes for conservation, control, and utilisation of water resources.
• Central Water Commission help state governments in devising and analysing flood control measures.
• They undertake flash flood forecast as well.
• Water Power Development is another area where central water commission undertakes the tasks of
investigations, construction and executions.
• The Chairman of the Central Water Commission has the status of Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government of
India.
• The three Wings of Central Water Commission are:
 Designs and Research (D&R),
 River Management (RM) Wing,
 Water Planning and Projects (WP&P) Wing.
• Each of these wings is a responsibility of a full-time Member with the status of Ex-Officio Additional Secretary
to the Government of India.

LAW AGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY

Context: Recently, a doctor in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur allegedly tied a dog to his car and dragged it across the city.
• Now, the doctor faces charges under Section 11 (treating animals cruelly) of The Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
About the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960

• The Act defines cruelty to animals including:
 acts of overburdening or overworking it,
 not providing the animal food, water and shelter,
 mutilating or killing an animal, etc.
• It lays down punishment as:
 in the case of a first offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to
fifty rupees,
 in the case of a second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with
fine which shall not be less than twenty-five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or
with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.
• The Act has been criticised for being ‘speciesist’ (put very simply, the assumption that humans are a superior
species deserving more rights), for:
 its quantum of punishment being negligible,
 for not defining ‘cruelty’ adequately, and
 for slapping a flat punishment without any gradation of crimes.
• Along with animal welfare organisations, several political leaders have called for the law to be amended.
INTERVENTION PLEA IN QUTUB MINAR ROW DISMISSED (Part of Culture section)

Context: The Saket district court dismissed the intervention plea of a person who claimed that the Qutub Minar was
built on land that belonged to him.
• He has demanded that he should be made party to the main suit filed in the court that demands worship
rights in the temples built inside Qutub Minar.
About Qutub Minar

• The Qutub Minar was established in AD 1199 as one of the earliest sites built by the Delhi Sultans.
• Qutb-ud-Din Aibak became the first Islamic ruler of north India, and the construction of the first Islamic
building (Qutub Minar) was started under him.
• Though it was not to be completed within his lifetime.
• The construction of Qutub Minar took 28 years to complete;
 the first storey was constructed under Qutb-ud-Din Aibak,
 the remainder of the storeys were constructed by his successors.
• Different architectural styles from the time of Aibak to Tuglak are clearly visible in the Qutub Minar.
• The minaret also has epitaphs in Arabic and Nagari ciphers in different places depicting the history of the
monument.
Architecture of the Qutub Minar

• The exterior walls of Qutub Minar reveal its history of construction, with chiseled Parso-Arabic and Nagari
character carvings.
• There is an aura of Afghanistan pattern, blended with local artistic conventions having garlands and lotus
borders.
• Each of the five different storeys has a projected balcony that circles the Minar.
• The first three storeys are made with red sandstone while the remaining were constructed using marble
and sandstone.
• The cylindrical shaft has inscriptions of the Quran.

• A Mosque lies at the foot of Qutub Minar which is a beautiful blend of Indo-Islamic architecture that
showcases how the Mughal Empire (1562) influenced Indian culture.
• One of the most outstanding elements is the iron pillar highlighting ancient India’s achievements in
metallurgy.
 The most astonishing fact is that the pillar is made of iron and has stood tall for 1,600 years without
rusting.
The Qutub Complex

• It was built on the ruins of Lal Kot which consisted of 27 Hindu and Jain temples and Qila-Rai-Pithora.
• Apart from Qutub Minar, it includes:
 Alai Darwaza (the first example of the true arch and dome)
 Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, which was the first mosque built in Delhi, and a surviving example of
Ghurids architecture in the Indian sub-continent.
The Qutub Minar controversy

• A former ASI officer claimed that the Qutub Minar was not built by Qutb al-Din Aibak, and was actually built
by Raja Vikramaditya to study the direction of the Sun.
• Appeal suit alleging that the Quwwat-Ul-Islam Masjid situated within the Qutub Minar complex in Mehrauli
was built in place of a temple complex.
• The suit seeks restoration of the alleged temple complex, comprising as many as 27 temples.
• It also sought to issue an injunction directing the Central government to create a trust, according to the
Trust Act 1882, and hand over the management and administration of the temple complex situated within
the area of Qutub Complex in Mehrauli after framing a scheme of the administration to such trust.
BANDHAVGARH TIGER RESERVE
Context: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered Buddhist caves and stupas, and Brahmi inscriptions,
dating back to the 2nd century, and Hindu temples from the 9th-11th centuries, and possibly the world’s largest Varaha
sculpture also dating to the same period, at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Key details:
• The Varaha sculpture is among the many monolithic sculptures of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu
discovered by the ASI at the national park.
• The exploration took place 84 years after the last such effort in 1938.
• The ASI team discovered 26 mostly Buddhist caves dating back to the 2nd and 5th centuries.
• The caves and some of their remains had Chaitya [rounded] doors and stone beds typical of Mahayana
Buddhism sites.
• This discovery brings the total number of caves found in the Bandhavgarh reserve to 76, as 50 are already in
the records since the last survey.
• Apart from this, the ASI team found 24 inscriptions in Brahmi text, all dating back to the 2nd-5th centuries.
 The inscriptions mention sites such as Mathura and Kaushambi, and Pavata, Vejabharada and
Sapatanaairikaa.
 The kings they mention include Bhimsena, Pothasiri and Bhattadeva.
• The remains of 26 temples date to the Kalachuri period between 9th and 11th centuries.
 The Kalachuri dynasty, which spread over parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, is also
associated with the earliest Ellora and Elephanta cave monuments.
• In addition to this, two Saiva maths have also been documented.
• Some remains of the Gupta period, such as door jambs and carvings in caves, have also been found.

About Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve:

• Bandhavgarh National Park is located in the Umaria district of Madhya
Pradesh.
• Bandhavgarh was declared a national park in 1968 and then became Tiger
Reserve in 1993.
• Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa captured the first white tiger in this
region in 1951.
• The Park derived its name from the most prominent hill of the area which
is said to have been given by Lord Rama to his brother Laxman to keep a
watch on Lanka.
• The fort was built by Gond Dynasty kin - (Bandhav = Brother, Garh = Fort).
• The three main zones of the national park are Tala, Magdhi and Khitauli.
 Tala is the richest zone in terms of biodiversity, mainly tigers.
 Tala zone attracts major number of tourists by offering the tiger sighting opportunities.
 Altogether, these three ranges comprise the 'Core' of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
• One of the biggest attractions of this national park is the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).
• The reserve is also densely populated with other species.
• Bandhavgarh National Park consists of mixed vegetations ranging from tall grasslands to thick Sal forest and
so is the perfect habitat of variety of animals and birds.
SHALLOW-WATER MINING
Context: A new study highlighted that mining metals such as gold, cobalt and copper from depths of 200 metres (m)
below the sea, also known as ‘shallow-water mining’, could trigger local extinctions of marine species.
Key details:
• What is shallow water mining?
 Shallow-water mining is not strictly defined by depth, but rather, shallow-water operations are
usually considered to be those occurring on the continental shelf with easier access to the coast, as
opposed to deep-sea operations that target less accessible resources and require specialised technology.
 The main types of shallow-water minerals include:
mineral rich sands;

polymetallic nodules and phosphorites;


placer deposits, consisting of metallic minerals or gemstones, such as tin, gold, or diamonds.

• Such mining was not a sustainable substitute for deep-sea mining, where valuable minerals needed to build
batteries critical for clean energy transition are mined from ocean depths greater than 200 m.
• Deep-sea mining has not been implemented yet due to concerns over the environmental impacts of mining
activities.
• Shallow-water mining is considered a relatively low-risk and low-cost option to satisfy the demand for
metals and minerals.
• Technology for shallow-water mining already exists.
• Impacts:
 Shallow-water mining involves removing sediment-bearing minerals, which offer refuge to seafloor
organisms.
This could trigger local extinctions and changes in species composition.

 Ploughing the seafloor releases plumes, which could impact water quality.
 Release of harmful substances from the sediment and disturbance from noise and light.
• Instances of shallow mining:

 Namibia has been mining diamonds off its coast in depths of up to 130 m.
 Indonesia has been extracting placer deposits — sediments containing gold, silver, tin, and platinum.
 Mexico is considering mining marine phosphorites, phosphate-rich nodules used in fertiliser and
industrial chemicals, in water depths of 50-100 m.
 Sweden is interested in exploring the shallow waters (60-150 m) of the Bothnian Sea for polymetallic
nodules, mineral deposits containing nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium and rare earth elements.
Seabed mining
• The term ‘seabed mining’ refers to the extraction of high-value commodities, such as metals or gemstones,
from the seabed.
• The term is used for both deep-sea and shallow-water mining activities.
• Seabed mining is a relatively small industry and only a fraction of the known seabed mineral deposits on
continental shelves are exploited currently.
WORLD OZONE DAY
Context: India observes 28th World Ozone Day.
About World Ozone Day:

• World Ozone Day is celebrated on 16th September each year to commemorate the signing of the Montreal
Protocol that came into force on this day in 1987.
• The closure of the hole in the ozone layer was observed 30 years after the protocol was signed.
• Due to the nature of the gases responsible for ozone depletion their chemical effects are expected to continue
for between 50 and 100 years.
• World Ozone Day is celebrated every year to spread awareness among people about
the depletion of Ozone Layer and the measures taken and to be taken to preserve it.
The theme of World Ozone Day 2022 is “Montreal Protocol@35: global cooperation protecting life on
earth”.
• India’s achievements in Implementation of the Montreal Protocol
 LIFE:
India called for adopting the mantra of L.I.F.E (Lifestyle for Environment) which was coined by

Prime Minister of India recently, in line with the concept of sustainable lifestyle.
 Montreal Protocol:
India, as Party to the Montreal Protocol since June 1992, has been successfully implementing the

Montreal Protocol and projects and activities for phasing out of ozone depleting substances, in line
with the phase out schedule of the Protocol.
India phased out Chlorofluorocarbons, Carbon tetrachloride, Halons, Methyl Bromide and

Methyl Chloroform for controlled
Currently, Hydrochlorofluorocarbons are being phased out as per the accelerated schedule of the

Montreal Protocol.
The phase-out of HCFCs in all manufacturing sectors, comprising refrigeration and air-conditioning

manufacturing sectors, will be completed by 2025 and the activities relating to the servicing sector
will be continued till 2030.
 ICAP and Kigali Amendment:
Implementation of actions emerging from India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) will supplement

efforts in adopting climate-friendly alternatives and promotion of energy efficiency during the
implementation of HFC phase-out under the Kigali Amendment.
The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP is a vision document developed by the Ministry of Environment,

Forest and Climate Change to provide socio-economic and environmental benefits related to
reduced refrigerant use, climate change mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals over the
period 2037-38.
After ratifying Kigali Amendment in 2021, the central government is working towards developing a

national strategy for phasing down Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
 This will significantly contribute to India’s climate action in achieving the net zero emissions by 2070,
through the ‘Panchamrits’, committed by the Prime Minister of India, at the Climate Change Conference
of Parties in 2021.
What is Ozone?
• Ozone is an odorless, colorless gas made up of three oxygen molecules (O3) and is a natural part of the
environment.
• It occurs both in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, or stratosphere, and at ground level in the lower
atmosphere, or troposphere.
• Approximately 90 percent of atmospheric ozone is located in the stratosphere.
 Ozone in the stratosphere, known as the “ozone layer,” occurs naturally and forms a protective barrier
that prevents ultraviolet sunlight (UV-B) radiation from the sun from reaching the Earth’s surface and
harming plant and animal life.
 This is commonly referred to as “good ozone.”
• The remaining 10 percent of atmospheric ozone is located in the troposphere.
 Ozone in the troposphere is not emitted directly into the air as a gas, but is formed through the photochemical
reaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
 Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds break apart in the presence of intense sunlight and
recombine into new structures, creating ozone.
 NOx and VOCs are known as ozone precursor gases, since their presence, concentration, and chemical
reactivity both precede and lead to the production of “bad ozone.”
 Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are emitted by cars and trucks, industrial facilities,
refineries, power plants, household products and cleaning supplies, and paints and solvents.
 The long-range transport of ozone and precursor emissions from local, regional, and international sources
can also impact air quality.
INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
Context: India to host 9th Session of Governing Body of the ITPGRFA in New Delhi.
Key details:
• The organization of 9th session of International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (ITPGRFA) will provide a common platform for all the participating countries to deliberate upon
the pivotal issues related to the development, conservation and protection of Plant Genetic Resources
for the benefit of farming community.
• The scientific exchange of technological advancement among the countries will help mitigate the adverse
impacts of climate change and food security globally.
• The plant genetic resources available with different countries will act as base material for development of
new varieties to ensure better quality and higher productivity of crops.
• The GB9 is being held under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive
Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.
 The theme aims to acknowledge the contribution of the world’s small-holder farmers to the effective
management of PGRFA.
• About ITPGRFA:
 ITPGRFA is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November, 2001 at Rome during
the 31st session of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
 It entered into force on June 29, 2004 and currently has 149 Contracting Parties, including India.
 The treaty provides solutions to achieve food and nutritional security as well as climate resilient
agriculture.
 Countries are inter-dependent for PGRFA and consequently a global order is essential to facilitate access
and benefit sharing.
Relevance for India:

• India is endowed with rich crop genetic resources.
• It has successfully established legal, institutional and scholastic infrastructure to utilize the genetic
diversity for breeding new varieties.
• With this unique status and as GB9 host, India is expected to play a crucial role in minimizing the dissonance
between technology-rich developed and gene-rich developing countries to achieve functional resolutions
on critical agenda items.
• The GB9 provides an excellent opportunity to convey the steadfast commitment of India to conservation and
sustainable utilization of plant genetic diversity as well as farmers’ rights.
COMMUNITY SEED BANKS
Context: Around 20 heritage rice varieties of Tamil Nadu are being traced, collected, redeemed, and restored at least
through 10 community seed banks benefiting more than 500 farmers in the state.
What are community seed banks?

• Community seed banks usually store seed from a wide range of individuals, informal groups and NGOs who
share seed among themselves.
• Seed is primarily retained from participants’ own production with no formal quality control.
• More recently, some community seed banks have been set up in partnership with the formal sector - chiefly
plant breeding research institutes.
• Importance:
 Seed banks are a form of storage and diversification, and they enhance farmers’ ability to buffer
environmental and economic stress by planting several crop varieties adapted to a range of environmental
conditions.
 Seed banks enable rural tribal villages to become less dependent on engineered high-yield varieties
and on expensive inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides.
• How they are governed?
 These are mainly informal mechanisms.
 Community seed banks (CSBs) are locally governed and managed.
 Collective-action institutions are established whose core function is to maintain seeds for local use.
• Functions:
 Among the main functions of CSBs are the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.
 These are also core objectives of two international agreements:
the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and

the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).


• CSBs in India:
 CSBs have been operating in various parts of India for about 20 years.
 Bioversity International has begun to support a novel type of CSB as part of its Seeds for Needs
programme in many countries.
This initiative aims to give farmers better access to crop diversity to strengthen their capacity to

adapt to climate change.
Since its start in 2011 with about 30 farmers in one district, the Seeds for Needs project in India has

involved more than 15,000 active farmers in 24 districts in four states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh).
• Field gene banks have been set up to propagate the heirloom varieties through seed exchange programmes
and organic seed multiplication.
GREENWASHING
Context: A report suggested that many oil companies were spending around $750 million each year cumulatively on
climate-related communication activities making ‘green claims’. But only 12 per cent of their 2022 capital expenditure
(CAPEX) was forecasted to be dedicated to ‘low carbon’ activities.
What is greenwashing?
• Environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined the term “greenwashing” in 1986.
• Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about
how a company's products are more environmentally sound.
• Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company's
products are environmentally friendly.
• Also known as "green sheen," greenwashing is an attempt to capitalize on the growing demand for
environmentally sound products, whether that means they are more natural, healthier, free of chemicals,
recyclable, or less wasteful of natural resources.
• More recently, some of the world's biggest carbon emitters, such as conventional energy companies, have
attempted to rebrand themselves as champions of the environment. P
• roducts are greenwashed through a process of renaming, rebranding, or repackaging them.
• Greenwashed products might convey the idea that they're more natural, wholesome, or free of chemicals than
competing brands.
• In reality, the company may not be making a meaningful commitment to green initiatives.
Difference between green marketing and greenwashing

• Unlike greenwashing, green marketing is when companies sell products or services based on legitimate
environmental positives.
• Green marketing is generally practical, honest, and transparent
• It’s easy for green marketing to translate to greenwashing in practice when an organization doesn’t live up
to the standards of sustainable business practices.
• “Eco-friendly,” “organic,” “natural” and “green” are just some of the widely used labels that can be confusing
and misleading to consumers.
SEA TURTLES
Context: According to a new study More than 1.1 million sea turtles have been illegally killed and in some cases
trafficked from 1990 to 2020.
Key details:
• The reptiles faced exploitation in 65 countries/territories and 44 out of the 58 marine turtle regional
management units (RMU) in the world despite laws protecting the creatures.
• The sea turtle family includes the hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, green and olive ridley turtle.

• The species that faced the most exploitation in the 30-year-period were green (56 per cent) and hawksbill
sea turtles (39 per cent).
• Southeast Asia and Madagascar were major hotspots for illegal sea turtle trade, particularly for the critically
endangered hawksbills.
• The hawksbill turtles are prized in the illicit wildlife trade for their beautiful shells.
• Vietnam was the most common country of origin for illegal sea turtle trafficking, while China and Japan
served as destinations for nearly all trafficked sea turtle products.
• Vietnam-China was the most common trade route across all three decades.
• There was a 28 per cent decrease in the reported exploitation of marine turtles from the 2000s to the
2010s.
 The decline over the past decade could be due to increased protective legislation and enhanced
conservation efforts, coupled with an increase in awareness of the problem or changing local norms and
traditions.
• Reason for their decline
 Sea turtles are slaughtered for their eggs, meat,
skin, and shell
 They also face habitat destruction and accidental
capture or bycatch in fishing gear.
 Climate change has an impact on turtle nesting
sites as it alters sand temperatures, which affects
the sex of hatchlings.
• Conservation status
 The IUCN Red List classifies three species of
sea turtle as either "endangered" or "critically
endangered".
 An additional three species are classified as
"vulnerable".
 The flatback sea turtle is considered as "data deficient", meaning that its conservation status is unclear
due to lack of data.
 All species of sea turtle are listed in CITES Appendix I, restricting international trade of sea turtles and sea
turtle products
Sea Turtles IUCN Red List Status

Green Endangered
Loggerhead Vulnerable
Kemp's ridley Critically endangered
Olive ridley Vulnerable
Hawksbill Critically endangered
Flatback Data deficient
Leatherback Vulnerable
v v v v v
NOTES

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

TRANSPLANT OF A FULL-GROWN TREE
Context: Only 121 of the 404 (30%) trees that were transplanted for the Proposed Expansion and Restoration of the
existing Parliament Building part of the Central Vista project have survived.
Transplantation
• In agriculture and gardening, transplanting or replanting is the technique of moving a plant from one
location to another.
• Most often this takes the form of starting a plant from seed in optimal conditions, such as in a greenhouse or
protected nursery bed, then replanting it in another, usually outdoor, growing location.
• This is common in market gardening and truck farming, where setting out or planting out are synonymous
with transplanting.
• Transplanting has a variety of applications, including:
 Extending the growing season by starting plants indoors, before outdoor conditions are favorable;
 Protecting young plants from diseases and pests until they are sufficiently established;
 Avoiding germination problems by setting out seedlings instead of direct seeding.
The steps involved in transplanting a tree

• Transplanting a tree is not the same as uprooting it and placing it
in a pit that has been dug elsewhere.
 First, the soil around the tree is dug up to isolate the roots.
 The big branches are lopped off, leaving only small shoots
for regeneration.
 This is done to make transportation of the tree to the new
location easier.
 The root system is covered with wet gunny bags to protect the roots and to keep the tree hydrated.
 The tree has to be first sent to a nursery to acclimatise to a new kind of soil, and to regenerate.
 Once new shoots start sprouting, the tree is lowered into a pit created in its new spot.
• Not all trees can be transplanted.
• In general, any tree that has a tap root system cannot be transplanted, as the root goes deep into the soil,
and it is not possible to isolate it without damage.
• Transplanting any tree with a trunk girth of more than 80-90 cm is not advisable as the tree cannot bear
the shock, and will eventually die.
• That effectively means that big, old trees cannot, in most cases, be removed to another location.
• Also, it is critical to consider soil type before transplantation.
 A tree growing in the Delhi Ridge will not easily acclimatise to soil in the Yamuna floodplain, as the two
ecosystems are entirely different.
CERVAVAC
Context: Cervavac, India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine for the
prevention of cervical cancer has been developed.
About the new vaccine

• Cervavac was developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in coordination with the Government of
India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• HPV vaccines are given in two doses and the antibodies that develop after both are administered can last up
to six or seven years
• Unlike Covid vaccines, booster shots may not be required for the cervical cancer vaccine, he added.
• Until now, the HPV vaccines available in India were produced by foreign manufacturers.
• It has also demonstrated a robust antibody response that is nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline
against all targeted HPV types and in all dose and age groups.
How common is cervical cancer in India?

• Despite being largely preventable, cervical
cancer is the fourth most common cancer
among women globally, according to the WHO.
 In 2018, an estimated 570,00 women
were diagnosed with the disease and it
accounted for 311,000 deaths across the
world.
 India accounts for about a fifth of the
global burden of cervical cancer.
• Almost all cervical cancer cases are linked to
certain strains of human papillomavirus
(HPV), a common virus that is transmitted
through sexual contact.
• While the body’s immune system usually gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years, in a small
percentage of people the virus can linger over time and turn some normal cells into abnormal cells and
then cancer.
JIGYASA
Context: Recently, a four-day Jigyasa for Renewable Fuel program under Jigyasa 2.0 program was organized.
About Jigyasa
• Jigyasa is a student - scientist connect programme.
• Implementation by: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with Kendriya
Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
• The focus of this scheme is on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student's classroom
learning with well-planned research laboratory based learning.
 'JIGYASA' would inculcate the culture of inquisitiveness on one hand and scientific temper on the other,
amongst the school students and their teachers.
 The Programme is expected to connect 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 National Laboratories of
CSIR.

TRACHOMA
Context: Malawi has become the first country in southern Africa to eliminate trachoma.
Key details:
• This makes Malawi the fourth country in WHO's Africa region to achieve this milestone after Ghana (June
2018), Gambia (April 2021) and Togo (May 2022).
• Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and is one of the conditions known as
neglected tropical diseases.
• It is a public health problem in 44 countries and is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of
about 1.9 million people.
• What is Trachoma?
 Trachoma starts off as a bacterial infection and can be easily
treated.
 It's caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.
 Trachoma is contagious, spreading through contact with the
eyes, eyelids, and nose or throat secretions of infected people.
 Overtime, it causes the eyelashes to be pushed inwards into the
eye.
 So, with every blink, they brush against the eyeball.
 This advanced form of trachoma is called trichiasis.
 Over time, if it’s not treated, trichiasis can lead to blindness.
 The disease thrives where there are water shortages, poor
sanitation and infestations of flies, which are considered
physical vectors of the disease.
• The WHO-recommended SAFE strategy aims to stop the spread of blinding trachoma through surgery,
antibiotics, facial cleanliness and environmental improvements.
• As of 2022, 14 countries had reported achieving trachoma elimination goals. These countries are:
 Cambodia, China, Gambia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mexico, Morocco,
Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Togo.
MOXIE

DART SPACE MISSION
Context: NASA’s DART spacecraft is scheduled to crash into the asteroid Dimorphos.
What is DART?
• NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART)
is the world’s first full-scale mission to test
technology for defending Earth against potential
asteroid or comet hazards.
• It was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
• The mission will test a method that could be used to
redirect asteroids that pose a threat to our planet.
• Using the impact of a massive object like a spacecraft
to divert asteroids is called the “kinetic impact
method” of asteroid impact avoidance.
• It is a suicide mission and the spacecraft will be completely destroyed.
Instrument aboard the DART
• The only instrument on board the
DART spacecraft is DRACO (Didymos
Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for
Optical navigation).
 The high-resolution camera will capture
images of Didymos and Dimorphos
while simultaneously supporting
DART’s autonomous guidance system.
• A satellite much closer to the vicinity of the asteroid system will also have its eyes trained on the impact - the
CubeSat called LICIACube.
 LICIACube detached itself from DART and has begun operating autonomously.
 The two cameras on board the CubeSat will transmit back images even after the DRACO can no longer
do so.
• Apart from helping test an asteroid mitigation strategy, the DART mission will also test technologies like the
DRACO camera and an advanced version of NASA’s compact Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA).
LEGIONELLOSIS DISEASE
Context: Argentina’s mystery pneumonia outbreak, where 11 people have been infected and four have succumbed to
the illness, has finally been identified as Legionellosis by the country’s health ministry.
Context: Recently, a cluster of pneumonia cases in Argentina was caused by legionella which is the
bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
CONVERSION THERAPY
Context: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has said that “conversion therapy” will be counted as professional
misconduct.
Key details:
• NMC has empowered the State Medical Councils to take disciplinary action against medical professionals,
if they undertake “conversion therapy”.
 The move is a step towards eliminating quackery.
• “Reparative” or “conversion” therapy is a dangerous practice that targets LGBTQ+ youth and seeks to change
their sexual or gender identities.
What is conversion therapy?

• Conversion therapy also called "gay cure therapy" - tries to change someone's sexual orientation or gender
identity.

 It means trying to stop or suppress someone from being gay, or from living as a different gender to their
sex recorded at birth.
• It can include talking therapies and prayer, but more extreme forms can include exorcism, physical violence
and food deprivation.
• Medical and mental health experts have rejected conversion therapy practices as dangerous and
discriminatory for decades.
• It not only doesn’t work, but could also lead to:
 Depression
 Anxiety
 Drug use
 Homelessness
 Suicide
• In extreme cases, the practices may be violent or torturous.
DVORAK TECHNIQUE
Context: The American meteorologist Vernon Dvorak passed away at the age of 100.
• A key technique, named after him, continues to be widely relied upon by forecasters till date.
Who was Vernon Dvorak?
• Dvorak was an American meteorologist best credited for
developing the Dvorak (read as Do-rak) technique in
the early 1970s.
• The technique has been upgraded multiple times since
then.
What is the Dvorak technique?
• It was first developed in 1969 and tested for observing
storms in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

• Forecasters used the available satellite images obtained from polar orbiting satellites to examine the features
of the developing tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons).
• During day time, images in the visible spectrum were used while at night, the ocean would be observed
using infrared images.
• The Dvorak technique was a cloud pattern recognition technique based on a concept model of the
development and decay of the tropical cyclone.
• From the satellite images thus obtained, the Dvorak technique helps forecasters to do a pattern recognition
from the observed structure of the storm, locate its eye and estimate the intensity of the storm
• Through this statistical technique, scientists are able to measure:
 the cyclone’s convective cloud pattern
 curved bands,
 eye
 central dense or cold region and
 shear.
• It is the Dvorak technique which gives the best estimates of the cyclone intensity.
• It is a vital component while issuing weather warnings.
• This tool cannot help make any predictions, measure wind or pressure or any other meteorological
parameters associated with the cyclone.
• But it is a guide to estimate the storm’s intensity and possible intensification
LITHIUM CELL
Context: MoS Chandrasekhar visited India’s first Lithium Cell Manufacturing Plant in Tirupati.
About Lithium cell:

• A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery composed of cells in which lithium
ions move from the negative electrode through an electrolyte to the positive electrode during discharge
and back when charging.
• Li-ion cells use an intercalated lithium compound as the material at the positive electrode and typically
graphite at the negative electrode.
• Li-ion batteries have a high energy density, no memory effect and low self-discharge.
• Li-Ion batteries generally made up of the following components:
 Cathode or the positive electrode: Source of lithium ions that determines the batteries capacity and
voltage
 Anode or the negative electrode: Section that stores and releases ions through an external unit
 Electrolyte: Medium that
transports ions between the
cathode and anode
 Separator: Barrier that
prevents the cathode and
anode from coming in contact
with each other
• Currently India imports complete
requirements of lithium-ion
cells primarily from China, South
Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong.
Uses:
• Electronic gadgets
• Tele-communication
• Aerospace
• Industrial application
• Electric and hybrid electric vehicles
SPARK PROGRAM
Context: The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), has developed the Studentship Program for
Ayurveda Research Ken (SPARK) for Ayurveda (BAMS) students studying in recognised Ayurveda colleges.
About SPARK
• It is launched by the CCRAS, which is an autonomous body of the Ministry of AYUSH.
• It aims to:
 support the research efforts of Ayurveda students studying in recognized Ayurveda colleges.
 promote the culture of evidence based scientific research in the field of Traditional Medicine.
SEA CUCUMBER
Context: Citing media reports of a Chinese firm investing in a sea cucumber farm in Pungudutivu, in northern Sri
Lanka, local fishermen have raised concern over its potential impact on their livelihoods, marine ecosystem, and land.
About sea cucumber

• Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea.
• They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing
a single, branched gonad.
• Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide.
• The number of holothurian species worldwide is about 1,717, with the greatest
number being in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Many of these are gathered for human consumption and some species are cultivated in aquaculture systems.
• The harvested product is variously referred to as trepang, namako, bêche-de-mer, or balate.
• Sea cucumbers serve a useful role in the marine ecosystem as they help recycle nutrients, breaking down
detritus and other organic matter, after which bacteria can continue the decomposition process.
• In 2020, the Indian government created the world's first sea cucumber conservation area, the Dr KK
Mohammed Koya Sea Cucumber Conservation Reserve, to protect the sea cucumber species.
 In India, the commercial harvesting and transportation of sea cucumbers is banned.
DARK SKY RESERVE

Context: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has announced the setting up
of India’s first dark sky reserve at Hanle in Ladakh.
Key details:
• The cloudless skies and low atmospheric water vapour make it one of the best sites in the world for optical,
infrared, sub-millimetre, and millimetre wavelengths.
• The Indian Astronomical Observatory, the high-altitude station is situated to the north of Western Himalayas,
at an altitude of 4,500 metres above mean sea level.
 Located atop Mt. Saraswati in the Nilamkhul Plain in the Hanle Valley of Changthang, it is a dry, cold
desert with sparse human population.
• Telescopes located at Hanle observatory:
 The Himalayan Chandra Telescope
 High Energy Gamma Ray Telescope
 Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment Telescope
 GROWTH-India
Why was Ladakh chosen for the project?

• Ladakh is a unique cold desert located about 3,000 metres above sea level with
high mountainous terrains.
• Long and harsh winters with minimum temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees
Celcius make large parts of the UT highly inhabitable.
• This aridity, limited vegetation, high elevation and large areas with sparse
populations – all make it the perfect setting for long-term astronomical
observatories and dark sky places.
• But the primary objective of the proposed Dark Sky Reserve is to promote
astronomy tourism in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner.
• Scientific methods will be used here to preserve the night sky from ever-increasing
light pollution.
SYSTEM TO RECOVER SPENT ROCKET STAGES

Context: The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has successfully tested
a technology that could aid cost-effective
recovery of spent rocket stages and safely
land payloads on other planets.
Key details:
• The Inflatable Aerodynamic
Decelerator (IAD) was designed,
developed and successfully test-
flown by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai
Space Centre (VSSC) on a Rohini-300
(RH300 Mk II) sounding rocket from
the Thumba Equatorial Rocket
Launching Station (TERLS).
• The IAD serves to decelerate an object plunging down through the atmosphere.
NATIONAL CENTRE FOR DISEASE CONTROL

Context: Union Health Minister said that State branches of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will play a
pivotal role in disease surveillance.

Key details:
• Disease surveillance plays a crucial part in disease prevention, control and management.
• The regional branches of NCDC will play a pivotal part and will provide a boost to public health infrastructure
with prompt surveillance, rapid detection and monitoring of diseases thereby enabling early interventions.
• The State branches will coordinate with NCDC, Delhi with real time sharing of data and information aided by
cutting edge technology.
• The NCDC branches would also be crucial in ensuring timely availability of updated guidelines so that
accurate scientifically backed information can be disseminated easily.
• Currently, NCDC has eight branches in States with focus on one or few diseases, these will be repurposed
and new branches are being added with the mandate for integrated disease surveillance activities, dealing
with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), multi-sectoral and entomological investigations etc.
About NCDC
• The National Centre for Disease Control (previously known as the National Institute of Communicable
Diseases) is an institute under the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare.
• It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable diseases and to
reorganize the activities of the Malaria Institute of India.
Functions:
• It functions as the nodal agency in the country for disease surveillance facilitating prevention and control
of communicable diseases.
• In coordination with the State Governments, NCDC has the capacity and capability for:
 disease surveillance,
 outbreak investigation, and
 rapid response to contain and combat outbreaks.
• Entomological expertise is made available by a separate division dealing with entomology and vector
management.
• NCDC also deals with Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), an emerging area of concern with far-reaching
consequences.
• NCDC also provides referral diagnostic support, capacity building and technical support to States/UTs in the
country.
WHAT IS NAVIC?
Context: The Indian government is pushing smartphone makers to enable support for its NavIC navigation system in
new devices sold in the country from next year, a move that has spooked the industry due to additional costs and tight
time frame.
What is NavIC?
• NavIC, or Navigation with Indian Constellation, is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system
developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• NavIC was originally approved in 2006. It was expected to be completed by late 2011, but only became
operational in 2018.
• NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km (930 miles)
from its boundaries.
• Currently, NavIC’s use is limited. It is being used:
 in public vehicle tracking in India,
 for providing emergency warning alerts to fishermen venturing into the deep sea where there is no
terrestrial network connectivity, and
 for tracking and providing information related to natural disasters.
• Enabling it in smartphones is the next step India is pushing for.
• NavIC provides two types of services:

• Standard Positioning Service (SPS):

 This service is for civilian use and can be used by all users.
• Restricted Service (RS):
 This service is encrypted and can only by used by authorized users (military purposes).
• NavIC comprises a space segment and a support ground segment.
• Out of the 8 satellites of NavIC, three are located in geostationary orbit (GEO) and the remaining five
satellites are in inclined geosynchronous orbit (GSO).
• The 8 satellites (+1 on stand-by) of NavIC are namely:
 IRNSS-1A
 IRNSS-1B Geosynchronous Orbit
 IRNSS-1C • At any inclination, a geosynchronous
orbit synchronizes with the rotation
 IRNSS-1D of the Earth.
 IRNSS-1E • More specifically, the time it takes for
 IRNSS-1F the Earth to rotate on its axis is 23
hours, 56 minutes, and 4.09 seconds,
 IRNSS-1G which is the same as a satellite in a
 IRNSS-1H (On stand-by) geosynchronous orbit.
 IRNSS-1I • This makes geosynchronous satellites particularly useful for

telecommunications and other remote sensing applications.
Geostationary Orbit
• While geosynchronous satellites can have any inclination, the key difference
from geostationary orbit is the fact that they lie on the same plane as the
equator.
• Geostationary orbits fall in the same category as geosynchronous orbits, but it’s
parked over the equator.
• This one special quality makes it unique from geosynchronous orbits.
• Weather monitoring satellites are in geostationary orbits because they have
a constant view of the same area.
• In a high Earth orbit, it’s also useful for search and rescue beacons.
• While the geostationary orbit lies on the same plane as the equator, the
geosynchronous satellites have a different inclination.
Some applications of IRNSS:

• Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
• Disaster Management
• Vehicle tracking and fleet management
• Integration with mobile phones
• Precise Timing
• Mapping and Geodetic data capture
8
• Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travelers
• Visual and voice navigation for drivers

How will NavIC benefit smartphone users

• NavIC enhancements will improve user experience for
location-based applications, and will enhance location
tracking in dense urban environments where geolocation
accuracy tends to degrade.
• Where the US-built Global Positioning Systme (GPS) lacks
in navigating through densely built areas, with the help of
NavIC, it will be easier to locate your way around dense
areas.
• It enables more accurate location performance, and faster
time-to-first-fix (TTFF) position acquisition, and improved quality of location-based services.
v v v v v
NOTES

CULTURE

ARYA SAMAJ
Context: Recently, the Allahabad High Court has dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by a man to get back his wife.
The petitioner had submitted a marriage certificate issued by an Arya Samaj temple as proof.
Key details:
• The court said Arya Samaj societies misused beliefs in organising marriages, without even considering the
genuineness of documents.
• Since the marriage was not registered, it cannot be deemed that the parties were married only on the basis
of the said certificate.
• The High Court maintained that it was flooded with the marriage certificates issued by Arya Samaj
societies which have been seriously questioned by this court and other High Courts.
About Arya Samaj (1875)

• Arya Samaj is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on
the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas.
• The samaj was founded by Dayanand Saraswati.
• Arya Samaj was the first Hindu organization to introduce proselytization in Hinduism.
• The organization has also worked towards the growth of civil rights movement in India since 1800s.
• The Arya Samaj was established in Bombay.
• Swami Dayanand founded Arya Samaj on two basic tenets:
 Infallible authority of the Vedas
 Monotheism
• He has explained these two principles in his book Satyartha Prakash that he published in 1874 from
Allahabad.
• The primary mission of the Arya Samaj is to eradicate Ignorance (Agyan), Indigence or Poverty (Abhav) and
Injustice (Anayay) from this earth.
MARTAND TEMPLE
Context: Recently, pilgrims offered prayers inside the Martand Temple, an Archaeological Survey of India-protected
(ASI) monument.
History of Martand Temple

• The Martand Temple was built by the Karkota dynasty king Lalitaditya Muktapida, who ruled Kashmir
from 725 AD to 753 AD.
 Lalitaditya built his capital at Parihaspora.

• Dedicated to Vishnu-Surya, the Martand Temple has three distinct chambers

— probably the only three-chambered temple in Kashmir:
 the mandapa,
 the garbhagriha, and
 the antralaya
• The temple is built in a unique Kashmiri style, though it has definite Gandhara
influences.
• A major historical source for Kashmir’s history remains Rajatarangini, written in the 12th century by
Kalhana, and various translations of the work contain descriptions of Martand’s grandeur.
• From the ruins of the temple, it is evident that the complex originally consisted of a principle shrine at the
centre of a quadrangular courtyard, flanked towards the north and south by two small structures.
• It appears that the central courtyard was initially filled with water supplied by a canal from river Lidar.
• The temple walls are built of huge blocks of evenly dressed grey limestone by making use of lime mortar.
 This is remarkable, because the use of lime mortar is encountered in north India generally after the
establishment of the Delhi Sultanate in the 13th century.
• The temple is influenced by Classical Greco-Roman, Buddhist-Gandharan, and North Indian styles.
KEDARNATH TEMPLE
Context: A Mumbai-based businessman will fund the facelift of Kedarnath temple’s sanctum sanctorum, which will
now be gold-plated.
Key details:
• Currently the sanctum sanctorum is
covered with 230 kilograms of silver.
• The silver plating of the temple was done
in 2017.
• The gold plating will be done on walls,
pillars and on the shed (chatra) above
the deity.
• Over ₹200 crore has already been
collectively spent by the Uttarakhand and
Central governments on the renovation
project that has been going on for a
decade now.

The Chota Char Dhams

• Chota Char Dham is a term which is used for the pilgrimage of the four sacred temple or sites of Hindus in
Uttarakhand named Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath & Badrinath.
• In Hindu religion, ‘Char Dham Yatra’ is a sacred trip of four most revered temples of India which includes
Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram.
• The circuit of ‘Chota Char Dham Yatra’ is different from main char dham yatra and is situated only in
Uttarakhand.
• These four temples are situated in four different directions of Uttarakhand and are dedicated to different god
and goddesses.
 The Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham are also the origin of most revered, holy and sacred rivers of India i.e
Ganga & Yamuna.
 The Kedarnath Dham is dedicated to the Lord Shiva
 The Badrinath Dham is dedicated to Lord Vishnu.
MAMANGAM
Context: Recently, a few history researchers urged the Kerala government to declare Thirunavaya, a heritage village
and protect the historical relics in the area.
• Thirunavaya is known for Mamangam, a trade festival.
About Mamangam
• Mamangam was a 28-day-long trade festival celebrated once every 12 years on the banks of the
Bharathappuzha, also known as Nila.
• Traders from various parts of India and as well as places such as China, Ceylon, Arabia and Europe used to
arrive by ship at the Ponnani port and then move to Thirunavaya to participate in the trade fair held on the
premises of the Navamukunda temple, believed to be around 5,000 years old now.
• It is believed that the Chera kings began the duodecennial trade festival.
• The last Chera ruler passed on the right to conduct it to Valluvanakkothiri (rulers of the Valluvanad region)
around the 12th century.
• The Zamorins, the rulers of Kozhikode, in a bid to expand their kingdom, beat the Valluvanakkothiri in
the 14th century and secured the right to preside over Mamangam after capturing several Valluvanadan
provinces, including Thirunavaya.
• The Valluvakonathiris decided to by sending suicide squads called chavers to fight the Zamorin’s army during
Mamangam.
• At Mamangam, the Zamorin would stand on a platform called the ‘nilapadu thara’ cocooned by his soldiers.
• Bodies of the chavers who died during the fight were thrown into a nearby well called the ‘manikinar’.
• For nearly four hundred years, the chavers, coming to Thirunavaya over this blood feud, never managed to
kill any of the Zamorins of the times.
• The last Mamangam was said to be held in 1755 before Mysore’s Hyder Ali invaded Malabar and ended the
Zamorin’s prominence.
Navamukunda temple
• The Navamukunda temple is one of the 108 major Vishnu temples in India.
• It is famous for its sculptures, including the 10 incarnations of Vishnu.


ACHARYA VINOBA BHAVE

Context: The Prime Minister of India has paid tributes to Acharya Vinoba Bhave on his Jayanti.

ANNABHAU SATHE

ARATTUPUZHA VELAYUDHA PANICKER

Context: The recently-released Malayalam film Pathonpatham Noottandu (‘Nineteenth Century’) is based on the life of
Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, a social reformer from the Ezhava community in Kerala who lived in the 19th century.
Who was Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker?

• Panicker was one of the most influential figures in the reformation movement
in the state.
• He challenged the domination of upper castes or ‘Savarnas’ and brought about

changes in the lives of both men and women.
• The social reform movement in Kerala in the 19th century led to the large-scale
subversion of the existing caste hierarchy and social order in the state.
• His contributions:
 Panicker is credited with building two temples dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, in which members of all
castes and religions were allowed entry.
One was built in his own village Arattupuzha in 1852, and one in Thanneermukkom in 1854, another

village in the Alappuzha district.
 Protesting for the rights of women belonging to Kerala’s backward communities.
In 1858, he led the Achippudava Samaram strike at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha.

This strike aimed to earn women belonging to oppressed groups the right to wear a lower garment

that extended beyond the knees.
In 1859, this was extended into the Ethappu Samaram, the struggle for the right to wear an upper

body cloth by women belonging to backward castes.
In 1860, he led the Mukkuthi Samaram for the rights of lower-caste women to wear ‘mukkuthi’ or

nose-ring, and other gold ornaments
 Apart from issues related to women, Panicker also led the first-ever strike by agricultural labourers in
Kerala, the Karshaka Thozhilali Samaram
 He also established the first Kathakali Yogam (area-based schools for the classical dance form Kathakali)
for the Ezhava community in 1861, which led to a Kathakali performance by Ezhavas and other
backward communities.
• Apart from his work as a social reformer, Panicker was a master of Kalaripayattu, the traditional martial
arts practised in Kerala.
• He was given the title of ‘Panicker’ by the then-king of Travancore in 1869.
M. VISVESVARAYA
Context: September 15 is celebrated as Engineers’ Day, in memory of M Visvesvaraya.
About M Visvesvaraya
• Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on 15th September 1861 to a Telugu Brahmin Family.
• In 1881, after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Arts from the Central College in Bangalore, affiliated to the
Madras University, he pursued civil engineer from the reputed College of Engineering, Pune.
• He was the designer and engineer of the Krishnarajasagara dam in Mysuru. M Visvesvaraya‘s successful
career line
• After successful completion of civil engineering Sir MV, joined the PWD department, of Mumbai.
• Later he joined the Indian irrigation commission, where he carried out some effective irrigation techniques
in the Deccan area.
• Sir MV was patented for designing automatic barrier water floodgates.

 These floodgates were initially installed at the Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune in 1903.
• He served as Diwan of Mysore.
• The historic Bangalore-Chikballapur Light Railway was another project that began while Sir M. Visvesvaraya
was the Diwan of Mysore.
Honours and Awards
Year Award
1906 “Kaisar-i-Hind” in recognition of his services
1911 C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar
1915 K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire)
1955 Conferred Bharat Ratna
HINDI DIWAS
Context: The annual celebration of Hindi Diwas commemorates September 14, 1949, the day when the Constituent
Assembly of India took the decision to make Hindi the official language of the Union government, while English was to
hold the status of associate language for 15 years.
From Protests to Hindi Diwas

• After 1947, English along with Hindi was made the official language of India for a period of 15 years.
  At the completion of the period, Hindi would replace English as the only language to be used for
official purposes.
• Article 351 of the Constitution asked for the promotion and development of the Hindi language in a way
that it could serve as a means of expression in all matters.
• When the 15 year period came to an end protests broke out over the fear of imposition of Hindi in large parts
of non-Hindi speaking India, particularly in Tamil Nadu.
• The resistance resulted in the Centre passing the Official Languages Act, which stated that English would
continue to be upheld as official language along with Hindi.
• In the years that followed, the government has made several efforts to propagate Hindi as the unifying
language of India, the celebration of Hindi Diwas being one among them.
Hindi’s reach in numbers

• Hindi is the most widely spoken, with 43.6% of the population, declaring it as their mother tongue.
• The next highest is Bengali, mother tongue for 9.7 crores (8%) — less than one-fifth of Hindi’s count.
• In terms of the number of people who know Hindi, the count crosses more than half the country.
  Nearly over 11% reported Hindi as their second language, which makes it either the mother
tongue or second language for nearly 55% of the population.
Status of English in India

• English, alongside Hindi, is one of the two official languages of the central government, but it is not among
the 22 languages in the 8th Schedule.
• It is one of the 99 non-scheduled languages.
• In terms of mother tongue, India had just 2.6 lakh English speakers in 2011.
• As a second language, 8.3 crore spoke it in 2011, second only to Hindi.

BATHUKAMMA FESTIVAL
Context: Ministry of Culture organized the celebration of Bathukamma festival at Kartavyapath, India Gate, New Delhi.
About the festival

• Bathukamma Festival is an annual celebration in Telangana that goes on for nine days and overlaps with the
festival of Navratri.
• The festival is celebrated with colourful exotic flowers of the region
• Bathukamma, that means ‘Mother Goddess come Alive’, is celebrated towards the end of monsoon.
• It involves the worship of Maha Gauri - “Life Giver” in the form of Gauri Devi (patron goddess of womanhood).
• The festival begins on the day of Mahalaya Amavasya.
• The final day of Bathukamma, known as Pedha or Saddula Bathukamma falls two days before Dussehra.
• Women, during the festival, make small ‘Bathukammas’, and then later immerse them in water.
• On the final day of the festival, men of the household go out and gather flowers like ‘gunuka’, ‘tangedu’,’chamanti’,
and then the entire household arrange them in stacks.
• They share the ‘maleeda’, which is a dessert made with sugar and corn bread) and share it among friends.
ONAM
Context: President and Vice President greet people on the eve of Onam.
Key details:
• Onam is an annual cultural festival in Kerala.
• It is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
• Onam commemorates King Mahabali and Vamana.
 Vamana is an avatar of Lord Vishnu.
• Onam is celebrated in remembrance of the good governance under the rule of Mahabali, a mythical king who
ruled Kerala.
• The date of Onam celebration is based on the Panchangam, and falls on the 22nd nakshatra Thiruvonam in
the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar
• Historical evidences:
 The earliest known reference to Onam is found in Maturaikkāñci – a Sangam era Tamil poem.
 It mentions Onam being celebrated in Madurai temples.
 The 9th-century Pathikas and Pallads by Periyazharwar describes Onam celebrations and offerings to
Vishnu, mentions feasts and community events.
 An 11th-century inscription in the Thrikkakara Temple (Kochi) dedicated to Vamana mentions a series
of offerings made by a votary over two days prior and on Thiru Onam.
 A 12th-century inscription in the Tiruvalla Temple dedicated to Vishnu, mentions Onam and states a
donation was made to the temple as the Onam festival offering.
 Uddanda Sastrin, a southern Indian Sanskrit poet visiting the court of the Zamorin, has written about a
festival called sravana.
 It is presumed that this verse is about the festival of Onam
• Types of dances performed:
Thiruvathira Kali is a women's dance performed in a circle around a lamp.

Kummattikali is a colorful-mask dance.

 Onam Kali is a form of dance where players arrange themselves in circles around a pole or tree or lamp,
then dance and sing songs derived from the Ramayana and other epics
 Kathakali performances are a part of Onam tradition with dancers enacting characters from the various
Ancient Indian legends.
MAHAKALESHWAR TEMPLE
Context: Prime Minister of India is to inaugurate the Mahakaleshwar Corridor, constructed in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain.
The Mahakal corridor
• Mahakal Maharaj Mandir Parisar Vistar Yojna is a plan for the expansion, beautification, and decongestion
of the Mahakaleshwar temple and its adjoining area in Ujjain district.
• Under the plan, the Mahakaleshwar temple premises of around 2.82 hectares is being increased to 47
hectares, which will be developed in two phases by the Ujjain district administration.
• This will include the 17 hectares of Rudrasagar lake.
About the Mahakaleshwar Temple
• Mahakaleshwar, which means the ‘Lord of time’, refers to The 12 Jyotirlingas

• Somnath – Gir Somnath in Gujarat
Lord Shiva. • Nageshwar – Daarukavanam in Gujarat
• Bhimashankar – Pune in Maharashtra
• As per Hindu mythology, the temple was constructed by • Trimbakeshwar – Nashik in Maharashtra
• Grishneshwar – Aurangabad in Maharashtra
Lord Brahma and is presently located alongside the holy • Vaidyanath – Deoghar in Jharkhand
• Mahakaleshwar – Ujjain In Madhya Pradesh
river Kshipra.
• Omkareshwar – Khandwa In Madhya Pradesh
• Kashi Vishwanath – Varanasi In Uttar Pradesh
• Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain is one of the 12 • Kedarnath – Kedarnath in Uttarakhand
• Rameshwaram – Rameswaram Island In Tamil Nadu
jyotirlingas considered the most sacred abodes of Shiva.
• Mallikarjuna – Srisailam In Andhra Pradesh
 Jyotirlingas are sacred shrines of Lord Shiva;
 It is believed that Lord Shiva himself visited these places.
The 18 Maha Shakti Peeth

• Sri Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
• Sri Srunkhala Devi Temple, Pandua, West Bengal
• Sri Chamundeshwari Devi Temple, Chamundi Hill, Mysore, Karnataka
• Shri Jogulamba Temple, Alampur, Telangana
• Sri Bhramaramba Devi Temple, Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh
• Shree Mahalaxmi Temple, Kolhapur, Maharastra
• Mahurye Ekaveerika Temple/Renuka Devi Temple, Mahur, Maharastra
• Shri Gadhkalika Mata Temple / Mahakali Devi, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
• Puruhutika Devi Temple, Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh
• Biraja Devi/Birija Kshetra, Jajpur, Odisha
• Draksharamam Manikyamba Devi Temple, Draksharamam, Andhra Pradesh
• Kamrup / Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam
• Madhaveswari Devi Temple, Prayag, Uttar Pradesh
• Jwalamukhi, Vaishnavi Devi / Vaishno Devi, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
• Mangla Gauri Temple, Gaya, Bihar
• Vishalakshi Temple / Vishalakshi Gauri Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
• Sharada Peeth, Saraswathi Devi, Kashmir
• Shri Shankari Devi Temple, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka

UNESCO LISTS 50 ICONIC INDIAN TEXTILES

Context: Recently, UNESCO released a list of 50 exclusive and iconic heritage textile crafts of the country.
Key details:
• Handmade for the 21st Century: Safeguarding Traditional Indian Textile lists the histories and legends
behind the textiles, describes the complicated and secret processes behind their making, mentions the
causes for their dwindling popularity, and provides strategies for their preservation.
• According to UNESCO, one of the major challenges to the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the
South Asia is the lack of proper inventory and documentation.
• The publication, which aims to bridge this gap, brings together years of research on the 50 selected textiles.
Some of the textiles are:

• Toda embroidery and Sungadi from Tamil Nadu
• Himroo from Hyderabad
• Bandha tie and dye from Sambalpur in Odisha
• Khes from Panipat
• Chamba rumals from Himachal Pradesh
• Thigma or wool tie and dye from Ladakh
• Awadh Jamdani from Varanasi
• Ilkal and Lambadi or Banjara embroidery from Karnataka
• Sikalnayakanpet Kalamkari from Thanjavur
• Kunbi weaves from Goa
• Mashru weaves and Patola from Gujarat
• Himroo from Maharashtra
• Garad-Koirial from West Bengal
MUSIC AND CULTURAL DISPLAY AT KARTAVYA PATH’S INAUGURATION

Context: With the inauguration of Delhi’s Central Vista Avenue a range of cultural events will be marking the occasion.
Panch Vadayam
• Kerala’s Panch Vadayam is a temple orchestra consisting of five types of instruments, namely:
 kombu (wind instrument),
 edakka (drum),
 thimila (drum),
 ilathalam (an instrument similar to cymbals) and
 maddalam (drum).
• Panchavadyam is played during temple festivals and is believed to have originated in today’s Eranakulam.
• Usually, one performer stands in the centre.
Sambhalpuri
• Western Odisha’s Sambhalpur district is known for its cultural offerings, including
a variety of tribal dances that relate to deity worship.
• Sambhalpuri dances include
 the Dalkhai Dance involving the Binjhal, Soura and Mirdha tribes performed
during Dussehra,
 the Koisabadi Dance in the Gond and the Bhuyan communities that is
performed with two feet-long sticks, and
 the Humo & Bauli dance.
Panthi
• The Panthi dance is native to Chhattisgarh and includes creative formations in
which a few dancers stand atop the shoulders of another row of dancers.
• These men play instruments as well and often dance to honour Guru Ghasidas,
an 18th-century saint in Chhattisgarh who preached messages of equality.
Dhol tasha and pathaks

• Dhol and Tasha are drums from Maharashtra, and pathaks are the performers
who beat the drums during the time of Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Each troupe can have 70 to 80 performers.
• Lately, some women troupes have also been seen participating in the festivities.
Kalbeliya
• Kalibeliyas are traditionally a tribal community of snake charmers.
• Rajasthan’s kalbeliyas wear heavily-embroidered black dresses and often
dance to jubilant songs.
• In 2010, their songs and dances were included in the list of UNESCO’s
intangible cultural heritage.
Karagam and dummy horse

• Karagam is a dance from Tamil Nadu that is performed while balancing a pot of water on the head.
• Traditionally, this dance was performed by the villagers in praise of the rain goddess Mari Amman and river
goddess, Gangai Amma.
• The dummy horse dance is from the same state and has a space carved into a horse doll so that it can be put
on by a performer.
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

Context: A 28-ft black granite statue of Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled at India Gate recently.
About Subhas Chandra Bose

• Early life
 He was born to an upper-class Bengali family in 1897 in Cuttack.
 In 1909, Subhas Chandra Bose moved to Ravenshaw Collegiate School,
where he completed his secondary education.
 Here, he was taught Bengali and Sanskrit, as well as the Vedas and Upanishads.
 He began to make his own synthesis of the cultures of the West and India.
 He was greatly influenced by the teachings of Ramakrishna and his disciple
Swami Vivekananda, as well as the themes of Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
 After school, he entered the Presidency College in Calcutta in 1913, where he studied philosophy.
 His earliest battle with British authority occurred while he was a student, against Professor of History
E F Oaten, who had once in class spoken about England’s civilizing mission in India.
 Expelled for his actions, he resumed his studies at the Scottish Church College in Calcutta.
• Bose’s Disagreements with Gandhi
 Bose went to Cambridge University to prepare for the Indian Civil Services (ICS) exam in 1920.
 But later, determined to join the struggle for India’s freedom, he abandoned the project and resigned
from the ICS to join the Mahatma Gandhi-led national movement.
 While Gandhi was willing to wait a long time for Independence, Bose wanted immediate action, if not
immediate results.
 Gandhi was anti-materialistic and hostile to modern technology, Bose saw technology and mass
production as essential to survival and dignity.

 Gandhi wanted a decentralized society and disliked the modern state; Bose wanted a strong central
government and saw the modern state as the only solution to India’s problems.
 Bose did not share Gandhi’s dedication to non-violence.
 Despite tensions between the two, Bose was well aware of the significance of a leader like Gandhi.
 Bose was the first to call him the “father of the nation” during an address from the Azad Hind Radio
from Singapore in July 1944.
• The rift within the Congress
 In 1938, he was elected Congress president in the Haripura session, where he tried to push for swaraj as a
“National Demand” and opposed the idea of an Indian federation under British rule.
 He stood for re-election in 1939 and defeated Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya, the Gandhi-backed candidate.
 Gandhi took this as a personal defeat and 12 of the 15 members of the Working Committee resigned from
their roles
 These included Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad.
 Bose tried to set up another working committee, but after being unable to do so, was forced to resign and
was replaced by Prasad.
 He proposed the creation of the “Forward Bloc” within the Congress Party, in order to bring the radical-left
elements of the party together.
 His political aim was to convert the majority of the Congress members towards his radical point of view
and provide the Indian people with an alternative leadership.
• His escape from India
 Bose was arrested in 1940 before he could launch a campaign to remove the monument dedicated to
the victims of the Black Hole of Calcutta, an incident when a number of European soldiers died while
imprisoned in 1756.
 He was released from jail and soon began his escape from India.
 He entered Soviet-controlled Kabul and finally reached Nazi Germany, where he remained for two years.
 He was provided assistance to defeat the British, and Bose was allowed to start the Azad Hind Radio and
was provided with a few thousand Indian prisoners of war captured by Germany.
 In February 1943, he left Germany and arrivined in Tokyo
• The INA and World War II
 The Indian National Army was formed in 1942, consisting of thousands of Indian prisoners of war captured
by the Japanese, and supported by Japanese troops.
 After his arrival in Singapore, Bose announced the formation of the provisional government of the Azad
Hind in October 1943.
 The provisional government was moved to Rangoon in January 1944, and after fighting at the Arakan
Front, the INA crossed the Indo-Burma border and marched towards Imphal and Kohima.
 The Chalo Delhi campaign ended at Imphal as the British and British Indian armies, along with American
air support were able to defeat the Japanese forces and the INA.
 In April-May 1945, Bose, along with the INA soldiers as well as women he had recruited for the Rani of
Jhansi regiment was forced to retreat on foot to Thailand.
 After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the war came to an end.
 After the Japanese surrendered, Bose left South East Asia on a Japanese plane and headed toward China.
 The plane was reported to be crashed.
SURJAPURI AND BAJJIKA DIALECTS

Context: Bihar Chief Minister and Education Minister have asked the state education department to set up academies
for the promotion of the Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects on the lines of the Hindi and Urdu academies.
What are the Surjapuri and Bajjika dialects?

• Surajpuri:

 Surjapuri is spoken mainly in Kishanganj.

The dialect, a mix of Bangla, Urdu, and Hindi, is also spoken in contiguous parts of West Bengal.

 The name Surjapuri comes from Surjapur pargana, which no longer exists.
 But there is a toll plaza called Surjapur between Purnia and Kishanganj.
 The largest share of speakers of the language is made up of Surjapuri Muslims, who live mainly in
Kishanganj, the district that has about 70 per cent Muslim population.
• Bajjika:
 Bajjika, one of five dialects spoken in Bihar, is a mix of Hindi and Maithili.
 Bajjika is not as well-known as other dialects such as Bhojpuri and Maithili.
Why has the Bihar government announced this move at this stage?
• Eight academies or functioning organisations for Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Angika, Magahi,
Bangla, and South Indian languages already exist in Bihar.
• The idea of setting up an umbrella organisation for Bihar’s languages and dialects envisages a platform for
academics, litterateurs, and officials to work together to promote:
 literary writing,
 the upgradation of dictionaries, and
 the updating of the grammar of these dialects.
• While Maithili and Bhojpuri have made progress in fields of art, culture, and literature, Magahi, Angika,
Bajjika and Surjapuri remain less-developed.
KURMIS
Context: People belonging to the Kurmi community blocked railway tracks in various parts of eastern India demanding
their inclusion on the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of
the Constitution.
Key details:
• The renewed stir by the Kurmis comes at a time when six communities in Assam — Adivasi, Chutia, Koch-
Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran and Tai-Ahom — too have threatened to launch an agitation over the “inordinate
delay” in their inclusion in the ST list.
• Currently, in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, the Kurmi community is classified under the Other
Backward Classes group with the Odisha government also recognising the community under the Socially
and Educationally Backward Classes.
• State governments in Jharkhand and West Bengal have repeatedly recommended the inclusion of this
community in the ST list, with the latest demand coming from the West Bengal government in January 2021,
which was accompanied by an ethnographic study conducted by the State’s Cultural Research Institute.
• The Jharkhand government too had recommended the inclusion of the community in the ST list, following
which the State had sent a renewed proposal in 2015 with an ethnographic report.
 But the Union government decided that the report did not support the inclusion of Kurmi/Kudmi
(Mahto) community in the list of STs of Jharkhand.
About the Kurmis

• The Kurmi are a community in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha of India.
 They are also known as Kurmii, Kurmi Mahto/Mahato/Mahanta /Mohanta or Kurmi Mohanta.
• Kurmis were classified as a Notified Tribe by the British Raj under the terms of the Indian Succession Act
introduced in 1865 as they have customary rules of succession.
 Subsequently, in 1913, they were classified as a Primitive tribe.
• Then they were omitted from the list of communities listed as tribes in the 1931 census.
 They were omitted from the Scheduled Tribe list drawn up in 1950.
• In 2004, the Government of Jharkhand recommended that they should be listed as a Scheduled Tribe rather
than Other Backward Class.
• The Tribal Research Institute of Government of India recommended against this proposal, claiming they are a
sub-caste of the Kunbi and thus different to tribal people.
• Therefore, in 2015, the Government of India refused to approve the recommendation of Jharkhand government
to list the Kurmi Mahato as Schedule Tribe.
Their Culture
• The traditional occupation of Kudmi is agriculture.
• The language of Kudmi is Kurmali.
• The Kudmis are divided into six divisions:
 Paribar (family) is the smallest unit.
 A group of Paribar of same Gusti (clan) living in a place is known as Bakhal/Bakhair (unilineage settlement).
 The members of some Paribars or Bakhai settled in a locality is known as Kulhi.
 A group of Kulhi with a separate geographical area, burial ground, agricultural field, grazing land and
Akhra forms a Gram (village).
 Traditionally, a village headman is known as Mahato.
• A group of twelve village form a Pargana headed by Parganadar who solves all the inter village dispute.
• A group of Paragans forms a Thapal controlled by Deshmandal.
• Kudmi are divided into 81 clans called Gusti.
• Major festivals:
Additional Information: Eighth Schedule:
 Shivratri
It lists the official languages of the republic of India. Part XVII of the Indian constitution
 Tussu deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.
 chadak puja • However, it can be noted that there is no fixed criteria for any language to be
considered for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule.
 Jitia
Official Languages: The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following
 Karam 22 languages:
 Bandna Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri,
• Religion: Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali,
Maithili and Dogri.
 They worship Gramadevata
• Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution.
at gramthan, Shiva (deriving
from Budhababa), Maa • Sindhi language was added by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967.
Manasa. • Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were included by the 71st Amendment Act of 1992.
• Folk dances: • Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of
2003 which came into force in 2004.
 Jhumar and Chhau
v v v v v
NOTES

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
PERESTROIKA AND GLASNOST
Context: Recently, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, has died. Two words
— “perestroika” and “glasnost” will forever be associated with Gorbachev. These were Gorbachev’s reform mantras.
Key details:
• “Perestroika” (restructuring) and “glasnost” (openness) were Mikhail Gorbachev’s watchwords for the
renovation of the Soviet body politic and society that he pursued as general secretary of the Communist
Party from 1985 until 1991.
• It was in a speech of December 1984, where Gorbachev first identified them — and a third term, “uskorenie”
(acceleration) — as key themes.
• Uskorenie, with its unfortunate connotations of working faster, fell by the wayside, but perestroika and
glasnost gained in importance and substance after 1986.
Perestroika
• When Gorbachev took over as the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, the then USSR was
already groaning under the inefficiencies of a planned economy.
• Almost all of the USSR’s economic parameters — be it the GDP growth rate or labour productivity etc. —
had collapsed since the start of 1970s.
• Gorbachev was acutely aware that the USSR needed to restructure its economy, and in particular, allow for
a greater play of the market forces.
• His idea of perestroika was not limited to the economic sphere.
• He had hoped that just like ill-effects of a top-down planned economy had spread through the social and
moral fabric of Soviet life, economic restructuring, too, will lead to a social and political renewal.
Glasnost
• While it meant greater transparency in
the functioning of the government and the
economy, much like perestroika, Gorbachev’s
hope was that this would also reorder the
way people lived their everyday life in the
USSR.
• It came to mean in practice a right asserted
from below, analogous to freedom of
speech and publication.
• This radical expansion of meaning eventually
proved disastrous to Gorbachev and his
agenda for change.
• In promoting glasnost, Gorbachev assumed
that it would enhance perestroika.
• But as the country became overwhelmed by
the avalanche of reports about burgeoning
criminality as well as revelations of state crimes of the past (“retrospective glasnost”), glasnost effectively
undermined public confidence in the ability of the state to lead society to the promised land of prosperity
or even arrest its descent into poverty and chaos.

INDIA-BANGLADESH TIES
Context: As Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India the long-
standing, unresolved dispute over the sharing of the waters of the Teesta is back in the news.
What is the status of the Teesta dispute?

• The 400-odd-km-long Teesta rises in the Pauhunri mountain and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal
before entering Bangladesh near Mekliganj, downstream of Jalpaiguri.
• The Teesta, which joins the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh, carries a significant volume of water;
• It is the second largest river of West Bengal after the Ganga.
• India and Bangladesh have been in negotiations to determine the share of each country in the waters of the
river since the early 1980s.
• The two countries had reached a water-sharing agreement in 2011, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
was about to sign the deal on what was billed as a historic visit to Bangladesh in September that year.
• However, West Bengal Chief Minister objected at the last moment, pulling out the visit, and the deal was
scuttled.
• The Teesta issue remains unresolved.
How has the relationship with Bangladesh evolved over the years?
• India has a robust relationship with Bangladesh, which it has carefully cultivated especially since Prime
Minister Hasina came to power in 2009.
• Over this period, India has benefited greatly from the security relationship with Bangladesh, and the Hasina
government’s crackdown against anti-India outfits, which has helped New Delhi maintain peace and
security in India’s eastern and Northeastern states.
• Bangladesh too has benefited from its economic and development partnership with India.
• It is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia, and bilateral trade has grown steadily over the last decade:
 Bangladesh’s exports to India has gone from only $304.63 million in 2009-10 to $1.28 billion in 2020-21,
while its imports from India during this same period have risen from $2.3 billion to $8.6 billion.
• India grants some 15-20 lakh visas every year to Bangladeshi nationals who visit for medical treatment,
tourism, work, and entertainment.
• For India, Bangladesh has been a key partner in the neighbourhood first policy — and possibly the only
success story in bilateral ties among its neighbours.
Recent irritants in the bilateral relationship

The proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens
(NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) created some
rough edges in the relationship.
Bangladesh cancelled visits by ministers, and Prime Minister

Hasina expressed some reservations about CAA.
Subsequently, then Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla,

who had been a former Indian envoy to Bangladesh, travelled
to Dhaka twice to assuage these concerns.
KUSHIYARA RIVER TREATY

Context: During the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s visit to India a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on
sharing of the waters of the Kushiyara river, a distributary of the Barak river which flows through Assam, and then on
to Bangladesh.
What is the Kushiyara agreement?

• Over the last century, the flow of the Barak river has changed in such a way that the bulk of the river’s water
flows into Kushiyara while the rest goes into Surma.

• The agreement is aimed at addressing part of the problem that the changing nature of the river has posed
before Bangladesh as it unleashes floods during the monsoon and goes dry during the winter when
demand of water goes up because of a crop cycle in Sylhet.
• Under this MoU, Bangladesh will be able to withdraw 153 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from the
Kushiyara out of the approximately 2,500 cusecs of water that is there in the river during the winter season.
• It will benefit the farmers involved in Boro rice, which is basically the rice cultivated during the dry season of
December to February and harvested in early summer.
• Bangladesh has been complaining that the Boro rice cultivation in the region had been suffering as India did
not allow it to withdraw the required water from the Kushiyara.
About Boro Rice

• The boro rice is commonly known as winter rice.
• The term boro is Bengali originated from the Sanskrit word “Boro” which refers to a cultivation from Nov.-May
under irrigated condition.
• It is photo-insensitive, transplanted rice cultivated in waterlogged, low-lying or medium lands with
supplemental irrigation during November to May.
• This type of rice has been cultivated traditionally in river basin deltas of Bangladesh and Eastern India including
Eastern U.P., Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.
• Areas adjoining canals and roads, Chaur-lands/Tal-lands, are low-lying ditches with high moisture retention
capacity where water is accumulated during monsoon months and cannot be drained out in winter months.
• Boro rice system takes advantage of residual moisture after the harvest of kharif rice.
• With the increase in irrigation facilities, boro crop is now being taken in areas outside its traditional boundaries
and a new cropping system is emerging.
How will Bangladesh use the water?

• The water of Kushiyara will be channelled through the Rahimpur Canal project in Sylhet.
 The eight km long canal is the only supplier of water from the Kushiyara to the region and Bangladesh
has built a pump house and other facilities for withdrawal of water that can now be utilised.
 The water of the Kushiyara has been used for centuries in Sylhet.
 But Bangladesh has witnessed that the flow and volume of water in the canal has reduced during the
lean season.
 The utility of the river and the canal during the lean/winter season had gone down, affecting cultivation
of rice as well as a wide variety of vegetables for which Sylhet is famous.
 The additional water of Kushiyara through the Rahimpur Canal therefore is the only way to ensure steady
supply of water for irrigation of agriculture fields and orchards of the subdivisions of Sylhet.
Link with climate change

• The Kushiyara agreement is relatively smaller in scale in
comparison to Teesta that involves West Bengal, which has
problems with the proposal.
• The Kushiyara agreement did not require a nod from any
of the States like Assam from which the Barak emerges and
branches into Kushiyara and Surma.
• The reduced water flow of the Kushiyara during winter and
Teesta too, however, raise important questions about the
impact of climate change on South Asian rivers that can
affect communities and trigger migration.
• Bangladesh has cited low water flow in its rivers during
the winter months as a matter of concern as it affects its
agriculture sector.

• The coming decades will throw up similar challenging issues involving river water sharing as the impact of
the climate crisis becomes more visible with water levels going down in several cross-border rivers.
TIBETAN DEMOCRACY DAY
Context: Tibetan refugees across the world in their traditional dress, chupa, will celebrate the 62nd anniversary of
Tibetan Democracy Day.
Key Details:
• The day, widely known within the community as Mangsto Duchen (‘Mangsto’: democracy; ‘Duchen’: occasion)
marks the inception of the Tibetan democratic system in exile.
• At the heart of the Tibetan democratic system, which governs over 1 lakh refugees across the world, stands
the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala.
 However, the CTA is not officially recognised by any country.
• Timeline of the Tibetan Government in Exile:
 On September 2, 1960, a year after thousands of Tibetans had been forced to flee their home, the first
elected representatives of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile took their oaths in Bodh Gaya to inaugurate
the Tibetan democratic system.
 In 1963, the Dalai Lama enacted the Tibetan constitution based on the ideals of democracy and
universal values, following which the first women representatives were elected.
 In 1975, Kashag, the apex body of CTA, declared September 2 as the founding day of Tibetan democracy.
 In 1991, the Charter of the Tibetans in exile was adopted, and in the following year, the Tibetan
Supreme Justice Commission was established, introducing the exile community to the three pillars of
democracy.
 The Dalai Lama announced that he would assume a position of semi-retirement.
 He then called for the first direct election of Kalön Tripa, the executive head of the CTA.
 A decade later in 2011, in a first, he handed over all his political and executive power to the Sikyong,
also known as the President of CTA.
How does the CTA, the Tibetan government-in-exile, work?

• The CTA, which is based in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, has a branch office in every Tibetan
settlement spread across India and abroad.
• Under its incumbent President, Penpa Tsering, CTA runs seven departments:
 Religion and Culture,
 Home,
 Finance,
 Education,
 Security,
 Information and International Relations,
 Health.
• The President is directly elected every five years.
• The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, the highest legislative body of the CTA, comprises 45 members:
 10 representatives from each of the traditional provinces of Tibet, U-Tsang, Dhotoe, and Dhomey;
 two from each of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism;
 two representing each of the Tibetan communities in North America and Europe; and
 one each from Australasia and Asia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan).
• Every Tibetan above 18 with their Green Book, the main document of identity, is allowed to register in the
voter’s list.
India’s official policy towards the CTA

• India considers the Dalai Lama as a revered religious leader and an honoured guest, but it does not encourage
political activities by Tibetans.
• It does not recognise any separate government of Tibet functioning in India.
• Tibetan refugees across the world recognise the CTA as their legitimate government.
UN REPORT ON XINJIANG
Context: China has responded furiously to a United Nations report on alleged human rights abuses in its northwestern
Xinjiang region targeting Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities.
Key Details
• It could validate claims that more than 1 million ethnic minority members were forcibly sent to centers
it says were for vocational training.
• Those who were held, their relatives and monitoring groups describe them as prison-like reeducation
centers where inmates were forced to denounce Islam and their traditional culture, while swearing fidelity
to the ruling Communist Party.
• The camps have been part of a widespread campaign of repression in Xinjiang.
Where is Xinjiang and why is it important to China?

• Xinjiang is a vast but sparsely populated region of mountains, forests and deserts in far northwestern
China that borders Russia, Pakistan and several Central Asian nations.
• The ancient Silk Road ran through parts of it and various nationalities and Chinese empires controlled its
cities and oases over the centuries.
• The region contains a wealth of natural resources, including oil, gas and rare earth minerals.
• Perhaps its most important value is as a strategic buffer that extends China’s influence westward.
What prompted China’s crackdown on minorities?

• Xinjiang’s Uyghurs, along with the closely related Kazakh and Kyrgyz, are predominantly Turkic Muslims
who are culturally, religiously and linguistically distinct from China’s dominant Han ethnic group.
• Repression under Communist rule, particularly during the violent and xenophobic 1966-1976 Cultural
Revolution, stirred deep animosity in Xinjiang toward the government.
• It was aggravated further by the migration of Han to the region and their domination of political and
economic life.
• Uyghurs established two short-lived independent governments in Xinjiang prior to the Communist Party’s
seizure of power, and the desire for self-rule endured and was nurtured by resentment against heavy-handed
Chinese rule.
 A protest movement began in the 1990s and remained at a relatively low level until simmering anger
exploded in a 2009 riot in the regional capital of Urumqi that left an estimated 200 people dead.
 More violence followed within Xinjiang and as far away as Beijing, prompting Chinese leader Xi Jinping to
order a massive crackdown starting in 2014.
IMF’S STAFF-LEVEL AGREEMENT

Context: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka, months after the
island nation’s economic crisis intensified this year, following a serious Balance of Payments problem.
What is the staff-level agreement?

• It is a formal arrangement by which IMF staff and Sri Lankan authorities agree on a $2.9-billion package
that will support Sri Lanka’s economic policies with a 48-month arrangement under the Extended Fund
Facility (EFF).
• Even though the IMF has agreed to support Sri Lanka, the EFF is conditional on many factors.
• Apart from making domestic policy changes to strengthen the economy, Sri Lanka must also restructure its
debt with its multiple lenders.
• The IMF has said that it will provide financial support to Sri Lanka only after the country’s official
creditors give financing assurances on debt sustainability, and when the government reaches a collaborative
agreement with its private creditors.
ELIZABETH’S THREE VISITS TO INDIA

Context: Queen Elizabeth II undertook three state visits to India, in 1961, 1983, and 1997.
First visit: 1961

• The Queen first visited with Prince Philip to India in January 1961, the first royal British tour of India in 50
years.
• The royal couple toured Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai), and Calcutta (Kolkata), and also visited the
Taj Mahal in Agra and the Pink Palace in Rajasthan.

• She paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat in New Delhi.

• President Dr Rajendra Prasad invited them as Guests of Honour for the Republic Day parade on January 26
of that year.
Second visit: 1983

• Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s next royal visit was upon the invitation of President Giani Zail Singh.
• It was during the prime ministership of Indira Gandhi.
• Her royal visit was at the same time as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) hosted
by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• During her visit, the Queen famously presented Mother Teresa — now Saint Teresa of Calcutta — with the
honorary Order of Merit, an extremely exclusive reward that is only limited to 42 living members at one
time, for her service to humanity.
Third visit: 1997

• Her final and third royal visit to India in October 1997 was to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of
India’s Independence.
• Prime Minister: I.K. Gujral
• President: K.R. Narayanan
• The Queen was allowed to enter the Golden Temple after taking off her shoes
INDIA-JAPAN 2+2 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE

Context: Press Statement by Defence minister was released after India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Tokyo
What is 2+2 dialogue?

• A ‘two plus two dialogue’ is a term used for installation of a dialogue mechanism between two countries’
defence and external affairs ministries.
• It is an expression used to indicate that two appointed ministers from each country, the ministers of defence
and external affairs in this case, will meet up to discuss the two countries’ strategic and security interests.
• The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is a diplomatic summit that has been held every year since 2018 initially
between the Minister of External Affairs or Foreign Minister, and Defence Minister of India with the
Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense of the United States.
• Aim: To discuss and work on common issues of concern to improve and strengthen India–United States
relations.
• India has 2+2 dialogues with the following countries:
 USA
 Australia
 Japan
 Russia
SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (SCO)

Context: Prime Minister of India is in Samarkand, Uzbekistan to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of
State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
About Samarkand
• Samarkand is a city in Uzbekistan.
• It’s on the Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking China to the Mediterranean.
• It is one of the most important sites on the Silk Routes traversing Central Asia.
• It is located in the Zerafshan River valley, in north-eastern Uzbekistan.
• From the early medieval period, the city was inhabited by the Sogdians, a people of Iranian origins renowned
for their skill at trading.
• Samarkand was invaded and destroyed by Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies when they conquered the
area in 1220, and much of its historic architecture was reduced to ruins, with only fragments of the walls
remaining.
• The Persian chronicler, Juvaini (1226–1283), wrote with dismay about the destruction wrought in Samarkand.
• Although by the early 1330s the famous Arab traveller Ibn Battuta visited Samarkand and described it as one
of the greatest and finest of cities, and most perfect of them in beauty.
• Important Monuments:
 Timurid site, the Shah-i Zinde, a mausoleum complex
 The Bibi Khanum Mosque, built in Samarkand between 1399 and 1404, commemorates Tamerlane’s
wife.
 The Sher-Dor Madrasah was built between 1619 and 1636.
 The Tilya-Kori Madrasah.
What is the SCO?

• The Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) is a permanent
intergovernmental international
organisation.
• The main goals of the SCO are
 strengthening mutual confidence
and good-neighbourly relations
among the member countries;
 promoting effective cooperation
in politics, trade and economy,
science and technology, culture
as well as education, energy,
transportation, tourism,
environmental protection and
other fields;
 making joint efforts to maintain and
ensure peace, security and stability
in the region,
 moving towards the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic
international order.
INDO-PACIFIC ECONOMIC FORUM (IPEF)
Context: Union Minister of Commerce and Industry will attend the first in-person Ministerial meeting of the Indo-
Pacific Economic Forum (IPEF).
About IPEF
• Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is an economic initiative launched by United
States President Joe Biden in 2022.
• The framework launched with a total of fourteen participating founding member nations.
• The four themes of the proposed IPEF are:
 Fair and resilient trade
 Supply chain resilience
 Infrastructure, clean energy, and decarbonization
 Tax and anti-corruption

• IPEF has fourteen member states and represents 40% of world GDP.
 Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.
• The Indo-Pacific Economic Frameworik would outweigh in both population and gross domestic product
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
• The only RCEP members not included in the IPEF are China, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos; while non-
RCEP members are the United States, India, and Fiji.
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION

Context: Recently, the finance minister of India urged the World Bank’s private sector investment arm, the International
Finance Corporation (IFC), to increase lending to India to more than $2 billion in the next two years and to $3-3.5
billion over the next three-four years.
International Finance Corporation (IFC)

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global
development institution focused exclusively on the private sector.
• It was established in 1956 by the World Bank Group with an aim of reducing poverty and creating jobs in
developing countries through the development of private enterprises.
• The IFC has 184 countries as its members. WORLD BANK GROUP
• Headquarter: Washington, D.C.
It is an extended family of five international organizations, and the parent
• IFC helps developing countries achieve organization of the World Bank, the collective name given to the first two
sustainable growth by: listed organizations, the IBRD and the IDA:
 financing investment, • International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)
 mobilizing capital in international
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
financial markets, and
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
 providing advisory services to • International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
businesses and governments.
• The basis for IFC’s strategy is:
 the broad recognition of the role of the private sector as a critical driver of economic growth, and creator
of the majority of jobs, in developing countries;
 IFC’s unique offering to the private sector operating in those countries including through its global
knowledge and reach, combination of Investment Services (IS), Advisory Services (AS) and the IFC
Asset Management Company (AMC) and combination of both development and financial goals; and
• The World Bank goals are to eradicate extreme poverty and pursue shared prosperity, taking into account
the need to promote environmentally sustainable development.
How does the International Finance Corporation Work?

• The organization provides investment and asset management services to the private sector in developing
countries.
 This is done to support the development of private companies and institutions in these countries that lack
the basic infrastructure needed for business.
 It supports these companies by securing or guaranteeing financing.
• The IFC also provides support to private companies in gaining access to securities markets and other
appropriate financing.
• The corporation’s objectives include:
 the development of agriculture which is sustainable
 expanding small scale businesses through enhanced facilities like microfinance, improving their
infrastructure.
 developing robust and friendly policies around healthcare and education.
• Along with financial support and advise, IFC also brings global experience, technical knowledge and
innovation in their thought process to support developing nations in solving issues ranging from financial
to operational and even political issues.
G4 COUNTRIES
Context: G4 countries highlight ‘urgent need’ for reform in UN Security Council.
Key details:
• The group is primarily focused on UN Security Council (UNSC) reform, and permanent membership for G4
members.
• They reiterated their commitment to pushing forward reform and expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of
progress.
• The G4 also reiterated its support for African countries being represented in a permanent and non-
permanent capacity.
• The G4 felt that the UN decision making bodies needed to be urgently reformed as global issues were
increasingly complex and interconnected.
• The inability of the UNSC to effectively address these problems demonstrate the urgent need for UNSC
reform.
Who are the G4 members?

• The G4 is a grouping of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan which are aspiring to become permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
• The G4 countries are supporting each other’s bids for permanent membership of the UNSC.
• All the four countries have been figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since
the UN’s establishment.
• The G4 nations traditionally meet on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.
• At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries
which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
• The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries
can veto any substantive resolution.
United Nations Security Council

• The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and
is charged with:
 ensuring international peace and security,
 recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and
 approving any changes to the UN Charter.
• Its powers include:
 establishing peacekeeping operations,
 enacting international sanctions, and
 authorizing military action.
• The UNSC is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions on member states.
• The Security Council consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent:
 China,
 France,
 Russia,
 the United Kingdom, and
 the United States.

• Permanent members can veto (block) any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the
admission of new member states to the United Nations or nominees for the office of Secretary-General.
• The other ten members are elected on a regional basis for a term of two years.
• The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.
• Resolutions of the Security Council are typically enforced by UN peacekeepers, which consist of military
forces voluntarily provided by member states and funded independently of the main UN budget.
COLOUR REVOLUTIONS
Context: Chinese President Xi Jinping appealed to Russia, India, and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) to cooperate with each other in order to prevent foreign powers from destabilising their countries
by inciting “colour revolutions”.
What are “colour revolutions”?

• Colour revolutions refer to a series of uprisings that first began in former communist nations in Eastern
Europe in the early 2000s, but are also used in reference to popular movements in the Middle East and Asia.
• Most have involved large-scale mobilisation on the streets, with demands for free elections or regime change,
and calls for removal of authoritarian leaders.
• Protesters often wear a specific colour, such as in Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, but the term has also been
used to describe movements named after flowers like the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia.
EASTERN ECONOMIC FORUM AND INDIA’S BALANCING ACT

Context: Recently, Russia hosted the seventh Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) Vladivostok. The four-day forum is a
platform for entrepreneurs to expand their businesses into Russia’s Far East (RFE).
What is the Eastern Economic Forum?

• The EEF was established in 2015 to encourage foreign investments in the RFE.
• The EEF displays the economic potential, suitable business conditions and investment opportunities in
the region.
• As of 2022, almost 2,729 investment projects are being planned in the region.
• The agreements focus on infrastructure, transportation projects, mineral excavations, construction,

industry and agriculture.
Major actors in the Forum and their interests

• The Forum aimed at connecting the Far East with the Asia Pacific region.
• China is the biggest investor in the region as it sees potential in promoting the Chinese Belt and Road
Initiative and the Polar Sea Route in the RFE.
 China’s investments in the region account for 90% of the total investments.
 The Trans-Siberian Railway has further helped Russia and China in advancing trade ties.
 The countries share a 4000-kilometer-long border, which enables them to tap into each other’s resources
with some infrastructural assistance.
 China is also looking to develop its Heilongjiang province which connects with the RFE.
• South Korea has also been gradually increasing its investments in the region.
 South Korea has invested in shipbuilding projects, manufacturing of electrical equipment, gas-liquefying
plants, agricultural production and fisheries.
• Japan is another key trading partner in the Far East.
 Japan also sees a market for its agro-technologies which have the potential to flourish in the RFE, given
similar climatic conditions.
 The trade ties between Japan and Russia are hindered by the Kuril Islands dispute as they are claimed by
both countries.
• India seeks to expand its influence in the RFE.
 India is keen to deepen its cooperation in energy, pharmaceuticals, maritime connectivity, healthcare,
tourism, the diamond industry and the Arctic.
 In 2019, India also offered a $1 billion line of credit to develop infrastructure in the region.
 Through the EEF, India aims to establish a strong inter-state interaction with Russia.
 Business representatives of Gujarat and the Republic of Sakha have launched agreements in the
diamond and pharmaceuticals industry.
Aim of EEF
• The primary objective of the EEF is to increase the Foreign Direct Investments in the RFE.
• The region encompasses one-third of Russia’s territory and is rich with natural resources such as fish, oil,
natural gas, wood, diamonds and other minerals.
• The region’s riches and resources contribute to five per cent of Russia’s GDP.
• The RFE is geographically placed at a strategic location; acting as a gateway into Asia.
• The Russian government has strategically developed the region with the aim of connecting Russia to the
Asian trading routes.
• Russia is trying to attract the Asian economies in investing and developing the far east.
India’s balance between the EEF and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)
• The U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and the EEF are incomparable based on
its geographic coverage and the partnership with the host-countries.
• India has vested interests in both the forums and has worked towards balancing its involvement.
• India has not shied away from investing in the Russia-initiated EEF despite the current international
conditions.
• India has given its confirmation and acceptance to three of the four pillars in the IPEF.
• The IPEF also presents an ideal opportunity for India to act in the region, without being part of the China-
led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or other regional grouping like the Comprehensive
and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

• The IPEF will also play a key role in building resilient supply chains.
• India’s participation in the forum will help in disengaging from supply chains that are dependent on China
and will also make it a part of the global supply chain network.
• The IPEF partners will act as new sources of raw material and other essential products, further reducing
India’s reliance on China for raw materials.
v v v v v
NOTES

DEFENCE & SECURITY
CHINOOK HELICOPTERS
Context: The US Army has grounded its fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters after finding the helicopter to be at risk
of engine fires.
What are the Chinook helicopters?

• The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company
Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol.
• The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters.
• Features
 Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinook people of Oregon
and Washington state.
 It has multiple doors to load cargo and three external ventral cargo hooks to
carry suspended loads.
 It is one of the fastest helicopters in the world.
 Apart from Lockheed C-130 Hercules, it is the only cargo aircraft designed in
1960 that is being manufactured and used in active service.
 The civilian version of the helicopter is used for carrying passengers, transport, and aerial firefighting.
 It is also very effective in rescue and relief missions during national disasters, due to its capability to
carry heavy loads.
 Chinook is powered by two engines mounted towards the rear of the helicopter and they are connected
via drive shafts.
CYBER SECURITY EXERCISE SYNERGY
Context: CERT-In hosts Cyber Security Exercise “Synergy” for 13 countries as part of International Counter Ransomware
Initiative- Resilience Working Group
About the exercise

• The theme of the exercise was “Building Network What is CERT-IN?
Resiliency to counter Ransomware Attacks”.
• CERT-In (the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is a
government-mandated information technology (IT) security
• The exercise scenario was derived from real life cyber organization.
incidents. • Purpose:
• It was hosted by CERT-In on its exercise simulation  to respond to computer security incidents,
 report on vulnerabilities
platform.  promote effective IT security practices throughout the country.
• CERT-In was created by the Indian Department of Information Technology
• Each State participated as a National Crisis in 2004 and operates under the auspices of that department.
Management Team having composition from different • According to the provisions of the Information Technology Amendment Act
government agencies including: 2008, CERT-In is responsible for overseeing administration of the Act.
• CERT organizations throughout the world are independent entities,

 National CERTs/CSIRTs although there may be coordinated activites among groups.
 Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) • The first CERT group was formed in the United States.
 Communication & IT/ICT Ministry

 Security agencies
• The specific objective of the exercise was to build network resiliency against ransomware & cyber extortion
attacks.

PRIVATE SECURITY AGENCY (PSA) SECURITY
Context: In line with the decision of Govt. of India, a total of 1924 Private Security Agency (PSA) Security personnel
will be deployed at 60 airports in place of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) posted at non-core duty posts.
Key Details:
• The above decision will reduce the Security expenditure and these CISF personnel can be deployed at other
airports which will further strengthen the security set-up.
• This will further help in operationalization of new Domestic & International Airports.
• These Security personnel will be deployed after completion of Aviation Security (AVSEC) training program
at selected airports.
Private Security Agencies in India

• Private security agencies provide services to companies, guesthouses, hotels, private bungalows etc.
• The private security agencies in India helps in providing:
 security services
 training, maintenance of the information of such guards,
 hire and fire the guards and
 manage the salary-related compliances too.
• PSARA (Private Security Agencies Regulation Act) 2005 regulates all the actions of such private security
agency.
Guidelines under PSARA Act 2005

• A private security agency services (PSA) includes armed and unarmed security guards.
• Objectives of PSARA Act:
 It aims to administer the functioning of Private Security Agencies so that they operate within a legal
framework and are accountable to a regulatory mechanism.
 To ensure due care for verifying the antecedents of the personnel employed as private security guards
and supervisors is done.
 To regulate these agencies so that they:
 don’t intrude upon the duties of the police,
 use weapons in an illegal manner,
 indulge in criminal activities and
 wear uniforms resembling with those of the police.
• MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) administers this act.
• The act regulates the issue of a license to Private Security Agencies.
• Until or unless the person holds a license issued under this Act, Need for private Security Agencies
no person shall carry on the business of private security • To ensure the safety of the premises and people
agency. • To safeguard the internal security
• To avail skilled officers’ services

• Private Security Agencies Model Rules, 2006 is introduced
• To provide a safe environment for employees
by the Central Government.
• More accountability
• States have framed their own rules.
• Trained professionals
Is Private security agency legal entity? • In protecting against threatening
• To ensure the Living place safety

• A private security agency is definitely a legal entity.
• Active surveillance all the time
• In certain states, it is required to obtain an additional license • On spot action
too. • Third party Liability
• Training and testing are also conducted by some state before • More effective
they grant a “guard card,”

Is private security agency having superseding effect over the police?

• No. In cases where any crime is reported, it must be reported to the Police immediately.
• No PSA (Private security agencies) can stop the police from entering into the crime place.
• In addition to that, Police has all legal rights pertaining to the prime place.
• The private security officers have no jurisdiction to make an arrest.
Eligibility to become a private security guard:

• The person must be a citizen of India;
• The applicant should have completed eighteen years but should be under the age of sixty-five years;
• The person would be eligible only when he satisfies the agency about his character and antecedents;
• Should have completed the prescribed security training;
• Must fulfill prescribed physical standards.
• A person convicted by a competent court or dismissed or terminated on grounds of misconduct or moral
depravity while serving in any armed forces of the Union, State Police Organizations, Central or State Govt. or
in any private security agency cannot be employed as a private security agency guard.
ROHINI RH-200
Context: In a few weeks’ time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to achieve a remarkable feat —
the 200th successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket in a row.
About the rocket

• Rohini is a series of sounding rockets developed by the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) for meteorological and atmospheric study.
• These sounding rockets are capable of carrying payloads of 2 to 200
kilograms between altitudes of 100 to 500 kilometres.
• RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km
bearing scientific payloads.
• The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors.
• The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
• Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
• The first sounding rocket to be launched from Thumba was the American Nike-Apache — on November 21,
1963.
• After that, two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure) were flown.
• The ISRO launched its own version — Rohini RH-75 — in 1967.
VSHORADS MISSILE
Context: Recently, DRDO conducted two successful test flight of Very Short-Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS)
missile.
About the Missile:

• VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System
(MANPAD) designed and developed indigenously by
DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad.
• VSHORADS missile incorporates many novel technologies
including miniaturized Reaction Control System (RCS)
and integrated avionics.
• The missile is meant for neutralizing low altitude aerial
threats at short ranges.
• It is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor.
• VSHORAD is the soldier’s last line of defence against enemy combat aircraft and helicopters.
EXERCISE KAKADU
Context: A P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in the Multinational Maritime
Exercise Kakadu 2022 hosted by Royal Australian Navy in Darwin along with INS Satpura.
About the Exercise

• Exercise KAKADU, which started in 1993, is a multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise.
• The theme for this year’s exercise is ‘Partnership, Leadership, Friendship’.
• It derives its name from Kakadu National Park in the northern territory of Australia.
VOSTOK-2022
Context: Recently, Vostok-2022 military exercise began in Russia.
Key Details
• An Indian Army contingent is participating in the multilateral strategic and command exercise ‘Vostok-22’.
• It will involve troops from several ex-Soviet nations, China, India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua and Syria.
• The exercise is aimed at interaction and coordination amongst other participating military contingents and
observers.
EXERCISE – JIMEX 2022

Context: The sixth edition of Japan India Maritime Exercise 2022 (JIMEX 22) hosted by Indian Navy commenced in the
Bay of Bengal.
Key details:
• The Indian Navy is being represented by three indigenously designed and built warships:
 Sahyadri, a multi-purpose stealth frigate and Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes
 Kadmatt and
 Kavaratti.
• JIMEX 22 involves two Phases:
 exercises at sea and
 a harbour phase at Visakhapatnam.
• This edition marks the 10th anniversary of JIMEX, which began in Japan in 2012.
EXERCISE PARVAT PRAHAR

Context: Recently, the Army chief General visited the Ladakh sector to review Exercise Parvat Prahar.
Key details:
• The exercise was held in the Ladakh plateau at an altitude of 14,000 feet.
• This exercise used newly inducted all-terrain vehicles transported by Chinook heavy lift helicopters and K9-
Vajra howitzers.
• The exercise featured a display of operational capabilities by artillery guns and other key weapon systems.
• Simultaneously on the western front, Exercise Gagan Strike culminated with a fire power display of attack
helicopters supporting deep operations by Strike Corps.
OPERATION SOUTHERN READINESS

Context: INS Sunayna has reached Seychelles to take part in the annual training exercise ‘Operation Southern Readiness’
of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).
The ship had entered Port Victoria, Seychelles on September 24.
Key details:
• This marks the maiden participation of an Indian Navy ship in CMF exercise.

• It will participate in the annual training exercise Operation Southern Readiness of the CMF.
• The joint training exercise is being attended by representative delegations from:
 the US,
 Italy,
 Australia,
 Canada,
 New Zealand.
• And ship participation from:
 the UK,
 Spain and
 India.
About INS Sunayna

• INS Sunayna is the second Saryu-class patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, designed and constructed indigenously
by the Goa Shipyard Limited.
• In June 2018 she was deployed to Yemen’s Socotra island as part of “Operation Nistar”, an HADR mission to
evacuate around 38 stranded Indian nationals in/around Socotra, after a cyclone hit the area.
• INS Sunaya, along with INS Chennai was sent to the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman in June 2019 to protect
Indian shipping interests amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.
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NOTES

SOCIAL ISSUES
MARY ROY CASE
Context: Educator and women’s rights activist Mary Roy, who passed away recently, was best known for the “Mary
Roy” case, the prolonged legal battle that ensured equal property rights for women from Kerala’s Syrian Christian
families.
The case
• Denied equal rights to her deceased father’s property, Mary Roy sued her brother,
George Isaac, marking the beginning of a case that is seen as a milestone in ensuring
gender justice in India.
• The key question before the Supreme Court was whether, in territories that once formed part of the
erstwhile Travancore state, matters of intestate (a person who has died without leaving a will) succession
to the property of Indian Christian community members were governed by the Travancore Christian
Succession Act 1917, or by the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
Travancore Succession Act

• Under the Travancore Succession Act, women belonging to the Syrian Christian community had no right
to inherit property.
• The Act, stated that a daughter shall not be entitled to succeed to the property of the intestate in the same
share as the son but she will be entitled to one-fourth the value of the share of the son or Rs 5,000
whichever is less.
 Under the Act, even this amount was to be denied to the woman if Streedhanom was provided or
promised to her (daughter).
• In the case of a widow, the Act only provided for maintenance that was terminable at death or on remarriage.
Mary Roy’s plea

• The petition said that the Travancore Succession Act violated Article 14 of the Constitution by discriminating
on the basis of gender.
• She argued that the relevant provisions of the Travancore Succession Act discriminate between man
and woman on the basis of gender and are, therefore, in violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution
• She also argued that the Act was repugnant to Indian Succession Act 1925, which does not discriminate on
the grounds of gender.
Verdict in the case

• SC1(986) upheld the supremacy of the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
• The SC bench ruled that in case the deceased parent has not left a will, the succession will be decided as per
the Indian Succession Act, 1925 which will also apply to the Indian Christian Community in the erstwhile
state of Travancore.
• The verdict put an end to the socially-sanctioned practice in Syrian Christian families to deny women
their rightful share in inheritance.

FOUNDATIONAL LEARNING SURVEY

Context: The nationwide Foundational Learning Survey (FLS) has been released recently.
Key details:
• The study was carried out jointly by the Union Ministry of
Education and the National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT).
• Based on children’s performances, they were placed in four
categories:
 those who lacked the most basic knowledge and skills;
 those who have limited knowledge and skills;
 those who have developed sufficient knowledge and skill;
 those who have developed superior knowledge.
• Delhi is in the bottom one-third of states and UTs in terms of
the percentage of assessed children found to be lacking basic
skills.
• In the National Achievement Survey, Delhi featured in the five
states with the lowest average scores at the class III level.
• Unlike NAS which evaluated learning outcomes based on
Multiple Choice Questions, the findings of the FLS are based on
interviews with each individual participant.
SUPREME COURT’S ABORTION RULING

Context: The Supreme Court in a significant judgment recently said it is unconstitutional to distinguish between
married and unmarried women for allowing termination of pregnancy on certain exceptional grounds when the foetus
is between 20-24 weeks.
What is the court’s decision?

• A three-judge Bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna, and
J B Pardiwala framed the interpretation of Rule 3B of the Medical Termination
of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, as per which only some categories of women are
allowed to seek termination of pregnancy between 20-24 weeks under certain
extraordinary circumstances.
The law on abortion

• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows termination of pregnancy by
a medical practitioner in two stages.
• After a crucial amendment in 2021, for pregnancies up to 20 weeks, termination
is allowed under the opinion of one registered medical practitioner.
• For pregnancies between 20-24 weeks, the Rules attached to the law prescribe
certain criteria in terms of who can avail termination.
 It also requires the opinion of two registered medical practitioners in this
case.
• For pregnancies within 20 weeks, termination can be allowed if:
 the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the
pregnant woman or of grave injury to her physical or mental health; or
 there is a substantial risk that if the child was born, it would suffer from
any serious physical or mental abnormality.
• The phrase “any woman or her partner” was also introduced in 2021 in place
of the earlier “married woman or her husband”.
• By eliminating the word “married woman or her husband” from the scheme of
the MTP Act, the legislature intended to clarify the scope of Section 3 and bring pregnancies which occur
outside the institution of marriage within the protective umbrella of the law.
• For both stages — within 20 weeks and between 20-24 weeks, termination is allowed where any pregnancy
is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape, the anguish caused by the pregnancy shall be
presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
• For pregnancies between 20-24 weeks, the Rules under the MTP Act lists seven categories of women:
 survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest;
 minors;
 change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and divorce);
 women with physical disabilities (major disability as per criteria laid down under the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities Act, 2016);
 mentally ill women including mental retardation;
 the foetal malformation that has substantial risk of being incompatible with life or if the child is born it
may suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped; and
 women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency situations as may be declared
by the Government.”
THEORY OF THE MALTHUSIAN TRAP

• The Malthusian trap or Malthusian check refers to the theory that as
the human population grows there is increasing pressure on earth’s
resources, which in turn acts as a check on the further rise in population.
• It is named after English economist Thomas Malthus who elaborated on the
concept in his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population.
• Malthus argued that while rise in food production in a country can lead to
improved living standards for the general population, the benefit is likely to be
temporary.
 This is because increasing availability of food would encourage people to have more kids since they
could afford to feed them now, thus leading to a rise in the total population and a drop in per capita
income levels.
• Malthus believed that there was an inverse relationship between human population and living standards
with rising population leading to lower living standards.
Criticism
• Critics of the Malthusian trap believe that the industrial revolution decisively refuted Malthus as human
population levels and living standards have risen in tandem ever since the event.
• According to critics, there may be no strict inverse correlation between population growth and the living
standards of people.
• As long as human beings can find ways to use earth’s resources more efficiently, their population can grow
without compromising their living standards even in the long-term.
• In fact, some argue that as human population rises, the chances of breakthrough innovations happening rise
manifold as there would be more human minds working on solving humanity’s problems.
DECRIMINALISING ADULTERY
Context: A five-judge Bench, headed by Justice K.M. Joseph, is hearing an application filed by the government seeking
a clarification as to whether the 2018 judgment of the Supreme Court decriminalising adultery in the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) would affect action taken under Armed Forces laws against officers who indulge in adultery with their
colleagues’ wives.
Key details:
• The Centre approached the Supreme Court after the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) started dismissing cases
of misconduct against officers after the Joseph Shine judgment in 2018.
• Additional Solicitor General said unlike the IPC offence of adultery under Section 497, which is based on
patriarchal notions, the Armed Forces take action for misconduct even against women officers.
• The Armed Forces law is completely gender-neutral.
• The Bench asked the government whether it would want to withdraw the application and challenge a
particular case rejected by the AFT.
What is Adultery
• Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with a partner other than his/
her spouse.
• The legal definition of adultery varies in different jurisdictions and statutes.
• Adultery in India is a criminal offence and hence there are provisions related to adultery Indian Penal Code,
1860.
• Section 497 defines adultery as:
 Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows, or has reason to believe to
be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse
not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.
 In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.
How has the law against a cheating spouse in India changed in recent times?
• The SC previously held that Section 497 of IPC is not paradoxical with Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Recently, the Top Court ruled that the 150-year-old law on adultery is unconstitutional, which treats
husbands as masters of their wives.
• Section 497 of the IPC is categorically and conspicuously arbitrary and absurd because it gives unlimited
rights to the husband to deal with the wife as he pleases, which is very disproportionate.
• This view of the apex changed after a PIL was filed before it in the case of Joseph Shine vs Union Of India in
2018.
 In 2017, Joseph Shine, a non-resident Keralite, moved before a five-judge constitution bench under Article
32 of the Constitution of India challenging the adultery laws of India.
• In 2018, a five-judge SC bench unanimously struck down Section 497 of IPC after holding it to be violative
of Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution of India.
 Article 14 - Right to equality - Adultery only prosecuted men and women and hence, it was considered
to be a violation of Article 14;
 Article 15(1) - prohibits the State from discriminating on the grounds of sex - The law only considered

the husbands as to the aggrieved party;
 Article 21 - protection of life and personal liberty - Women were treated as the property of their
husbands under this law, which is against their basic dignity.
• The bench held adultery is more of a personal issue and does not fit under the definition of “Crime” since it
would otherwise invade the extreme privacy of marriage.
• It is up to the husband and wife to decide what to do after adultery is committed, as it is a matter that should
only be left to their discretion.
ASSISTED SUICIDE
Context: Jean-Luc Godard, one of the legends of French New Wave cinema, died earlier this week by assisted suicide
at the age of 91.
What is assisted suicide?

• Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another
person.
• The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which
is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider.
• Once it is determined that the person’s situation qualifies under
the physician-assisted suicide laws for that place, the physician’s
assistance is usually limited to writing a prescription for a lethal
dose of drugs.
• In many jurisdictions, helping a person die by suicide is a crime.
• The constitutional courts of Colombia, Germany and Italy legalized assisted suicide, but their governments
have not legislated or regulated the practice yet.

Why are assisted suicide and euthanasia controversial topics?

• Assisted suicide and euthanasia have long been contentious topics of debate as they involve a complex set of
moral, ethical and in some cases, religious questions.
• Euthanasia can further be divided into active and passive.
 The practice of passive euthanasia involves simply stopping lifesaving treatment or medical
intervention with the consent of the patient or a family member or a close friend representing the patient.
 Active euthanasia, which is legal in only a few countries, entails the use of substances to end the life of
the patient.
Does India allow assisted suicide or euthanasia?

• The Supreme Court of India legalised passive euthanasia in 2018, stating that it was a matter of ‘living
will’.
 According to the judgment, an adult in his conscious mind is permitted to refuse medical treatment
or voluntarily decide not to take medical treatment to embrace death in a natural way, under certain
conditions.
 The court laid down a set of guidelines for ‘living will’ and defined passive euthanasia and euthanasia
as well.
 It also laid down guidelines for ‘living will’ made by terminally ill patients.
 The court specifically stated that the rights of a patient, in such cases, would not fall out of the purview
of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Indian Constitution.
PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TRIBAL GROUPS (PVTGS)
Context: Keeping the rampant child marriages among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Odisha in
mind, the State government is providing an incentive of ₹20,000 for late marriage.
About PVTGs
• Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) is a sub-classification of Scheduled Tribe, who are most
vulnerable in certain parameter then the other Scheduled Tribe community.
• Government of India created PVTG list with the purpose of enabling improvement in the conditions of those
communities in priority basis.
• During the fourth Five Year Plan a sub-category was created within Scheduled Tribes to identify groups that
considered to be at a lower level of development.
 This was created based on the Dhebar Commission report and other studies.
 This sub-category was named “Primitive tribal group”.
 The features of such a group include a pre-agricultural system of existence, that is practice of hunting
and gathering, zero or negative population growth, extremely low level of literacy in comparison
with other tribal groups.
 Groups that satisfied any one of the criteria were considered as PTG.
• There are total of 75 PVTGs in India.
• No new group was declared as PTG on the basis of the 2001 census.
• In 2006 the government of India renamed “Primitive tribal group” as Particularly vulnerable tribal group.

State / UT Name PVTGs Name

1. Bodo Gadaba 2. Bondo Poroja 3. Chenchu 4. Dongria Khond 5. Gutob Gadaba
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 6. Khond Poroja 7. Kolam 8. Kondareddis 9. Konda Savaras 10. Kutia Khond 11.
Parengi Poroja l2. Thoti
13. Asurs 14. Birhor 15. Birjia 16. Hill Kharia 17. Konvas 18. Mal Paharia 19.
Bihar and Jharkhand
Parhaiyas 20. Sauda Paharia 21. Savar
Jharkhand Same as above
Gujarat 22. Kathodi 23. Kohvalia 24. Padhar 25. Siddi 26. Kolgha
Karnataka 27. Jenu Kuruba 28. Koraga
29. Cholanaikayan (a section of Kattunaickans) 30. Kadar 31. Kattunayakan 32.
Kerala
Kurumbas 33. Koraga
Madhya Pradesh and 34. Abujh Macias 35. Baigas 36. Bharias 37. Hill Korbas 38. Kamars 39. Saharias
40. Birhor
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh Same as above
Maharashtra 41. Katkaria (Kathodia) 42. Kolam 43. Maria Gond
Manipur 44. Marram Nagas
45. Birhor 46. Bondo 47. Didayi 48. Dongria-Khond 49. Juangs 50. Kharias 51.
Odisha Kutia Kondh 52. Lanjia Sauras 53. Lodhas 54. Mankidias 55. Paudi Bhuyans 56.
Soura 57. Chuktia Bhunjia
Rajasthan 58. Seharias
Tamil Nadu 59. Kattu Nayakans 60. Kotas 61. Kurumbas 62. Irulas 63. Paniyans 64. Todas
Tripura 65. Reangs
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand 66. Buxas 67. Rajis
West Bengal 68. Birhor 69. Lodhas 70. Totos
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 71. Great Andamanese 72. Jarawas 73. Onges 74. Sentinelese 75. Shorn Pens
ONE HEALTH APPROACH

Context: On World Environment Health Day, there is an urgent need to strengthen the One Health approach that
functions at the nexus of human, wildlife and the shared environment health.
Key details:
• More than 70 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans have an animal origin, as per the World
Health Organization (WHO).
• The theme for this World Environment Health Day is “Strengthening Environmental Health Systems for the
implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
• Climate change could facilitate the cross-species transmission of some 4,000 viruses by 2070.
• With the possibility of reducing a quarter of the global disease burden by ensuring healthier environments, a
One Health approach is an absolute necessity.
What is One Health approach

• One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the local,
regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the
interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
• The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) work together with WHO to
form the One Health Quadripartite.
• One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of
animals and our shared environment.
• Factors that led to growing importance of One Health Approach:
• Growth in Human population:

 Human populations are growing and expanding into new geographic areas.
 As a result, more people live in close contact with wild and domestic animals, both livestock and pets.
 Animals play an important role in our lives, whether for food, fiber, livelihoods, travel, sport, education,
or companionship.
 Close contact with animals and their environments provides more opportunities for diseases to pass
between animals and people.
• Climate change and land use change:
 The earth has experienced changes in climate and land use, such as deforestation and intensive farming
practices.
 Disruptions in environmental conditions and habitats can provide new opportunities for diseases to
pass to animals.
• International movements:
 The movement of people, animals, and animal products has increased from international travel and
trade.
 As a result, diseases can spread quickly across borders and around the globe.
• These changes have led to the spread of existing or known (endemic) and new or emerging zoonotic
diseases (diseases that can spread between animals and people).
• Examples of zoonotic diseases include:
 Rabies
 Salmonella infection
 West Nile virus infection
 Q Fever (Coxiella burnetii)
 Anthrax
 Brucellosis
 Lyme disease
 Ringworm
 Ebola
Common One Health issues

• One Health issues include:
 zoonotic diseases,
 antimicrobial resistance,
 food safety and food security,
 vector-borne diseases,
 environmental contamination, and
 other health threats shared by people, animals, and the environment.
• Some of the issues are:
 Antibiotic-resistant germs can quickly spread through communities, the food supply, healthcare facilities,
and the environment (soil, water), making it harder to treat certain infections in animals and people.
 Vector-borne diseases are on the rise with warmer temperatures and expanded mosquito and tick
habitats.
 Diseases in food animals can threaten supplies, livelihoods, and economies.
 The human-animal bond can help improve mental well-being.
 Contamination of water used for drinking, recreation, and more can make people and animals sick.
Way forward:
• The One Health approach can:
 Prevent outbreaks of zoonotic disease in animals and people.
 Improve food safety and security.
 Reduce antibiotic-resistant infections and improve human and animal health.
 Protect global health security.
 It can achieve the best health outcomes for people, animals, and plants in a shared environment.
India and OHA:

• The first One Health consortium was launched in October 2021, led by the National Institute of Animal
Biotechnology, Hyderabad.
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojna, the first One Health institute is set to
come up in Nagpur.
WOMEN IN ENGINEERING, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY (WEST)

Context: A new I-STEM (Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map) initiative called “Women in
Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST)” was launched recently.
Key details:
• The WEST programme will cater to women with a STEM background and empower them to contribute to
the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.
• Through the WEST initiative, I-STEM shall provide a separate platform to scientifically inclined women
researchers, scientists, and technologists for pursuing research in basic or applied sciences in frontier
areas of science and engineering.
• Opportunities range from operating scientific equipment and maintaining them, to designing and
manufacturing them.
• Under the WEST initiative, the current support being provided to S&T startups by women entrepreneurs by
I-STEM will be enhanced.
• A digital consortium “Connect Quickly” for online discussion and immediate support has also been established
through the I-STEM WhatsApp and Telegram platforms.
• A dedicated team of women will ensure the successful implementation of the WEST initiative.
• What is I-STEM?
 I-STEM is a national web portal for sharing research equipment/facilities and is the umbrella under
which many programmes for promoting collaborations in R&D and technological innovation among and
between academia and industry, especially startups, are underway.
SC QUOTA FOR DALIT MUSLIMS & CHRISTIANS

Context: The Centre is likely to soon decide on setting up a national commission to study the social, economic and
educational status of Dalits who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
Why don’t Dalits who convert to Christianity and Islam get quota benefits?
• The original rationale behind giving reservation to Scheduled Castes was that these sections had suffered from
the social evil of untouchability, which was practised among Hindus.
• Under Article 341 of the Constitution, the President may specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or
groups within castes, races or tribes as Scheduled Castes
 The first order under this provision was issued in 1950, and covered only Hindus.
• Following demands from the Sikh community, an order was issued in 1956, including Sikhs of Dalit
origin among the beneficiaries of the SC quota.
 In 1990, the government acceded to a similar demand from Buddhists of Dalit origin, and the order was
revised and included Buddhists as well.
Does this religion-based bar apply to converted STs and OBCs as well?
• The rights of a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe are independent of his/her religious faith.
• Following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, several Christian and Muslim
communities have found place in the Central and state lists of OBCs.
Efforts to include Muslims and Christians of Dalit origin among SCs

• After 1990, a number of Private Member’s Bills were brought in Parliament for this purpose.
• In 1996, a government Bill called The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill was
drafted, but in view of a divergence of opinions, the Bill was not introduced in Parliament.
• The UPA government set up two important panels:
 The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, popularly known as the Ranganath
Misra Commission, in October 2004.
 It submitted its report in May 2007, recommended that SC status should be completely de-linked
from religion and Scheduled Castes should be made fully religion-neutral like Scheduled Tribes.
 A seven-member high-level committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder
Sachar to study the social, economic, and educational condition of Muslims in March 2005.
 The Sachar Committee Report observed that the social and economic situation of Dalit Muslims and Dalit
Christians did not improve after conversion.
 The report was tabled in both Houses of Parliament on December 18, 2009, but its recommendation was
not accepted in view of inadequate field data and corroboration with the actual situation on the ground.
• Based on the recommendations of the Ranganath Misra Commission, there are some petitions pending
before the Supreme Court, seeking reservation benefits for Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin.
GOVT’S FY19 HEALTH SPENDING DROPPED

Context: Government spending on health as a proportion of the total health expenditure in the country has been rising
in recent years, even as the overall expenditure on health has declined.
Key details:
• According to the National Health Accounts Estimates
2018-19, government spending as percentage of total
health expenditure increased by more than 11 percentage
points over the previous five years, from 23.2% in 2013-
14 to 34.5% in 2018-19.
• The National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates describe the
country’s total expenditure on healthcare whether by the
government, the private sector, individuals, or NGOs and
the flow of these funds.
• Findings of report
 Government spending as proportion of the country’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) went down to 1.28%
from 1.35% in the previous year.
 The total health spending which includes spending
by both government and non-government agents
declined from 3.9% of the GDP to 3.2% in the five years up to 2018-19.
 People paying for healthcare expenses out-of-pocket made up for 48.2% of the total health expenses in
the year 2018-19, down from 48.8% in the previous year (2017-18).
 The out-of-pocket expense has decreased substantially from the 62.6% recorded in 2014-15.
 India’s out-of pocket expenditure continues to be high in comparison to other countries in the region.
 In 2017, India was in 66th position out of 189 countries, with $100.05 per capita out-of-pocket spending,
according to data from the Global Health Expenditure Database.
• Other Asian countries performed better:
 Bhutan was at No. 37 with $47.3,
 Bangladesh at No. 52 ($74.77),
 Thailand at No. 54 ($79.46),

 Pakistan at No. 55 ($79.92),

 Nepal at No. 63 ($96.59).
• Out-of-pocket expenditure for the year 2018-19 stood at 2.87 lakh crore, which was equivalent to 1.52% of
the GDP for the year.
 The current health expenditure stood at Rs 5.4 lakh crore, which was 90.6% of the total health
expenditure.
 The Centre’s share in the current health expenditure stood at 11.71%, state governments accounted
for 19.63%, local bodies 1.01%, and households (including insurance contributions) 60.11% of the
current health expenditure.
 The rest was accounted for by corporates (as insurance contributions), NGOs, and external or donor
funding.
TEDIOUS PROCESS OF ADOPTION

Context: Recently, District Magistrates (DM) have been empowered to give adoption orders instead of courts.
Key details:
• All cases pending before courts have to be now transferred.
• Hundreds of adoptive parents in the country are now concerned that the transfer process will further delay
what is already a long and tedious process.
• The Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 in
order to amend the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act), 2015.
What did the Amendment entail?

• According to the amendment, District Magistrates, including Additional District Magistrates, can now issue
adoption orders in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability.
• Adoption processes were currently under the purview of courts, and with an overwhelming backlog, each
adoption case could take years to be passed.
• Powers of District Magistrate:
 The District Magistrates have been empowered under the Act to ensure its smooth implementation.
 Garner synergized efforts in favour of children in distress conditions.
• DMs and ADMs will monitor the functioning of various agencies under the JJ Act in every district, this
includes:
 the Child Welfare Committees,
 the Juvenile Justice Boards,
 the District Child Protection Units
 the Special Juvenile Protection Units.
 DMsare also responsible for ensuring that Child Care Institutions falling in their district are following all
norms and procedures.
• The DM will also carry out background checks of Child Welfare Committees members, including educational
qualifications, as there is no such provision currently.
 The DMs are also to check possible criminal backgrounds to ensure that no cases of child abuse or child
sexual abuse is found against any member before they are appointed.
 The CWCs are also to report regularly to the DMs on their activities in the districts.
• Concerns:
 Cases already before courts for the past several months will have to be transferred and the process will
have to start afresh.
 A delay in an adoption order can often mean that a child can’t get admission into a school because parents
don’t yet have a birth certificate, or parents unable to claim health insurance if a child is admitted to a
hospital.
 There are nearly 1,000 adoption cases pending before various courts in the country.
 Neither judges, nor DMs are aware about the change in the JJ Act leading to confusion in the system and
delays.
What is the adoption procedure in India?

• Adoptions in India are governed by two laws —
 The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) and
 The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
• Both laws have their separate eligibility criteria for adoptive parents.
 Those applying under the JJ Act have to register on CARA’s portal after which a specialised adoption
agency carries out a home study report.
 After it finds the candidate eligible for adoption, a child declared legally free for adoption is referred to the
applicant.
 Under HAMA, a “dattaka hom” ceremony or an adoption deed or a court order is sufficient to obtain
irrevocable adoption rights.
 But there are no rules for monitoring adoptions and verifying sourcing of children and determining
whether parents are fit to adopt.
v v v v v
NOTES

MISCELLANEOUS
SPARSH
• SPARSH (System for Pension Administration (Raksha)) is the web-based system processing the pension
claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any
external intermediary.
 The total number of pensioners onboarded to SPARSH has reached nearly 33% of the total defence
pensioners in India.
• Nodal Implementing Agency: Defence Accounts Department
MOTOR VEHICLES NON-TRANSPORT VEHICLES VISITING INDIA RULES, 2022

Context: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued the Motor Vehicles Non-Transport Vehicles Visiting
India Rules, 2022.
Key details:
• These rules formalize the movement of Non-Transport (Personal) vehicles registered in other countries
when entering or plying in the territory of India.
• The following documents shall be carried in the vehicle operating under these rules during the duration of
stay in the country:
 A valid registration certificate;
 A valid driving license or international driving permit, whichever is applicable;
 A valid insurance policy;
 A valid pollution under control certificate (if applicable in the origin country);
• In case the documents referred above are in a language other than English, then an authorized English
translation, duly authenticated by the issuing authority, shall be carried along with the original documents.
• Motor vehicles registered in any country other than India shall not be permitted to transport local passengers
and goods within the territory of India.
• Motor vehicles registered in any country other than India shall be required to comply with rules and
regulations made under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 of India.
• Motor vehicles registered in any country other than India shall not be permitted to transport local
passengers and goods within the territory of India.
• MoRTH also announced a new registration mark for new vehicles - the Bharat series or BH-series.
 A vehicle bearing this registration mark will not require a new registration mark when the owner of the
vehicle shifts from one state to another.
 The vehicle registration facility under ‘Bharat series’ or BH-series is available voluntarily to:
 Defense personnel, employees of Central Government,
 State Government,
 Central / State Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs),
 private sector companies/organizations, which have their offices in four or more States / Union territories.
EGOT
Context: Former US president Barack Obama won an Emmy, a prestigious US award that gives prizes for television
content annually, for his narration of the Netflix nature documentary, Our Great National Parks making him achieve
half an ‘EGOT’ status.
What is EGOT?
• EGOT is the acronym for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony –the highest honours in popular performing
arts given in America, in the fields of TV, music, acting and theatre, respectively.
• Those who have won at least one award from each category are deemed as having achieved EGOT status and
are often regarded as some of the greatest artists in the West.
• Obama has previously won a Grammy for the audiobooks of his memoirs.
MANKADING
Context: Recently, one of India’s women cricketers ran out England’s player standing outside the crease at the non-
striker’s end triggering outrage that has traditionally accompanied incidents of “Mankading” in the sport.
What is Mankading?
• In the sport of cricket, Mankading is the informal name given to running out the
non-striking batter whilst they are backing up, which is when they begin to leave
the crease while the bowler is in their final delivery stride.
 Simply, if a batter at the non-striker’s end is outside the crease before the bowler
takes the bails off before delivering the ball, then it is called mankading.
• The term comes from the name of the legendary former Indian cricketer Vinoo
Mankad.
• In 1947, when India was playing a series in Australia, Mankad dismissed opposition batsman Bill Brown
twice by taking off the bails at the non-striker’s end before releasing the ball.
• Mankad was attacked for allegedly violating the “spirit of cricket”, but he had run Brown out only after he
had warned him against backing up too far ahead.
• Laws and rules:
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) declared to move “Mankading” from the “unfair play” section
to the “run out” section with effect from 1st October 2022.
 The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodian of the Laws of Cricket, accepted Mankading as a normal
mode of running out the non-striker.
 MCC had upheld the bowler’s right to appeal in a situation like this in 2017, but the dismissal continues
to generate controversy.
CHILEAN REFERENDUM FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION

Context: The people of Chile resoundingly rejected a new constitution which was set to replace a charter imposed by
General Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago.
Need for a new constitution

• In 2019, over a million people protested in Chile for greater equality and more social protections.
• According to the World Bank, Chile has been among Latin America’s fastest-growing economies in recent
decades.
 However, more than 30% of the population is economically vulnerable and income inequality remains
high.
 In October 2020, 78% of Chileans approved a proposal to draft a new constitution.
RAM SETU
Context: Recently, the teaser of a new movie, Ram Setu, was released.
The Ram Setu

• The Ram Setu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, is a 48-km chain of limestone shoals between Rameswaram
on India’s southeast coast and Mannar Island near Sri Lanka’s northwest coast.
• The structure has significance in both Hindu and Muslim mythology.
 Hindus believe this is the bridge (setu) built by Lord Ram and his army to cross to Lanka and fight Ravan.
 As per Islamic legend, Adam used this bridge to reach Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka, where he stood on one
foot for 1,000 years in repentance.

• Scientists believe Ram Setu is a natural structure formed due to tectonic

movements and sand getting trapped in corals.
• However, over the years, evidence has been offered to claim that the bridge is man-
made.
• The Ram Setu issue snowballed into a major controversy when the Sethusamudram
Project, flagged off during the UPA I government, proposed to dredge around the Setu.
Sethusamudram project
• The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal project aims to create a shipping
route between India and Sri Lanka by building an 83-km-long deep
water channel.
ROSH HASHANAH
Context: The Prime Minister of India has extended his warmest greetings to the
Prime Minister of Israel, Yair Lapid, the friendly people of Israel, and the Jewish
people around the world on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah.
About the festival

• Rosh HaShanah is the Jewish New Year.
• The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah, literally “day of shouting or blasting.”
• Rosh Hashanah is a two-day observance and celebration that begins on the first day of Tishrei, which is the
seventh month of the ecclesiastical year.
• Customs associated with the holiday include sounding the shofar, eating a round challah, and tasting apples
and honey to represent a sweet New Year.
• Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar (a cleaned-out ram’s horn), as prescribed in the Torah,
following the prescription of the Hebrew Bible to “raise a noise” on Yom Teruah.
GENDER SNAPSHOT 2022

Context: It will take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality at the current rate of progress, according to a
report by United Nations women.
Key details:
• The report, Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG):
The Gender Snapshot 2022 was launched by:
 UN Women, which works for gender equality and
 the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
• It highlighted that SDG 5, or achieving
gender equality, will not be met by
2030 at the current pace of progress.
• Global challenges that further
exacerbate gender disparities:
 the COVID-19 pandemic and its
aftermath,
 violent conflict,
 climate change
 the backlash against women’s
sexual and reproductive health and
rights

OPERATION LONDON BRIDGE

Context: Queen Elizabeth’s death kicked off a detailed plan, put in place in the 1960s, to play out in the eventuality of
the monarch’s death.
Operation London Bridge

• The plan to deal with the death of the head of state in Britain was termed Operation London Bridge
• The part of the plan for her death at her favourite castle in Scotland was codenamed ‘Operation Unicorn’.
• These protocols are a detailed script for key logistical matters and procedures, including the funeral
procession.
• During this period, the British parliament will suspend business for 10 days after relaying a condolence
message.
WORLD’S FIRST CNG TERMINAL

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister of India laid the foundation stone for the “world’s first CNG (Compressed Natural
Gas) terminal” at Bhavnagar in Gujarat.
Key details:
• This is a three-year-old project that is expected to infuse Rs 4,000 crore in developing the existing port
infrastructure at Bhavnagar.
• The Bhavnagar port is in close vicinity to the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) and is expected to
serve the industries that set up base in the region.
• It is already connected to the northern hinterland through a railway line that extends to the existing berths at
the port.
• The construction is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2023.
• It is expected to be made operational by 2026.
GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX 2022

Context: The Prime Minister of India has expressed pride for Indian Innovators as India climbs to the 40th rank in the
Global Innovation Index of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Key details:
• Switzerland remains the world’s leader in innovation for the 12th consecutive year.

 It leads globally in innovation outputs, and specifically in patents by origin, software spending, high-tech
manufacturing and production and export complexity.
• The second position was secured by the United States (US) followed by Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK)
and the Netherlands.
• The rankings were based on the areas of human and capital research, business sophistication,
infrastructure and technology outputs among others.
• India secured the 40th position in the Global Innovation Index.
 This is the first time the country entered the top 40.
 Last year, India was at the 46th position.
• The index shows that emerging economies including, India and Turkey, are showing consistently strong
performance.
• The index further said that India is the innovation leader in the lower middle-income group, and continues
to lead the world in ICT services exports and holds top rankings in other indicators, including:
 venture capital receipt value,
 finance for startups and scaleups,
 graduates in science and engineering,
 labour productivity growth and
 domestic industry diversification.
Global Innovation Index (GII)

• The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialised agency of the United Nations, releases
the Global Innovation Index (GII) report.
• The Global Innovation Index (GII) tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
DADASAHEB PHALKE AWARD
Context: The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2020 will be conferred on veteran actor Asha Parekh.
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award

• It is presented annually by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• The award is considered the highest honour in the Indian film fraternity.
• It is awarded for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema.
• The award was instituted by the government in 1969, and consists of a ‘Swarna Kamal’, a cash prize of INR
10 lakh, a certificate, a silk roll, and a shawl.
• The award is presented by the President of India.
• The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani Roerich in 1969.
Dhundiraj Govind ‘Dadasaheb’ Phalke

• He was born in 1870 at Trimbak in Maharashtra.
• He studied engineering and sculpture and developed an interest in motion pictures after watching the 1906
silent film The Life of Christ.
• Before venturing into films, Phalke worked as a photographer, owned a printing press, and had even worked
with the famed painter Raja Ravi Varma.
• In 1913, Phalke wrote, produced, and directed India’s first feature film, the silent Raja Harishchandra.

RAILWAY PROTECTION FORCE (RPF)

Context: The Railway Protection Force celebrated its 38th Raising Day by organizing a parade for the first time at the
central level at Jag Jeewan Ram RPF Academy, Lucknow.
About Railway Protection Force

• It is a security force was established by the Railway OPERATION UPALABDH
Protection Force Act, 1957.
Recently, RPF conducted a Pan India Drive against the
 It was enacted by the Indian Parliament for the alleged black marketeers.
better protection and security of railway property and
passenger area. The month-long drive under this operation has been able
to curb the activities of touts substantially and make
• It has the power to search, arrest, investigate, and railway tickets available to the common man.
prosecute offenses committed under the Railway Property OPERATION AAHT
(Unlawful Possession) Act 1966 and the Railways Act,
1989. RPF launched a nationwide operation to curb human
trafficking.
 However, the power of arrests under other penal
Under this initiative, the infrastructure and intelligence
laws rests in the hands of the Government Railway network of the force could be utilised to collect, collate
Police (GRP) of state police. and analyze clues on victims, source, route, destination,
popular trains used by suspects, the identity of carriers/
• The force is under the authority of the Indian Ministry of agents, kingpins etc. and shared with other law-enforcing
Railways. agencies.
• All the officers of Railway Protection Force are members of Under this, the RPF could act as a bridge cutting across
the Indian Railway Protection Force Service (IRPFS) and States to assist the local police in the mission to curb
the menace.
are recruited through UPSC Civil Services Examination.
 They are recruited as Group-A Central Civil Servants.
 However, the post of Director-General of RPF is held on deputation by a senior Indian Police Service
(IPS) officer.
 Recruitment for various posts like sub-inspectors & constables are conducted through various exams
held by the Ministry of Railways.
• The percentage of women in the RPF is the highest among all central paramilitary forces in India.
 It stands at 10% as of March 2019.
• The Gazetted IRPFS Officers utilises a similar rank structure to the IPS (Indian Police Service).
• Non-gazetted ranks are the same as those used in the State Police Services.
• The governance of RPF is based on:
 Railway Protection Force Act, 1957
 Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966
 Railway Protection Force Rules, 1987
 Railway Protection Force Directives, 1987
GLOBAL PANDEMIC FUND TO OPEN FOR INVESTMENT PROPOSALS

Context: A new fund for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response hosted by the World Bank will invite
investment proposals from November 2022.
Key details:
• The financial intermediary fund (FIF) is built to financially boost efforts in low- and middle-income
countries to prevent, control and prepare for pandemics such as COVID-19.
• It will also address critical gaps through investments and technical support at the national, regional and
global levels.
• The treasury will also combine the roles of institutions involved in pandemic research for:

 Provide complementary support

 Improve coordination among partners
 Incentivise increased country investments
 Serve as a platform for advocacy
 Help focus and sustain high-level attention on strengthening health system
• FIF financing could help:
 strengthen and sustain pandemic prevention,
 preparedness and response capacity in areas such as zoonotic disease surveillance;
 laboratories;
 emergency communication, coordination and management;
 critical health workforce capacities;
 community engagement.
• The fund pooled in financial support from the G20 countries and some other nations.
SHOONYA CAMPAIGN
Context: NITI Aayog commemorated one-year anniversary of Shoonya, India’s zero pollution e-mobility campaign.
About Shoonya:
• Shoonya is a consumer awareness campaign to reduce air pollution by promoting the use of electric
vehicles (EVs) for ride-hailing and deliveries.
• The campaign has 130 industry partners, including ride-hailing, delivery and EV companies.
• It was launched by Niti Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
• The campaign aims to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in the urban deliveries segment and
create consumer awareness about the benefits of zero-pollution delivery, the statement said.
• It is a corporate-led campaign.
INDIA DISCRIMINATION REPORT 2022

Context: According to the analysis by non-profit Oxfam India in its report – India Discrimination Report 2022, labour
Force participation rate (LFPR) of women has declined.
Key details:
• The low participation was largely due to gender discrimination in wages and opportunities.
• Wages are lower for women 83 per cent because of discrimination and 17 per cent due to lack of education
and work experience.
• The Indian government will have to offer incentives for better pay, training, skills acquisition and job
quotas to prospective employers to encourage the hiring of women to close the gender gap.
• The inequality in the labour market for gender and other social categories is not just due to poor access to
education or work experience but because of discrimination.
• In 2019-20, 60 per cent of all men aged 15 years and above had regular salaried and self-employed jobs.
 The figure was 19 per cent for women in the age group.
• There is also a significant gap in the earnings between men and women in the case of regular and self-
employment in urban areas.
 The average earning is Rs 15,996 for men and merely Rs 6,626 for women in urban areas in self-
employment.
 The average earning of a man is nearly 2.5 times that of a woman.
• Apart from women, historically oppressed communities such as Dalits and Adivasis, along with religious
minorities such as Muslims also continue to face discrimination in accessing jobs, livelihoods, and
agricultural credits.
• The general category is earning 33 per cent more than SCs or STs.
• The Oxfam report also found that a considerable segment of qualified women were unwilling to join the
labour market due to family responsibilities and the need to conform to social norms.
• The report said that there was a decline in discrimination within the labour market in India over a decadal
timeframe.
 But this was characterised by high gender inequity, so much so that the probability of a woman being
employed in decent jobs has no bearing on her endowments.
UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX 2021-22

Context: India ranked 132 out of 191 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index 2021-22. Last year,
the country ranked 131.
Key details:
• A combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and climate crises has dragged down
the human development score in 90 per cent of the countries.
• This reversed progress towards achieving the UN-mandated sustainable development goals.
• A large contributor to the Human Development Index’s recent decline is a global drop in life expectancy.
 In India’s case, too, life expectancy dropped to 67.2 years from 69.7 years.
• India’s expected years of schooling stand at 11.9 years and the mean years of schooling are at 6.7 years.
• The GNI per capita level is $6,590 (Rs 5.25 lakh.
• Globally, life expectancy dipped to 71.4 years in 202 from 72.8 years in 2019.
• The global HDI has declined two years in a row — 2020 and 2021, reversing five years of progress.
• Some areas where India showed improvement:
 The impact of inequality on human development is lower.
 India is bridging the human development gap between men and women faster than the world.
 This development has come at a smaller cost to the environment.
 It is improving access to clean water, sanitation and affordable clean energy.
 Recent policy decisions made by the country has increased access to social protection for the vulnerable
population groups.
What is UNDP?
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations Agency addresses issues essential to
the development of humanity such as the eradication of poverty, inequality or the impacts of climate change.
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries
eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development.
• Headquarters: New York.
• It administers projects to attract investment, technical training, and technological development, and provides
experts to help build legal and political institutions and expand the private sector.
• The UNDP operates in 170 countries and is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member
states.
What is the Human Development Index (HDI)?

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is an indicator created by UNDP that has shown the degree of
progress made by each country for the last three decades.

• This initiative was taken by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq.

• The HDI is used to develop a global human development ranking.

• This annual classification makes it possible, on the one hand, to follow the development of a country over time
and, on the other, to compare its situation with that of other countries. In this way, governments can better
understand their growth options and international aid can be allocated judiciously.
• This composite index takes into account health, education and economic factors in order to measure a
country’s human development:
• Health
 It is evaluated through life expectancy at birth.
 This measures the longevity of the population from a minimum age of 20 and a maximum age of 85.
• Education
 It measures, on the one hand, the average years of schooling of adults and, on the other hand, the school
life expectancy of children.
• Economy
 The wealth of a country is defined by the annual Gross National Income (GNI) per capita for a minimum of
100 dollars PPP (purchasing power parity) and a maximum of 75,000 dollars.
How is it measured?
• The HDI is the geometric mean of the three dimensions with indices calculated separately for each country
using data on life expectancy, schooling and per capita income.
• The final result always gives a value between 0 and 1 which defines the four degrees of human development:
 Very high: countries with a HDI above 0.80.
 High: countries with a HDI between 0.70 and 0.80.
 Medium: countries with a HDI between 0.55 and 0.70.
 Low: countries with a HDI below 0.55.
• The Human Development Index is not the only index used by UNDP to measure a country’s progress. There
are other important ones alongside this indicator:
• HDI adjusted for Inequality (HDI-I)
 A form of the HDI that takes into account inequality between people.
 In other words, the HDI-I would show actual human development and the HDI would show the potential
that could be achieved if there were no inequalities.
• Gender Inequality Index (GII):

• This reflects women’s economic and social discrimination in three ways:
 reproductive health,
 empowerment
 employment participation
• Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI):
 It evaluates the deprivation of households and their members in the areas of health, education and
living standards.
KRITAGYA 3.0
Context: Indian Council of Agricultural Research with its National Agricultural Higher Education Project and Crop
Science Division is organizing Hackathon 3.0 ‘’KRITAGYA” on promoting ‘speed breeding for crop improvement’.
Key details:
• This initiative will give impetus to the desired rapid results in the crop sector with the ability to learn,
innovation and solutions, employability and entrepreneurship.
• It will also encourage greater adoption of technology enabled solutions in the country.

• The definition of KRITAGYA is:

 KRI for Krishi meaning Agriculture,
 TA for Taknik meaning Technology
 GYA for Gyan meaning Knowledge.
• In this competition, students, faculty and innovators/entrepreneurs from any university/technical institute
across the country can apply and participate in the program as a group.
• Participating students can collaborate with local start-ups, students from technology institutes.
DEPSANG & DEMCHOK

Context: The Indian defence establishment hopes the focus will now shift to defusing the much more crucial face-
offs at Depsang Plains and Demchok in eastern Ladakh after India and China completed the verification process for
disengagement of troops at Patrolling Point-15 (PP-15) in the larger Gogra-Hot Springs area.
Key details:
• The “no-patrol buffer zone” now in place in the PP-15 area is the fourth one to be created in eastern Ladakh
since the military confrontation erupted with China in April-May 2020.
• The buffer zones have largely come up in areas which India considers its own territory, as per the Line of
Actual Control (LAC).
• There are, however, still no signs of an overall de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.
• The biggest bone of contention is the Depsang Bulge, a table-top plateau located at an altitude of 16,000 feet
towards the crucial Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) and Karakoram Pass in the north.
About Depsang
• The Depsang Plains represent a high-
altitude gravelly plain at the northwest
portion of the disputed Aksai Chin region
of Kashmir, divided into Indian and
Chinese administered portions across a
Line of Actual Control.
• India controls the western portion of
the plains as part of Ladakh, whereas the
eastern portion is controlled by China
and claimed by India.
• The Depsang plains are also part of the
area called Sub-Sector North (SSN) by the
Indian military
• The area sees frequent tension between
China and India.
• Major standoffs between two countries
occurred in 2013, 2015 and 2020.
• They are bounded on the north by the valley of the Chip Chap River and on the west by the Shyok River.
• On the east they are bounded by low hills of the “Lak Tsung” range, which separate them from the basin of the
Karakash River.
• In the south, the Depsang Plains proper end at the Depsang La pass, but in common parlance, the Depsang
region is taken to include the mountainous region to the south of it, including the “Depsang Bulge”.
• The Karakoram Pass is located to the north of the Depsang Plains while the Lingzi Thang plains lie to the
southeast.
• On the west is the southern part of the Rimo glacier, the source of the Shyok River.

About Demchok
• Demchok is a village and military encampment in the Indian-administered Demchok sector that is disputed
between India and China.
• It is administered by India and claimed by China as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region
• The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes along the southeast side of the village, along the Charding Nullah
(also called Demchok River and Lhari stream) which joins the Indus River near the village.
• A stream called Charding Nullah (or Lhari stream) flows down on the southeast side of Demchok joining
the Indus River.
MANASBAL LAKE
Context: Central Kashmir’s Manasbal Lake is once again open for training drills, more than three decades after raging
militancy forced the Navy to abandon it.
About the lake

• Manasbal Lake is located in Ganderbal District in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The name Manasbal is said to be a derivative of the Lake Manasarovar.
• The Mughal garden, called the Jaroka, (meaning bay window) built by Nur Jahan overlooks the lake.
• The lake has the sobriquet of “supreme gem of all Kashmir Lakes”.
• The lake is surrounded by the Baladar mountains on the east, by an elevated plateau known as ‘Karewa’
deposits on the north and bounded by the Ahtung hills in the south, which are used for limestone extraction.
• Lake water outflows to the Jhelum River through a regulated outflow channel.
PACIFIC ISLANDS
Context: Recently, at a summit, the USA announced $810 mn in new funding for Pacific Islands.
About Pacific Islands

• Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the
islands in the Pacific Ocean are further
categorized into three major groups:
 Melanesia,
 Micronesia and
 Polynesia
• Depending on the context, the term
Pacific Islands may refer to one of
several different concepts:
 those countries and islands with
common Austronesian origins,
 the islands once (or currently)
colonized, or
 the geographical region of Oceania.
The Pacific Islands Forum

• It is a framework of regional cooperation founded in 1971 by the newly independent Pacific Island
countries, together with Australia and New Zealand.
• Its secretariat is located in Suva, a capital of Fiji.
• In October 2000, the South Pacific Forum (SPF) was renamed as the PIF.

v v v v v
NOTES

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES
NATIONAL VAYOSHREE AND ADIP
Context: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways under the Central Government’s National Vayoshree and
Adip (Assistance to Disabled Persons) scheme in Nagpur provided free equipment and materials to senior citizens and
differently-abled persons.
PM-SHRI YOJANA
Context: On the occasion of Teacher’s Day, the Prime Minister of India has announced development and upgradation of
14,500 schools cross India under the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) Yojana.

About PM-SHRI
• The PM-SHRI schools will have a modern, transformational and holistic method of imparting education.
• This will be a new centrally sponsored scheme for upgradation and development of schools across
the country by strengthening the selected existing schools from amongst schools managed by Central
Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.
• PM SHRI Schools will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020 and act as exemplar
schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.
• The aim of these schools will not only be qualitative teaching, learning and cognitive development, but also
creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with key 21st century skills.
• Focus will be on achieving proficiency in learning outcomes of every child in every grade.

• Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real
life situations and will be competency-based.
• These schools shall also be developed as green schools with water conservation, waste recycling, energy-
efficient infrastructure and integration of organic lifestyle in curriculum.
CONVERGENCE MODULE BETWEEN AIF, PMFME AND PMKSY
Context: Convergence module between the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme, Pradhan Mantri Micro
Food Enterprises Upgradation Scheme (PMFME) and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) was
launched recently.
Key details:
• The convergence module has been launched through cooperation in various ministries with the aim of taking
the benefits of the schemes of the government to the people.
• This initiative will contribute to the realization of Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign and take forward the
projects of public welfare by increasing the power of marginalised section.
• What is AIF:
 Agriculture Infra Fund (AIF) is a financing facility launched on 8th July 2020 for creation of post-harvest
management infrastructure and community farm assets.
 The benefits include 3% interest subvention and credit guarantee support.
 AIF scheme has the facility of convergence with any other scheme of State or Central Government,
therefore in order to optimize the benefits of multiple government schemes for a particular project.
 Convergence of AIF has already been done for commercial horticulture development and cold storage
development schemes of National Horticulture Board under INM Division of Ministry of Agriculture.
• PM Micro Food Industry Upgradation Scheme:
 The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has launched the Pradhan Mantri Micro Food Industry
Upgradation Scheme on 29th June, 2020.
 The aim was to enhance the competitiveness of individual micro enterprises, which will provide financial,
technical and commercial assistance for up-gradation of micro food processing enterprises in the
country.
 All the States/UTs have appointed nodal agencies for its implementation.
 Under PMFME scheme, 35% credit linked subsidy will be provided for setting up of micro food
processing unit with a maximum subsidy limit of Rs 10 lakh and common infrastructure with a
maximum subsidy of Rs 3 crore.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana:
 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries, is envisaged as a comprehensive package, which will result in creation of modern
infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
 It is an umbrella scheme consisting of sub-schemes.
• Through this convergence, eligible beneficiaries receiving credit-linked subsidy under PMFME and
PMKSY schemes can avail interest subvention at the rate of interest charged by the banks.
• The ultimate objective of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries and the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare is the sustainable development of farmers and food processing entrepreneurs in rural
areas and increasing their income.
• The goal of this initiative is to make the benefits of the schemes reach all the beneficiaries and empower
them financially, technically and professionally.
DEENDAYAL ANTYODAYA YOJANA - NATIONAL RURAL LIVELIHOODS MISSION

Context: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission observes Rashtriya Poshan Maah.
About the mission:
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) with an aim to uplift the urban poor by enhancing sustainable
livelihood opportunities through skill development.
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana was launched under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
(HUPA).
• The scheme is integration of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and National Rural
Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
Key Features
• Universal Social Mobilisation
 At least one-woman member from each identified rural poor household, is to be brought under the Self
Help Group (SHG) network in a time bound manner.
 Special emphasis is particularly on vulnerable communities such as manual scavengers, victims of
human trafficking, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and
bonded labour.
• Participatory Identification of Poor
 All households identified as poor through the PIP process is the NRLM Target Group and is eligible for all
the benefits under the programme.
 The NRLM Target Group (NTG) derived through the PIP is de-linked from the BPL.
• Community Funds as Resources in Perpetuity
 NRLM provides Revolving Fund (RF) and Community Investment Fund (CIF) as resources in perpetuity
to the institutions of the poor, to strengthen their institutional and financial management capacity.
• Financial Inclusion
 It promotes financial literacy among the poor and provides catalytic capital to the SHGs and their
federations.
 The Mission coordinates with the financial sector and encourages use of Information, Communication
& Technology (ICT) based financial technologies, business correspondents and community facilitators like
‘Bank Mitras’.
 It also works towards universal coverage of rural poor against risk of loss of life, health and assets.
• Livelihoods
• NRLM focuses on stabilizing and promoting existing livelihood portfolio of the poor through its three pillars –
 ‘Vulnerability reduction’ and ‘livelihoods enhancement’ through deepening/enhancing and expanding
existing livelihoods options and tapping new opportunities in farm and non-farm sectors;
 Employment - building skills for the job market outside; and
 Enterprises - nurturing self-employed and entrepreneurs (for micro-enterprises).
PM PRANAM SCHEME
Context: In order to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by incentivising states, the Union government plans to
introduce a new scheme – PM PRANAM (PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management
Yojana)
What is the PM PRANAM scheme?

• The proposed scheme intends to reduce the subsidy burden on chemical
fertilisers.
• The scheme will not have a separate budget and will be financed by the savings of
existing fertiliser subsidy under schemes run by the Department of fertilisers.

• Subsidy saving structure:

 50% subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money, and 70% of the
grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related to technological adoption of
alternate fertilisers and alternate fertiliser production units at village, block and district levels.
 The remaining 30% grant money can be used for incentivising farmers, panchayats, farmer producer
organisations and self-help groups that are involved in the reduction of fertiliser use and awareness
generation.
• The government will compare a state’s increase or reduction in urea in a year, to its average consumption
of urea during the last three years.
How much fertiliser does India require?

• The kharif season (June-October) requires a sizeable amount of fertilizer. Why?
• This season is critical for India’s food security, accounting for nearly:
 half the year’s production of foodgrains,
 one-third of pulses and
 approximately two-thirds of oilseeds.
• The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare assesses the requirement of fertilisers each year
before the start of the cropping season, and informs the Ministry of Chemical and fertilisers to ensure the
supply.
• The amount of fertiliser required varies each month according to demand, which is based on the time of crop
sowing, which also varies from region to region.
Need for the scheme

• Due to increased demand for fertiliser in the country over the past 5 years, the overall expenditure by the
government on subsidy has also increased.
• The total requirement of four fertilisers — Urea, DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate), MOP (Muriate of potash),
NPKS (Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium) increased by 21% between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022.
• In light of the increased demand, the government has also been increasing the subsidies it provides for
chemical fertilisers.
 In the Union Budget 2021-22, the government had budgeted an amount of Rs 79,530 crore, which
increased to Rs 1.40 lakh crore in the revised estimates (RE).
 However, the final figure of fertiliser subsidy touched Rs 1.62 lakh crore in 2021-22.
• PM PRANAM, which seeks to reduce the use of chemical fertiliser, will likely reduce the burden on the
exchequer.
• The proposed scheme is also in line with the government’s focus on promoting the balanced use of fertilisers
or alternative fertilisers.
v v v v v
NOTES

EDITORIAL FROM YOJANA

Counter-Terrorism Scenario in J&K
Introduction
• J&K UT, one of the most picturesque regions of India,
has been afflicted by the problem of cross-border
terrorism, separatist violence and armed militancy
for the last three decades.
• Causes of above-mentioned problems:
 Driving role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI)
 Evolution of Kashmir’s separatist politics
 Influence of pan-Islamic terrorist groups
 Emergence of social media
CURRENT TERRORISM OUTLOOK

• Strength of the terrorists operating in the region:
Number stretched to thousands at the peak of militancy in
the early 1990s. Currently, terrorist strength in Kashmir is
lowest in decades.
 South Kashmir remains the hotbed of militancy.
• Tackling Cross-Border Militant Infiltration: Security
forces have raised a highly-effective three-tiered counter-infiltration grid. In this, the Indian Army forms:
 First tier on the LoC
 Second tier of paramilitaries
 Third tier of the J&K Police (JKP)
• The security forces have deployed Anti Infiltration Obstacle System (AIOS) fencing and strengthened surveillance
through reconnaissance drones, night-vision equipment, and hand-held thermal imaging devices.
• Crackdown on Terrorist Groups and their Ecosystem: Security forces have kept up the pressure on the terrorist
groups in the hinterland through several Counter-Insurgency (CI) operations.
EVOLVING AND EMERGING CT CHALLENGES

• Radicalisation and Terrorist Recruitment: Uptick in local terrorist recruitment because of the radicalisation of
the local youth, peer pressure and victimhood feelings.
 The Indian Army’s ‘Sahi Raasta’ initiative aims to bring the youth on the right track through national
integration tours, sports training programmes and festivals, and skill development workshops.
• Hybrid terrorists and virtual terrorist outfits: Terrorist masterminds are now using terrorist sympathisers to
commit violence. Most of them have no criminal records and are therefore likely to escape police scrutiny.
 Security forces have noted the proliferation of virtual terrorist groups.
 In response, the J&K Police is strengthening its human and technical intelligence capabilities.
• Pakistan’s information warfare: Since August 2019, Pakistan’s spy agency ISI’s disinformation machinery has
gone into overdrive on social media platforms with anti-India propaganda.
 With Pakistan’s material and financial support to anti-India terrorist groups coming under the global scanner,
the ISI has sought to project Kashmir’s militancy as ‘indigenous resistance’. In addition, it has sought to label
India as a major human rights violator.
 This propaganda aims to draw attention to Kashmir and gain international sympathy.
Conclusion
• It is clear that despite a flux in the regional security environment and Pakistan’s attempts to stir trouble, Kashmir’s
security situation has remained remarkably calm and stable. The security forces have decisively turned the tables
against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism and its proxies.
• To maintain this advantage, other government agencies will need to carry the baton forward to deliver better
governance and establish the writ of the sovereign.
v v v v v

GEOGRAPHY SPECIAL
[Southwest Monsoon]
• The southwest monsoon derives its name from winds

which blow from a south-westerly direction in the
Indian subcontinent during the wet seasons of April to
October.
• The southwest monsoon is so powerful that its
performance from June to September decides the state
of agricultural productivity in India, which in turn,
decides the state of the economy. Thus, it is no less
important than the finance minister himself.
• The monsoon affects a region comprising nearly 25
countries and its influence stretches across a distance of 18,000 kilometres (from east to west) and 6,000
kilometres (from south to north).
• It brings the majority of the rainfall to the region each year.
What causes the southwest or summer monsoon?

• The differential heating of land and water causes the
Indian summer monsoon.
• In summer, the Asian land mass heats up to form a low-
pressure system, which attracts winds from the Arabian
sea and Bay of Bengal, which were at lower temperatures
and thus high-pressure systems.
• During summer in the northern hemisphere, the Tropic of
Cancer receives direct rays from the sun, and the continental
land masses in this hemisphere heat up considerably more
than the oceans, creating a low-pressure zone over India and
Central Asia.
• This causes the intertropical convergence zone (or ITCZ) –
an area of low pressure that forms a band girdling the Earth
– to shift northwards from the Equator towards the Tropic of
Cancer.
 This zone is formed at the meeting of the southeast and northeast trade winds, which are winds close to the
Earth’s surface that blow from east to west just north and south of the Equator.
• When this shift occurs, the ITCZ shifts
northwards from below India to run
directly through the Indian subcontinent and
strengthens the low pressure forming over
this area.
• At the same time, the southeast trade winds,
which cross the Equator due to this movement,
become deflected towards the east due to the
Coriolis effect (a force that causes fluids like
air and water to curve as they travel across the
Earth’s surface).
 These deflected trade winds blow towards
India from the southwest, picking up large
amounts of moisture from the Arabian
sea.
 As they hit the Indian peninsula, they
cause the southwest or Indian summer
monsoon.
• The summer monsoon winds split into two
branches:
• The Arabian Sea branch

 The Arabian Sea arm causes rainfall all along India’s western coast.
• The Bay of Bengal branch
 The Bay of Bengal arm skirts the eastern coast and moves over the Bay of Bengal to strike against the Bengal
coast and brings rain to the southern slopes of the Shillong plateau.
 The Himalayas, which act as a barrier towards the further inland movement of this branch, herd it towards
northern India.
• The two branches converge over Punjab and Himachal Pradesh by mid-July.
The Retreating Monsoon
• As summer wanes in the northern hemisphere, the ITCZ
begins to drift down towards the south of the Equator,
which causes a reversal in the movements of the trade
winds.
• The Asian landmass, including India, cools rapidly, and forms
a large area of high pressure, while the oceans, which cool at
a slower rate, form low pressure zones.
• This causes drier and colder air from the continent to blow
offshore causing the retreating monsoon or the northeast
monsoon.
• In northwest India, the monsoon withdraws rapidly and
completely by September.
• But in Southeast India, this withdrawal is more gradual, as
the retreating monsoon picks up moisture form the Bay of
Bengal.
 This brings rains to the Tamil Nadu coast.
Figure 4.5 : Retreating Monsoon

v v v v v
34 CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I
NOTES
AISHWARYA VERMA
Chahal Academy: Office No. 22-B, Ground Floor, Near Metro Pillar 112,
Old Rajinder Nagar, Pusa Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi-110060.

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MONTHLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2022

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

• India Overtakes the UK as World’s 5th Largest • Community Seed Banks

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

• National Centre for Disease Control DEFENCE & SECURITY...............................88 - 92

• Martand Temple • Exercise Kakadu

• Kedarnath Temple • Vostok-2022

• Mamangam • Exercise – Jimex 2022

• Hindi Diwas • Foundational Learning Survey

• Bathukamma Festival • Supreme Court’s Abortion Ruling

• Onam • Theory of the Malthusian Trap

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS..................75 - 87 • Tedious Process of Adoption

• Perestroika and Glasnost

• Colour Revolutions • World’s First CNG Terminal

• Railway Protection Force (RPF) GOVERNMENT SCHEMES.....................116 - 119

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

The bail provisions

CrPC say on the arrest of a woman

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What is the purpose of the preamble?

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

Under what circumstances was the preamble amended?

Were ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ debated before Independence?

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

AGGRAVATING AND MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES

Mitigating circumstances are facts that appear to mitigate the

More about the topic

Is death penalty constitutional?

Mercy petition process

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

POSH ACT, 2013

About the law

Genesis of Vishaka guidelines:

Guidelines and the law

• The 2013 Act broadened these guidelines.

 who could be a woman of any age whether employed or not,

 who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment.

Definition of sexual harassment

Procedure for complaint

 her medical expenses;

What does the ban on the PFI mean?

Under what circumstances is an organisation

What happens when an organisation is tagged as a “terrorist organisation”?

What recourse is available to a terrorist organisation?

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

production of any document or other material object producible as evidence;

the reception of evidence on affidavits;

the issuing of any commission for the examination of witnesses.

 All proceeding before the Tribunal are deemed to be judicial proceedings.

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The issues fixed by the Supreme Court

• NEW DELHI • MUMBAI • KOLKATA • AHMEDABAD • ANAND • BHILAI • BHUBANESWAR • CHANDIGARH

The 103rd Amendment

How is EWS status determined under the law?

Challenge to the amendment

WHAT IS A CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY?

• Modern constitutional monarchies usually implement the concept of